Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength

o - - for- Bill Phillips and M ichael O'Orso

12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength

Change Your Mind- Change Your Body-Change Your Life Imagine, just 12 weeks from now, having the lean, healthy body you've always wanted and not having to

turn your life upside down to get it. Imagine having the energy to be at your peak from dawn to dusk, having the confidence to do all the things you've been putting off, having the certainty to make the right decision at the right time, and knowing that

you really do have the power to change- not just your body but anything in this world you set your mind to.

If this sounds unlikely, or even impossible. it's time you were introduced to Bill Phillips and his Body-for-LIFE Program-it's time you join those who have experienced breakthroughs with the help of his expert advice.

"While gaining energy and rebuilding my body were significant rewards, I realized those changes were just the beginning . My eyes are now open to the possibilit ies of change in all areas of my life. Now I can see a better and brighter future for myself and my family."

Hank Johnson Age 39 NASA Space Shuttle Engineer; Cape Canaveral, Florida "I admire Bill Phillips because he believes so much in what he is doing, and he has helped so many people, including me. The time I've spent with Bill over the last couple years has been tremendous for me. I feel better mentally and physically. I believe the more his message gets out, t he better off everybody is going to be."

John Elway Two -Time NFL World Champion "After completing t he 12-week Program, I not only achieved my physical goals, I rediscovered passion in my life. This became the primary driving force behind my success. I've become the person I've always wanted to be."

Russell Simpson, M.D., Age 47 Physician; Huntsville, Alabama "When I first read about Bill's Program, I felt a sense of hope I hadn't felt before. I was inspired to take the first crucial step-I decided to change. Within weeks, I began to feel better, look better, and peop le started to notice. After 12 weeks, I lost 30 pounds, three inches off my waist. four inches off my hips, and dropped three sizes. My life couldn't be better. I'm not settling for mediocrity ever again."

Christy Hammons, Age 24 Accountant; Lexington, Kentucky

Bill Phillips is

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Make-A-Wi sh Fou ndation· of Colorado. Inc .

ISBN

0-06-019339-5

Body-for-LIFE Mention the name Bill Phillips to any of the

people he's helped transform, and you will see their faces light up with appreciation and respect. These people include: • Hundreds of thousands of men and women

who read his magazine for guidance and straightforward information about exercise, nutrition, and living with strength.

• Elite professional athletes- among them John Elway, Karl Malone, Mike Piazza, and

Terrell Davis-who have turned to Phillips for clear-cut information to enhance their

energy and performance. • People once plagued by obesity, alcoholism, and life-threatening ailments who accepted a personal challenge from Bill Phillips and, with his help, have regained control of their

bodies and lives. When you begin to apply the information in this book, you will be proving to yourself that astounding changes are within your grasp too. And, you will discover Body-for· LIFE is much more than a book about physical fitness- it's a gateway to a new and better life-a life of rewarding and fulfilling moments, perhaps more spectacular than you've ever dared to dream before. Within 12 weeks, you too are going to know- not believe, but know- that the transformation you've created with your body is merely an example of the power you have to transform everything else in your world.

www BodyforLIFE.com

In language that is vivid and down·to·earth, Bill Phillips guides you, step by step, through the integrated Body-for· LIFE Program, which reveals: • How to lose fat and increase your strength by exercising less, not more; • How to tap into an endless source of energy by living with the Power Mindset"'; • How to create more time for everything meaningful in your life; • How to trade hours of aerobics for minutes of weight training- with dramatic results; • How to make continual progress by using the High-Point Technique- ; • How to feed your muscles while starving fat with the Eati ng-for· LIFE Method; • How thousands of ordinary people have now become extraordinary and how you can too; • How to gain control of your body and life, once and for all. The principles of the Body-far- LIFE Program are surprisingly simple but remarkably powerful. So allow yourself to experience the force of the information in this book-allow yourself to take your mind, your body, your life to a higher point than you may have ever dreamed you could. All in as little as 12 weeks. Bill Phillips is the founder and editor in chief of Muscle Media· magazine and the creator of EAS· (Experimental and Applied Sciences). M ichael D'Orso is the coauthor of Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement and Winning With Integrity: How to Get What You Want Without Selling Your Soul. Photography by Kal; Jacket Design by Brian Harvat and Chris Monck Copyright 01999 by 11th Vision, L.L.C.

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HarpcrCo ll insPublishers

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12 Weeks to Menta l and Physical Strength

Bill Phillips and

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M ichae l D'Orso

HarperCollinsPublishers

Body-for-LiFE. Copyri ght © 1999 by 11th Vision, L.L.C. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reprod uced in any manner whatsoever without wrillen penni ssion except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical art.icles and reviews. For infonnation, address Harpcl"Collins Publi shers. Inc., 10 East 53rd Street. New York, NY 10022. HarperCollins books may be purchased for educational , business. o r sales promotional use. For infonnation, please write: Special Markets Depanment, HarperCo llins Publishers, Inc., 10 Ea.st 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022. The Body{nr-LIFE Program is intended for healthy adults. age 18 and over. Th is book is sole ly fo r infomwt ional and educational purposes and is not medical advice. Please consult a medical or health pro fessional before you begin any new exercise. nutrilion, o r supplementation program or if you have questions about yo ur health. The individuals featured in this book we re competing for C1ISh and prizes in an EAS-sponsored shape-up challenge and have received consideration from EAS. They achieved extraordinary results; there are no " typical"· resu lts. Their success stories represent extraordinary examples of what can be accomplished th ro ugh an integrated syslem o f exercise, nutri tion, and supplementation . As individuals differ. their results will differ, even when using the same program. FIRST EDITION D(!~·i8 I1ed

by Brian Harvut

Library of Congress Catalogi ng-in-Publication Data Phillips. Bill Body for life: 12 weeks to mental and physical stre ngth I Bill Phillips. p. Ctn. ISBN 0-06-0 19339-5 I . Exercise. 2. Physical fitness. 3. Health. I. Title. RA78 1.P53 1999 613 .7---<1c2 1

1st ed.

99-26145

44 4S 46 47 48 49 :0

P ag.ln l .n!lon~lI y

len

BI~n k

www.bodyfort tfe.com

To all the rea l-lire heroes whose paths I have been fortunate enough to cross. You r relentless delermination to transform an y and all ad versity into positi ve energy and to face the most important challenge o f ail- life-is my inspiration. This book isn't just dedicated to YOll- it is your creat ion.

Contents - - - Acknowledgments

IX

Preface: Real-World Proof

XI

Foreword: The Promise

XV

Part I: The Breakthrough He Transformed Tragedy into Triumph

5

She Lifted Herself Back Up

13

Now They're Loving Life

15

The End ofthc Beginning

19

Part II : Crossing the Abyss

21

Focusin g Your Future Vision

23

Transforming Patterns of Action

29

Overview o f How to Cross the Abyss

31

Part III: Separating Myth from Fact Overview o f Separating Myth from Fact

Part IV: The Training-for-LIFE Experience '"

33 53

55

Plan-Io-Actual Anal ysis

57

The Hi gh-Point Techniq uc™

58

The 20-Minute Aerobics Solution™

64

Sharing the Experience

68

Overview of The Traininglor- LlFE Ex peri ence" Principles

79 vii

Part V: The Eating-for-LIFE Method

81

Autho ri zed Foods

84

Overview of the Eati ng-jor- LiFE Me thod Princi pl es

98

Part VI: Staying on Course

99

Tra nsform Adversity Into Energy

100

I-I onor Sel f-Promises

101

Harness the Power of Posi ti ve Pressu re

103

Focus

Progress, Not Perfecti on

105

Practice the Uni versal Law of Reci procation

106

We 're Here for

109

011

YOII

O verview of Stay ing on Course

Afterword: The Gateway

11 0 II I

Appendixes:

viii

Append ix A: Questi o ns and An swers

l iS

Appendi x B: Term s and Jargon

129

Appendi x C: Exercise Guide

135

Append ix 0: Daily Progress Reports

175

Appendi x E: Rea l-Li fe Success Stories

189

Contents

Acknowledgments T his book is not the end o f anyth ing; it is just the beginning ... fo r you, for me, and for all the men and women who have he lped me shape and express the knowledge s hared o n these pages. Th ey include, first and fore most, my fa mi ly-my

mOl he r,

who has, since

day o ne (literall y), bee n my biggest fan and best fri end; my father, who

taught me to e mbrace di scip line, order, and learning ; my brolhe r, who. growing up, knew just whe n to ki ck the tar Ollt o f me to keep me in line and still does (albeit not in the Front yard but in the gy m, w he re he run s me ragged); my sisler, w ho is, far and away, the true inte ll ectu al powerho use of the on· spring; and A mi Cusack, for bei ng th ere , throu gh so many turnin g poinl s. I a lso wish to ex press my deep apprec iati o n to: John Elway, whose exa mple has inspired my ascent ; Jim Nag le, w hose belief in this project helped turn thi s dream in to a reali zed goal: Dan S ulli van. fo r bein g the best Strategic Coach a transformin g rugged ind ividualis t could ever as k fo r; and Ka l Vee for sharing hi s wisdom and reference poims. I also thank Leigh Rauen, my ali-Sial' word processor, who, through many late ni ghts and early morn ings, patiently and Sk illfull y transformed thousands u f pages of what looked like anc ient Egyptian hieroglyphi cs into the cri sp, clean words you see ri ght here; Sue Danie l-Mosebar and her team o f wordsmi ths for lhe ir attenti on to detail ; Mi chael Sitzman for h is pat ien t perseverance; Brian Harvat and Chri s Mo nck for thei r dynami c design expertise; my coauthor, Mike O ' Orso, who has earned my deepest respect and appreciation for he lping me

Acknowledgments

;,

harness and forge a lifetime of information into a Form that makes sense (at least to him and me); our agent, David Blac k, who's been success full y converted from a long-time endurance athlete into the Big Apple's budding new pocket Herc ules; and our editors- David Hirshey and Jay Papasan-as well as the entire HarperCollins team, including Jane Friedman. whose leadership and understanding opened the door for thi s book. I'm also extremely grateful for Jeff Stone's vision and courageous spirit ; hi s thoughtfulness and faith will not be forgotten. Th is book, like the Program described betwee n its covers, has been a rewarding journey for a ll of us-a journey th at wi ll conti nue long after these words have been read.

x

Acknowledgments

Real-World Proof - - - - - Preface - - - - "Don't let anybody tell you that you can't do it. You can. It's up to you. Decide to do it and follow through. "

By Porter Freeman The way I see it, the o nly difference between a rut and a grave is the depth of the hole. And by the spring of 1996, I had dug myself into a pretty deep hole---eating badly, dri nki ng 100 many beers , ly ing on the sofa watch ing sports on T V instead of participating in them.

xi

I had become a classic couch potato, using different excuses and reasons why I couldn ' t exerc ise: a shoulder injury, long hours at work, " I'll start nex t week," unti l finall y I woke up one day, took a look in the mi rror, and reali zed f was old and fa t. f didn ' t plan to wrap my self in that hu ge ball of blubber. It 's not someth ing

th at happened overni ght. I didn 't just wake up one day and suddenl y weigh 260 pou nds. But I did suddenly- fina ll y-open my eyes and rea lize that my bod y had become something I didn 't feel was me. What I had let happe n to my body was not somethin g I wou ld let happen to my job or to my responsibili ties. The neglect, the laziness- that was n' t the way I approached any other aspect of my li fe. That wasn't who l IVas, not in my heart. But that's what my body had become- neg lected, soft , fat. It was a fri end who helped me get back on track. He gave me a copy of an article Bill Phi lli ps had writte n and asked me to read it. I lOok it home and sat down on the side of my bed, with a cold beer and a bag of potalO c hips. I figured I'd have a litt le snack, drink my beer, and look through thi s article before going to sleep. It was the way Ph illi ps ended that articl e that na il ed me. Hi s words were a direct chall enge: " I' ve given YO Il every opportllllity and every reasoll to get back ill shape. If YOII don't do it, YOII might as well go start all ant farm!" I swear, it was like he was standing in the room, talking directl y to me , saying, " We ll , Porter, you've gotten so bad ly out of shape, I'm go ing 10 offer you a shot at hundreds of thousands of doll ars' worth of pri zes and all the knowl edge of how to do it. Are yo u goi ng to do it? Or are you just going to give up for life?" I mu st have read th at article three or four ti mes that ni gh t, and every time I read it, I gOI madder and madder. I thought, " Who is he to tell me to go start a friggi n' ant farm ?" But I soon realized who 1 was really mad at. I was mad at myse lf fo r turn ing inlO such a slo b. I reali zed I cou ld no longer go on livi ng like I was . You ' re not living at 260 pounds. You ' re dying.

xii

Real-World Proof

Right then and there, I made a consciou s decision to change my li fe. I was finall y fed up wi th being fed all the time. Just fed, fed, fed. I became fearl ess and focused on fin ishing thi s challenge. I craved goi ng the entire 12 wee ks way more than I craved a piece of key lime pie or a beer. I made up my mind-I was go ing to make it through those 12 weeks, or they were goi ng to fi nd me dead in the gy m. I rea ll y didn ' t noti ce a lot of change initia ll y. Other people noti ced. And they brought it to my attenti on. I was so focused on doing it that I didn' t see all the great things th at were happening. A young girl at work walked up to me one day and said , " Porte r, your pants are fa lling off." I hadn ' t rea li zed that my wai st was dow n to 36 inches, and I was still wearing myoid 42-i nch pants. That doesn' t work . I can't describe how much in spirati on co mes fro m see in g the muscles grow and the fat go. You look in the mirror and iI 'S like meeting a n old fri e nd you reall y li ked a lot but haven' t seen for quite a while. I stuck wi th it, and afte r 12 weeks, I had los t 54 pounds of body weight and ga in ed much more than just mu scle- I had more strengt h and c ncrgy than I'd had in my entire life, and even belle r tha n that, I had rega ined what I knew was my true character. I' m confi dent and on track now, but I' ll never fo rget where I once was. I know bad habits wait on LI S forever. They don ' t ever go away. They will always be there, j ust aro und the corner, lurking and lookin g for an opening. If you' re addicted to food or alcohol or c igarettes or eve n the wrong person in your li fe, if you' ve got a bad habit of any ki nd , I don' t think it ju<:t "di sappears." If you stop sett ing goal s fo r your future, if you start li vi ng in the moment aga in , that 's when those bad habits will push the ir way back into your li fe . Those 12 weeks- and the month s and years that have passed sin ce then- taught me a lesson that I now try to teach 10 anyo ne and everyone who will li sten: Anyone can do what I, and thousands of others who ha ve follo wed the Bod y:for- L1 FE Program, have done.

Real-World Proof

xiii

Don ' t let anybody tell YOll that YOll can ' t do it. YOLI call. It 's up to YOll. Decide to do it , and the n follow through on it. I' ln tell ing YOll, if a 49-year-old guy li ke me, who work s in a bar, who is around almost everything you can think of that is detrimenta l 10 good health- if I can do it , anyone can do il. Don' t wa it until you have a heart attack before you remem ber YOll have a body! There are so many people who be li eve they' re too overweight, or too weak, or too old to get in great shape. There are peop le who think everybod y in the gy m is in " perfect" condition. That 's just not tru e. Every person in th at gym had to start one day, li ke everybod y else. Hac k earl y in those 12 weeks, when I got uncomfOrlab le or felt Ollt of place in the gy m, I would look in th e mirror and te ll myself, " You're here because yo u don ' t want to look li ke thi s any longer." I was much more uncomfort.lb le in that fa t body than I was in the gy m. Before those 12 weeks, I would never have thou ght that I cou ld layout a red carpet and say to someo ne, "Come on, be healthy with me." But here I am . I talk with peopl e every day who want to look and fee l beller. Some of them fee l like they ' re li ving in hell . They fee l like they can ' t make it another day. But I know, and I tellihem , that they can fee l as good as J feel. They ca n make that U-turn . Everyolle can change hi s or her body and life with thi s Program . I plan to spend the rest of my life he lping peopl e get healthy. It 's the best fee lin g J cou ld ever imagine. I' m going to stay in shape for the rest of my life. And, when "that time" comes, I'd like for the Lord to be able to look at me and say, "Gosh, Porter, you look good. YOli foll owed the Program, didn ' t yo u?"

xiv

Real-World Proof

The Promise Foreword - - - - -

No matter who you are, no matter what you do, you absolutely, positively do have the power to change. What wou ld it take for you to let me he lp you bu il d your best body ever in as li uJe as 12 weeks? What if I prov ided you with a specific exerc ise and nutr iti o n plan th at has been proven to produce startling resu lts for lens of thousand s o f peop le

fro m all walks of life- all th e way from A - li st Holl ywood celebrities

10

world-champ io n athlete s, to mo rn s, merc hants, Marines , mini sters, and mi l-

lionaires? What if I showed you prec isely how to make an extraordi nary physique transformation by investing less than 5 percellt o f the ti me available to you each day? A nd, what if I prom ised to be your "Su ccess Coach" for every step of the process-helping you di scover your true potential, helping you stay o n track, helping you avoid setbacks, and basically doi ng anything and everything I can 10 help you achieve your objective of bui ld ing a better bod y? What if I told you thaLphysicians follow my Body-for-LIFE Program- to lower cholesterol, to reduce their ri sk of heart di sease , to turn back the hands of time, possibly even to erase years of fitn ess neglecl in a mere 12 weeks?

xv

What if J promised to show you how to attai n the bod y you've always warlled without hav ing to turn your life upside down to get it- without having to spend all your time in a gy m doi ng hours of boring aerobic exerc ise and starvi ng yourself. I' ll even show you how to lose fa t whil e still enjoy ing your favorite foods, li ke pizza, pasta, app le pic with ice cream, every week. Not on ly that, but imagine waking up in the morning, looking in the mi rror, and being downright excited about the refl ection you see. Imagi ne I lO t having to hide behind baggy sweaters. Imagi ne your wardrobe made up of clothes that unveil the new you. Imagine, j ust 12 weeks from now, hav ing the e nergy to go all -out from dawn to du sk, hav ing the confidence to do all the th ings you 've been pUlling off, having the certainty to make the right deci sion at the right time, knowing you can rega in control over (wyth illg in th is world you set your mind to. Well , you call . And it does n' t mailer if you're 22 or 62, man or woman, fit or unfit. No mailer who you are, th is much I prom ise: You do have the power to change. Ask the men and wome n whose lives have been changed by the Program descri bed in these pages. T hey accepted my help, and each and everyone of them came ou t a winner. They emerged from those 12 weeks with a healthier body and an exc iting, new life. They are the proof- the li ving, breathing, walking, talking proof- that the Body:for-LLFE Program can help you change yOllr life, too. So now are you willing to let me help you? Whe n you answer " Yes!" to th at question, you're not just taking a step, yo u're making a quantum leap toward gaining tota l control over yo ur body and your life and fin all y unleashing your true pot ential in every aspect of your ex istence. The process of creating yOllr new Body-for- L1FE begins the mome nt you dec ide to turn the next page.

xvi

The Promi se

The Breakthrough Part I

When you gain control of your body, you will gain control of your LIFE. A couple of years ago, I attended a fitness convention in Atlanta. It' s one of only a few indu stry trade shows I attend, and therefore, it' s one of the only times I come face-to-face with a large number of my readers at once. During the course of that weekend, hundreds of men and women who introduced

them selves as avid followers of my magazi ne came up to shake my hand and chat. What struck me most about the entire ex perience- what absolutely floored me-was how st:rikingl y Olll of shape many of these people were. Don 't get me wrong, 1 enjoyed meeting all these folk s, many of whom had been reading my work for years. I even recognized a lot of their names. That weekend I think I met about 600 of my students. Maybe 80 of them looked fit and strong, but the Olhers, who had been receiving the same information on exercise and nutrition, looked like ... well , like they never had the opportunity to learn abollt how to get in top shape before. On the flight home, I agonized over what I experienced that weekend. I knew then and there that in order to become a better teacher, I had to create a solut ion that would help these people not just get the facts but apply them. I knew I could help these people. I knew it was my responsibility.

1

Anyone who knows me at all or is fami li ar wi th me through my writi ng understands I fi rml y believe that a strong, healthy mind res ides in a strong, healthy body. That. my friends. is a fact. When I see men and women who are out of shape, I see li ves not fu ll y li ved. I see lost potential. I see people who need someone to help them reali ze they can look and feel better. That 's what I see. You sim ply cannot escape thi s reali ty: Your body is the ep icenter of your universe. You go nowhere without it. It is tru ly the temple of your mind and your soul. If it is sagging, softening, and agi ng rapidl y, other aspects of your life will soon foll ow suit. I just don' t believe that anyone in this world sets out on ajoumey to become fat and unh ealthy, just as no one deci des to become lonely or poor. What happens is, somewhere along the line, slowly and gradually, wi thout even being aware of it. we give up . We give up our values and our dreams one at a time. When people let go of their bodies, it is, quite sim ply, the beginning of the end . The ni ght I got home from that trip, I couldn ' t stop thinking about it. Wh at could I do to he lp these people apply thei r know ledge? I asked myse lf that question over and over agai n. I cou ldn ' t sleep. Then , finall y, at about I: 15 in the morning, it hit me: They need a challenge. A competition. An incenti ve and the uilimale trophy-my blood-red Lamborghini Diablo. I recalle d how dreaming about someday own ing that car helped me back when I was strugg li ng to build my bu siness-it he lped me stay foc used on my future and lifted my des ire when I needed it most. I thought maybe it could do the same for the peopl e I wan ted to he lp-that it could be the ir drivillg jorce, too. So, the next day, I put that Lamborghini up as the "Grand Pri ze" in the most uniqu e self- improvement contest ever. No one had ever tried issuing a challenge like thi s before, but something told me I had to do it, even though some people (includin g my dad, who 's also my business ad visor) let me know they thought the idea was crazy. But I experienced something like the voice that whispered to Ray Kinsell a in the baseba ll movie Field of Dreams: My instincts to ld me if I built it, they woul d come.

2

Body·for-L1FE

And did they ever. .. More than 54,000 peopl c from all walks of life signcd up. Cops, cooks, and corporate CEOs. Parents and grandparents (more than a few grea t-grandparents). Men and women who had never lifted a weight in the ir li ves and a few seasoned gym rats who had been tryin g to build better bodi es for years. The entries cascaded in , each indi vidual acceptin g my challenge. There were 10 categori es, so young and old, men and women ali ke could all compete and have a chan ce to win . They were required to take "before and after" photos and write an essay describing their e xperi ence and the impact it had on their li ves overall. A team of judges, including myself, worked day and ni ght scoring each competitor based on how much they improved their phys iques, combined with how well they ex pressed the experience through their essays. There- in those essays- was where my ex pectations and imaginati on were blown away. I hoped that giving people an in centi ve and chall engin g them to apply the knowledge I offered the m would he lp them improve the ir bodies. And it did. But that 's not all. These peop le were getting physically fit, alld they were getting their lives back in shape. It was. and still is. one of the 1110st enli ghtening ex peri ences of my life. Acceptin g thi s chall enge rekindled the flame of desire for tens of thou sands, and it broke down wall s that were keeping people from moving forward in all areas of the ir li ves. Many of the men and women who accepted my challenge reported that thi s Program literally saved the ir li ves. Their risk of heart di sease (the number-one ki ller in America today) was drasticall y lowered, as we ll as the ri sk of being afflicted with other ill nesses, such as diabetes, cancer, and osteoporosis. Beyond even that , the psychological and emotional changes reported by these men and women were (and are) stunning. They described off-the-chart leaps in self-confide nce, self-respect, and empowerme nt. They di scovered that taking control of their bodies broke down barri ers all around them. Peopl e were more attracted to them. They gOI better jobs. T hey made greater amounts

The Breakthrough

3

of money. Their relationships with colleagues, family, and friends improved . Their marriages got better. Their sex li ves became more sati sfying. Old habits that seemed im possible to break suddenl y became easy to drop. And they began to realize that they really do have the power to help alld inspire others (w hi ch, by the way, is, in my opi nion, the mai n reason we ' re here to beg in wi th). Quite simpl y, they became more en li ghtened, morc powerfu l peop le, in every sense of those words. During the course of that first challenge, something else unexpected happened: I started getti ng letters-hundreds of letters-from competitors who no longer lIeeded the pri zes. They ex plained that initiall y my car and the money were the foc us, but after a few weeks- as soon as they began being treated differen tl y by others and they began feeling differentl y about themselves-they reali zed that the biggest and best prize they could win was not anything I cou ld give them. (Nope, not even a $200,000 sports car.) Virtuall y all the people who fi ni shed the 12-week challenge fe lt like wi nners. After havin g the opportunity to get to know many of them on a very personallevel. I can tell you these real-li fe champions have done more to in spire me than all the pro athletes and movie stars I know, combined. That comment may ruffle some fea thers, but it 's true. I could go on and on with literally thousands of examp les, but rather than skim the surface of such an incredibly large championship team, I think it would be better to di g in ri ght here with several spec ific examples. (By the way, I strongly encourage you to take the time to read these true stories carefully. These words cou ld change your li fe. I know because they have al ready changed mine.)

4

Body-for- LIFE

He Transformed Tragedy into Triumph - - -

Lynn Lingenfelter' s life changed foreve r on November 11 , 1983. He was 16 years old, a starting fullback, and captain of hi s Pennsy lvani a high school football team. Along with a frie nd, he headed into the woods that day near his family 's home to hunt small game, somethin g the two had done dozens ,o f times before. They were climbing a steep mountain slope when Lynn 's friend lost his footing. Even before Lynn heard the pop of hi s companion 's .22-cali ber rifle, he felt a thump in hi s back, "As if I'd been slugged with a baseball bat." As he was falling to the ground, Lynn glimpsed back at hi s fri end , who was down on hi s knees, the weapon still cl utched in his hand . " Hi s eyes were bigger than mine," recall s Lynn . Lynn actu aJl y pull ed him self up and tri ed to run for help. " I went about 30 yards. The n I started to feel rea ll y sick. 1 could see on ly black and whi te, and I couldn ' t hear. I stumbl ed and fell to the ground . I honest ly though t I was going to die. I re me mber praying and sayin g, 'God, save me .. . I th ink I'm going.' Then I must have blacked out." Almost beside him self with panic and fear, Lynn 's fri end ran to get help. When he returned, it was wi th Lynn' s younger brot her, Mike. The Breakthrough

5

''They found me lyi ng on the ground , stone cold and blue. I wasn ' t breat hing. By coinc idence or fa te, Mike had learned C PR in hea lth-education class j ust a few days earlier. He gal me breathing again and held me tight to keep me warm unti l the paramed ics got there and took me to the hospit al." The bu ll et had entered Lynn 's lower back, ripped through hi s intestin es, and come out through the front. He had lost a massive a mount of bl ood whil e he was lyi ng there on the hill. When he fi na ll y got to the hospi tal, the doctors told hi s fa mil y he had onl y a fi fty-fifty chance of survivin g. Lynn had to be given 38 pints of bl ood to replace what hi s body had lost. " I don' t remember all that much about the days that followed except I was

in a lot of pain. I had one operati on after another, one compli cation after another. I was in the hospital for the better part of five mon th s." By the time Lynn was finall y re leased, he had lost 50 pounds. " I cou ldn 't even bench press 100 pounds. But I set a goal of rebuildin g my body by the time the nex t football season started. The doctors sa id that was impossible, whi ch made me even more determined. I [rained hard, and my mom fed me well. " When the starting tea m ran onto the fi eld the first Friday nigh t of that next season, Lynn was among them, once again the starting fu llbac k. The crowd stood and cheered. "Th at was one of the most rewarding moment s of my life. I re me mber thinking it was all over now- the tough tim es my fa mil y and I endured beca use of the hunting accident , those long, long month s of not knowing if I'd ever recover. I was ready now for that to become nothing more than a di stan t memory. Which, as tim e passed, it di d," expla ined Lynn . If thi s were an aft er-sc hool mov ie, that wo uld be the e nd of the story. Music up. Fade oul. But Lynn 's saga, as he woul d soon learn , was not nearly over. " I fini shed hi gh sc hool, got engaged to my sweetheart, Sara, and enroll ed at Penn State Uni versity. Thi s was in the fa ll of 1987. Doctors were bei ng notifIed at that time of a newl y discovered virus that see med to lead to a fat al di sease. On e of the means of tran smi ss ion was through ta inted blood. They were

6

Body-for-LIFE

told that anyone who rece ived blood in recent years should be tested to see if they had the di sease. I went in fo r my lest, hardly giving it a second thought. To me, th is was a formalit y, nothin g more than that. " Two week s later, the te lephone in Lynn 's dorm room rang. (Thi s di sease was still new enough at that time Ihal test results were given over Ihe phone.) " Lynn ," Ihe doctor said , pau sing fo r a moment, " you have the I-II V virus." Lynn didn ' t react. He didn ' t know Itow to react. A gun shot wound, although horrifi c, was somethin g he co uld understand, something he could comprehend . BU lthi s . .. beyond what the doc tors had told him , he didn ' t even know what HI V was-he only knew it was seri ous, ex treme ly seri ous. " My ex peri ence with the shooting had made me be lieve I could handle anything; I cou ld get out of any thing. But I remember all I could th ink when I got that phone call was, ' How do I get out of this?'" Thi s was a death sentence, or so Lynn was to ld. The doctors said he had two years to li ve. Maybe three. Lyn n's fa mil y was devastated. Breakin g the news to hi s fian cee, Sara, was one of the most difficu lt thin gs he had ever done. " Having to tell your fian cee you' re dying- thai you ' re HI V- positi ve- is somethi ng I wish no one in the world had to do. We met that evening at her dorm. I remember we were out back, and I said, ' Sara , you ' re not go ing ·to believe thi s. My test came back positi ve ... I have the virus.' It hun so bad. " We sat there fo r hours. She cri ed so hard she shook from head to toe. We were just kids. Sophomores in coll ege. We had our whole li ves ahead of us, so much to look fo rward to. And in just a few seconds . .. it all melted away." Sara tri ed for a time to stay with Lynn. but they beli eved there was no way it was go ing to work. Once she le ft, he dropped out of school. " I basically dropped out of li fe. I was in denia l, then I was angry, then I hit rock bOllom. I was very depressed. I' d sleep 15 hours a day. Someti mes I wou ldn ' t leave the house fo r a week . 1 drank beer and ate junk food and watched a lot of TV." In no time at all , Lynn ballooned to 230 pound s. He tri ed stemming the tide, bu t there was no stopp ing it.

The Breakthrough

7

"I'd go 10 a support group meeting every once in a whil e, but I wasn' t really inlO it. I knew I needed he lp, bu t I didn ' t rea ll y wa nt help. One of Ihe things I' ve learned is that no one can help yo u until you've dec ided you' re ready fo r il." He also learned th at telling peop le he was HrV-posili ve meant fac ing almost certain dread and rejection. " I remember when one of my fri ends fou nd out, he asked me to meet him at a restau rant. We talked, and he said, ' My fam ily comes first. ' He repeated Ihat phrase four or fi ve li mes. I was n' t foll ow in g what he mean t. It turned out he didn ' t want me coming over to his house any more because he was afraid I wo uld infect hi s wife and children." Lynn ' s response, like so many peopl e in such a situati on, was to pull back. " I learned to j ust keep my prob lems to myself I didn ' t even adm it to myself how mi serab le I was. I ca n look back now and see what a bi g mi stake that was. One of the first steps in overco mi ng adversit y is to honest ly ad mit how YO ll fee l abollt it, to acknowledge th at there is a proble m. But I didn ' t know that then." And so hi s downward spiral con tinued. " I was sick. I was dying. But I wasn' t dyi ng From HTY. I was dying from depress ion. In a way, I was killing myself. I' d built a prison for myself and filled it with mi sery. I was so con sumed with negative images, I didn ' t care about myse lf or an yone around me. It just snowball ed. It gOI out of control. I felt helpless, like I was stuck in the middl e of a huge storm , and I cou ldn ' t move. ';1 knew deep down that I wasn' t really a loser. Yet I was losing. I was waiting to di e. T he doctors told me that's alii had to look forward to . So that's what I was waiti ng fo r. I kept wai ting. And waiting. Two years went past. The n three. Then nine. And I kept wai ting." Lynn wasn't dead. But he wasn' t ali ve either. "That was a very strange place to be. I began to believe that may be thi s HIV was 1I0t going to kill me. And that forced me to face myself and ask a very tough question:

8

Body-for- LIFE

" ' What is the purpose of Illy life?' " It was at thi s point Lynn began searching for answers. He started havin g vivi d dreams of being a com petiti ve athl ete, of be ing strong and ho peful, with li ft:: stretching out in front of him like a bri ght sunlit path, rather than the dark, holl ow tunnel he had been seein g. "One morning- Ihi s was in earl y '97- 1 awoke fro m one of these dreams, went in the bathroom, and looked at mysel f in the mirror. I looked like crap. I felt like crap. And I told myse lf I had to change. It was time to take the bull by the horn s." He hauled himself to a local gy m and began ask in g around for in fo rmati on on how to get in shape. One of the guys in the roo m handed him a copy of one of my publications. " I had never been so fat. I didn ' t know what type of nutrition or exerc ise program I should be foll ow ing. I looked at thi s magazine and rcally liked the way it was writte n. I felt like someone was talking to me and guiding me. " I didn ' t rea li ze it at the time, but what I was ti nding was a lot more th an fit ness advice. 1 could relate to the tone, the language , the attitude of the arti cles. Beyond informati on, I was be ing taught a frame of mind, which in spired me more than a ll the preac hers, teac hers, doctors, and counselors who had tri ed to get through to me be fore." Lynn 's timing couldn ' t have been belter. One of the issues he picked up that spring incl uded information about my contest. Lynn 's competi tive fuse was relit. " It was time for me to show I could be a winn er again ." Ly nn look everythin g he had learned about him se lf, every emotion he had felt , and carried it all into the weight room. " I couldn ' t fight the HI V viru s physically. I mean , you can't pun ch it and beat it up . But every time I fi ni shed a hard workollt, I fe lt like I had won a battle. Every day 1 stuck with my nutrit ion program, I fe lt I had taken one more step to cl imb out of the hole 1 had dug fo r myself. "At the e nd of the first week, I co uld actually fee l a chan ge. I litera ll y fe lt better about myse lf. There wasn' t much of a physical chan ge at th at poi nt ,

The Breakthrough

q

but there was a big mental change . I fe lt good about myse lf: I'd forgo tt en what it was like." Lynn fcl t- finall y- as if hi s life had direction again . "Eac h day I got more and more confident because I was finally movin g fo rward ag<'li n. I was working toward a goal I could be proud or. Even if I didn ' t win the contest, I said to myself, ' Worst-case scenario, I' m gonna be in shape at the e nd of thi s.' I d idn ' t know if I wo uld w in , but I knew I was go nna fini sh, and that, in itself, wou ld be a victo ry." Not only did Lynn 's spirit rev ive, and not o nl y d id hi s body ga in shape and strength , but hi s health- his body's response to the di sease that lived within it- soared. " 1 was-I am-HI V-positi ve. So it was especiall y impo rtant not to depri ve my body of nutrients. I had to restrict ca lories 10 lose a ll the fat I put o n over th e years, so I ate a lot of low-fat, hca lthy food s like chicken, vegetabl es, fruit , potatoes, and nutritio n shakes. ,· It 's a bit awkward at first, but after a few weeks, I got used to it , and it wasn't hard to maintain. Today it's just :1 p:lrl of my life . I just wake up and do the ri ght things and make the right dec isions throughout the day." And the rewards? "When you get in great shape, you have so much more self-estee m. It enables you to hand le things beuer. I'm positive lhat working o ut and rebuilding my body he lped fi ght my depressio n. "Just knowing I was still capable of accompl ishing something gave me confidence. I would come home from the gy m each day and look in the mirror and say, 'A t least olle thing in my life is going right .' That was all I needed to keep going. "Th is may have saved my lifc. I' ve li ved more in the past two years than I did in the e ntire decade before that- a lot more. And I've teamed. Most of a ll , I've learned lhat time lost is lost forever. All those years-my twenti es, esse ntiall y- they were wasted with fru stration and an ger, depress ion and sha me.

10

Body-for-L1FE

"For nine years 1 asked, ' Why me?' I replayed that huntin g accident again and again in my mind. I obsessed about why my fri end didn ' t have hi s sa fety lock on his gun. I wondered how things would have been different if the bu llet hit me in Ihe leg instead of go ing throu gh my gut. " I was so angry thi s happened 10 me. I didn ' t do an ythin g to anyone. I didn ' t deserve th is. And then, after going throu gh all that, to find out I was HIV-posili ve .. . it 's impossibl e to understand. It's easy to feel sorry fo r yourse lf. It 's very hard not to become angry and bitte r. "But I learned that obsessi ng about it served no purpose other than to to['lure myse lr. I've had to forgive everyone and everything- my fri end who acci dentally shot me, the doctors, the system that let di seased blood be tran sfused into my body. I had to sel myself free from all th at and look forward, not back." It was literally taking hi s body into hi s own hands that started to set Lynn

free, he to ld me. All he wanted in the beginning was to improve his body. He had no idea, he says today, that hi s e nt ire ex istence wou ld be rai sed to a greater level of fulfi ll ment and freedom than he has ever known. "Each day is a gift 10 mc, and I do my best to enj oy it. I smi le a 101, whi ch is someth ing 1 did very little of for nine years. I stay busy. When I was depressed, I used to watc h a lot ofTY. I th ink I watched enou gh TV for the rest of my li fe, so I Iry not to do that now. I go on walks wi th my fian cee, Evey. We go out to dinner. llike to be active. I li ke to be moving. "Each day, 1 try to do something new- to achi eve a goal. I recent ly learned how to in-line skat e and surf." Of all the people I've mel in my life, the "new Lynn " may be the most "consistentl y upbeat" of them all. But why? " Why am I happy? Because I decided to be happy. That 's how simple it is. It 's a choice I made. Then I actcd on that choice. It took me 10 years to figure out that this was all up to me, and me alone. " It might sound strange to say that part of making that choice, of dec iding to change, is learning how to surrender. I don ' t mean surrender as in givin g up. I mean surrendering the negati ve emotions that hold so many of us back."

The Breakthrough

11

Blame, shame, resentment. These are the fee lings Lynn is talking about. The first step to taking your life into your ow n hand s, he says, is to opel/ those hands and empt y them of the unhea lthy, unproducti ve things they've bee n clingin g to for so long. "Compla ining makes you more mi serabl e and just makes problems worse . None of the probl ems I' ve faced ever went away by compl ainin g. When you comp lain , you attract other peopl e who co mplain. That 's a dead-end street. " But it works the other way, too. When you decide to be happy, adventurous, and open- minded, you will find Olher people who have made the sa me dec ision." Sti ll , there remains the di sease. Lynn has been Hl V-pos iti ve fo r over 15 years. The vi ru s is there, threaten in g to take hi s life at any time--{)r so some would say. " I don't look at it that way. I' m not dying; I'mli villg. I'm doin g the th ings I want to do. I'm doing what I can to help other peopl e. I've got a beaut iful fiancee who loves me, and I appreciate every day." Lyn n sees the world, and pcop le, in a different way now. "Because of what I've been through , I' ve learned to look at other peopl e- really look at them. For nine years of my li fe, I Sat on the side li nes and just observed. I watched people. I mean literally. Sometimes I'd go to a place like the mall , where I'd sit fo r hours and just watch peop le go past. "And do you know what I saw- what I see? I see most othcr people dyi ng. Think abo Lit it , none of us is go ing to li ve fo rever. We' re all here fo r onl y a certai n amount of time. But how many of us li ve as if that is true? I think a lot of peop le need to be taken aside and told, ' Look , you've got onl y so much more time to li ve. Make the most of every day, starting now- li ve as you will wish you would have li ved when you're dyin g." Lynn not onl y lives each day, but he also sets goals, and he dream s. "My favo rite dream now is one where I see my self as an old man. I'm healthy and wise, out on a lake fi shing with my grandchildren. The sun is selting, and the gentl e summer breeze is getting cool. A storm is comin g. Off in

12

Body-for- L1FE

the distance, my wife waves at us, signa li ng it's time to come back to shore. I ease the boat around. As we head back to the dock, I take the opportunity to tell my grandkid s a very va luabl e lesson the ir granddad learned the hard way. " I tell them that someti me during their voyage through life, they ' re gonna hit a storm. And even though thin gs mi ght get ve ry rough , they should never stop goi ng forwa rd. They mu st never give up, not even fo r a moment. If you drop anchor, I te ll them , the storm will tear you apa rt. Look fo rward, and you will see the beaut iful rainbow on the other side. Keep lOOki ng forward and move in that direction , and yo u \Vii! make it through."

She Lifted Herself Back Up

Da nielle Coddington, a 33-year-old criti cal-care nurse and mother of two, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, shows that women can experience breakthroughs wi th thi s Program as well. Her story, althou gh not a li fe-or-death batt le like Lynn' s, is inspiring- her comeback is one many can re late to. You see, up until a few years ago, Dani elle had done a good job of rolling with the punches.

The Breakthrough

13

Her li fe, li ke cve ryonc's, had its share of lipS and dow ns, She had al ways done a good job of rebounding from setbacks and overcoming obstacles. But a ner her marriage broke up, she found it difficult to get back on track. "My li fe was out of control." ex plains Danie ll e .• " knew I needed to do something, but I didn ' t know what. , was lost. " Fortunat ely, Danie ll e's brother recogni zed that she needed he lp. He brought her 11 copy of my video. Body oj Work, and simp ly said, "You need to see this:' Th at ni ght , ancr putting her kids to bed, she watched the video . .. , couldn ' t be lieve what I was scci ng- I fe lt so much hope-I connected with the true stories of thc real people featured in the mov ie, and , al l of a sudden, I didn 't feci a lone anymore, I became determined, ri ght then and there, to get control of my body and life, so I acce pted Bi11"s c hall cnge." Likc many olhers, Dan ielle's desire was fu cled by looking at her be fore photo. '" was shockcd! I didn ' t reali ze how out of shape I was, espec iall y Illy backside." Dani elle wrote out her goals and got started. "Within a couple wee ks, my body began to change, I could see it. Others cou ld see it. And I felt Tllore opt imistic. I couldn ' t be lieve how fast my body was changing. In on ly three month s, I lost 21 pounds of fal. Now I'Ill in beller shupe than I was in col1 ege- 1 can weur u bikini agai n and not be embarrassed." Dani cll c's success is, in part, due to the support she received from her two children, Rhiannon, seven, and Hun ter, fi ve. "They stood by my side all the way and were as exci ted ' IS I was by the changes. They Roll erblade with me whil e I run , And when I felt like giving lip. they would encourage me to continue, I can' t tcll you how many times I' ve heard, ' You can do it. MOlll my, Don't quit !'" Dani elle is now inspiring others who ha ve bee n searc hing fo r a way 10 lose fat and fina ll y get in shape, "A t the hospital whcre I work , the doctors didn't be li eve my goa ls were possible. They had sec n photos of others who accepted Ihe chall enge, bu t they

14

Body-for- LIFE

didn ' t bel ieve the before and after pictures were real, IIlltil they saw mine. Now they all want to know what I did to achi eve such dramatic results. And they' re letting me he lp them. "When I look back to the moment when I chose to accept Bill's challenge, I see it may have been the most importan t dec ision of my life. Had my brot her not shared the Body of Work video with me, l'm not sure where I wou ld be now. I' m not sure if I woul d have eve r lifted my self back up, and I don' t eve n want to thin k about how that would have arrected my childre n. ';So it's not just that I look better now than I did before, I feel better- I' m a slronger person, and that's made me a better mother."

Now They're Loving Li fe - - - - - -

Fred and Renee Scurti, from Parker, Colorado, were doing "okay"'-or so Ihey though t. Fred was mak ing a good li ving as a manager for a computer company, and Renee was working even harder rai sing their four ch ildren. But they, like man y other peopl e who have accepted my c hallenge, were merely surviving, mther than thriving.

The Breakthrough

15

Their wake-up call came one afternoon last fall as Fred was standing in a grocery store checkout line th umbing through magazines. He picked up a copy of my pub licati on and W"IS struck by the before and after stories and photos of men and women who had completed my 12-week Program. " At first I was skept ical," says Fred. "I couldn ' t imagine that kind of change happening in as little as 12 wee ks. Bu t all those pi ctu res- there must have been 50 or 60 of them- I figured they coul dn ' t be fak e. I thought to myse lf, 'There's gOll a be something to thi s.'" Fred raced home. Excit ed to show Renee, he pulled out the magazine and sa id. " We've got to do this." Renee, too, was awestruck by the transformations. She took one look at Fred and repli ed. "Let's go fo r it." "That dec ision was one of the most important of our li ves. I'd been in bad shape for a long time," ex plains Fred. "Fi fteen years ago, when I was in my earl y twe nti es, I was in prctt y good condi tion, but a back injury changed that. " Fred drastica ll y gcared back hi s level or acti vit y. The onl y exercise he all owed hi mse lf was the occasional jog or bike ride. But he kept eating as he .dways had. Slow ly, but surely, year after year. he covered himself with layer upon layer of fat. " 1 felt terrible, ph ysicall y and emotionall y. I was constantl y depressed. I remember think ing for the lirst ti me in my life, maybe I shoul d just acce pt the fact I wasn' t meant to be in good shape. I mea n, I was exe rcising once in a whi le, eatin g a low-fat , hi gh-carboh ydrate diet, but I kept sin ki ng in1 0 wo rse and worse shape. And I couldn ' t understand why. "My kids were gell ing 10 the age where they wa nted to start doi ng stre nuous th ings- mounll.lin biki ng, hiking, soccer-and I couldn ' t keep up . I was mise rabl e. I knew I could do beller as a father, as a husband, as a person." Renee was in no better condi tion than her hu sband. " As a wife and mother, somebody else's needs were always in fro nt of mine," she says . " (never gave mllch thought to my ow n physica l well -being." After acceptin g the cha ll enge, the coup le took pi ctu res of themselves- not an easy thing to put themselves through, as they di scovered .

16

Body-for- L1FE

" I'll never forget the big day we went to pick up those developed pictures," says Renee. " We sat in the car and pu ll ed out the photograph s ... our jaws just dropped . We just ... we ll , yo u just don ' tlook at yourse lf like that ... not when you loo k the way we looked. I mean, there we we re, in li vin g co lor. But as painful as looking at those pi ctu res was , it defini tel y li t a spark and moti vated us to get started- now." With fou r kids and Fred 's full -tim e job, findin g bot h the time and the place to work out together was a cha lle nge. "Trying to juggle everyone 's schedul e- Renee's, the kids', and mine-to work out a way to get to the gym, we just couldn 't seem to do that. And there was no question that Renee and I were going to work out together. We were in thi s together." Their so lut ion was to fashion thei r own "transfor mation studio" in the ir basement. "Some free we igh ts, a bench, just the basics," says Fred. The ir workout ti me became the earl y morni ng, be fore the kids woke up, or in the evening, after the kids went to bed around e ight o 'c loc k. " I was concerned that I just wouldn ' t have the energy 10 fit th is into my li fe. I was already so tired all the time. But I soo n fo und ou t that once I gOI over Ihe ini tial hump of bei ng ve ry worn out in the very begi nning, 1 had 10 times the energy I ever had before. Getting up an hour earl y was not a probl em at ,i ll. As a matter of fact, il happened without even setti ng an alarm. " ''The beau ty of doin g everything at home," says Renee, "was Ihal we didn ' t have to depend on anyone el se but ourselves. If we fail ed, it was going to be our fau lt , and no one e lse's." That took care of the exerc ise side of the program. As fo r chan ging the ir eating habits, it was Fred who had the bi ggest concerns. " I thought at ti rst that I was gonna be starving on some kind of diel wilh thi s Program. BUll soon saw how wrong I was. We went from eating th ree times a day to eating six limes a day. We were never hungry. And we were cari ng righl. It was wonderfu l. Right away I thought, 'Wow, 1 can reall y do thi s. I can really stick with thi s.' "

The Breakthrough

17

" At fi rst, we didn ' t te ll a soul," says Renee. " But after a couple of weeks, we began to see the changes ou rse lves. We realized this was something we should be sharing with our fr iends and famil y. " And then it kind of snowball ed. Everybody we told became involved with our success. They kept checki ng up on us, and that made it even more lant to succeed. We did n' t want to let anyone down."

impo r~

"Commitment," says Fred. "That was one of the main reasons we dec ided to do this together. I knew if I quil, I was quitting 0 11 Renee as we ll. And I knew that as long as she was in on it , I was in on it, too." " It starts wi th being in shape, gelling physica ll y fi t," says Fred. " But the end result is something totall y different , far beyond that. It 's how you fee l about yourself. The leve l of your confi dence." " I don 't mean to sound too me lodramatic," ex plains Renee, " but when you change your life like thi s, it has a rippl e e ffect on everyone e lse around YO ll . Becau se I feel better about myself, my children feel better abou t themsellles." "Renee ulways had confidence and a strong personality," says Fred. " But now she's more confi den t. She's happier. and she radiates that happiness throughou t our home. I not ice it. The children not ice it. It's just chan ged every· thing about how we fee l as a fa mil y. "Our rehlli onship now is ni ght and day from what it was be fore. We' ve bee n married for 15 years, but we ' ve ne ver done anyt hing like thi s be fore. Together we lost 98 pounds of fat (Fred lost 57 and Renee lost 4 [) in just over three months, and we ga ined mu scle tone, strength , and energy. "We accompl ished th is goal as u team. and that's been wonderful fo r our re lationship," ex plai n Fred and Renee. "We were doin g fi ne be fore this. We didn ' t have any great problems. BUI I can see now Ihal we were j ust liv ing life; now we' re lovillg life,"

18

Body·For- LIFE

The End of the Beginning When that first conlest was over- I was awestruc k by how many great peopl e there are in Ihi s worl d who don 'I even knoll' ,hey're grea/. They've bee n

convi nced they don' t deserve to look and feel better. So they've g iven up . Once I became aware of how widespread Ih is probl em was, I reali zed my work had just begun- Ihat "voice" told me I had to do eve n morc. I had to share th is experi ence wi th everyone I CQul d, all ow in g others 10 see what kind of change is poss ible for lhcm, 100. Fi rst, I decided I would make a doc ume nt ary mov ie, Body of Work, to spread the word . The movie is a celebration of what is best about the hum an spi rit. It 's abou llhe g rowth and goodness we go through when we, with a ll our inner strength , embrace and overcome those cha lle nges . Body of Work h as been seen by mort;: thai I t wo million people .. . and countin g. I offer it free o n video to an yone-allyone- who agrees to make a $ 15 donation to the Make-A- Wi sh Fo undati on-

if aner

watc hin g the mov ie

they feel lhat they received someth ing of value-if they were inspired o r enli ghtened. The amount of these donati o ns is currentl y over $ 1,250,000 and conli nll es 10 climh every day. ( By the way. it would be my pleasure to send YOll a free Body of Work video, too. If you' re interesled, call 1-800-297-9776 IPept. #24J o r visit our website at www.bodyforlife.com.) The movie ha s in spired even more peopl e 10 accept my Chall e nge to app ly the Body-for- L1 FE Program and all ow illO help them rebuild the ir bodi es and strengthen thei r li ves. Mo re than 200,000 men and women- nearl y fou r limes the rirsl year 's 10 lal-ent ered last year. It looks like Ih is year's to tal shou ld pass, believe it o r not, Olle million. I' m de termined to he lp each and everyone of these people ex pe rie nce the kind of break throug h Lynn , Dan ielle, Fred and Renee, and so many oth ers have ac hi eved. As yo u' ll di scover, that's the purpose of tllis boo k- to help you learn prec ise ly how to beco me ou r nex t rea l-life success story, in as litt le as 12 weeks.

The Breakthrough

19

Crossing the Abyss Th ere is a world of difference between knowing what to do and actually doing it. I consider it a pri vil ege when people lei me help them. I love it when they

succeed. BUI as numerous as the success sto ries are, I' m repeatedly reminded of the fact th at there arc slill mi ll ion s of people who have yel to di scover the ir true potentia l. Many of them know how to exercise. Some know how to eal ri ght , 100. In

f~IC L

thi s vast and ever-expandi ng population of people who have yet to successfull y

change even includes doctors and professors who know al l about the human body.

What these peop le arc mi ssing is the abili ty to apply knowledge. With out that skill, it does n' t matter how much you know. you ' ll be stranded at th e edge

of an infini te chasm I call/he abyss . Until you discover how to cross the abyss, you will strugg le. You will h
thriving, nol merely surviving? We ll , that's what I' m about to share with you.

21

But before I do, we need to have a littl e "heart-to-heart talk ." You see, as you may ha ve already noticed, thi s book is about much more than physical fitn ess~ it 's

about life.

I' ve di scovered that any di sc ussion of the correc t way to get in shape and stay in shape is, in actual ity, a discuss ion of how you've li ved your life up to Ihi s poin t an d how you wi ll li ve it in the future. There fore, to help you make the dramat ic changes in your body and li fe, which you do have the potent ial to make, I'm goi ng to have to ask you some ve ry personal question s throu ghout this section. And you're goi ng to have 10 look in s id e~deep inside-· for the honest an swers. Thi s, in and of ilse lf, is a chall enge, but il is vilall y imporlant. You see, the clramat ic tra nsfo rmations, like the ones you read about in the last sect ion, stat1cd with honest re nectioll , not with merely buyi ng some homcexerc ise gadget, nor stocking up on the latest " miracle pill." Superfi cia l approaches like that lIever trul y work. Real change always starts 011 the insicle. And th at is where you ' re goi ng to have to find the answe r to the first question: /-Im'e YOII lIIade rhe de cision to challge?

Most people I ask te ll me they ' ve made Ihi s dec ision. But how many people ha ve trul y dec ided to c hange? Very few. Why? Because there 's a bi g difference between deciding someth in g and havin g reasons 10 act ua ll y do it. When you mak e a decisi on to mak e a change al1d you know your reasons. you wi ll harness the force- th e desire to make some thin g happe ll . So now I ask: Whar are YOllr reaSOIl S for II/akillg rhe decisioll to challge?

You see, it's one thing to say you' ve decided to lose 30 pounds of rat and get in shape. It 's a whol e other th ing to have your doctor tell you you' ll be dead in a year and never see your chi ldren's ch ildren if you don 't lose 10 pOllnds, pronlo. J know that YO ll know deep down in side you have a number of reasons for

deci din g to change. I can 't tell YOLi ex actly what they are, but I call te ll you they are there.

22

Body-for-L1FE

Here's a question that will begi n to help you find your reasons:

Wh ell yOIl look at yourself, do you hOllestly like what you see? It 's important to really look. Since we all "see" o urselves every day, we often don' t notice if we ' re slippi ng. If we' re not careful, before lon g, the image we have of ourselves in our minds will not be in sync with reali ty. I suggest you also have someone take a photo of you , stand ing relatively relaxed with your arms at your sides, in a pa ir of shorts o r a sw imsuit. Get that photo deve loped and look at it. Here are a few more question s that will he lp you identi fy your reasons: How do yOIl feel deep dowlI inside?

How do yO/l really feel abollt yourself? Are yOll cOIifjdellt, energetic, and strong? Do YO Il often \\Ionder ff YO ll 're 011 the right path? What are the pros and COilS of contill lling ill the directioll yOIl 're going? Wou ld you like to create a brighterflltllre ? When you answer these questi ons, your reasons for making the decision to change will become clear. When they do, wri te them down o n a pi ece of paper, and read what you've wri tten fi rst thing in the morning and again at ni ght before you go to sleep. Do thi s every day throug hout your 12-week Program . These reason s will re main your g uiding li ght, your beaco n, during the j ourney you have now decided to beg in.

Focusing Your Future Vi sion Once you 've identifi ed you r reasons for making the decision \ 0 change, the next questi on I need you to answer is th is:

What are the five 1II0st important, specific accomplishmell ts yOIl need

10

make, with ill the IIext 12 weeks, for YOllto be pleased with the progress af your body alld life ? Please take just a few minutes to think thi s one through, then cont inue.

Crossing the Abyss

23

If you found it easy to identi fy five specific things you kn ow have to occur belween today an d 12 weeks from now for you 10 be pleased with the progress of your body and li fe, thaI's a good sign. It means you' re looking forwa rd and thai you have what I call fUfure vision . If you st rugg led a bit- if Y0U couldn ' t qui ck ly identify fi ve spec ific accompli shments bu t you at least ide ntified two or three you were certain of, then you' re doing prell y good, but there's room fo r improvement. Now, if yo u fo und it ex tre me ly diffi c ult (0 co me up with a ny spec ific an swe rs to th is ques ti on- if it caug ht YO ll co mpletely off g uard- yo u are not alone . The truth is, most people ha ve a ve ry hard time answe ring th is see min gly simple question. It's j ust not so met hing most people foc us on. Howevcr, because we want to change- because we want to mo ve forwa rd- we need to make sure we' re looking Jorwa rd. In ot her word s, we need to foc us on our future vision. Let me ex pl ain. We all have three lypeS of vision- hi stori cal, prese nt, and fut ure . Where you arc in life and where you will go from here has a lot to do with what Iype of vision you allow to dominate your thoughts, decisions, and act ion s. A person whose actions are dominated by histori cal vision be lieves that just about everything Ihal 's important, enj oyabl e, or sig ni fica nt in hi s or her life has already happen ed. These fol ks spend a lot of time refl ect ing on fhe good old days- tal king abou t hi gh schoo l pat1ies, prom night, the fumbl e they recovered in the big footba ll game, how they used 10 be in great shape. Used

/0

be. T hat's the

mant ra of people wit h histo rical vision. It 's as if the ir li ves are over. They would rather look backward than forward beca use it'5 eas ier 10 re mini sce about where th ey've been than to try to figure o ut where th ey' re going. Peopl e wit h Ihal kind of focus are reluctan t to accept new ideas or opportunities, and they have trouble st ic kin g wi th anything cha ll enging. What's worse is that indi vidu als with hi sto ri cal vision are very unco mfort abl e with the growth of others because it threatens the structure and appare nt

24

Body-for-LIFE

equilibriu m of the ir own li ves, They are un com fortable wi th evolu tion, so a pos itive change in those aro und them (husband, wi fe, frie nd s) is someth ing they fear. T he fact is they probab ly feel, at some level, tha t they' re go ing io be left beh ind if they don't start moving the ir own behinds. !\nd the truth is, they' re probab ly right. The fact th at your eyes are lookin g at these words on th is page right now, and you and I are sharing thi s learni ng ex perience- a learni ng experie nce about how to crea te a bette r future- makes it very un like ly your thought s are dominated by hi storical vision. (If you were a past-based th inker, you' d probably be watc hin g reruns of Gilligall:~ Island or whatever's on the boob tu be at thi s moment , instead of putting fort h a focused e ffort to grow and learn .) However, I've di scovered that far too man y people who want to create a better body and more ful fillin g li fe are dominated by what I call prese nt vision. They aren' t obsessed wit h go ing bac k in time, but ne ither are they focused nearl y enough on the future. These people have tremendous pote ntial to improve, rap idly. They just need guidance- so meone to help them look forward in stead of focusing so mu ch on Ihi s momen t. Peop le whose da ily ac tion s are governed by future vision are, on the othe r hand , continu al ly grow in g. They are consta ntly tak ing on new and bigger challe nges. T hey' re a lways creati ng, modifyin g, a nd improv in g the ir vis ion of the future. What has happened to such peo pl e in the past is not ignored or den ied- those experiences are used to develop ski ll s that he lp them get where th ey want to go. But it's always where they're go ing that remain s th e primary focus. When yo u develop a strong futu re vision , you don ' t ha ve 10 fo rce yourself to set goal s, your mi nd just compels you to sel them. And every ti me you accompli sh an o bjecti ve, it 's not the end of anything; it's the begin ni ng, the starting poin t for another stage of an ongo in g journey of progress, developmen t, growth , and adventure. Wh ich br in gs li S back 10 yo ur res pon se to my last questi on. If you could not qu ickl y a nd decis ively id enti fy five spec ific thin gs whi c h you need 10

Crossing the Abyss

25

accompli sh withi n the nex t 12 wee ks fo r yo u to be pleased wi th your progress in life, now is the tim e 10 foc us yo ur future vis io n by an swering thi s ques ti on: What challges ill )'Ollr bod)' {lnd life do you wish yOll could create within ,lie lIext 12 weeks? Take a few minutes to think it over. Be open, honest, and spon taneous. Please do not be concerned about what other people mi g ht wan t you to want. The things whic h come to yo ur mind qu ick ly- the things that conjure up powerful emot ions and get you as excited about your future as a kid is o n Christm as morn ing are yo ur dreallls. When you im ag ine them actuall y happening, you' ll feel the energy. Now, [ need you to take the five most exci ting things you come up wi th and tu rn them into powerful , spec ifi c statement s. I need you to wrile the m down. For exa mpl e, if you thought "gain muscle" and " lose fat ," you mi g ht write the fo ll owing sentences: " Within 12 weeks, I wi ll gain 10 pounds of muscle." And "Wi thin 12 weeks, I wi ll lose 20 pound s of fat." By composing sentences li ke these- by defi ning and stating your wish- and by selling a dead line (within 12 weeks), you' ll be tran sformi ng your dreams into goals. Yo u' ll be taki ng a bi g step toward makin g them happen. These dreams are no longer lodged somewhere deep in the shadows of yo ur subcon scious mind. They' re now be ing pulled out inlO the li ght of day. T hey' re now th ings YO Ll are very consc iou sly aware of. You know what? Now that you dug 'em up, you can 't pu t 'e m back. You ' re go in g to think about these thi ngs all the time. And that's good. You should think about the m because that 's part of the process of making your dreams come true. However, you must tran sform your dreams into goals and write (hem down . It reall y does work. Here's proof: Bac k in 1953, a Harvard University study showed that three percent of the students graduating that year actuall y wrote down the ir specifi c career goals. Twenty years laler, a team of researchers interviewed the class of ' 53 and found that the three percelll who had writte n dow n their goa ls were worth more fina ncia lly than the other 97 percent combined.

26

Body-far- LIFE

It 's very important to understand the diffe re nce between drea ms and goals. Dream s are thin gs you wish fo r- things yo u enjoy thin king about bu t rcally don't know whe n or if they' ll happe n. Goa ls, on th e other hand, are spec Ific th ings you have dec ided you need to acco mpli sh with in :.~ clea rl y de fin ed peri od of tim e. For exam pl e, "So meday I' m goin g 10 get in great shape" is a dream. "With in 12 weeks, I will lose 20 pounds o f fat" is a goa l. Here 's another important point: Your goa ls co me From your dreams. (I'll bet you did n' t realize that , did yo u?) Powerful dream s of pos itive chan ges in your li fe add even mOre fu el to your tra nsformation. But you must create goals that are in sy nc wit h your dreams in order to move fo rward in your life and feel good about yourself, your progress, and your future potenti al. So methin g e lse, while we ' re on the subjec t: When you accompli sh a goa l, it helps your drea ms become even more inspiring, whi ch, in turn, creates eve n more goa ls and more desire. When you begi n the process of sett ing and ach iev· ing goa ls, yo u'll im mediate ly begin creati ng grander drea ms. And that creates optim ism, whi ch feel s prett y darn good in case you 've forgotten. When yo u're optimi sti c, you can ' t he lp but foc us on the futu re. It' s just so exc iting, yOll can' t wait to get there. Are yo u starting to see how all that works? Can yo u see that when yo u don ' t set and ach ieve spec ific goa ls, you can' t create greater dream s, and when you stop dreamin g, you don ' t have anything to look fo rward to, so you don' t look forward , you look dow n, or back? Vou should set goa ls that are ambi ti ous yet atta inable . You mi ght not know where the limi t is, espec ia ll y if you' re gett ing int o an area where you don't have a lot of ex peri e nce or knowledge. So here's a tip on how to set your goals: Find an ex am ple- so meone who has accom plished what yo u want to
Crossing the Abyss

27

great place to stan because that person is livin g proof it can be done. (Of cou rse, you can look at what others have accomplished to he lp you set goa ls in all areas of your life.) Once you create your li st of goals, don't just put it away and never look at it agai n. Hang on to it and read it first th ing in the morning whe n you get up and again at ni gh t before you go to sleep, every day. Try rec iting each statement aloud as if yo u were describing your own future to someone else. Speak with total confidence and assurance. Practice el iminatin g doubt from your to ne of vo ice. And don't desc ri be your fu ture success as something you "hope" to ach ieve. Pi cture it as something yo u absolutely will acco mpli sh. You see, hope is not a strong e nough emot ion to create the des ire you' ll need to keep you go in g. You mu st be convinced that what your im agi nati on has created is your future real ity. In additio n to reading your goal s fi rst thing in the morning and again at night , focus on your fu ture vis io n th roughou t the day as well. For exam ple, if you're doing 20 minutes of aerobic exerc ise on a stati onary bike (whi ch bores me sill y, so I have to focus on someth ing else), use that time to focus on your fut ure vision. Rather than "zoning out" or thinking about how much fu n you had al lhat paJ1y last Saturday, think about the exc iling jollrney you are e mbarking upon. Maybe you need an actual image of yo ur new se lf to he lp you focus. Find o ne- a photo in a magazine, perhaps a before and afte r photo of someone who has made the type of transformation you would li ke to make. Cu t il out and foclls on that im age first thing in the morning and agai n at ni ght. After you look at that image, cl ose your eyes for just a few minut es. See yourself with a strong, lean body; your postu re is good- shoulders back, chest out. c hi n up----a look of confidence, control, and sati sfaction on your face. Think about how proud you wi ll feel when you look at yourself and see the result of your efforts. Forget abou t everything else for a few minutes-think only of your future vision. Fee l your phy sique taking shape. Imagine ot her people seei ng you wi th your new body. See them see ing you. Li sten to what they ' re say ing. Feel the surge of energy and pride.

28

Body-for-LIFE

With practice, you' ll eve ntually become so good at thi s that it will be like watching a movie. You' lI see everythi ng wi th ex hi larat in g clari ty. Remember that everyth ing you do in the rea l world is merely an ex tern al manifest atio n of what has al ready happe ned in your mind . That 's where the relati ve ly we ll -know n maxim, " If your mi nd can conce ive it, yo u ca n achieve it" co mes from. And it's true . In your mind , any thin g is possi bl e. Anything you want to happcn in your life- that you rea ll y want to achicve- you have to rehearse in your mind . You see, when we ' re bo rn , o ur minds have few lim itatio ns. They work unfailing ly fo r us. We' re not born with all thi s fea r and doubt. Those thin gs are learned. We lea rn what we ca n' t do, what we're I/ot capable o f. When we were kids, we beli eved anything was possible. Lim itations, impossibiliti es-these are things our minds become program med to be lieve. But now you know you can change. By teaching yourse lf to believe in your fut ure vis ion, you are pos itioni ng and preparing yourself to move onward and upward- to ascend . And soon when th ings don' t go you r way, you ' ll be able to pick yourse lf up because YO UJ' future vision wi ll be stronger than your sethacks, and it wi ll pull you right back on track. Doin g the pm1 icul ar th ings yOll need to do to move toward that future vis ion wi ll feel right. and YOll wi ll enjoy the comf0l1ing, assurin g fee ling that whatever happens will happen , bu t in the end. you will get where YOLI want, need, and deserve to go.

Transforming Patterns of Action Patterns of act ion are like habit s. They are the "rules" we follow automatiC(llIy- the thin gs we do that we don' t even think about. We've a ll got them.

We have pattern s of action fo r how we work, how we eat , how we re lat.e to ot her peopl e, how we do just abollt everyth ing. Wh at makes a pattern of action good or bad is simply whether it takes us closer to o r pushes us further away from our goal s.

Crossing the Abyss

29

Now th at we've dec ided to change and we've become Illore c lear about our future, we need to look at our patterns of action, which brings us to the nex t important question I need you to answer: Which three pattems of action might prevent YOll frO Ill reaching your goals? For exam ple, if so mcone's goal is to lose 20 pounds of fa t, he wo uld need to stop eating low- nu tri ent, high-caloric foods. Another patte rn of ac tion he might need to get ri d of is skipping workout s. You sec, these hab its will prevent progress , so they have to go- they are what I ca ll " unauthori zed. " Th ink about it and write down the three patterns of action whi ch you believe might hold you back. Once you've done th at, please answer thi s questi on: Which three new patterns do YOII need to establish to reach yOll r goals? For exampl e, if so meone's goal s include ga ining 10 pounds of muscl e, he wo uld need to get in the habit of reg ularl y li fti ng we ight s. He might need to start eat ing more often and gett ing more sleep. You must identi fy both th e patterns you will stop and the new ones you will start. You see, I' ve discovered one of the reasons so many peopl e fail to break thei r bad habits is bec
30

Body-for-LI FE

Overview of How to Cross the Abyss • Make the dec ision to change. • Identify your reason s

10

change and write them down.

• Foclis o n yOllr future vis io n. • Dream of what you wo uld like to achi eve within 12 weeks.

• Transform fi ve of those dream s in to goa ls by g ivin g them a dead line. a way to measure them , and writi ng them down . • Identify three unauthori zed pattern s of action that Illay ho ld YOli bac k and write them dow n.

• Identify three new pattern s of ac ti on that will he lp you reach your goal s and write them down. • Read what you' ve wri tte n first thing in the morning and again at ni ght each and every day o f your 12-week Program.

CrOSSi ng the Abyss

31

Separating Myth from Fact Once the truth is revealed, th e path becomes clear Now you've rcuc hed the point w here you ' re rcady to move forward .

You 've done a g reat deal of thinking so far. You 've answered questions l11os1 people never even ask. And you've learned how

10

cross the abyss.

Al thi s point, we 've j ust gOlla "eal righ t and exerci se."' Ear right al/d exercise. It 's really qu ite s imp le, don' t you think ?

What's that ? You don' t get it? O h, c' mon, what could be more e lementary than "eat rig ht and exercise"? If it were that simple, why is it tha t if you ask 100 d iffere nt "experts,"

you' ll gel l OOdiffe rc ll1 answers? On 101' of lhal, you've gOllhose TV infomercials that cl aim th is o r thai exercise gadget o r miracle pi ll is the answer. All those worko ut videos, dozens of fitn ess magaz ines, .md hu ndred s of books. So we 've got a lot of answers. That 's great, riglll? Well, no. What we ha ve really got is aj unk heap o f fa lse concl usio ns, end-

less contradicti ons, and half-baked exercise and nutri tion theories that are creati ng so much uncerta inty and confusion, most people don' t know w hi ch way to tum .

33

Before you can begin your 12-week transfonnation . you need to clear your lI1 illtJ- lry to furget everything you' ve heard about how to eat ri ght and exerc ise. (It 's a lot easier to pain t a picture on a blank canvas than it is to paint over someone else 's mess.) But some folks have a hard Lime trul y dearing their minds. You see, some of these myths have been lurking around for so long they ha ve just been accepted as truth. Unless they ' re eli minated, they rear their ugly heads whe n you least expect them and threaten to destroy your effort s to build a stronger, leaner, more ene rgetic body. Let's not allow that to happen- let's conquer these myths-let's separate fact from fi ction and create some clarity, ri gh t here, ri ght now, once and for a ll.

Myth: Aerobic s is better for shaping up than weight training. Fact: To transform your physique, you must train with weights. Walk ing around th e block or simpl y climbin g a fli ght of stairs is bette r than j ust silting there doing nothing. But the bes t fo rm of exerc ise, for reshapin g your body, is weight training. Through resisl.mce training, you can also signifi cantl y increase your met abolic rate-the rute at whieh your body bums fa t. As you may already know, whcn you gai n mu scl e, your body requires more energy to maintain that new muscl e. Fat weight doesn' t req uire any energy at all to mainta in- it just sits there. That 's why weigh t training is even superi or to aerobic exerc ise for peopi c who wan t to lose fat : It addresses the core of the problem- the rate at whic h your body uses energy. If you do nothing but aerobic exercise. even if you eat less. your result s will not be optimal. Yes , you may lose we ight. Bu t your overa ll shape wi ll stay the same. If you start an aerob ic exercise prog ram shaped like a pear, the most li ke ly res ult is you wi ll wi nd up looking like a small er pear- which is fine. if that' s what you want. But that' s not what I call a tran sformation. With we ight tra in ing, you 110t onl y burn fat but you can al so chan ge the shape of your body- you can build wider shoulde rs, so your waist looks more

34

Body-for- L1 FE

narrow. You can buil d muscul ar arms; lean , defined abdomin al mu scles; stron g legs; and you become e mpowered, confident, and strong. So even though aerob ic e xerc ise does he lp burn fat , when it comes to transform ing your body, prope r we ight traini ng can ' t be beat.

Myth : If you exercise, it doesn't matter what you eat. Fact: If you exerci se, it matters even more what you eat. More Ameri cans are exerc ising now Ih an ever be fo re. And thai 's got 10 be good news, ri ght ? We must be ma kin g up for those hig h-fat , high-ca loric diets with the posit ive e ffec ts of exerc ise because those effects are just, we ll , so positi ve. Th ink again . Des pite the fa ct tha t more and more peo pl e arc g ivin g exe rcise a try, we' re still seein g a rapi d inc rease in the num be r or Ame ricans \V ho are o bese and wh o are sufferin g from hea lt h probl e ms caused by bein g very "unfit." In fa ct, there are in excess of 58 mill ion clin ica ll y obese men and wome n in Ame rica today, and we spent more than $ 100 bi lli on la st year alone to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes, stro ke, heart d isease, and other ail me nts that are ca used , more ofte n tha n not , by a lack of " fi tness." What I sec are li terall y milli on s of peop le who are complete ly overlooking the fact that phys icall y acti ve individual s need more nut ri ent s than the ir seden tary counterpart s. So Ill an y people are so misinformed about this topic. I wish I could go to e very fitness center in Nort h America and te ll eve ry sin gle person who's exerc isin g- whe ther they' re wa lking or runn ing, sw imm ing or spin nin g, li ft ing we ight s or whatever- th at wi thout opt ima l leve ls of th e nu tri ents your body needs, you arc not goin g to get th e results you' re looking fo r. If you ' re a nything li ke me , you e xercise to create a pos iti ve result , not becau se you've got nothi ng else to do. In fact,

YO ll

may be doing more harm

than good because when you exerci se a nutrient-de fic ient body, you ' re not making it healthi er: You' re actua ll y creat ing a worse nutrient defic iency.

Separating Myth fro m Fact

35

Beli eve me, folks, I've tested thi s thing every way 10 Sunday. I know thou sands of peopl e, man y of whom are probably just li ke you , who had a ll but given up on ever discoveri ng how 10 success full y transform the ir ph ys iques. Many of them had the techni cal information on nutriti on and exercise but couldn ' t cross that abyss we ta lked about earli er. Others had a reason, they sct a goa l, and they were prepared to cross the abyss, but they didn ' t have the correct info rmation- they had mi sinform ation. In eve ry case, so meth ing was mi ss in g, and the person was le ft be liev ing that "Exercise onl y works for people with the ri ght geneti cs," or "There 's somethi ng wrong wi rh my system," or " I mu st have a th yroid hormone proble m or somethin g." I mean , le t's face it. If we give some thin g a solid e ffort , if we reall y put our hea rt s and so ul s into it, not just on ce but time and time again , and it still does n' t work , eve ntua ll y we' re go in g to gel fru strat ed and give up . Workin g hard and goin g nowh e re is unrewardi ng and di spirit ing . It 's do wnright fru strati ng. The botto m line is thi s: If you don' t have the nutri ents in you r syste m to recover, much less improve, following intense exercise, it 's like you ' re fli cking a li ghter with no butan e- you might get a spark but no name. You have to have both- the fuel and the spark. You have to have the materia l for th at fire to burn , and you ha ve to have the spark to create the fl ame. Essentiall y, there are a bunch of peopl e out there wit h blistered thumbs just slapping away at a li ghter and burning ou t th e flint beca use there 's no fuel in the ir bodi es to create combustion. T he res ull, naturall y, is frustration. Imag ine if you we re holding a li ghter and yo u just sat there going fl ick, fl ick. flick. }lick- and nothing happened. Eventuall y you ' d say, "Screw thi s. Thi s lighter does n' t work." And you ' d throw the th in g away. We ll , thi s is what too Ill any peop le do with the idea of exe rcise. Th ey gi ve it a go. without feed ing themse lves prope rl y. and the n they qui t in despair. However, it does n' t have to be th at way. By not becomi ng a victim of the myth that exercise alone is all you need to get fi t- by acceptin g the fac t that

36

Body-for· LI FE

optimal nutrit ion is just as impo rt ant as exercise-you will be one stcp cl oser to achiev ing the leve l of success you ri ghtfull y deserve.

Myth : If women lift weights, they' ll get "bulky." Fact: Resistance exercise helps women create lean, toned bodies. The num ber of women using free we ight s in America has more th an doubled inl he past 10 years, from less tha n e ight mill io n in 1988 to more thun 17 mill io n in 1997. Almost ha lf the compet itors who have success full y compl eted my 1999 Transformation Cha ll enge are women- that's lip from 5 percent the first year and 20 pe rcen t the second . And let me te ll you, thei r transformat ions are spectacubr! Very often. th ey cOlllplerely change the shape of the ir bodics. That' s partiall y because fat takes up fi ve timcs as much space as mu scle. Th is mcans if you replace the fat on your hips or thi ghs with the same weight in muscle. your thi ghs wi ll get much sma ller. Womcn worried about " bul king up" with weights need to understand th is. It 's your body composi tion that determines ho w yo u look. By repl ac ing fa t with muscl e, you ca n make an astounding transformati o n without fee lin g weak and unhca lt hy. Wome n sho uld actua ll y be concc rned about not ha vi ng eno ug h mu scle, rather th an too muc h.

Myth : Weight training is onl y for young athl etes. Fact: People of all ages should be weight trai ning. I[ we don't work o ut , we lose mu scl e mass as we g row older. And , believe it or not , th is process beg ins kic king in at about age 25 ! Th is is when most men and women start see ing the ir body- hH Icvels inc rcase. From hi s carl y th irties to his mid-s ixties, th e average Ameri can man's body- fat leve l often doubl es, frLl I1l about 18 percent to 36 percent. In th at same time fram c, the average Amc rican woman' s body fa t can bul ge fro m 33 percent to 44 percent. Okay. We get olclcr, we get fatte r. We get fatter. we lose mu scle Separating Myth from Fact

1l1as~.

We lose

37

mu scle mass. we lose strength. We lose strengt h, and we do indeed become fra gile , wea k, and prone to a host of ph ysica l di sabili ties. But thi s is not inev itab le . Recent uni versit y slUd ies show that weight trai ning makes a signill can t con tri bution to the qua lity of life of anyone, even- and oftcn, espec ially- those in the ir potenti al go lden years. A study at Tufts University showed that among a group of men between 60 and 72 years o ld , a three-day-a-week we ight-trai ni ng progra m ca used an average in crease in fl exibility and strength of up to 200 percent. (So much for the no nse nse about weight trai ning mak ing you " muscle-bou nd." Stud ies like th is show qui te the oppos ite- that the prope r use of free we ights increases the body 's strength and Il ex ibility.) Fortu nate ly, agi ng baby boomers are starting to catch on. Stati stics show that th e largest recent su rges in exercising, incl ud ing weigh t tra ining. among the America n popul ation is by men and women over the age of 50. T he fact of the mauer is, you don' t have to have some type of ad va nced level of fi tness or some spec ial skill before you can beg in tra ini ng with weigh ts. You don' , ha ve to go through some type of specia l conditi oning before you step into a we ight room. No mattcr what you r current level of II tness is-whether you' re a beg inner or yo u've been working o ut fo r years-if you're hea lt hy,

YO ll

are ready to step in to the we ight room right now.

Myth: The longer yo u exercise, the better. Fact: Too much exerci se prevents results. Thi s myth is one I baule daily. The workou ts I recommend are brie r. int ense, and hi ghl y e ffect ive. They stimul ate the muscles and burn fa t. And they take less than four hours a week. That's it. That's all you need. And despite what so many people be lieve, working out more is not better. It 's reall y not. I've learned fro m co un tless ho urs of sc ienti fic resea rch, perso na l ex perience, and most importan tly, from thousa nd s of peop le in the rea l world thaI work ing o ut

38

100

muc h ac tuall y takes us furt her away fro m ou r goa ls.

Body-for- LI FE

Not o nl y is it hard o n the body but it is also very drainin g on th e mind. Bri ef, intense peri ods of exe rc ise produ ce impress ive ph ys ica l result s whil e ac tu all y clea rin g th e mind, rel iev ing s tress, and all ow in g us to foc us o n accompli shing the d ay's go;.lI s. (Thai sound s good , does n ' t it ?) Your workouts should provi de the precise alllount o f stimulati o n needed to tri gge r an adapta ti o n res pon se. You work Ollt wi th weights o nl y three days a week and do a spec ial kind of aerobic trainin g three days a week on alterrmtin g days. No mo re. No less. Once you stimu lat e the mu scl e, yo u need to move on and s tart th e recovery process beca use th at is where th e mag ic happens. ( I' ll ex pl ain that " mag ic" in a minut e,) With exercise, as wi th so man y thin gs, it's no t as simple as " the more you pu t in , the more you gel back." There is a point of dimini shing return s beyond whi ch, if you keep pu shing your body, it will begi n working against you, I've found most people who work out a lot and ha ve lillie to show for it rarely think work in g out less cou ld produce bette r result s fa ster. Instead , they work out longe r and more o rten, c learl y under the fal se ass ul11piion that more is beller. ( Pl ease don' t make thi s mi stak e!)

Myth: Muscles grow wh ile yo u' re working out. Fact: Muscles grow while you're resting and recuperatin g. As I alluded 10 en rii er, nn inl ense we ight -train ing work out is just the spark- the rea l mag ic happen s later, not whil e you're working out but whi le you ' re restin g. Wilh that in mind , let's take a closer look at w hat we reall y want 10 happen during a we ight-trainin g worko ut. During the wo rkout. we ' re try ing to Sli ghtl y d amage the mu sc le fibe rs by overl oadin g th em. [ don' t wnnllo ge t inlo a bunc h of compli caled anatom y and such, but w hen you work out w ith free weights prope rl y, you cause mi cro-traum a to th e targeted mu scl e ti ssue. On ce thaI occu rs, Ihe bod y responds by mobil iz in g it s mu scle-rebui ldin g workforce. Imagine a mu scl e cell as a s tructure, n building. And im agi ne exercise as a

Separating Myth from Fact

39

sli g ht earthquake . After th e tre mor causes structural damage to the buildin g, a repair team has to come in and rebuild it. Thi s is esse ntiall y whal happens aft er an e ffective free-we ig ht workout. Yo u slightl y damage mu sc le cel ls; the n yo ur body mob ili zes to fix that dam age. Th is repair work requires e nergy that , under the ri g ht c irc um stances, will be pull ed from yo ur slOred body fat. Thai 's anoth e r reason e ffective weighl train in g will he lp you burn fat. You ' ll aCluall y tap into the e nergy sittin g dormant in fa t and use it to fuel the g ro wth of mu scle whe n you follow thi s Prog ram . There's more 10 Ihi s. o f course, including the importan ce of nu tri ents whic h are probab ly nOI go ing to be found in that sto red body fat - nutri ents s uc h as amino ac id s (w hic h come from qualit y prole in ). vitamin s, min eral s, c reatine, and o ther esse nlial raw malerial s needed 10 build a beller bod y. I cannot emph asize enou gh how important il is to g ive your mu scles time for Ih is process to go full c ircl e . If yo u work o ut agai n be fore th e mu sc les ha ve had lime 10 rebuild , yo u wi ll sho rt-c ircuit the reco very process. And Il1 al's not good. Lei's go back to that earthquake anal ogy o ne more time . Im ag ine if thai rebui ld in g wo rk force were in th e process of putting thai house bac k togelher- they were almost done wi th th eir repair work when, 10 and behold , (lllOllier earthquak e hit. Obviously thi s wo uld furth e r damage the structure,

making it weaker. not stro nge r, ri ght? The take-ho me message is that lhe objec ti ve of yo ur workoul is 10 gel thi s process started- to se t thi s mag ic in moti on. BUI re mem be r, it is between workouts thai your bod y rebuild s it se lf. It is betwee n work o ut s that your mu scl es repair them se lves, grow in g stron ge r and firme r eac h time. It is between wo rkout s Ihat you mu st fuel your bod y with the prope r nutrient s to feed your mu scl es . And it is betwee n workout s thai you mllst allow yo urse lf ti me 10 rest and rela x 10 ensure prope r recovery.

40

Body-for- ll FE

Myth: Lifting a weight is what stimul ates musc le growth . Fact: Lifting and lowering a weight stimulates muscle growth. In any free-weig hl exercise, the re are two bas ic molions. One is called the conce nlri c (lifling) pha se; the other. the eccentric (10 .... . t:ring). Durin g the COIleeiliri c phase o f an exercise, the muscle shortens or contracts. Du ring th e

ecce ntri c phase, just the opposite happens-the muscl e lengthe ns. A prime exampl e is Ihe bench press. W hen yo u li ft the we ight. press in g it

from your cilCSllO the lock-out posi tion, that 's the co nce ntri c or positive ph ase o f the exerci se; when you lower the weight from the lock-out pos ition to the

chest, that's the eccentri c or negative portion of the exercise. Enough ev idence no w exists to concretely SLat e that loweri ng the we ight is just as importa nt as lifting it. II's true. Il turns Oul Ihat weighl lowerin g ca uses much of th e mu scle-cell damage thai stimula les an adaptati on. YOll see, when yo u leng then the muscl e, whi c h occ urs during Ih at eccentri c

1'01'-

lio n o f an exe rcise, you lit erall y tear po ni ons of the muscle fibers. signalin g a stage of remodeli ng, or mu scle growth. ( You ' ll kn ow w hen you' ve ex perienced th is phe no menon because a day or IwO after your work out. yo ur mu scles will be sore. Th at 's a sign that the "earlh has moved.") So, whe n you lift Ihose barbe ll s and dumbbe ll s, keep in mind Ihal you should nOI just haphaza rdly let gravity relurn it to ils starting position . Alway s, and I repeat, always cont ract your mu scles du ring the ecce nlri c phase of an exerc ise- always let the weight down smoothly and slow ly. If you do n' " you' re simp ly wast in g your time , Th e bollom line is, you must focus on liftin g and lowerin g those we ig hl s.

Myth: A certain number of sets and reps gets the job done. Fact: Hi gh-intensity effort produces t he best results. Lei me say righ t here that everyone can benefit fro lll eve n the most casual weighH raining program . Any amo llnt of res istance exerc ise, no malleI' how

Separating Myth from Fact

41

small , can improve your overa ll healt h, he lp you burn ca lories, and cve n impro ve your mood. Regularly trainin g with we ights is a very enjoyabl e activity that can hclp build anyone's se lf-esteem, I' ll say it agai n- any exercise is better than no exerc ise. But, if your goa l is to make a signifi cant tran sformation , you' re go in g to have to focus on pu shin g yourse lf furth er than yo u may eve r have pushed yourse lf be fore . You are go ing to ha ve to trai n with hearl alld soul. I' m not just tal king about worki ng out "hard." Nor am I referring to how Illany hours a week you spend in the gy m. I' m talking about findin g something in you rse lf YO ll don' t know--or don ' t be li eve-is there. I' m talking about pushi ng yo urse lf beyond limits you mi ght think ri ght now are unbe ndable. Man y people who work out with we ights, who don' t get res ults, overl ook this fa ct. They sim pl y don ' t tra in in tensely enough to push the ir bod ies \ 0 the po int where their muscl es will be forced to adapt and grow, Most peo pl e rhill k they are pu shing the mselves enough. Bu t they arel/'t. Remember, perception is reality. Nowhere is thi s lesson more clearl y understood, nowhere are " limits" more amazingly redefi ned, than wi th res istance train ing. And no lesson you learn or skill you develop in that we ight room wi ll be more powerfu lly applied to the rest of your li fe than thi s one: The li mits you are li ving with righ t now, in every aspect of your existence, have bee n created by your mind. They are perceptions. And they are hold ing yOLi back. You are capabl e o/" far more tha n you thin k you are. The questio n is whet her you are prepared to beg in break ing through and di scovering th e far reac hes of your true potent ial. Th at , agai n, is what thi s book- the techni ques I' ve already laid oul and the Program to whi ch those tools will be app li ed- is all about , both wi th the body and beyond. Wi th resistance train ing and life, the simple, inescapabl e fact is that maxi mum intensity occurs after you have "perceived" fa ilure. Those who can go beyond that- to a higher poi nt- to push themse lves to a place where they have not been before are the ones who will ex perience dramatic result s,Jasl.

42

Body-for- L1 FE

Myth: To lose fat, and improve your body, don't eat. Fact: To bu il d a lean, healthy body, you have to eat! One of th e Illost cruc ia l errors peop le make when they try 10 iose fa t and improve their health is severe ly restri cti ng food intake. T haI does n' t worl..:. It never works. I f you try to "starve orr' ull\\,
you can', win. To gel the best res ults, you need 10 work with your body, 110t agaillsi it.

You see, our bodi es have been forged through lens of thou sa nd s of years of

evolu tion. O Uf "genetic programming" g ives our bodi es the abi li ty 10 contro l the productio n o f enzy mes, which, in turn , contro l every aspect of our metabolism. Due to th is fa cl, your body will " ri ght back" whe n yo u severe ly red uce food intake- it dec reases the rate at whi ch it bu rn s faL (Your genetic cod ing has no idea there's a McDo nald 's, Burge r King. or co nvenience sto re w ithin walking di stance. Th at cod ing assumes a food shortage or famine has j ust hit. ) Okay, so now you kno w one of your body's "surv iva l mechani s ms" is to lower your metabol ic rate when you starve it. But that's not all that happe ns. Yo u also begin to lose muscle tissue. You ' ll feci tired, weak , and irritable. Yo ur immune system w ill suffer, too. And yo u' ll develo p nutrient de fi ciencies that wil l cause literall y tho usands of your body's natu ral metabo lic processes to misfi re. Wi thin days, your body w ill sound the alarm: ··e merge ncy .. . emerge ncy ... eat. eat, eat." The nex t thing yo u kn ow, you' re bingeing o n everything in sight : cook ~ ies, ice cream, chips, cereal, and more cooki es. People who force the mselves to stick with a crash d iet wi ll lose body we ight, but it's a very unfavorabl e type o f weig ht loss. Typica ll y. half of the pounds lost come fro m muscle tissue that is sacri fi ced. It 's very illlportant to remembe r mu scle is your bod y's metabo li c furnace. Muscle lI ses energy. even wh ile you' re sleeping. Fat prclly much j ust sit s there. To make matt ers wo rse, when goes on a very

l ow~ca l o ri e

YOLi

do go o ff the d iet (whi ch eve ryone who

diet does at some poi nt), you w ill gai n back the fat

you lost, and more. T hat's because you' ve turned your body in to a less effi c ient

Separating Myth from Fact

43

fa t-burn ing machine by losing Illuscle. (Now you can eat less and sti ll gain fat- what a great plan!) When youlry to lose fa t again. you' II have to eat even le.\·... to drop we ight. Bu t eve ntua ll y you' lI give in and ga in bac k even more fat. T his fr ightenin g process is what is popul arl y desc ribed as "yo-yo d ieting: ' Pe rhaps you 've tried to ge t lea n by fo llowi ng a ve ry 10w-cH lorie di e t. and ma yhe you' ve ex peri enced some of th e ad ve rse e ffec ts I desc ribed abov e. I sure have. And I ca n te ll yo u, it's 110 fu n. I fe lt out of cont ro l and unstable. I beca me weak er mc nta lly a nd ph ys ica lly. Fo rtun ate ly. I fo un d a bette r way- the righl way. What I discove red is that it is poss ible to lose fat without losin g musc le; in fact. you can lose fal. gain mu scle. and improve your menlil l and physical stre ngth at the same timc. And you can do it in as lillie as 12 weeks. Bu t, to make Ihal break through. you II111s1 let go of the myth that not eating is the key 10 fal loss. You lII/lsl accepl Ihat you need plent y of good qu ali ty nut riti on to build a better body.

Myth : Eating right means three "square meals" a day. Fact: Eating six nutr itious mea ls a day is t he right way! Ok ay. so now you know why starvi ng yourse lf does not work and that cating iSIl ' t just "allowed," it's a OlU St. The nex t myth th at stands in the way is that three square meals a day arc all you nced. I don' t know ex actly where Ihat idea of th ree is best comes from. bllt it wasn't the way our ancestors ate. If you look at how hum ans e vol ved, you' lI see our long- lost re latives we re ;'frequent feeders," not bingel'S. It 's revealing 10 take a look at the animal kingdom and not ice the re lationsh ip betwee n creatures ' eati ng pattern s and their body " types." At one end of the spectru m are animals that load up on large amoun ts of food at onc " mca l; ' the n go fo r days, weeks. or eve n months withou t eating at all . Bears are a prime exa mpl e of this type of infreque nt feeder. They're what I ca ll bi" gers. T hey have hu ge bod y- fat storage compartments to stoc kpile the fuel they' ll need 10

44

Body-for.L1F E

carry them from one feed ing to the nex t. At the other end of the eatin g-patt ern spectrum are the frequent feeders: animal s that cat almost constantl y but in far lesser amount s. Horses, burralo, elk-I call these gra:ers. Relat ively speak ing. they have very low body fat and lOI s of lean muscle. It seems pretty clear that we shou ld graze, not binge, don', you think ? So, just how often should you cat? The answer is more ofte n than you do now. To tran sform your body- to look bette r, feel better, and im prove your heahh , you muSI develop the pattern of feeding your body freq ue ntl y through oUI the day-of grazi ng. You shou ld not go more than a few hours (while you' re awake) without eating. There are many reasons for this. One is th ai ealing often helps keep your body's "food alarm" in check-it he lps convince your body and mind there is not a famine around the corner. Also, studies show eating often he lps acce lerate the metabolism, so you burn more cal ories. And when you graze- when you eat six nutritiou s, sma ll er meals a day- the fo od is more efficiently absorbed and processed by your body than the " three squares" most Americans eat each day. When you eat every few hOllrs, you' ll have more e nergy, less hunger pangs and c ravi ngs, and rill certain you'll just nat ou t feel belter- a lot beltcr. On lOp of all that , you' ll be creatin g a " metabolic e nvironme nt " Ihal support s hea lth y fat loss and mu scle gai ns.

Myth: People who overeat lack willpower. Fact: Overeating is a natural instinct. Hard as it might be fo r some people to be lieve, human be ings ha ve n' t always been able to summon all the food they can eat over the phone or from the dri ver's seat of a car. Long before there were phones or cars (long, as in tens of thousa nd s of years ago), our ancestors did nol have a consisten tl y abun dant supp ly of food. They were hunters/gatherers and , more recentl y, far mers, who sometimes had pl enty to eat but regularly endured peri ods of time when Ihere was li llie or noth ing to eat. Thi s se lecti ve pressure forced Iheir bodi es to Separating Myth from Fact

45

develop an almost unlim ited abi lity to store excess energy in the form of body fat and very adaptive metaboli sms to cope with peri ods of diffe rent di ets. And that has created a probl em. Our bodi es are sti ll gove rned by thi s "s urvival mec ha ni sm," which is now backfi ring in a world where eatin g has become easy. Quite simply- and trag ica ll y- peo pl e in thi s country have become vic tim s of the industriali zed food revoluti on. Everywhere YOll go, th ere 's food , food, food. You can get a pi zza and cheesebu rger in just about every airport , tra in station, sports are na, hotel, strect corner ... just about anywhere. Everywhere you can poss ibly go, food will bc thcre-waiting, beggin g, tempting yo u, and lu ring you in. Lett ing our hunter/gatherer insti nct- th at primiti ve geneti c cod ing--control our eat ing pallcrns has put us in a real sti cky situati on. I ca ll modern Ameri ca the nati on o f the ovq l ed alld LlIIdemollrished. We are overfed on empty calori es. Overfed on unhcalthy sat urated fat. Overfed on carbohydrates. Underfed on prote in. Underfed on vit amin s and mineral s. Underfed on nutrient s th at he lp sLi sta in li fe. And overfed on j unk that takes li fe away. The boltom line is, our natural instincts, com bined with a food distributi on system that 's gone mad, are part ly to bl ame for thi s bul ging cri sis. Howe ve r, just bec au se it 's " natural" to overeat does n' t mea n it's un a voi dabl e. Knowin g the c ne my is an import ant compone nt of winnin g thi s battl e.

Myth: High-carbohydrate, low-fat diets work best. Fact: People are becoming fat from a " carb overdose. " In recent years, there have been so many different di ets-so many different ways of "eating right"- that iI 's mind-boggling. Howe ver, the one whi ch seems to ha ve "stuc k," the one th at sec ms to bc recomme nded and fo ll owed morc often than any other, is a high-carbohydrate, low-fat , low-protein nutri ti on pl an. T hi s type of di et is recommended by man y nutriti oni sts and even some doctors.

46

Body-for- LIFE

One reason these high-cal'b, low-fat di ets are so popular is because back in 1988, the U.S . Surgcon General recomme nded we all restri ct our consumpti on of dietary fat , and in response, the multibilli o n-do llar food indu stry bega n comi ng out with fat -free everything- ice cream , cooki es, crackers, you name it. In place of fa t, more and more carbs were added. And the myth that " fa t free" means "all you can eat" spread like wil d fire. But yet, over the past 10 years, we've co ntinued to see a dramat ic ri se in the inc ide nce of obesity. The fac t is, loweri ng your dietary fat intak e and increas ing carbohydrate consumpt ion is nOI tile best way to get lean and healtlly. Ir's not tile best way

to ward off lllany of the hea lth-related pro bl e ms associated wi th not eating right either. I've worked wi th a lot of peop le over the years who were consuming a lowfat, high-carb diet and exe rc ising, but they were gettin g even fatter.' Whe n I informed the m th at their di ets were all wrong, they argued vehementl y that their way was the best way. (T hi s myth is a stubborn one.) Folks, I don' t know everything about everythi ng, but I'm certain of what I' m cerl:li n of, :lnrl I' m cerl,l in Ih al followi ng a hi g h-c:lrhoh yrlrale rliet is not

going 10 help you transfo rm yo ur ph ysique , improve your healt h, an d he lp you bu ild a stro nger, hea lthi er, more energeti c body. Remember those lon g- lost ancestors of ours I keep te lling you abo ut? Th e ones who were hunters/gathe rers? Well , they ate a very prote in-ric h diet. They didn ' t eat cook ies and crac kers and candy. And , according to ant hropolog ists, they were stron g, had we ll -fo rmed bones, strong teeth , and they were rare ly ove rl y fat. However, abou l 8,000 years ago, the Egyptians learned to farm and shifted ove r to co nsumi ng more carbohydra tes, primaril y in the form o f grain s. And , according to ex perts, the health of these ancie nt fo lks began to decl ine. But why? According to today's " hi gh carbs is best" myth , the Egyptians should have been hea lthier and more fit. However, lhat's not the way it worked out. They actuall y became an obese soc iety with widespread heart di sease, stunted growth , and malnutrition.

Separating Myth from Fact

47

The fact is, ou r bod ies work much beller with a ba lance of carbohyd rates and protein. You sec, not on ly is prote in essentia l for bu il ding hea lt hy muscles and ma inta ining a stron g immune system but it helps stab ili ze insulin leve ls as well . Insulin is what I ca ll a " nutrient -transport hormone." It shulI les am ino acids and glucose (blood sugar), among other th ings, into ce ll s. But . when you eat too many carbs over a long pe ri od of ti me , yo ur body becomes " insuli n res istant ; ' and yo u ca n develop adult -onset diabctes. which ca n lead to Obesi ty, heart disease, and a who le lot of ot her heal th problems, includ ing unstab le energy levels and fat igue. Eat ing a hi gh-carb diet can also stimulate the appetite and cause unfavorable and unpredi ctable mood swings (especiall y in the midafternoon ). Moreover, whene ver insuli n leve ls are e levated, your body will not burn fat. On the other ha nd, protein provi des stab le e nergy levels through its e rrect 0 11 insuli n and blood s ugar. Eating prote in a lso he lps control your appetite. And research has found that the thermi c effec t (the increase in energy required for digestion, absorption, and di sposal of ingested rood) or a protein-ri ch meal is much greater than a high-carbohydrate mea l. I could go on and on about this topic. but the bottom line is. hi gh-carbohydrate diets work aga inst the body, not wit h it. The sol uti on is to bala nce carbohydrate and protein intake.

Myth: Eating right means avoiding bad foods. Fact: You must avoid bad foods and consume good foods. Many people know that eat ing too much of certai n foods is unhea lthy. Yet what re mai ns " und iscovered" by so many is that you not onl y need to avoid the bad stu ff, you need to eat the good stuff. You see, the good stuff can help YOll as much or more than the bad stu ff can hu rt you. It was Hippoc rates . the fou nd ing fa ther of modern medi cine, who, a couple th ousand years ago, said, " Let food be your medicine, a nd let med ici ne be your food." What Hi ppocrates understood , and what's crucial for each of

48

Body·(or· L1 FE

us to reali ze as we ser ious ly turn ou r attenti on to what we cat, is that we can eithe r overdose on the wrong kinds of food or we ca n co nsume a hea lLhy "prescripti on" of foods that contain the nut ri e nt s our bodi es need. The fact , whi ch is being overlooked by so man y, is that th ere arc nutrien ts in ce rt ain foods that , whe n co nsumed regu larl y and in the prope r amounts, allow the body lO be it s own best "pharmacy"- Io protect and heal itse lf. So remembc r th is: Vi rtuall y all foods have "d ru glike" effec ts-they ca n im prove your hea lth or dest roy it. For exa mple, if yo u feed yo ur body consistc ntl y with an abund ant suppl y of nutrie nt s that act as antioxidant s, you can signifi cantly lower your risk of getting certain types of cance r. On the othe r hand , if you overdose on food s rich in satu rated fat , yo u call suffer dead ly side effec ts suc h as heart di sease. Th us, we should focus not just on avo idin g bad foods but we mu st continuall y nouris h our bodi es with good foods like the ones I'll te ll

YO ll

about lat er in thi s book.

Myth: You have to count every calorie you eat. Fact: You should count " portions," not calories. All ri ght, by now YOll know that eating freque ntl y is important, and you've also been made aware of the signifi cance of consum ing a balance of protein and carbohydrates. By thi s point, if you' re like most folks I work with, you' re wonderin g when it's goin g to get compli cated-when (' m going 10 mandate th at you coun t every ca lori e you eat or perh aps even requi re that you wcigh your food on a littlc scale and all that j azz. Well, if Lhat's what you' re waiting for, keep wa itin g because it a in' t gonna happen. You sec, ('ve learned that most people in the real world don ' t count calories. They just won' t do it. The solut ion? We coun t "portions" instead. " What's a port ion?" you ask. Well , a portion is an amount of food roughly equal 10 Ihe size of your cl enched fi st or the palm of your hand . For example, if a baked potalO is about

Separating Myth from Fact

49

the size of your clenched fi st, that 's a portion for you. If a chicken breast is about the size of the palm of your hand, that's your portio n of chicke n. It 's reall y quite simple to follow the portion ru le once yo u get the hang of it. As lo ng as the food s yo u se lect are low in fat (like baked potatoes, stea med brown ri ce, broiled sa lmon , g rill ed c hi cken breasts, and othe r hea lth y foods you' ll learn about lat er in thi s book), yo u ca n' t go wrong.

Myth: If you "eat right," you don't need to take supplements. Fact: Studies show many of us do need to take su pplements. Despit e what some "old -school" di etitians and other "experts" mi ght te ll yo u, there rea ll y is a very sound , sc ientifi c basis for supple mentation . In fa ct, even the Nat ional In stitutes of Health (NIH ) has recogni zed the role o f nutri tiona l suppl ements in physica ll y acti ve peopl e's nut ri ti o n plans. Consider thi s: Even if you had a full -time personal c hef in your kitche n, or if you were abl e to spend a ll day, every day do in g not hing but shopping fo r and preparing the "best" regul ar-food mea ls, you still couldn ' t be certain you were gelling all the nutri ents your bod y needs. You sec, th e amount of nut rie nt s such as the vit amin C fo und in two seemin g ly identi cal oranges at your loca l groce ry store can va ry enorm o usly. How lon g ago was the fruit pi cked? What type of soil was it grown in ? (Mu ch of the so il in the United States is defic ient in esse nti al nutri e nt s.) Wh at part of the country did it co me from ? It 's impossibl e to predict the nutri ent val ue of vari ous whole foods. And even if you did know exact ly what everything contained, it' s impractica l (if not im possible) for most people to get all the nutri ents the ir bodi es require to fun cti on o ptimall y from reg ular food without consuming far more calories than they need. That 's why I' ve used vitamin and mineral supple ments, as we ll as nut ri tion shakes, virtuall y every day for the last ]0 years. I a lso recolllmend supplement s to the athl etes, actors, doctors, lawyers, moms, and dad s-all the peopl e I work with.

50

Body-for- LIFE

Myth: You need to dri nk water onl y when you Fact: Your body needs

are th i rsty.

more water than it's tel li ng you .

Heal thy muscle is comprised of morc than 70 percenl wate r. And water is an cssential lransporl mechani sm for a vast array of nutrients like vitamins and mine ra ls and eve n carbohydrates. It serves an importa nt role in all ce ll ular act ivity. If your water intuke is low, your abi lit y 10 tran sport nut rie nt s ueco mes comprom ised. and yo u' ll lose strength and feel sluggish beca use of the bui ldup

of ammonia, urea, uri c acid, and other junk you don ' t want hanging around in

your body_ A lso, if you happen to be someone who struggles w ith water reten tion, one

of the best ways to gel rid of that is to drink 1110re water, not less. Water reten tion is just another aspect of your body's survival mechanism. Drinking water can also help you con trol you r appetite. If you lind that the portions of food you' re eating don' t quile satisfy you, try drinking a cup of water before yo u even take you r fi rst bite of food. Th e n drink another c up of water with your meal. You ' ll fi nd thi s he lps alleviate that fee ling of not havin g eaten enough. I can' t overem ph as ize how import ant watcr is 10 your body's h e~d lh and proper fun c tioni ng. You need it constant ly. I don·, care if it 's bottled or !:.II' wate r. Dri nk i, with mea ls and between them. Drink it often, and drink a lot.

Myt h: You have to eat "perfectly" all the t ime. Fact: There's no such th ing as eating "perfectly." Don' t be too hard on yourse lf if you end up eatin g too much or 110t oflen enough one day. If you do, just put it behind you and gel back on schedul e. Don' l beat yourse lf up, and don ' t ever give up 0 11 yourse lf. It 's so disappo inting for me to see peopl e who are makin g exce llent progress-who are we ll on thei r way to a successfu l tran sform ation- th en they eat somethin g they shouldn't , or Ihey mi ss a workout , and they just quit.

Separating Myth from Fact

51

Please don 't do thi s! Keep in mind thaI I have yel to meel a rea l-life transformation c hampi on, including all those you' ll read about in thi s book , who didn ' t " mess up" fro m time to time. They succeeded because they persevered, 1I0t beca use they were perfec l. So if you stumbl e once in a whil e, just put it behi nd you and resolve to do better from that poi nt forward. The mere fac t tha t you have dec ided to improve yoursel f is so meth ing to be proud of. Focus on that. And , whe n those cravings hit , IV/llelI they lViII, remember that 1I0thill g

((Istes as good as beillg ill the greatest shape o/your Ii/e/eels. Also remember it 's j ust food. YOII cOlllrol i l . It doesn't control YO ll . Accepl the fact that no one is perfect, yel we all have the poten tial 10 improve- we all have the power 10 change. With Ihal in mind . let's now move onward alld upward.

52

Body-for- LIFE

Overvi ew of Separating Myth from Fact Myth: Aerobics is belief for shaping up than weight tm ining. Fact: To ITansform your physique, you mllst train with weights.

Myth: If you exercise. it doesn't matter what you eat. Fact: If you exercise, it matters even //lore what you eaL Myth: If women lift weights, they' ll get " bu lky:' Fact: Resistance exercise helps women create lean, toned bodies .

Myt h: Weight traini ng is only for youn g athletes. Fact: Peop le of all ages should be weight training. Myth: Muscles grow while you ' re working oui. F~l ct: Mu scles grow while you're resting and recuperating. Myth: A certai n number of sels and reps gels the job done. Fa ct : Hi gh-intensity effort produces the best results.

Myth: Eating right mean s three "square mea ls" a day. Fact: Eating si.r nutrit ious meal s a day is the righ' \l'ay! Myth : People who overeat lac k willpower. Fact: O vereati ng is a natural instinct. Myth: High-carbohydrate, low-fat diets work best. Fa ct: People are beco min g fat from a " carb o verdose." Myth: You have to count every calori e you eat. Facl: You shou ld count " p0l1ions," not calories. Myth: If you "eat right," yOll don ' t need to take supplements. Fact: Studies show many of us do need to take su pplements. Myt h: You need to drink water o nl y when you are thi rsty. Fact: Your body needs more water than it's tellin g you . Myth: You have to eat "perfectly" all the ti me. Fact : There's no such thing as eating " perfectly."

Separating Myth from Fact

53

The Training-for-LIFE Experience'· Part IV - - - - When you overcome resistance, you create the power to continually reach higher Over the last decade, I've had the opport unity to work with and Icam from some of the world 's best ath letic trainers and stre ngth coaches, includ ing Mike Woici k, who [rained the Dallas Cowboys during their worl d-champion seasons in 1993 and 1994; Tim Grover, Spotts Enhancement Specialist for athletes such as Michael Jordan; and many others. I' ve also been fOltunate to work with and Jeam from some of the world 's leading doclors, physiologists, and sc ientists, includ ing Eric Hultman, Ph .D., of the world-renown Karoli n ska Institute in Sweden . And, as I' ve previou sly exp lained , I' ve learned so muc h fro m the thou sands

of real -life champio ns who have shared the ir successes and setback s wit h me. J've al so used my own body as a testing ground- trying all these diffe re nt exerci se techni ques and careru ll y monitoring and measuring the results, not just on my muscl e size and strength and body. fat leve ls but al so on how each routine affected the way I f eel-my abi li ty to focus at work, my energy level s, and my cl arity. I've taken everyth ing I' ve learned, everyth ing I've felt , and e verything I know and assimilated it , synthesized il, and created a unique, powerful tran s· for mation method, which I call the Train ing:for· LI FE Experience.

55

It 's not mere ly an exercise ro ut ine. It is, as its name indi cates, an ex peri ence. By that, I mea n yo u don ' tjllsf do it. You li ve if. Everyth ing about the Trai ningjor-L1FE Ex pe ri ence is based on tried and true princi ples which have been precise ly fo rmu lated to he lp stimulat e increases in mu scle and stre ngth , as we ll as burn body fat. In add ition, every lime you have th is experience, you ' ll be train ing yourself to set and achieve goal s, practi ce posi ti ve pauern s of act ion, increase foc us, overcome res istan ce, and become a stronger person in every way imaginab le. The Trainin g-far-LIFE Experience is based on universal princi ples which have already produced breakth roughs for tens of thousands of people. It will benefi t virtuall y any health y adult , regardless of his or her level of IItness. I' m not sayi ng it 's the onl y approac h that works, but I guarantee when you fo llow it to the letter, you will get res ults. That's because anatomi call y and physiologicall y, every human being is essentially the same, and although certain geneti c factors do vary, that does not mean each and every person needs his or her own custom-made exerc ise program. Quite literall y, the same Program that works for me also works for my mom, my co-workers, my friends-eve/ yone. The Training-for- LIFE Experience is not o nl y effe cti ve bu t e ffi cien t- it requires oll ly two percent of the time you have avail able to you every wee k. You do 1/of have to turn your life upside down to fit this into your dail y routine. In fac l, when you begi n foll owing th is Program, you' ll qui ckl y find it doesn't take lime, it creates time-it is so prec ise and so foc used that it will enhance you r e nergy and cl a rit y, enablin g you to fit more into your persona l and professiona l life. Performing thi s unique type of exerc ise regularl y can even ex tend the active, enjoyab le, rewarding years of your li fe . In that way, it can nOI onl y help you create a few exira hours a week, it can literall y add years-acti ve, fun,fulfillillg years- to your time in thi s worl d. The Trainingfor- UFE Experience may VCIY well be the most practical and result-producing exercise Program there is. In fact, I bel ieve this breakthrough will , by the last day of 200 I, help one million people transfOlm their bodies and li ves. Let's take a look at the techniques that make it so effec ti ve.

56

Body-far-LIFE

Plan-to-Actual Analysis One of the keys to our success will be our meticulo us planning. Be fore we begin each tra ining sess ion, we'll know what exercises we're go ing to perform, how many sets, the number of reps, and how much weight we're going to use. We' ll even plan precise ly how long, from beginning to end, we will be training. Therefore, we ' ll move swift ly from one exerc ise to the nex t with a clear se nse of pu rpose. We never just go "work out" without having planned it before hand. Thi s is a mi stake so many people make. You ' ll see them walk ing around in the gy m, scratchi ng their heads. obviously trying to fi gure out what Lhey should do next. (Sadly, this is probabl y the way they li ve their li ves as well .) Often, they' ll take a look at what someone else is doing and copy that. Unfortunately, what they don ' t know is that the other people, whose actions they' re imitating. dOli " kllOw what they' re doing either! It 's the blind lead ing (or mi sleadi ng) the blind. Folk s, this is the antithesis of the Training-for-UFE approach: What these people are doing is completely arbitrary- it is trial and error, and, in actual ity, it is a waste of time . To he lp g uide you step by step, day by day, throug h every aspect of the spectacular journey you're about to begin, I have included your first week's " Dai ly Progress Report s" (see pages 175- 187). Thi s way, you can plan, record , and analyze your training and measure your prog ress. Don' t use your Progress Reports just to keep track of where you 've been-u se them to plan where you' re go ing. Through your records, you can clearly see the path you ' re o n. If you' re not transformi ng as rap id ly as you wou ld like, you can go back and troubleshoot , wi th prec ision . Are you maki ng it to each exerc ise sess ion? Are you hitting the appropriate intensity levels? Are you doi ng too much or not e nou gh? These are the types of questions you' ll be able to ask and an swer when you keep a detailed journal. And, when you do make rap id progress, you' ll have a record of it so you can repeat the act ivities that are workin g. I' ve learned from past ex peri e nce

The Training-for- LIFE Experience '"

57

that the on ly thing worse than wo rkin g hard an d nOI gelling anywhere is gettin g res ult s and not know ing how you got Ihe m. Yo u see, if you go from poin t A to poi nt B and you don' t know how yo u got there, you' re still los t. It takes less than 10 minu tes a day to keep your records up to date. It 's unquestionably one of the most impol1ant exercises you ean do to ensure your success.

The High-Point Technique '" You don ' t need any fa ney equip ment to per form T he

Tra ini ng ~ror- LiF E

Expe ri e nce exerc ises I exp la in in the Exerc ise Guide on page J 35 . As you' ll di scover, these exercises are very basic. You ca n do IllOst of th e m wit h a simpl e set of barbe ll s and dumbbe ll s in a home gy m or virtuall y any fi tness cen ter. You see, it's not so much what exercises we do but rather 110\11 we do them that matters most. We 1II1Is f perform these exercises intensely to produee rap id result s. Whi ch brings us to what I ca ll the " High-Point Techni que." It 's based on somethi ng I di scove red whi le working in the magazine bu siness for the last seven years. LeI me expla in . I've worked with a lot of ph otographers and helped direct many photo shoots over the years. Someti mes you shoot fo r II hours and don' t end up wi th any cover-worthy photos. It can be quite fru strating. You work hard all day but e nd up with noth ing. That 's the way it goes wi th most o f the photographers I've worked with. Fortun ately, there are a few exceptions-some photographers take an e ntirely differe nt approach . T hey beg in with a qui ck, ca lcul ated setup . The n, they find the ir position, take a "warm-up" photo or two, and proceed

10

cap-

ture the "mome nt" on fil m. That's it. Photo shoot over. And the result ? Well, if you've seen the photos on covers of magazines like Sports llIus/raTed , People, Tillie, or even my magazine, you can see that the results are impress ive. Sometimes breathtaking.

58

Body-for- LIFE

How can such ex traordinary result s be created in so littl e time? Wh y are most photographers, who work for hours ... even days ... unabl e to produce photos of companlblc qua lit y? I believe what makes these photographers so effecti ve is that they know how to capture the "moment that maLlers." A moment ca ll ed the " hi gh poi nt. " What 's thi s have to do with getting a good work out ? A lot , actuall y. You see, when you get ri ght down to it. not onl y is a success ful photo shoot contingent on hitting a hi gh point , so is a great workout, so is a producti ve day at work, and . . . so is a fulfillin g life. Those moments when everything comes together and you reach hi gher than you've ever reached-w he n you do something you've never done-when you prod uce major results-it 's those moments that dc fin e who and where you are. Do you have a scrapbook wilh photos of yourself and your famil y in it ? If so, what exactl y do you have in there? Do you have pi ctures of yourse lf gctting dressed in the morn ing? A snapshot of you tyin g your shoe? Drivin g to work ? Sitting at your desk shuffling through papers? Grocery shopping? Probabl y nol. My guess is th;'lt your scrapbook is fill ed wi th pictures that reOect spec ial mome nts. Standing on top of a mountain peak. Your wedd ing day. Your ch ild's fi rst step. Winn ing an .. ward . A celebrat ion. A vivid smile on a loved one's face th at makes yOll smile and gives you energy just thinking aboul it. T hese momcnts are all " hi gh point s," ri ght ? Think .. bout it: Superman 's "super moment s" are his hi gh point s. The rest- hi s life as Clark Kent- is pretty forgettabl e. For ath letes li ke Joe Montana, Michael Jordan, John Elway. and Mark McGwire, the momc nts that define their greatness are their hi gh points. I' m sure you've got the picture by now. It ·s rea ll y not a hard concept to grasp, once someone makes you aware of it. Unfortu nately, most peop le aren't consc iou sly aware of the power of hi gh point s, so it 's imposs ibl e for the m to crcate " moments that malter." The fcw high points most people ex pe ric nce occlir randoml y- by acc ident. And that 's not good. For our exercise sess ions 10 create major results fast, we must learn to recogni ze high points and create them.

The Trai ni ng·for- L1FE Experience'"

59

It's About Quality, Not Quantity When YOLI deve lop the skill to in tentiona ll y create hi gh point s. you can not

o nly ex perie nce morc energy and greater success in life, YOll can al so produce major res ults in min ima l time , in any area. So, that 's the way I work. It 's al so the w ay I work out.

Ho we ver, man y "Ill ness expe rt s" recommend that as soon as YO LI can exerc ise fo r 30 minutes "comfortably," you s hould increase to 40 minutes. Then 60. The n 90 . " More is better," they proclaim. My question to them is, " Why?" W hat's the objecti ve, to eventuall y work o ut all day? Gee, that sounds swe ll , bu t I was kind of hoping I could get in shape alld have a life. Think abou t it, if morc were better, for those g reat photographe rs to improve, a photo sess ion that took an hour whe n they were " beginn ers" would now take them a week. The fact of the mailer is, as you beco me more experi enced- as your le ve l of ex pe rti se in whatever it is you ' re doing, including exercise, ad vances- the obj ective is to cont inu all y reach higher and beco me even more e ffi c ient. You see, once you learn that skill-o nce you develop the abili ty to crcate higher and hi g her high poi nts- you will not o nl y expe rience co nt inua l prog ress, yo u' ll be downrigh t un stoppable. That 's what keeps you growing. It's w hat keeps you excited. It 's what keeps yo u feeling ali ve. These moments create momentum, and once you get Ihi s process started , you ' ll start makin g break throu ghs you never imagined. A nd that 's why I do no t recommend you work ou t for hours and hours o n cnd. We set up, we prime our minds and bodies, and then we focus 011 creat in g a high poi nt. Sound a bit mysti ca l? Well , let 's look at it from a scientific standpoi nt for a momen t. During our workouts, we're try ing to stimulate an adaptati on res ponsc. Well , g uess what ? St udi es show that the stimulation requi red to tri gger mu sclc g rowth happen s fa st or not at all. Hence , the maxim , " You can work out hard o r long." It 's one or the other. Body-for- LIFE

Also, keep in mind the body has a limi ted abilit y to recover fro m ph ys ica l acti vit y; there fore, if you conti nue to e ngage in tlloderate- or low- inte nsity exercise, after you hit the hi gh poi nt , you will be short-c irc uit ing your progress because you' ll be o verex te nding your bod y's recuperati ve abilit y. It 's imperative to rea li ze that a hi gh point is just that- it's a po in!. II 's no t a plateau. It 's not a " level place" you get to. You can' t mainta in a hi gh poin t. You can be there o nly for an instant. There fore. for each workout, I' m goi ng 10 ask you 10 pe rform o nl y a few bursts of Illax imall y intense exercise. These set s wi ll be chall enging. Each week I will ask yOli lO rai se the bar another notch- IO push yo urse lf to a hi gher po int. I' m nOI askin g fo r your "best effo r!." I want more than that. I be li eve your percepti on of what your best e ffort is may be a self- imposed limit ati on. I bel ieve you are capabl e o f much more than you rea li ze, and now is the time to shatler those fa lse barriers and di scover your true potent ial.

Your High Point Is Your High Point With the Training -for- L1FE Experience, we use a 1001 ca ll ed the " Inte nsity Index" to help us create hi gh point s. Thi s " meter" is used to measure the level of foc used energy we are puttin g forth. The Index, shown o n the fo ll ow in g page. starts at level I and goes 10 level 10.

0., the low end- at leve l I- you've got the intensity of sitt ing on the couch watch in g TV. Level 2 would be standing; leve l 3 mi gh t be walkin g; leve l 4 mi gh t be carryi ng a couple bags o f groceri es in from the car; leve l S mi ght be carryi ng those groceri es up a ni ght of stai rs; and so o n, Li p to level 10, wh ich is an all-oLlt , 100 percent foc llsed effort. The proper usc of the Intensity Index makes the Trainin g:for- L1FE Experience, by design, self-regu lating. And th at's why virtu all y any healthy adult, regard less of prior exercise e xperience, can begin this Prog ram. For examp le, if you're a begi nner and you can bench press 30 pOll nds for 12 reps, that's your hi gh- intens ity effort. Now, someone who's been training fo r several

The Training-for-LIFE Experience'M

61

High

The Intensity Index "

Point

•

,. 9 8 7

, 5 4

3 2 1

years might reach a hi gh- intens ity e ffort by bench press in g J 85 pounds for 12 reps. The point is, your hi gh point is YO llrs. It is unique to you. A s you adapt and evo lve. so does thi s Program ; in facl, you can never o ut grow it. It 's very impol1an l you become aware o f what your high points arc. A !me hi gh point on thi s workout, a true level 10 ex perience, is one w here you can hon-

est ly tell yourse lf you gave it every s ingle lasl ounce o f energy

YOll

had- th at

you lapped into your inner strength. Wh at you' ll di sco ver is a true hi gh point comes from your mind, not your muscles.

A rter you fini sh your hi ghest intensity SCI (for Lhat muscl e group) and berore you write dow n whether you had a le ve l 8, level 9, or a level 10 ex peri ence, you need to answer th is question : Cou ld you have done one more rep i f I were stand ing ri ght there, encouraging you to reach even higher- to pu sh yoursel f fu rther?

62

Body-for- LIFE

If your honest answer is, ;;No way!"' then co ngratul ations! You scored a IO! However, if your answer is some thin g along the lines of, "Maybe I could have done another one," then you' re probably looking at a 9. Whi ch is H solid e ffort. Celebrate the progress you made, and plan to try eve n harder next time. You won' t reach a hi gh point eve ry lime. That would be like Joh n Elway expect ing to th row a touchdow n pass every timc he touched the ba ll. You see, a high poi nt is kind of like a lOuchdown pass- it's a challenge, which is why it 's a worthwhile goa l. Very fcw of the high points YOll hit in life are goi ng to be easy. With the Trainingjor- LiFE Experience, I' ll indicate precise ly w hen YOll shou ld reac h fo r you r high points, and I'll ask you 10 rale your level o f intensity. What we' ll be do ing is creating a wave- li ke paHe rn of intensit y-always starting wi th a moderale level and ri sing toward a high point. T he charts whi ch foll ow show the des ired Intensit y Pattern fo r the upper and lower body tra in in g routines, which ,' II walk you thro ugh later in thi s secti on.

The Upper Body Training Experience '" 10

8

"• >

~

7

'" •

~

";;; c ~

• "' 5

4

The Training·for- L1 FE Experience '"

&3

The Lower Body Training Experience '· 10

, 8

•

7

~

•-, ~

, -•' 5

Quads

Hamstrings

Calves

Ab.

The 20-Minute Aerobics Solution '" If yo u' re like most peo pl e, you've probabl y done so me, or maybe a lot of, aerobic exercise but haven' 1 not iced too much of a difference. And the prospect of doing more isn' t very appealing. After all , if those long. bori ng, un foc used exercise routines-the Iype that so many million s o f peopl e conduct, week in and week oU I- worked , why do so darn many o verwe ight women and me n w ho take part in all tho se aerobic classes, month after mo nth , look exactl y the same now as they d id a year ago? Wouldn' t it be great if there were an aerob ics altern ati ve-somethin g much more effic ient ? Somethin g that produced max imum res ults in minimum time ? Well , guess what? There is.

I call it the

64

2 0~ M inute

Aerobics Solution.

Body-for- L1FE

4

It 's a uniq ue workout which incorporates the Hi g h ~ Poi n t Technique and the Intensity Index, thus tran sformi ng ordinary aerobics into an extraord inary event that , like our we i g h t ~lra i nin g routine, is both se lf~ regu l ali n g and evo lu~ tionary. T hat means no maHer what your present condit ion , you' re ready for the

20~Minute

Aerob ics Solution. And you can never outgrow it. Despi te what so many mi ll ions of peop le have been told , lo w~ int e n s i t y,

l ong~dura ti on

aerob ic exerc ise is not the best method fo r riddi ng the body of excess fat. You probabl y knew deep down, anyhow, that bust ing your behind burned off more fat than exercise thai allowed you to take it easy, di dn ' t you? Wel l, scien tific stud ies and thou sands of real~life exa mples now show your instincts we re right. You see, research indicates that not onl y does h i g h ~ i n t e n s i t y tra ini ng burn fa t more effec tive ly than low ~ in t ensity exe rc ise-up to 50 percent more e ffi ~ ciently- it also speeds up you r metaboli sm and keeps it re vved up for some time after your workout. So fo rget about the "calori es bu rned" readout on the stairstepper or stationary bike; on th is Program, the majority of ca lories will be used up the hour after our workouts, provided we don ' t eat for one hour a ft er our exercise seSS ions. To furt her enhance the fat~burning effects of these workollts, do them in the morn in g, in a fasted Slate (before eating). Scientific studi es indicate that Fat is burn ed much faster-up to 300 percenl faster-when you exerc ise in the morning as opposed to do ing the same exerc ise ill the aftern oon. (By the way, if your primary goal is to lose body fa t, consi der doing your we i g h t ~t ra ini ng workouts in the morn ing on an empty stomach, too .) Thi s Program in vo lves performing oilly 20 minutes o f aerobic exercise three li mes per week- no more, no less. Your chall enge is to make eac h of those workout s the most e ffective

fat ~ burni n g, h e alth ~ e n ha n ci n g

20 minutes

you possibl y can. And to clo that , you simpl y use the Intensity Index and low the nu mbers on the chart on page 62.

fo l ~

Let me show you how simple th is is: What we do is se lect an exercise li ke wa lki ng, jogging, ridi ng a stationary bike, using a treadmi ll , etc. You can vary

The Train ing-for- LI FE Experience 1M

65

your aerobic exercise every sess ion if yo u want. For exampl e, I often do my aerobic exerc ise at home on a stationary bike. Other ti mes I walk or jog outside . And sometim es I use a treadmill. Ju st as lo ng as it's the type of aerobic exercise that allows you to increase the inten sity in intervals, it w ill work just fin e. We start w ith a two- minute set-up phase where we perform the acti vi ty at about a leve l 5 in tensi ty. If you haven' t been exercising regularly, you could reach leve l 5 o n the Intens ity Index by just walkin g. However, if you ' ve been doing a lot of exercise, leve l 5 mig ht be a pretty bri sk jog. The importan t th ing to remember is thai your leve l 5 is you r level 5, and my level 5 is my level 5. Now, after two minutes at a level 5 effort, we' re going to take it up a notch. When we reach a level 6 e ffort, we keep it there fo r one minu te; then we increase the intens ity of our effort , Li p to level 7 for one minute befo re taking it up anoth er notch, to level 8, where we maintain for another minute; the n we take it up to level 9 . We maintain that hi gh-inten sity effort for o ne minute, and then take it a ll the way dow n to a level 6 agai n- a relat ive ly moderate effort. We repeat that pattern three times, but on the last cycle (between the eighteenth and the nineteent h minutes of thi s 20- minute workout), we don ', stop at level 9- we try to reach a hi gh point- we go for a IO! The n we brin g it back to leve l 5 for a minu te, and we' re done. The chart on th e fo ll owi ng page shows what the Inte ns ity Panern of th e 20 -Min ute Aerobics Soluti on I just desc ri bed look s like. By the way, a " high-inten sity effo rt" does no t mean an all-out sprint. If you ha ven' t tried to run all -out since you were a kid , you' re in for a shock. Don ' t take off li ke you ' re n eeing from a burni ng bu ild ing, or you '1/ burn o ut we ll before the twenti eth minute. For some, an inte nse e ffo rt may mean j ust wa lki ng u p a hill. If that 's the

case, don ' t be at all di scouraged. Thi s Program is about improving- mov ing fo rward in a pos itive way, and that 's someth ing we all have the capab ility of doin g, if we choose to do it. Now remember, you WOIl ' t have a level 10 experience every workou t. But you must try to achi eve a h igher and hi gher le ve l of performance, o r you

66

Body-for- LIFE

The 20- Minute Aerobi cs Solut ion'" 10

,

•

8

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~

7

."•c'" •c

~

b

5

, o

Time (minutes)

4

20

never will - you'll gel stllck in the comfort zone, and your bod y will nOI be forced to adapt; there fo re, even though you may be exerc ising reg ul arl y, you won' , get res ult s. That 's what happens to so Ill any well -intentioned peop le who follow standard exercise routi nes-routi nes that arc self-li miti ng by design. By that I mean they do 110/ pro vide you with a plan or path that allows you to constantly

improve. What many exerc ise routines do is actua ll y "tra in YOll" to stay at a certai n leve l. T hese programs don' , evolve. T hey're stati c; they're stuck . (It 's no wonder th e peop le who fo ll ow those old-fas hioned rOll tines are stuck, too!) Anyway, when you apply the Intensity Index properl y to both your resistance trai ning and aerobi c workouts, you' ll never hit the ceil ing. You ' ll always move up to higher and higher high poi nt s. And that means you' ll continuall y be stim ulating your muscles wh ile losing fat. You'll become more metabolically effi cient. Your body wi ll bum fat at a significantly elevated rate, even while you're sitting at your desk or driving your car or read ing a book ... even while you ' re sleeping.

The Train ing-for- LIFE Experience 1M

67

Sharing the Experience So now we understand the import ance o f plann ing and kee pin g records.

We've di scovered a powerfu l, new growth strategy in the High-Point Tech nique. We've also seen how us ing the Intens ity Index wil l help us make con tinual progress. Howeve r, we' re not quite done yet. In order to he lp yo u understand

how to put it all together, I'm going to share with you how I use the T rai ning-

for-LI FE tools and tech niques to build my body for life. Ready? The n let 's do it. I start by plann ing the coming day' s workout the ni ght before- in thi s case, Sunday ni g ht. I can tell by looking at Illy sc hedule that Monday is going to be a w ild ri de. I've got meetings, dozens of memos to w rite, two articles I need to finish for my nexl magazine, and I know eno ugh to ex pect Ihe unexpected . Mo nd
68

Body-far- LIFE

do another set of 12. You woul d write down, on your Dail y Prog ress Report , under the "Actual" column , what weig ht you used and what intensity level it req uired. The next time YOll train the muscl es of the upper body, you woul d be able to look back to th is workout and see you need to use morc weigh t. I'd suggest try in g 20-pound dumbbe ll s the next time. If that's still not a leve l 5 intensit y-a mode rate effort- th e nex t tim c yo u wo uld try 30-pound dumbbe ll s. And , of course, if you overshoot the mark- if you se lec t a weigh t that is too heavy, you can come back down five pounds. It 's a fine- tun ing process, but you' ll get the hang of it , qui ckl y.

My Inner-Strength Challenge Fast-forward to Monday morning: I wa ke up at about 6:00

A.M.

I throw on

some short s, a comfo rt ab le colton T-s hirt , and te nni s shoes and dri nk two cups of water. I a lways drink water as soon as I get up in the morning beca use I haven' t had any fo r at least six to e ight hours, and my bod y needs it-wate r is so important to our health . Today I' m go ing to work out at my house. I have an ext ra bed room where I have a set o f du mbbe ll s, a workout bench, and a barbe ll. I also conside r a stopwatc h an import ant piece o f equipme nt fo r my wo rko ut s. You should get one. I start my chest workout with the du mbbell bench press by taking a 40pound du mbbe ll in each hand. I lie bac k on the be nch and press the wei ght s up with a cadence of " Body-for- L1FE." I ho ld the dumbbe lls in the top position for a count of one, and then I lower them, slowly, as I say, " I am buil din g my Bod y-for- L1 FE." I pause just fo r a count of one at the boltom part of the exerc ise, and then I press the weights back up. Forty-pound dumbbe ll s, for me, are pretty li ght, but remember, I'm shooting for only a level 5 inten sit y rating. That mea ns it 's not even cl ose to an al1-out effort. I'm getting the blood nowing, getting Illy muscles warmed up, and clearing the fog from my mind. Remember, I just got out of bed a fe w minutes ago.

The Training-for- LIFE Experience'"

69

After my set, I hit a stopwatc h. I wa it one minut e, the n pi ck up a co up le of 50-pound du mbbe ll s and perfo rm 10 reps. It 's a littl e more int ense, but I could ha ve done qui le a few more reps. I wai l o ne minut c, the n g rab a set of 60-pound dumbbel ls, perform eight re ps, whic h, for me , requires a le ve l 7 e ffo rt. After wait ing fo r another minut e, I go up to 70- po und dum bbe ll s for reps. By now, I' ve broken a sweat, and I've a lso fired up so methi ng ca ll ed the

S IX

neuromu sc ular ju nction , whi ch is the po int where our mu scles receive a signal from oll r brains to fl ex. These signa ls are carri ed by neurot ransmitte rs and flow through your nervou s syste m like clectri c ity flow s throu gh wires. It takes a few sets

10

get th is neurolllusc ular juncti on primed. But once it 's amped up and

deliveri ng fu ll vo ltage, we will be stron ger on the fifth set of an exerc ise in thi s workout- you'll be abl e to lift a weight 12 times thaI you might ha ve been abl e

10

lift onl y e ight times earlier in the workout. Thi s syste m, however, is

pri med o nl y fo r a bri ef period- there's a prell y sma ll wi ndow o f opportunity. Th at's why I des igned the set
10

make sure I' III on

sc hedul e. My goa l is to fini sh wi th in 46 minutes. Hav ing a deadline in still s a sense of urgency and keeps me foc used on my mi ssion. By thi s point , my mind and muscles are ready fo r my hi gh-intensity e ffort. I pi ck up those 60-po und d umbbe ll s, lie back on the bench, get as focused as I poss ibly can. and, whil e mai ntaining very stri ct form , I lower th e we ight, pausing for a moment at the bottom , and then I press it up whil e fl ex ing my c hest musc les. By the time I get to my e ighth rep, my mu scles are burning. By th e time I get to the tenth rep, they are reall y burning. And the eleventh and twe lfth reps are very challen ging. That 's leve l 9. I set the 60- pound d umbbe ll s down and immed iate ly grab a pair o f 40pound dumbbel ls, li e back on the bench, and thi s time, instead of doi ng the du mbbell bench press, J do fl yes. (See the Exerc ise Guide on page 135 for

70

Body-for- LI FE

detai led instructions and photos show ing all the exercises I perform.) On thi s set, my muscles are al ready bumi ng by the lime I reac h Illy fo urth rep. I breathe in deeply as I slowly lower the weigh t, and I ex ha le as I lift the weight back up. By about the seventh rep, my mu scles arc lOast. By the ninth rep, I really wan t to set the weight down , but I know, from past experie nce, thai th is is exact ly where I wa nt to be. In my mind I th in k, " All ri gh t, Bill, three more rcps. Don' t quit now!" By th is poinl, the earth is moving-we've got a full -scal e earthquake. I harely get the ten th rel)--I' m at leve l 9 fo r sure. Once I start that e leven th rep, I immed iately shift from trai ning wi th my mu scles to rely ing on my inner strength. (When you get there, you' ll know what I'm talking about. ) Befo re the twelft h and fina l rep, I pause and ask, " How stron g am I? How powerful is my inner strength?" Then, I reach deep down inside and go 10 leve l 10, as I overcome the res istance and succeed ! (A lreauy I' ve w..:hieveu a goa l and hi t a high point. Not a bad way to start a workout- not a bad way 10 start a day!) I wri te down " IO! " on my Progress Report and move on. By now, I ca n reall y fee l the blood ru shing 10 the musc les in my c hest. I'm also breathing prell y darn heavil y. Speaki ng of breathing, when you' re performing you r weigh t-trai ning exercises, you should inha le deepl y, through your nose, during the eccen tric (negat ive) pari o f the exercise, and breathe out deep ly, throug h the mouth , duri ng the concent ri c (posi tive) pari of the exercise. For exa mpl e, if yo u' re doing the bench press, when you lower the weig ht , you shou ld breathe in. When you press the we igh t up. breathe out. I' ve got two minu tes to catch my breath; then I beg in my shoulder workout with the seated dumbbe ll press. I start with 30- pound dumbbe ll s for 12 reps, wa it one minute, then do my set of 10, then e igh t, then six. I fo ll ow my pl an, which is show n on page 73. Once I get the shoulder musc les primed, I reac h for a high-point set, perform ing 12 reps of the seated dumbbel l press, and then immediate ly goi ng to my next exercise for shoulders called side raises, and I push it like crazy- tryin g to reac h that level 10 intensity where I go above and beyond.

The Training-for- L1FE Experience '"

71

On this set, after 12 reps, I feel I cou ld have done one or two more. That's

okay. I hit level 9. I simply make a note that the next time I do side raises, I' m goi ng to try using 15-pound instead of IO-pound dumbbell s. (11 's so important to make notes and com pare your plan to actual when you're doin g these workouts. It 's a constant process of rine-tuni ng, mak ing slight modifications, and evol ving.)

Re member, when you do the exerc ises, you might use more o r less weight than I do . Th,lI doesn' t mailer. What does mailer is what inte nsit y leve l you reac h compared to yourself. I' ve got onl y 22 more minutes to fini sh, so I qu ickl y move o n to dumbbe ll row ing for the back musc les. After I fin ish my fifth set o f that exercise, whic h I do for 12 reps with 70 pounds, I immediate ly go to an exercise called the dumhbel l pull over. Remember, you ca n find photos and descriptions of all these exe rcises in th e Exercise Guide on page 135 . Be sure to follow the proper form. as it not o nl y increases workout effi ciency but a lso wi ll pre ve nt unn ecessa ry mu scle pull s and strains that can be ca used by do ing the exercise the wrong way. ( You can also see video demon strat ions o f these exerc ises for free at www. bod yforlifc .com.) I' m tellin g you, by th e ti me you get to these last few reps on th at second set o f 12, you' ve got to hone in your focus like a laser beam. You can't think abo ut a ny th ing el sc. When I'm holdin g a 70-pound weight above Illy head, the last thing I'm conce rned wi th is paperwork. It 's surviva l of the fitte st at th is point. And you know what? It feels awesome. To tru ly be focused on onl y one thin g- to be breathing, to have your bl ood circulating, to be mo ving and l1 exing- it' s just awesome (and I try not to use that word too often ). By th e way, if you do have the opportun ity to exerc ise with SO lllco nc- a fri end, yo ur s pou se, yo ur brother or sistcr, sometimes I even exerc ise wi th my mo m- it's a terri fic experience to share. It 's so rare these days lhat peopl e work toge ther to accompl ish goa ls- I mean rea ll y work together to do someth ing pos iti ve wi th one another, for one another. It bu il ds a powerful bond. When yo u do what you say you' re go ing to do (show Li p for th e workout ) and get into it , you' re also build ing mutua l respect.

72

Body-for- LIFE

Body '" LIFE Date: Day

I

The Training-for-LIFE Experience '· Da il y Progre ss Report 5/4111

Planned Start Time:

of 84

Upper Body Workout

~:OS"

Planned End Time: Ct,S! Time to Complete: 46 minutes

Actual Start Time:

(",,/0

Act ual End Timp:

ress

Total Time: ACTUAL

Reps

Weight (I~)

Minutes g~tween

So..

Intensity L~'

,,'"

Weight (Ibs)

Minutes

Belween So..

Intensity Leve l

II II II

II II II II

NOTES

Need

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The Traini ng-for-L1FE

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73

my

Anyway, after I fin ish my back workout , I move on to tri ceps, finish my sets there, then hi t my favorite muscles- biceps. I fi nish my last high-intensity set by perrormi ng 12 reps of standing dum bbell curl s and check the c1 ock- I brought it in right at 45 minutes. Now, I sit dow n on the be nch and take j ust three minutes to record my actu al workout and compare it to my plan. I make a few notes such as, " I need to increase my we ight on dumbbe ll pull overs nex t time rrom 70 to 80 pound s and try harder." And since I had a great workout, I write, "Great workout !" (Pretty simpl e, huh ?) My next we ight-trai ning workout is Wednesday. I exercise my leg mu scl es and abs that day using the same tools and techniques I used in the workout I just shared with you. I have included a copy or my lower body Dai ly Progress Report on page 77 ror your review. Nuw, It;t 's take a luuk a\ the aerobi c workout I perrorm on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

Beginning the Day With a Hi gh Poi nt Tuesday morn ing I wake up at 6:30 A.M., drink two c ups or water, put on my workou t clothes, wal k across the ha ll , a nd get on my stationary bike . No weig ht training tOday- just rat-burn ing aerobi cs. I start peda ling at a steady pace- a leve l 5 on the Inte nsity Index. I do that ror two minutes wh ile I rev iew my wri tten goa ls. Then I start to increase the resistance on the stati onary bike unt il I have to push a lillie harder. I mai nta in th at pace ror 60 seconds, the n I increase the resistance so it requires a le vel 7 effort , then I go to level ~ and so on. I fo ll ow the pl an on the opposite page. If you've neve r perrormed aerob ic exercise using in tensity interva ls, let me give you a heads up . It ain· t easy ! When I te ll peop le I do 20 mi nutes of aerobi c exercise, they sco ff, " Is th at all ?" " Yep," I tell the m. " Here, you give a try." By the time they actua ll y put the 20-Minul e Aerob ics So lu tion to the test, they're singin g a diffe rent tune.

74

Body-for- L1FE

Body

The 20 - M inute Aerobi cs Solution '"

LIFE

Dai l y Pr ogress Repo rt

-'--

,/,m

Planned Start Time: (.,:1./-0

Date: Day :Lof 84

Planned End Time:

7:00 Time to Complete: 20 minutes

Aerobic Workout

Actual Start TifTIe"

~,:3S"

Actua l End Time:

f.t,:5S

Total Time:

;2...0 ",irvres

ACTUAL fumse

Minute by

Minute

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The Training-for-U FE Experience '"

75

--

Th is aerobi c workout is a chall enge. And , whal I like mosl is Ihal il is so da rn effic ient. (I like effici ency ... a lot. ) Anyway, by the time I fi ni sh my 20-mi nut e workout , I' m breathing heavily. Ill y pu lse rate is up, and I've worked up qui te a sweat. I've al so got the oxygen Ilow in g 10 Illy brain . It 's a great way to start the day. Where I li ve, in the foothill s of the Rocky Mountain s, spring and summer mornings are abso lute ly glorious. (I don ' t use that word much e ith er. bUI that's what they are, downrigh t glorious!) So I oftell do my 20-minu te aerobic exerci se ou tside during those months.

There's something very powerful about being outdoors. In fact, iI's downrighl unn atural for us 10 spend all our time under man-made li ght in a house, an office, a mall , or a grocery store. Now, granted, you don' t want to spend so much time under the sun that yo u fry your skin- tu rnin g yourse lf into a human Gucci bag by age 42-b ut there's no questi on direct sun li ght and fres h air inv igorate the body and mind . The workout is sim ple: I wa lk out the front door, cl ic k my sto pwatch, and walk for two minutes. Then I graduall y pic k up the pace- walk ing, then joggi ng, Ihen j ogg ing faster, then wal king again , and so on. I go throu gh all four intensity interva l cycl es. Make no mistake, I don ' t move li ke Terrell Davis when I "sprinl"- my hi ghintens ity ru n is not a "world-class even!." But for me, it's a challenge. And I try to do a lillI e bener- to reach a little hi gher--each time. That 's what matters. I perform the 20- Minute Aerobics So lu tion three ti mes a week and conduel my intense weight -trai ning workouts three days a week, on a ltern ate days. (See Your 12-Wee k Training -for- L1FE Schedul e on page 78.) Through th is integrated, high-intensi ty Program, my muscl es rece ive all the "stimul ati on" they can handle. Doing any more th an thi s would be a step bac kward, not forwa rd . After we compl ete our workouts, we must focu s our attent ion on nutri tion.

76

Body-for- LIFE

Body

Th e Tra inin g- f or- LI FE E xper i ence '"

LIFE

Dail y Prog r ess Report

- ~-

Date:

s/"m

Planned Start Time: (.,;30

UL

Day 30f 84

Pla nned End Time:

Lower Body Workout

Time to Complete: 42 minutes

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77

Body

~-

Your 12-Week Training -for-LlFE" Schedule

LIFE

20·Minute

Aerobics

Aerobics

Solution

Solution Day 12 Lower Bo dy

Day 13

Oay 14

20-Minute

Free Oily

Aerobics

Weight

Aerobics

Solution

Tra ining

Solution

Day 17

Day 18

lO-Minute

Day 19 Upper Body

20-Minute

Solution

lower Body Weight TrClining

Aerobics SOlution

Weight Training

Aerobics Solution

Day 23

Day 24

Day 9

20-Minute

Day 10 Upper Body

20-Minute

Aerobics Solution

weight Training

Day 15 Upper Body

Day 16 20-Minute

Weight Training

Aerobics

Day 11

Day 20

Day 2 5

Day 26

Day 27

20·Minute

20-Minute

l ower Body

20· Minute

Aerobics SolUlion

Aerobics

Day 21 Free Day

Day 28 Free Oily

Aero b ics Solution

Solution

Dily lS Free Day

Aerobics Solution

Day 31 Lower Body Weight Train in g

OilY 3 2 lO-Minute Aerobics Solution

D;lY 33 Upper Body Weight Traini ng

20-Minute Aerobics Solut ion

Day 36 Lower Body Weight Training

Day 37 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 38 Upper Body Weight Training

Day 39 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 40 Lower Body Weight Training

Day 41 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 42 Free Day

Day 43 Upper Body

Day 44 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 4S Lower Body

Day 46 20-M inute Aerobics Solution

Day 47 Upper Body

Day 48 20-Minute Aerobics Solut ion

Day 49 Free Day

Day 53 20-Minute Aerobics Solut ion

Day 54 Lower Body

Day 55 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 56 Free Day

OilY 30

20 -Minute

Day 51 20 -Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 7B Lower Body

78

Aerobics Solution

Day 3"

Day 58 20-Minute Aerobics Sol ution

Day 59 lower Body Weight Training

Day 60 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 61 Upper Body Weight Training

Day 62 20-Minute Aerobics Solu t ion

Day 63 Free Day

Day 65 20 -Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 66 Upper Body

Day 67 20-M inute Aerobics Solution

Day 6B Lower Body

Day 69 20 -Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 70 Free Day

Day 72 20-M inute Aerob ics Solution

Day 73 Lower Body Weight Training

Day 74 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 75 Upper Body Weight Training

Day 76 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 77 Free Day

Day 79 20-Minute Aerob ics Solution

Day 80 Upper Body

Day 81 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 82 Lower Body

Day 83 20-Minute Aerobics Solution

Day 84 Free Day

Body-for-L1FE

Overview of The Training-for-LIFE Experience '" Principl es • Weight train. intensely. for no more than 46 minutes. three li mes per week: Monday. Wednesday. and Friday. Pcrfo nn 20 min utes of aerobic exercise, first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. three limes pcr week: Tuesday, Thursday. and Saturday. Take Sunday off- it's your free day. • A lternate training the major mu scles of the upper and lower body. For exampl e. Ihe fi rst week, train upper body on Monday, lower bod y o n Wednesday, and uppe r body on Friday. The second week, train lower body on Monday, upper body on Wednesday. and lower body o n Friday. (See chart on the previous page.) • Perfonn two exercises for each major muscle group of the upper body. which includes: chest, sho ulders, back, triceps, and biceps: and for the lower body: quadri ceps. hamstrings. and calves. Train the abdom inal mu scles after lower body. • Select one exerc ise for each muscle group and conduct li ve sets, starting wit h a sel of 12 reps, then increasing the weight and do ing 10 rcps, adding more weight and doing e ight reps, adding mo re weight fo r six reps. The n reduce the weight. do 12 more rcps, and immediately go to another set o f 12 reps o f another exercise for that muscle group. • On all lift s. use a cadence of two seconds (say " 1 am bu ilding my Body-for- L1 FE") !o lower the weigh! and one second (say "Body-!or- L1 FE") to lift iI, and "hoi"" in the top and boltom posit ions for a cou nt of "one." • Fo r each llluscle group, rest for one minut e between the first four sels. Then complete the fin al two sets with no rest in between. Wai t two minutes before movi ng on to your next muscle group. Complete this pallern fi ve times for the upper body training ex perience and four times for the lower body trai ning experience. • Follow the Intensity Index pattern and pu sh yourself to reaeh hi gher every week. • Always plan you r training beforehand. Plan what li me you're going to exercise, which particu lar exerc ises you'll be doing, how much weight you ' ll be li ft ing. and how long it wi ll take you to complete the sess ion . Also, keep accurate records usin g the Training-for- L1FE Experi ence Dail y Progress Reports on pages 175- 187.

The Training-for- L1FE Experience 'M

79

The Eating-for-LIFE Method -----Partv

When you nourish your body with pure energy, you transform from the inside out. Think about thi s fo r a momen t: Within a year, virtuall y eve ry ce ll w hi ch

makes up your body ri ght now w ill be gone.

No. That doesn' t mean you' ll be vapori zed, nor does it mean Arm ageddon is at hand . The fact of the maller is your e ntire body is " fe-created" every year. Out with the old, in with the new. Your ski n, your Illu scl es, even your organs arc con stantl y dege neratin g and regenerating. It 's go ing on right

//Ow .

It 's not

something Ihat 's going to start tomorrow or a month from IOrnorrow or w hen

YOll hit your nex t birthd ay. A s sure as you're reading the words on thi s page, th is in slant, your body is

in thai constant cycle of fe-creatio n.

The pace of thi s process depends on your age. Somew here around age 25, the natural process o f "bui lding up" that your body has undergone since birth crosses over to a process w here degeneratio n occurs fa ster than rege ne ration. A simil ar process occurs w ith all li ving things . For exampl e, a flower grows until it stops g rowi ng. Then it beg in s dy in g. Thi s is natural. But it 's 1/01 inev ita bl e . You see, unli ke a flow er, we call do so methin g about thi s. We can adap t and evo lve. We do n' t have to lose mu sc le, ga in

81

fat, fee l tired, give up , a nd give in as we age. If we c hoose, we ca n look and fee l good , for life. We ha ve th e opportunit y to re-c rea te ou rse lvcs, ({ we dec id e to do it , and ({we kno w how. (Don ' t wo rry, I ' m gon na tcac h yo u just how to do thaI.) Now, what do you th ink your bod y uses to re-c reate it sclf? Where does it get the raw materia ls to con struct new skin cell s, brain ce ll s, mu sc le cc ll s, bonc cell s, new blood, and e ven a new heart ? If you guessed " food," you ' re ri ght. You see, in a vcry literal way, that old say in g " You arc what you eat " is truc. And , evcn th ough most everyone has hcard that sayin g time and time aga in , I' vc di scovered that very few peop le

really understand it. Very fcw peopl c arc cl ear about the fundam entals of nutriti on . It 's just not someth ing we usuall y learn in schoo l or al work (unl ess you work fo r mc) or from a coach or even a pcrsonal trainer. In fa ct, many "ex pe rt s" are /II ore confu sed than Ihe peop le they're supposed to be he lping. Some times they don' t know cnough, and be li eve it or not, so metimes they know ron IIIII Ch. By Ihat, I mean they have r-:ad so many arti cles and tex tbook s, been 10 so many se min ars, been ex posed to so much in fo rmati on that th ey are overwh elmed- Ihey suffer paral ys is from ana lysis. They overth ink the topi c of nutrition and quite oft en are so caught up with thc small stu ff that they fail to clearly sec thc bi g pi clure. What I see ve ry clcarl y is Ill at most pcople have no clue what they're doi ng to thc mse lves with the food they normall y eal. Nor are most peop le aware o f how mu ch bctter they could look alld fee l if Ihey slo pped feed ing themse lves acc identall y and started re-creatillg the mselves intent ionall y. Til e good new s is, it doesn' t have to be compli cated. What I've taught th ousand s of peop le- and what you are abo ut to learn- isn' t rocket sc iencc. In fact, oncc you get the hang of it , it's downri ght simple. Once you discover the right method of fceding your body, you ' ll never have to relearn it. It 's kinda li ke learning how to dri ve a car- it 's a bit in timi dating at fi rst, but with a li ttl e pract ice, you ' ll be " up to speed."

82

Body-for- LIFE

Remember, quality nutrition is j ust as important as the exercise techn iq ues you reau aUOLit ill the previous section. (Exerc ise is the spark. Nutrit ion is the fllel. Without both, there can be no fla me- no resu lt s.) So as soon as you start exercis ing intensely, you must beg in eating the right way; you mu st start consistently feed ing your body what it needs to re-create itself, so you can enjoy rapid and rewarding progress. With that in mind, here's a li st of quality, nutrient-rich foods I recom mend:

Eating-for- LIFE Authorized Foods Proteins

Vegetabl es

Carbohydrates

chicken breast

baked potato

broccoli

turkey breast

sweet potato

asparagus

lean ground turkey

yam

lettuce

swordfish

squash

ca rrots

orange roughy

pumpkin

cauliflower

haddock

steamed brown rice

green beans

salmon

st eamed wild rice

green peppers

tuna

pasta

mushrooms

crab

oatmeal

spi nach

lobster

barley

tomato

shri mp

beans

peas

top round steak

corn

brussels sprouts

top si rloin steak

strawberries

artichoke

lean ground beef

melon

cabbage

buffalo

apple

celery

lean ham

orange

zucchini

egg whites or substitutes

fat-free yogurt

cucumber

tow-fat cottage cheese

whole-wheat bread

onion

Choose a portIOn of protein and carbohydrates from each column to make a meal Add a serving of vegetables to at least two of your dally meals

The Eating-for-LIFE Method

83

Authorized Foods l ' lll sure you saw pl enty of the foods you enjoy eating on the chart on the prev ious page. Si mply choose one portion from eac h co lumn in any co mbina-

tion. For examp le: grill ed chi cken (protein), steamed brown rice (carbohydrate), and spinach (vegetab le). There arc dozens of different meal s you can prepare fromlh e authorized food s li st. ]' 11 show you some more exa mples lat er in th is secti on, but first, let's take a closer look at some of the food s Ihal will help nouri sh our bodies and enrich ou r li ves.

Quality Proteins Pou ltry (Chicken and Turkey)

Ch icken and turkey breasts are excelle nt choices of whole-food protc in s. They' re low in fat (once you get ri d of the ski n and bake or gri ll the m instead of frying them), hi gh in protei n, and are available practicall y anywhere, any· ti me. You ca n roast, broil, grill , o r saute the m. You can also buy pou ltry in ground fo rm and make meat loaf, tacos, or ham burgers o ut of it. One note of caution , tho ugh: If you bu y gro und chi cken or lurkey from the grocery store or bu tcher, make sure it 's g round breast meal. Most ground poultry and deli meats have dark meat in them and possibl y so me pieces of skin o r o rga n meat and o ther "st uff' that 1 haven' t authori zed and you don ' ( wann a know about. Fi sh and Shellfish

Seafood is another great protei n food . Good choices of fi sh inc lude salmon, tuna, cod, haddock, halibut, perch, sea bass , snapper, and swordfi sh. She ll fi sh, li ke crab and lobster, are al so hi gh in prote in and low in fat. You can' t go wrong with these choices, as long as you bake or grililhe fi sh-don 't deep Fry it or cover it with butter or a high-fat sauce.

84

Body-for-LIFE

Red Meat (Beef, Buffalo, Venison)

Red meat is bad for you- it's a gu ilt y pleasu re, fu ll of fat and c holesterol, ri g ht ? We ll , not rea ll y. Lean meat is hi gh in prote in and o nl y about seven per-

cent fat. (C hoose th e top round cut, top sirl oi n, shank, round , fl ank , or chuck to keep the saturated fa t low.) Although coronary artery disease continues to be the leading cause of death in America, the cholesterol foun d in lean red meat is

1/01

to blame. Lea n beef

(top round steak, 7 1 mg), ch icken (breast, skin ned, 72 mg), and fi sh (flounder, 58 mg) arc very close in cho lestcro l content. Th e faci is, it's the overconsumptio n of saturated fat and the lack of proper exercise that contribute most to heart

di sease. Low-Fat Cottage Cheese

Of a ll the protei n food s you can choose, low-fat cottage cheese //lay be the best. You see, it's ric h with amino ac ids, one of them bein g g lutamine, wh ich helps support mu scle metaboli sm. And it's also a comp lete protein, wh ich means it contains all the ami no ac ids necessary to build new mu scle, as well as s upport lhe body 's ot he r prote in require me nts. A not her adva ntage low-fat cottage cheese has over some of our other protei n choices is that you don ' t have to cook it: You can take it wi th yo u in a coo ler or keep some in your refri gerator. It 's a lways there when you need it. Egg Whi tes and Egg Substitu tes

Pac ked wit h protein , low in ca lories, zero cholesterol , and no fat --egg whites gel a n A+. They have long been the favorite source of prote in fo r athletes and are now bein g consumed daily by many peop le w ho arc fo ll owing my Body-for- Li FE Program. O ne cauti o nary note, tho ugh. Neve r ea t your egg whi te s raw or und ercooked, o r yo u may be at ri sk fo r sa lm o ne lla poiso nin g. In order to ki ll any sa lmone lla bac teria thaI may be o n or in the egg, yo u have to bo il the egg

The Eating-for- LIFE Method

85

for at least seven minutes, poach it fo r at least five minutes, or fr y it fo r at least three minutes per side. Omelets a nd sc ramb led eggs should be coo ked un ti l dry. T he easiest and least ex pensive way to eat egg wh ites is to simpl y c rac k open an egg and remove the yo lk. However, because you shou ld not cat raw eggs, there are ti mes when egg substitutes are a bell er choice. I li ke Egg Beaters better than egg whites. espec iall y fo r mak ing omelets.

Quality Carbohydrates Potato If I had 10 pi ck my fa vorite carbohyd rate food, potatoes wou ld be it. They' re conveni entl y " nature made" in porti on sizes- a ll you do is pick one that is approximutcl y the size of your clenched fis\. (See how sim pl e th at is?) Potatoes go we ll wit h al most any protei n porti on, and they' re portab le, refrigeratable, and , contrary to popular belief, they taste great eve n without bUlle r and sour cream. You can top the m wi th a spoonfu l of salsa. ketchup. steak sauce- they" re even great pla in. Brown Ri ce

Stea med brown ri ce (a nd by steamed , I mea n not boil ed with butter) is my second fa vori te carbohydrate choice. Th e ma in d iffe re nce between brown and wh ite rice is how they've bee n processed. Th is changes the way the body lIses the carbohydrates. Remembe r food is our bodi es' so urce of fuel. And , brown ri ce bu rns mllch slower than white rice. Thi s mea ns you will have more ene rgy for a longer pe ri od of time when you cat brow n rice. The main thin g you need to re member is that a porti on of steamed brown ri ce comb in ed with a porti on of a qu alit y prote in and a vege tab le is a meal.

86

Body·For· LI FE

Oatmeal

O atm eal is th e favori te carbohydrate portion among many peopl e who arc follow i ng the Body-for-LIFE Program . It's easy to make, nu tritiou s, inexpen-

s ive , and it tastes good . (I sprinkle Nu traSweet and cinnamon on mine.) A wo rd of caution- there are a 101 of hi gh-sugar instant oatmcal s you would be beller off avoid in g, espec iall y when good old-fa shion ed Quaker Oats arc the better choice . Barley

Allhoug h it's not my fa vori te , barl ey Illay be the best carbohydrate food there is. Barl ey comes in flake or pearl for m. Both can be cooked and eaten as a hot cereal. T he most nutritiou s form of barl cy and , ironi call y, the hardest to find, is hu lled barl ey. Even though it's ra rel y

fOllnd

in s upermarkets. it CH llll SU-

all y be picked up at the local hea lth -food store . Althoug h barl ey is often used in soups, you can also use it to make hot cereal. It 's a li ttl e b land, bu t the fl avor can eas ily be improved by adding some NutraSweet and c inn amon.

Pasta Spaghetti , li nguini , macaroni ... whatever you ca ll it, pasta is a good lowfat sou rce of carboh ydrates. The key to making pasta work fo r you on this Program is to recogni ze the difference bet ween a platefu l and a portion. Many peopl e th ink that because pasta is low in fat , they can eat all they want. A lso, no A lfredo sauce, butter, or cheese. W hen I do eat pasta, I usuall y eat it pl a in o r just squeeze lemon over it. Nice and s imp le and cl ean.

Sweet Potatoes or Yams Because of its sweetness, man y peop le assume the sweet potato is hi g her in ca lories than a regul ar ·potato. Not so . Because of an en zyme in the potato that con verts starches into sugars, the vegetable tastes very sweet. It ac tuall y

The Eat ing-far- LIFE Method

87

has no more calori es than a regular potato. Baking, boilin g, or mi crowav ing are the best ways to prepare them; in fact , they can be cooked the same way as regular potatoes. Make sure when you bring them home from the grocery store that YOll don ' t put them in the refri gerator, where they may become hard and bitter tasting. In stead, store them in a coo l, dry pl ace where they will keep for about a month . If they' re stored at roo m temperature on a ki tchen cou nter, they' ll keep for onl y about a week. Yogurt

Yogurt quali ri es as a carbohydrate choice on our Program, which means, of course, it should be com bined with a porti on of protein to make a mea l. Sometimes I mi x nonfat yog urt and cOll age cheese for a qui ck and easy midmornin g or evenin g mea l. However, I' m not ta lking abou t frolen yogurt , which is too hi gh in sugar to make my authori zed li st. Also re membe r that eating yogurt by it self is not a meal: You·ve got to co mbine it with prote in. Fruit Here's anothe r carbohydrate that nature has pre- portioned for us. An app le. an orange, a peach, a banana: They' re a ll porti ons of carbohydrates, and they' re ri ch with nutrie nt s. generall y portabl e, and when you simp ly co mbine them with a portion of prote in, you' ve got a mea l. Who le-Wheat Bread

Usually, when people start the Body-for- LI FE Program , I fry to we'lIl them off of bread, cracke rs, cook ies, and other carbohydrate foods that they've been overdosi ng on, and , although I'm reluctant to "authori ze" bread, I do so under the condition that it be whole-wheat bread and that you understand that H portion of bread generall y, unless you've got one bi g 01' hand, is onl y two sli ces of bread or one whole-wheat tort illa. There fore, a uthori zed meals may include a couple of my favorites, a grilled-chicken sandw ich or chicken pita. 88

Body-for- LIFE

Vegetables H igh-nutri ent, hea lth y foods that are n01 a signifi ca nt source of protei n or

carbohydrates, but which should be incl uded with at least two of your daily meals include: spinac h, broccoli, tomatoes, carrots, Icttuce, cauliflower, ce lery.

cucumbers, green beans, squash, asparagus, cabbage, and mu shrooms. These vegetab les arc not o nly low in ca lories but arc high in ti ber and/or cont ain antioxidants (whic h have been shown i n sc ientifi c studi es to help preve nt cancer), and they're just plain good for you, if they ' re not cooked in but ler, co vered wi th cheese. or deep-fat fri ed. You ca ll buy thern fresh or frozen

and serve the m li ghtl y steamed or raw.

Healthy Fats Des pi te pop ular be li e f, no l a ll fa ts arc bad: Saturated fat s are the e ne my. Unsaturated fats, in moderate amoullts, ca n actu all y be good for yo u. Fo r examp le, o ne o f the reasons fi sh is such a hea lth y food is beca use it co ntain s essenti a l fatty ac id s (often callcd EFAs), whi ch can actuall y he lp your body burn fat mo re e ffi c ie ntl y and protect you from certain di seases. There's a general ru le for know ing whi ch fat s are o kay and whi ch ones are not o kay: If it is so lid at room te mperature , like butter, margarinc, or shortening, it 's bad news. (A coupl e of exceptions to that rule are pa lm oi l and coco nut oil- they' re bot h saturated fat s that are prim aril y sto red as body fat and cause all increase in cho lestero l. ) Good fats include safnower oi l, sesame oi l, canol a o il , and the fat in avocados. Now, Ihat doesn' t mean you need a porti o n of any of these fats. Ju st a tablespoon a day can provi de yo ur body with the essentia l fatt y ac ids it needs. For exa mple , you ca n mi x a tablespoon of saffl ower o il with vi negar and usc it as salad dress ing. And, if you eal fi sh, espec ia ll y sa lmon , at least three times a week, chances are you're getting the essenti a l fall y acids you need.

The Eating-for-LIFE Method

89

The Perform ance Nutrition Advantage '" Although eat in g six limes a day might seem expens ive and lime consullling , (' ve discovered a method whi ch saves lime and money, wh ile taking the

guesswork Qu I of "eat in g right." It in volves Ll si ng a hi gh-tech nutrition shake that was des igned by my company, Experime ntal and Applied Sciences (EAS).

Il' s called Myoplex, and it 's already helped literally lens of thousands of people com pl ete their Program. In fact, virtuall y every person who fi ni shed our last 12-week Transform ation Challenge used Myoplcx . I ca ll Myoplcx The Performance Nutri tion Advantage because it offers an "extra edge" for so many people who accept my chall enge to pU llhe Body-for-

LIFE Program to the Lest but aren't used to eat ing frequent , high-nutri ent meals, day in and day oul. Myop lex is so si mpl e~ i t's a powder you just mix with water in a shaker or blender. In less than a minute, you can create a "s uper shake" (i t's like a nutriti ous milk shake) that contains a precise bl end of nutrients your body needs to maintain proper health and recover qu ick ly from yo ur stren uous workou ts. Th in k of it this way: Let 's say you too k a grocery cart full of healthy whole foods suc h as lean meat, fruils, vegetables, and dairy products and extrac ted the valuable

nutri e n ts~th e

good thin gs the body

n eeds~and

put

them in one place; and took all the leftover junk ~th e excess ca lories and saturated fat ~and gOI ri d of it. T hen, if you took all of the good stuff and combined it in precise rati os, what you would have is a custom-des igned food~a precise formula that offers the positive bioc he mi cal effects of food wit hou t the negati ve. T hat's what Myoplex is: A high-tech fast food that has been scie ntificall y des igned to "starve" fat wh iie jeeding your muscles. I use Myoplex every day and have for the past four years. Wi thout the advantage it offers, I don ' t believe I would ha ve been able to stic k wi th thi s nutrition method which has helped me stay in lOp shape year after year. Plu s, I' m nollhe lype that li kes to take handfuls of vitamin pills and whatnot. I'm 100

90

Body-for-LIFE

busy for Ihal, and my guess is Ihal you are, 100. Th ai 's anolher reason I use Myoplex- three servings a day prov ide my body with 150 pe rce nl of the reco mmended dai ly allowance 0 1' 29 esse nti ul vit am in s and minera ls. Not only Ih at, euch shake conta in s mo re q uali lY prolein than a chicken breast. as much c nergyrich cnrboh ydrates as a porti on of brown rice. and is very low in fal. Now, I' m not say in g you can' t get good res ults with j ust regular food. That is poss ible, espec iall y if you have time to sho p fo r and pre pa re six qual ity whole- food meal s da y in and day oul. However, many o f the people I coac h. espec iall y ath letes like John Elway, Mike Piazza, Terre ll Davis, as well as bus inessmen, work in g mol hers, and eve n so ldie rs, just do n' t have lime to eal six whol e- food meal s a day. So for them, Myopl ex is a so luti on- an ad vantage that makes fo llowing the Eat ing-for-LiFE Method much more pract ica l. It may offer bene rits fo r you as we ll. (If YOll would like mo re informat ion about Myopl ex, ca ll EAS at 1-800-297-9776 IDept. # 17.1 or visit www.cas.co lll. )

Pl an Your Grocery Shopping Another thing you can do to hclp adopt thi s new pattern of eat ing--of illlell ' tionally feeding your body the nutri ent s it needs to re-c reatc it self- is to make sure your cupboards and refrigerator are stoc ked wilh authori zed foods. 1"11 say it yet again: If you fai l to plan, you're plannin g to fail. By that. I mean, if you don', pl an to have Ihese food s avai lable when and where you need them. it coul d be diffi cult \0 stick with the Program. Planning your mea ls start s by making a li st before you go to the grocery store. Stock up onl y o n qualit y sources of protein. carbohydrates, and vegetables.

Your Free Day Six days a week, you need

10

fo llow the ea ting g uide lines I' ve been te lling

you about in Lhi s secti on. And on the seventh day? Forget abollt them. 1 mC
91

th at 's line. If you wan t a Big Mac or two for lunch, go for it. If you want a thi ck pi zza with eve ryth ing on it for di nner, be my guest. If you want apple pi e and ice crea m for dessert , that's okay with me. There is actually a phys iologi ca l rea son to purposely overeat once a week- it may help call vi nce you r bod y that it is not starving. Giv in g yo ursel f a good feed once a week may ca lm th at thou sand -year-old e ncoded alarm in side your brain that goes off every time you begin to burn stored body fat for fue l. But beyond the bio logical reaso ns, there are psycholog ical be nefi ts to the free day that are even greater, at least as far as I' m conce rned. One of the many thi ngs I' ve learned from working wi th peop le hands-on over the years, not just th rough a laboratory, not just through reading what sc ientifi c studi es say, is that as soon as you say to someone, "Okay, you're lookin g at 12 weeks wi th absolutely no spaghetti and meatball s, IIU piaa, II U i(.;e Ut;;alll, lIot even a je ll y bean," you've in vaded that person's c ircle of choice-you 've taken away one of his or her perce ived ri ghts. Most people need to kll ow they have some degree of autonomy, that they are all owed to make cert ain decisions fo r themse lves. They ' re will ing to draw some lin es and create a framework, a structure, as long as there' s an e lement of freedom th at re mai ns. YOli don ' t want to set yourse lf up for failure. You don' t wa nlto create standard s you can't meet. If you say, " I'm nOI go ing 10 eat anything I shou ldn ' t for the nex t 12 weeks," you've set yourself up for disappointment. That's like Michael Jordan goi ng into a game and say in g, ''I'm 110t go ing to miss a shot." No one wants to playa ga me he or she ca n' t wi n. That 's why I' ve built the free day into the Body -for- L1FE Program. I ca n' t descr ibe the di fference th is makes in a person 's abi lity to stay with the Program. By havi ng one day co mpl etely to yourse lf, yo u are down righ t eager to get into th e nex t week 's posit ive pattern s of action. I've a lso discovered that thi s free day se rves th e purpose of rem indin g you of what you used to fec i li ke when eve ry day was free day. It can keep

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Body-for- L1FE

yo u in touch with what you' re trying to get away from-the sluggishn ess, indigestion , and energy drain created by ove re,lt in g and infreq ue nt eating. As far as when you should have your free day. that 's up 10 you. Some set aside every Su nd ay to cat whatever they wanI. Other times, you might wa nt to go wi th the now, adju sting your day to the c ircum stances of that week. Let's say you ha ve a spec ial occasion comin g up and you know you' re go in g to be eating in a soc ial environment and don ' t want to worry abou t rules. T hat's fine. Plan ahead and make that you r free day for the week. As (me ntion ed before. I (ike to eat pizza every no w a nd the ll. AmI I likt! my mom's c hi cke n e nchilad as. So that free day has been one o f the keys to my main tain ing thi s approach for a life time. Th e Bod y-for-L1FE Program is just thai- for life. It 's not something I do for just a certain amount of tim e. It 's th e way I li ve. And it will be for you as we ll , by the tim e Ih e ne xt 12 weeks a re over. And here's a littl e tip: T he end of YO llr fre e day is a great time to do your grocery shopping for the upcoming week. Your hunger will be more than sat isfied, so the urge to buy tempting but inappropri ate or unhea lthy foods will be minimi zed.

Food for Change Don ' t fa ll for Ihe co mmon misco ncept ion that hea lt hy, high-llu tri el1 tllleal s have to be bland and boring- that's just not the casc o The mea ls I eat taste good to me and are re lati ve ly simple to prepare. And most importantl y, they provide my body wi th the quality nutrit ion I need . What follows is a sam ple of a few typical days on the Eat ing-for-L1FE Method . I' ve al so in cluded one of my Dail y Progress Reports 10 show you how I keep track of, and compare, my plan -to-actua l food and waler intake.

The Eating-for-LiFE Method

93

Six Monday Meals (Examples) Breakfast: Ullra- Fil s! Egg-White Omelel Beat four egg whites and o ne who le egg (o r li se Egg Beaters) with two tablespoons of skim milk . Toss eggs in a skillet li ghtl y coated with a no nfat cook in g spray, like Pam . Serve wit h two pieces o f whole-w heat toast, and you've got a qua lity po rtion of prote in .m d carbohydrates. Now drink two c ups of ice water, and you ' re sel.

Midmom;lIg: Chocola re Nlllrilioll Shake Mi x one serving of chocolate M yoplcx with 12 to 16 ou nces of co ld water

in a blende r. Add three ice cubes. Blend at hi gh speed for 45 seconds ,mel serve. LUI/eh: T//Iw Salmi

Drain a can ofwatcr-pac kcd tuna. Then place luna in a bow l and mi x in one

tabl espoon of fat -free mayonnai se, one teaspoon of dill pi ckle re li sh, and juice from a lemon slice. Pil e tuna on lOp of lelluce, and serve with a portion of fru it and two cups of icc w.lter fo r a complete men\.

Midafternoon; Key Lillie Pie Nutritioll Shake Mi x o ne se rvin g of a vanilla Myopl ex according to direction s. The n .ldd two tab lespoon s of fro zen limeaid co nce ntrate and three ice cubes. Blend at hi gh speed for 45 seconds and serve.

Dinner: Baked Tu rkey Will, Cranberry Sallce Thinl y sli ce a baked lurkey breast. Mi crowave one tablespoon o f cra nberry sallce in a small oowl until warm (about 30 seco nds). Pour cran berry sauce over turkey breast. Serve with a portion of steamed brown ri ce and broccoli alon g wi th two cups of ice water.

LlIte Evell ing: CllOco fare -Berry Nlilririon Shake Mi x one serv ing o f a chocolate Myopl ex according to directio ns. Then, add four frozen strawberries. Blend on hi gh speed for 45 seconds and serve.

94

Body-(or-LI FE

Six Tuesday Meals Breakfast: Zesty Break/as/ Bu rrito Fill a small whole· wheat tol1ill a with four scrambled egg whiles o r Egg Bcaters. Add o ne tablespoon of salsa, half a tablespoon of l o\V~fat shredded cheddar cheese, and one tablespoon of low-fat sou r crcam. Roll and serve along with

a lall glass of ice waler. Midmorning: Chaco/ale-Mill I Nutrition Shake Mi x o ne serving of a chocolate Myopl cx accordin g to directi ons. Th en add three dro ps of peppermint extract and three icc cubes. Blend at hig h speed for 45 seconds and serve.

LUllc": Grilled Chicken Soup In a sma]] sauce pan , m ix o ne can o f c hic ke n broth ; a sli ced, grill ed chick en

breast; a portion of cooked barl ey; and a handful of your favorite mi xed vege tables. (The frozen olles arc not on ly co nveni ent , they' re just as nutriti o us as fresh vegetab les.) Warm over medium heat for live minutes and serve with two c ups of ice water or iced tea. Midaftemooll: Strawberry- Frost Nutritioll Shake Mi x one se rvin g or strawberry Myoplex according to direction s. Add three ice cubes. Ble nd at hi g h speed for 45 seco nd s and serve. Dinner: Grilled Salmon alld Potato Prepare a salmon steak by squeezing fresh lemo n juiee over it. Grill salmon fo r 10 to 15 minutes or until itll akes eas il y when tested with a fork . Serve wi th a baked potato, steamed spinach, and ice water. Late Evening: Cillll(l//IO/l Roll Supreme NUfrilioll Shake Mix one serving of a vanilla Myoplex powder accordin g to direc ti ons. Then add o ne ha ll' teaspoon ground c inn amon , o ne teaspoon fat-free Butler Buds, and three ice cubes. Blend at hig h speed fo r 45 seconds and se rve.

The Eating-for- L1FE Method

95

Six Wednesday Meals (Examples) Breakfast: Orange-Cream Nutrition Shake Mi x o ll e servi ng of va nilla Myopkx

i.u;~ on.1i ll g

lO directi ons. Add o ne

hal f fresh orange plu s three ice cubes. Bl end on high speed for 45 seconds and ser ve.

Midmomill g: Collage Cheese and Yogurt Mix a portion of cottage cheese with a portio n of fat -free, sugar-free yogurt (llikc blueberry Yoplait ) fo r a nutri ent -rich, qui ck, and easy mea l. Don ' t for-

gel lO drink your water- two cups. LIlIIC": Lemoll-Lime Chickell alld Pow/a

Smother a grilled, sk inl ess ch icke n breast with fre shl y sq ueezed le mon and lime juices. Microwave a plain potato, and serve it with fresh carrots and a tall g lass of iced tea.

Mit/afternoon: Rich Val/iI/a Nutrition Shake Ble nd o ne servin g of vanilla MyopJex with cold water and serve. D il/ner: SOIlIllIvestem Steak and Rice

Place steak in a glass baking di sh and pierce the meat wi th a knife or fork. Squeeze the ju ice from ha lf a lime over the meat and sprin kle with pepper and garl ic powder. Bake at 350 F until it's cooked to your likin g. The n slice and serve with steamed brown rice covered with salsa, and salad wi th o ne tabl e0

spoon of safflow er oi l. If you wish, a glass of red wine can be added . Lflle Evellil/g: Double CllOcolare Nutr;';OIl Shake

Bl end o ne servin g o f a choco late Myoplex with water. Add one servin g of fat -free, sugar-free hot cocoa mix and three ice cubes. Blend at hi gh specd for 45 seconds and servc.

Body-for- LIFE

The Eati ng-for- LI FE Method

Body ,.

Dail y Progr ess Report

Day

D p.m.

O ... m.

3;00

",,00

f----==-==---'=-=='-------1

f-------------i f----="-=-=----------1

f----------------1

O a,m.

f--==-===--==-=='-------1

1 - - - - --

--1

O a.m.

f---:;;::-=c-c:-;c__- - - --i

O a.m.

f----=.I-=-=-- -- - -----1

NOTES

I feel 9reaf! Hi9h ener'jr' all day. I

1.Ja~t1 '+

O a.m.

r!i . . _""

O a.m.

I!1p.m.

~p.m.

~

Total portions of (arbs: '" Total cups of water: II

l!fp.m.

!!1p.m.

of 84

Total portions of protein :

Total portions of protein: 6 Total portions of (arbs: 6 Total cups of water: 10

l!1a.m.

I

LIFE

hUl"!,27' af all.

The Eatlnq-for- LIF E Method

~p.m,

O a.m.

"rpm

f---="-=-=-- - - - - --J 1-____ ___--1

Overview of The Eating-far-LIFE Method Principles

• Eat six small mea ls a day, one every two to three hours. • Eat a portion o f prote in and carbohydrates with eac h meal. • Add a POri ion of vegetab les to at least two meals dail y. • A portion is lhe amount of an authori zed food approx im ately the size of

the palm of your hand or your cl enched fi st. • Consume one tabl espoon of un saturated o il daily or three portion s of salmon per week.

• Drink at least 10 cups of waLer a day. • Use pe rformance- nutrition shakes i f necessary to make sure yo u' re consuming opt imal level s of required nutri ents.

• Plan your mea ls in advance, and record what you eat , using the Eatin g-fln"-LlFE Method Daily Progress Reports on pages 17)- 1X7. • Pl an yo ur grocery li st. • Once a week, on your free day, eat whatever you want.

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Body-for- L1FE

Staying on Course Part VI - - - - -

Life, the ultimate challenge, is not a race to the finish but rather a process of continual growth. Let's talk" litt le basic phys ics- getting an object at res! to beg in movi ng requires far more energy than it does to keep il mov ing. Th i nk o f a rocket: 90 per-

cent of the power is spent

0 11

the ini tial th rust-on getting the blasted thi ng into

the air. The remaining 10 percent is allihat's needed to keep it going. However, if that rocket strays off course, it requi res considerable energy to gel it back on

track, and , if it gets too fa r off course, it will not complete its mi ssion, nnd all the

energy ex pended to lift it

Ollt

of the gravitational pu ll of the ea l1h is fo r naught

In a way, the sa me appli es to transfo rmi ng our bodies. In fact, when shifting or changi ng allY aspect of our lives, it's the act of getti ng started that is, by far, the mosl challengi ng stage of the process-a process whi ch you've already beg un . You ' re al ready generati ng considerab le moment ulll . And if you keep il go ing, you will soon be ex peri encing im press ive resu lts. Unless . . . you stray off course. But, all 100 often, Ihal's what does happen- peo ple are goi ng alon g great, then they qu it. I don' t wan t that to happen. Neither do you. So now what I' m goi ng to share with you are powerful solut ions 10 chal lenges which li e ahead-chall enges that can be transformed into energy to fue l your ascent instead of slow in g you down, or worse yet, stoppi ng you altogether.

99

- - - - Transfo rm Adversity Into Energy Picture th is : For the first lime in a lo ng tim e, o r pe rh aps the fi rs t tim e ever, a ll aspect s of your life are coming together. Yo u've successfull y tran sfo rmed your pattern s of action , and you' re mov ing forward in the direc tion

o f your goa ls. You ' re lookin g beller each week. That stubborn fat is fi nally mc lt in g away. In its place, muscl e is forming. You ' re getting stronger, healthier. You' re well o n your way to a ne w and bettcr li fe . You feel un stoppabl e until ... the "unexpected" happens. Adversity strikes. Someth ing goes wrong. You ' re bli ndsided by a bad hil.

These " hi ls" ca n come from any direction. It mi ght be an injury tha i makes

it d ifficult to exerci se. It mi ght be the loss of your job or a fail ed business venture, an illness, the end of a re lationship, o r worst of all , a personal tragedy. The fact is, adversity hi ts all of us, and not just "o nce in a blue moon." No on e is exe mpt. W hen troub le, in whate ver form , stri kes, it can bri ng your progress to a screeching halt. It ca n destroy your momentum, cripple your sclfconfidence, and send you into a tail s pin- a situation where one th ing after another, after another just doesn' t go your way. Th ere's no train ing syste m, suppl eme nt, or " miracl e pi ll " that can make you immune to adversity. But does tha t mea n the re's not hin g you can do abou t it ? Yes and no. You can ' t alway s prevent ill fo rtune, espec iall y due to forces and circumstances beyond your control. Bu t what you can do is expect adversity as an inev itab le part of life. In fac t, you must ex pect troubl e in order to properl y dea l with it. Remember, it 's not a matter of if it comes your way; it 's a matter of when and how severe ly it stri kes your li fe. We must a ll accept that ill fo rtune is an inev itabl e part of life, and it is because of, not in spi te of, mi sfortun e that we grow. You see, our character will never be full y tested until thin gs are not go ing our way. Those who have the

100

Body-For- LI FE

courage to succeed ill spite ~radve rs it y become an in spiration. Th ey con tribute value to the li ves of others. They make a difference. So, duri ng the course of your 12-week Program, whenever you enco unter adversity- whenever somet hing comes up that you beli eve might prevent you fro m fini shing your Program and successfull y transform ing your body and life- immediately ask yourself, " What ca n I do to turn th is negati ve into a positi ve? How can 1 make thi s work fo r me rather than aga inst me?" When you approac h obstacles th is way, yo u will ex perie nce an immediate boost in energy and confidence (both of which you will need to complete your 12-week Program). And by practicing thi s skill- by learning how to transform obstacles into advantages- by auackin g challe nges head on- yOll will not only cont inue to move forward, you wi ll gai n the illller sT rellgtlt to deal with any thing life bri ngs your way. Wh en you look at adversity thi s way, you will rea li ze mi sfortu ne is a bridge, not a barricade, to greater ac hievement s. It can represent the ope nin g of doors, not the closing of them. When adversity strik es, don', let it stop you. Promise yourse lf in advan ce you will tran sform that negative into a posit ive. That 's not just the ri ght way to handle it, it 's the on ly way.

Honor Self-Promi ses When you begi n your 12-week Body-far-LIFE Prog ram, YOll mu st promise yourse lf you wi ll fini sh what you start,no malleI' whaT. That vow, alt hough it mi ght be easy to break, is by fa r one of the most important ones to honor. You sec, the very essence of confidence is self-trust. Wou ld you tru st anyone who repeated ly lied to you? Someone who broke the ru les of the game, again and aga in? Of course you wouldn ' t. So, if you've developed a pattern of not honoring se lf-prom ises, thi s is a great time to make a c hange. If you can ' t hOllar, tru st, and depend on you r own word, well ... that may be the root of a lot of the challenges in your life- a lot more than you reali ze.

Staying on Course

101

Thi s is a critica l- and eye-openi ng-issue fo r each of us to face. Most peop le have a very hard lime an swering Ihe simp le question. " Do I keep my word to myse lfT' Or, I should say, they have a hard time answering it hOllestly. Th e thing abo ut lying to o ursc lves is we ncve r, ever gel awa y with it. On th e surface. we may foo l our mind s int o ig norin g o r not ad mitting what we're doing, but deep down , in the pl ace where all truth res ides fo r eac h o f us, in the place where we kn ow and see ourse lves as we rea ll y are- in th at pl ace, we are causin g pain and damage eve ry tim e we're no t to tall y ho nes t with ourse lves. For exa mpl e, when you know darn we ll , decp down inside, that you should be doing somet hing and you' re not, li ke exercis ing regularl y, like eating rig ht ,

lik e fini shing you r 12-week Program, you' re lying

10

yoursel f. Do it often

enough, and you r se lf-tru st- your co nfide nce-w ill fade away. Into th at emptiness will seep uncertai nty, anxi ety, and anger. It doesn't ha ve to be lik e th at th o ug h. No matte r how lo ng il has bee n

like Ihal , it doesn' t have to stay that way. Contrary to what Illan y people think , it's a lot easier to kee p the promi ses we make to ourse lves than it is to break the m. Keepin g those pro mises un leashes e normo us energy and pote ntiaL That potential e mptincss creat ed by self-decepti on wi ll become fill ed with strenglh , certaint y- and . yes, confi dence- if yo u ho nor self-promi ses. (We've all heard the phrase, "The truth sha ll set YO ll free." We ll. now he re is that more true than when we apply it to o ur re lat ionship with o urse lves.) If you've gOllen this far 0 11 these pages, you' re already we ll in t.o the process. You 've already promi sed yourself you will not quit. Thi s is not someIhi ng to take lightl y. T his promi se mu st be treated as earnestl y as a vow you make to your spouse. Or to your child. Or to your boss o r coach. Approach it with that feelin g, and YOll will keep it. And when you succeed, you wi ll feelth e trans formatio n inside even more than o thers see it o n the outside. Th at, by the way, IS a promi se.

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Body·for. L1 FE

Harness the Power of Positive Pressure I've not iced that many people who beg in the ir transfommtions with full force end up los ing their dri ve after a few weeks. One way I he lp them overcome Ihal setback is to leach them how to harness the power of positi ve pressure.

My o bservation is thi s: Most peopl e in America have been condit ioned (that means someone or some system has taugh t them) to beli eve they should

"coas," through li fe as much as possible- they shou ld avo id " pressure situ ations" and grav itate toward circumstances where no one is demanding any-

thing frol11 them. Thi s is not good. It 's no t good at all , espec iall y if you 've dec ided to change your body and life. YOli see, contrary to popul ar be li ef, deep down inside, you want pressure; in fact, yo u need pressure to fee l exci ted and passionate about life. Real- li fe exa mpl es of peopl e perform in g hero icall y under press ure ca n be see n everyw here: the fireman who resc ues a chi ld from a burning building, without a moment to spare; the quarterback who scores the winning touch down, wi th time running o ut on the clock; the docto r who saves a dyi ng pat ie nt 's li fe. The fa ct of the matter is, we are all capable of so mu ch more than we mi ght be lieve we are, but our ultim ate potential is often smothered by what soc iety teaches us- that pressure is a bad th ing. that it hurts rather th an he lps our e fforts to improve and become success ful. Eventuall y, aft er years of condi tio nin g, most peop le see pressure as an o bstac le, not the powerful, dri vin g force it rea ll y is. You see, the truth of the matter is thai it 's through press ure o r ;;stress" that we evolve- that we g row. Think about il: The fundamental principle of building a stronger body is the process of overcoming st ress, or " res istance." We force our muscl es to work , and thi s e ffort in turn forces our mu scles to adapt. If we put no pressure at all on those musc les, if we present the m with no res istance whatsoever, whm happens? They atrophy. T hey diss ipate. They weaken.

Staying on Cou rse

103

The sa me eq uation appli es to our growth in the areas of our careers, our relati onships, and ou r knowledge. II is on ly through the right amount of pressure that we continu e 10 move beyond the level of mere existence or "comfort." To harness the power of positi ve press ure, start wi th regularly subj ecting your muscles to a health y dose of stress by working out. Then, inv ite other chal lenges back in to your li fe. Rather than run from pressure situation s, or pretend they don' t ex ist, face them. Seek them out. In doing so, you' ll find that positi ve pressure brings out your best. You ' ll be rai sing it to a new, hi gher level. And that, in every aspect of our li ves , That is what positi ve pressu re can do.

IS

what we should do.

There are many way s you can use pressure as a powerful moti vating fo rce to achieve your goa ls. For examp le, I recentl y talked to a fri e nd who to ld me he made an appo i11lrnent wi th a photographer for 12 weeks from the day he started hi s Program. He paid the photographer in advance and, 10 create a penalty for n01 meeting hi s deadline, signed a letter stati ng if he didn ' t show li p for hi s photo shoot on that date, the photographer could keep the money. That penalty created pressure, which became a very real p
104

Body-far- LIFE

So, if at any poi nt d urin g the nex t 12 wee ks, you pull back and start "coasting" and hopi ng success wi ll just come to you, you' re go ing to be ex tremely disappointed. In o rder to become our nex t real-li fe success sto ry, you' re go ing to need to harness the power of positi ve pressure. It 's the an ti dote for brea king out of your comfort zone, which in reality is a very III/comjor/able pl ace 10 li ve .

Focus on Progress, Not Perfection Now th at you· ve begun your Program, it's vi tall y im portant that you protec t your confi dence. One way to do that is to forget about the who le concept of perfecti on. It doesn' t ex ist. I've learned that chasing after perfec tion is as fut il c as trying to find thc pot of gold at the e nd of a rainbow. Yo u see, perfec tio n is an illu sio n, and if your objccti ve is to ac hi cvc pcrfecti on in any aspect of thi s Program, you may end up wi th a sen se of defi c iency and uncertainty. wh ich is no/ what you want. If yo u don ' t stro ngly believe in what you' re doin g-if you can not overcome fee lin gs of sclf-doubt- it doesn' t matte r how much accurate infor mation about trai ning and nutri tion you have. Witho ut confidence, you wo n' t be able to stay on course. Think of the ath letc who's having a g reat ga mc until he makes a mi stake. He throws an in tercepti o n that is returned by the o pposing team fo r a touchdown; hc misses a critical free throw ; he strikes o ut in a key situ at ion. In a mal ter of seconds, he ca n plummet from cxtre me confide nce 10 uncertaint y .and ineffec ti veness. If he doesn't know how to get hi s co nfi dence bac k, he' ll fall inlO a slump. Hc· lIl osc hi s e nergy. He' ll stop playin g 10 win , and in stead , he will beg in playing " not to lose." Ath letes arcn' t the only ones who need to ma intain a stron g sense of co nfide nce in order to cxce l. Acto rs, arti sts, businessme n- all of us- we're at our

Staying on Course

105

best on ly when we're operati ng fro lll a co nfi de nt Power Mi ndset. Take virtuall y all successful peopl e, ex tract their sense of cert ainty, a nd you'll str ip them of everything e lse th at has put them where th ey are- the ir talent, thei r drive, the ir energy, the ir judgment , the ir insigh t. On the other ha nd , if you take peo ple who are struggli ng-who are uncerta in of the mse lves- and give the m a health y dose of confidence, the ir lives will turn inside out fo r the better, and fa st. And that's what happens whe n YO Ll focus on progress . Even when you don't get e veryth ing "just ri ght," you ' ll still fee l strong. You ' ll still mai ntai n yo ur confidence and momentum. One of the surefi re ways to stay o n track is to measure your progress often, wh ich YO ll can do li terall y every day with your Daily Progress Reports. I also reco mmend thaI you evaluate your success every four weeks by having YO ll r photo taken and your body co mposition measured. T his wi ll hel p you lI1ailllaill your mo mentum and stay on course.

Practice the Universal Law of Reciprocation - To ma ke the trans formation in your li fe that you 've now decided to make, sometime during these 12 weeks, you' re going to need support. I beli eve the best way to rece ive it is to give it. That 's called practic ing the Universa l Law of Reciprocat ion. If you ' ve ne ver heard of th is " law," you' re no t alone, even though it is the oldest rule in the book. It 's at the center of virtua ll y every re li giou s, moral , and eth ica l system in the worl d. But it's mi ss in g from many of our li ves, and thi s lack can keep us frolll ful fi lli ng o ur potential. Many people want to get before they give. In the long run , thi s formula never works. My experi ence has been thi s: Whe n I ;'ocus on creating va lue for others, in e ither my personal or my professional life, I don ' t get back a return that merely eq uals what I in vest. I know my relU rn will be doub le, tri ple, even 10 ti mes greater. Th is is such a fundame ntal truth that I don ' t even th ink about

lOb

Body-for- LI FE

it. I don' t pay atte ntion to my future return. The payo ff will be automatic. And it will come in many fo rms: sati sfaction, pride, fu n, fulfillment, friendship, self-esteem, energy. And sometimes, yes, money. There are man y ways in which you can put the Universal Law o f Rec iprocation to work for you. First make a self-promise to do something posit ive fo r two peopl e whom you wou ld li ke to support you in your e ffort to make the next 12 weeks a success. For ex ample, you mi ght th ink about one of the specia l things your husband or wife, or your mother or fath er, or your chi ldl'e ll do to add val ue to your li fe. (Don ' t foc us on the littl e th ings they mi ght do that aren' t " perfecl." See oil ly what's right for a mome nt.) The n, promise you rself you will share th is posi tive thought wi th that person by the e nd of the day tomorrow. You can do thi s in perso n or by simply wr iting a bri e f note on a card or a pi ece of paper (w ritte n, appreciati ve words have enorm ous power) and sending it to them. This si mple exercise creates immed iate resul ts that will increase your energy and confidence and show you what a difference it makes when you look for what's right in someone instead of what 's wron g. When you say something as

«,

apprec iate your SllPPOI1 ," YOll not onl y lift that person's spi rit but. simpl e as, as di ctated by the Universal Law of Rec iprocation, you will receive more positi ve energy than you give. T hat 's the way it always has and al ways will work. Beg in the process of be ing a purveyor of positi ve energy wit h your famil y and fri ends, bu t don ' t stop there. You can practi ce th is same exerc ise whenever and whereve r you want , to create a more posi ti ve environment wherever you are. If you' re fee ling a litt le uncertain at work , or in the gy m. look for so mething good in two peopl e YO LI co me in contact with and make a poin t of say ing someth ing si ncere and supporti ve. Say you see so meone at the gy m who YOll can tell is maki ng a great effort to impro ve him or herself. By simpl y te lling hi m, " It looks like you' re mak in g some excellent progress. I ad mire your hard work:' you will not onl y lift that person's energy, but you' ll fee l more confident as well.

Stayi ng on Course

107

You can al so build energy and confidence by glvmg to a worthw hil e cause, whi ch, as you mayor may not kn ow, you have already started. You see, any proceeds that would have go ne to me from the sale of thi s book are goin g in stead to a chari ty I strongly believe in, Ihe Make-A- Wi sh Foundati on® of Colorado. The ir mi ss ion is to create spec ial me mori es and mome nts of happin ess in the li ves of ch ildren and their famili es arou nd the world- li ves thai have been shattered by cancer, muscul ar dystrophy, heart di sease, and ot her serious illnesses. These kids' days are filled wi th doctors, hospitals, med ical treatments, and prognoses far re moved from the wonder of normal ch ildhood. I could go on and on about how much I admire the courage of the MakeA-Wish children and all the un selfi sh people who support th is cause, including each and everyone of the thousands of reade rs of my magazine who have donated to my Body of Work fund-rai ser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation®, which has already brought in over $ 1.25 million. Thanks to their generosit y, the Make-A-Wish Foundation®has been able to grant more than 50,000 wishes. What cause you support is entire ly up to you. It could be a charit y, a church, or an ind iv idual who needs your help. There is no shortage of worthwhile ca uses to get in volved in. I know you wi ll find one you can feel passionate about. And remember, you don't have to donate money to support a cause; yo u can volunteer your time, your talent, or resources you have access to that might he lp out. The important thing is to give often and not expect anyth ing in return. I know from my own ex peri ences that nothing is more rewarding than to know you have made a difference in someone else's life. And I bel ieve thai when you fini sh thi s Bodyjor-LiFE Program, you wi ll in spire others to follow in your foo tsteps. Peopl e wi ll recognize you as a leader, and yo u will earn a new leve l of admirati on and respect from your fam il y, your friends, and others. Your success will he lp fuel their desire and give them hope that they too have the power to change. The bott om line is Ihi s: You do have the power to in spire othe rs, and in retu rn , they will inspi re you- they will help support YO Ll.

108

Body-for- LIFE

We're Here for You Remember at the beg inning of thi s book when I promi sed you that if you let me, I wou ld do any thin g and every thing I cou ld to help yo u transform yo ur

Body-for- L1 FE? Well, I really mea nt that. A nd yet another one of the ways I can help you is by providing access to OLlf Body-Jor-LIFE Lin et ~- i t' s ajl"ee

serv ice we prov ide where you can ca ll , 24 hours a day, 7 days a week , 365 days a year, and ta lk to peop le w ho have success full y compl eted a 12-week

Bod y-for- L1FE Prog ram- who have alread y walked a mile in yo ur shoes, so to speak. The Humber is 1-800-297-9776 (Dept. # 11 ). OUf Support Team is avail ab le to an swer question s you have- whet her they pertai n to Cross in g the Aby ss, the Trainin g:/(Jr- LiFE Expe rie nce, or the Eatingjor-LIFE Method. Also, you can ca ll our Bod y-for-L rFE Line and share your progress on a dai ly, wee kl y, or month ly basis. (O ne of the most hearrbreakillg thin gs fo r me is to see someone who is mak ing ex traord in ary progress on thi s Program but who has no one to celebrate with. ) We'd love to hear about your success and he lp celebrate your progress. Also, you can visit our website at www.bodyforl ife.com (t he "com" stan ds for cOlI/lllullity) to rece ive da il y adv ice and share you r success with ot hers who are follo win g the Body-for- L1FE Prog ram. You can a lso rev iew new success stori es every day, as we ll as review my answers to question s abou t the Program. And most im portant of all , if you ever th in k of quitt ing, if, for any reason, you feel you can' t continue the journey you've started, please con tact us and let us help yo u. DOI/'t give lip 011 yourself Plea se don' t quit. Re member, you are not alone. We are he re to help YOH slIcceed.

Staying on Cou rse

109

Overview of Staying on Course

• Ex pect ad vers ity and be prepared lO transform obstacles i nto energy.

• Honor sel f-p romi ses by finish ing what you start. • Harness the power of pos itive pressu re by embrac in g cha lle nges. • Focus on progress, no t perfection i n order to build conf idence.

• Practice the Universal Law of Rec iprocati on by giving un se lfis hl y.

• Let our Body-for- L1 FE Support Tea m help you succeed.

The Gateway "'ftel ." J - - - - The Dream: Change the world . .. one life at a time. The Goal: Transform one million Bodies-far-LIFE by 12/3 1/01. So now we ' re fini shed, right?

No way. I've said it from the beginn ing. and now you know it as well (you've got to, if you've read a ll these pages, if you've really read them): The 12-weck journey you' re about to begi n w ith your body is merel y a gateway to the rest

of your life, a life of rewardin g and fulfi lli ng moment s, perhaps more spectacul ar than you've ever dared to dream before.

YOLI arc in the process now-and yes, ii's already begun-of prollil/g to yoursel f that astoundi ng changes (Ire wi th in your grasp. W ithin 12 weeks, you

are go ing to know- not believe, but know- that the tran sformation you 've created with your body is merely an exampl e of the power you have to trall Sform ever ylhi,ll: else ill you r 1V0rld.

And here's the ki cke r: YOII are 1101 alolle.

There is someth ing aroot in our soc iety, a gathering force that is beg inn in g to ri se as the twenty -first century begin s. People are reachin g as they have

III

ne ver reached be fore. They are searchin g. They are hun gry for ho pe, for meaning, fo r clarity, fo r SOHlc lhing to believe in . And they are di scovering that search, that belief, has got to begin with themselves. That's what th is book is about. People have had enough of fragme ntati on, of coming apart- both as indi vid ua ls and as communities. They have had e nough of conn ict- of fi ghting one another and of fi ghting themselves. We have see n what happen s whe n we separate ourselves from one another and when we separate ourselves from our selves. We have seen the decay that takes place whe n we neglect our bodi es,

and now we know that it is a metaphor for the decay that takes place in any and every aspec t of our li ves that goes wi thout ca re or attention. The process o f pic king up the broken pi eces of our sel ves and our society has begun . But. we are not merel y pUlling them back together: We are now re-creatillg the m, making them stron ger and better than before.

That is what our soc iety- and I dare say the world- is doing as thi s mil lenn ium draws to a cl ose. We are transforming. We are beginning to celebrate our progress, our li ves. each and every day. We are looking to the future with opti mi sm. a se nse of conri dence. of pote ntial. of promi se . . . oj beg innillg. As we cross over into the new mille nnium , people eve rywhere are fee lin g it. They' re li ving it. Make no mi stake, it is happe ning. It 's happenin g in fami -

lies, in neighborhoods, in sc hool s, in churches, at the workplace- in eac h and every community. People are di scovering that they do have the power to change. That they do have the abilit y to create not only a beller body but a better life. for themse lves (Il1 d

others. They are no longer say ing, ·'It 's beyond me; it's out of Illy cont ro l."

They've slopped asking or ex pectin g someone else to do what needs to be done for them. They are beginning to do it for them se lves. And , they are helping one another.

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Body-for- LIFE

If there are two fundam enta l messages that lie at the foundati on of thi s book and thi s Program- and indeed of my life and , I hope. yours-it is these two principles: • Th e more you create va lue for others-th e more you reach out and give to make their li ves better- the strol/ger and richer. in every sense

of those two words. your ow n life will become . • You can rega in con tro l of )'0111' life and change it, begillning with YOlfr body, bu t on ly begin nin g there, and it will al/ begin to come your way

as soon as you decide to let it. T hese two principles are guid ing the revolution- the evoliltiol/ that is taking place. If you don ' t sense it at thi s moment, when you wake up 12 weeks from now and look in the mirror, will you say, " I wish I had .. ." or 'Tm glad I did ... "? But I be lieve you do sense it right now. You woul dn' t be read in g these word s if you didn ' t. You have made the decis ion to become parI of thi s clw nge for the better, and for Lhal. I both thank

YO ll

and welcome you.

The success stories you've read in these pages- of c hanged bodi es and li ves--{) f ord inary people who've become ex traordinary in ways they couldn ' t have imagined-are just the base of a moun tain- a moun tain of rea l-life tran sformati ons that reaches a hi gher point every day. I've read thou sands of letters, cards, fa xes. and e- mails from these me n and women. I meet them everyw he re I go. They are my teachers, each and every one of them. They've lifted me hi gher than I ever dreamed I could ri se. And they've in spired me to reac h even higher- to achieve my goal of help ing one mi ll ion people tran sform their bodies and li ves by Dece mber 3 1, 2001. Thi s is my goal- to he lp you achieve your goal. 1 will do everyt hing I ca n to educate and e mpowe r

YO ll

not just to "get in

shape" but to help you reac h higher than you've ever drea med you coul d reach- to achieve clari ty, control, a nd confidence; to he lp

YO ll

bu il d and nu r-

lu re your absolute best, your one and only Body-for-LlFE! The Gateway

113

By working together, as a team , we ca n succeed, and we will sllcceed. And now, fin all y, there is but one last promi se I'd like you to muke as we emburk upon thi s 12-week transformat ion process. I' d like you to promise me-and yourse lf- that you' ll contact me when you' re rini shed and te ll me what 's begun . Aga in , I welcome

114

YOll ,

and I thank you.

Body·for·L1FE

Questions and Answers

Q: My 32-year-o ld daughter is about 30 po un ds overweight. S he's tri ed everything to gel in shape- prescripti on diet pi ll s, thi gh creams, eve n liposuctio n. How can I help her? A: Wh at your da ug hter is doi ng is a common mistake. I call it "the outside- in

approach." That's where you try to so lve a prob le m by treating the symp-

to ms, not the cause, IL doesn' t work. Li posuction has gOI to be the ultimate outside-in approach. I've thought abo ut it quite a bit, and I can' t th in k of any way that having a stee l rod j ammed under your ski n and having fat sucked out of your body could pos-

si bl y e nh ance your self-esteem. The Body-Jor- Li FE Program is d iffere nt because it takes an " inside-olll approach." We start with the inside- your reasons fo r wanting lO cha nge: your dreams, your goa ls, your life. A successful transformat ion a lways starts on the inside.

Q: I can' t fi nd li me 10 exerc ise, bUI I need 10 lose 25 pounds of fat. What sho uld I do? A: Here 's a secret- l can' lfllld ti me 10 exerc ise either. Neither can John Elway. Nei ther can Sy lvester Stall one. Nei ther can David Kennedy, a friend of

115

mine who 's a se rgea nt in the Army. Ne ither can Russell Simpson , who's a fa ther and a medical doctor. Ne ither can C hristy Hammons, who 's a col· lege student and works at ni ght to earn money to pay her tuition . In fact, ou t of the 6 11 ,000 peopl e who have come to me overthe last two years and asked for my he lp, not a single o ne of them has said anything remotely like, " Bill, I don' t have much 10 do with my days ... I fi gured r d start exercising ... can you help me kill some timeT The in verse is always true- in thi s fast-paced, dynamic, hecli c, rapidl y c hanging world in whi ch we all li ve, virtuall y no one th ink s he or she can find time fo r anyth ing new. But that 's a misperceplioll. And let me warn you th at whatever you perceive, YO ll believe. You sec, as much as we mi ght try to convince ourselves that we are simpl y too bu sy, thai's jusl not the case. Be li eve it or not, people who are re markabl y successful al transfo rming the ir bod ies ancllives ha ve exactly 24 hours in every day, just like you and I do. There 's not a sin gle person on the planet who's figured out how to gel more out of a day than 1,440 Ill i nutes. So why do some peop le seem to have mo re space in those 24 hours than ot hers? Remember what I taught you about trallsformillg pallern s of act ion back on page 29? Well , th at's what we ' re doi ng here- we ' re looking for habi ts that might be tak ing up time that is not lak ing us closer to aChieving our goa ls, and we' re transfomling those patterns. For exampl e, if you can take j ust four hours <'1 week that you spend watching T V and use that time, in stead , for exercise, you've created a solu tion to thi s perce ived probl em. Another thing you can do to create time is sc hedu le your workouts ..md plan everyth ing you' re going to do each day. YOli sec, if yo u have no idea what you ' re going to do tomorrow, unti l tomorrow comes, you' ll wind up wasting a lot of time reacting, adju sting, and try in g to fi gure out just ex actl y what to do, when to do it , or how to do it. When YO ll plan ahead , you e liminate a lot of unnecessary proble ms . Now, of course, you can ' t plan everyth ing. But scheduling your lime Lakes onl y a few minutes a ni ght , and you can easily pi ck up an hou r you

llo

Quest ions and Answers

didn ' t know you had . Another thing yo u can do to create more ti me is exercise. Yes, exercise. It 's a sc ient ifi c fact that the prope r amoun t of exercise c reates energy. When you have more energy, you get more don e, faster. Q: How do I keep tip wi th my workouts whil e I' m travel ing? A: Before you trave l, you mu st plan. Fi nd oul if the hotel you' re stayin g in has all exercise fac ili ty or at least a set of dumbbe ll s. If not, fi nd out whe re the closest gy m is to where yo u' re stay ing, and plan when you' ll work oul. You ' ll find a decent gym in virtua ll y every city ill America, and most hote ls have a " fi tness area" of some kind or at least a set of dumbbells. Also, dec ide befo rehand to ove rco me whatever ad ve rsity you face. If li ving a health y, fulfillin g li fe is a pri ori ty to you, you wi ll succeed. Q: What do I do after 12 weeks? A: Once you've co mpleled thi s 12- wee k journ ey, it 's highly ullli kely thaI you wi ll e ve n imagine revertin g to your old ways. You wi ll literally be a changed person. What fee ls " norma l" 10 you will be diffe ren t: your dream s, yo ur pass ion s, your cravings, your pleas ures. They will all be redefin ed. And they will be rooted in the /l ew you- your new patt ern s, yo ur new li festyle, yo ur new outl oo k, e nergy and optimi sm, and yes, yo ur new body. Im agi ne if you learned you had been wa lking incorrect ly all your li fe, and II/el/ was why yo u felt pa in and di stress in yo ur legs and back at the end of every day and why you woke up weary and sore each morni ng. Imagine that you were then show n how to walk correct ly, and the pa in and fati gue di sappea red. Why in the world would you ever choose to go back to wa lking the way you used to? Well , that 's prec isely the way people feel after they 've gone th rough thi s Program. For them, it becomes a way of life. With that in mind , what I recommend is, afte r 12 weeks, set new goal s for the next 12 weeks and continue to look and move fo rward. Wh at I th ink you' ]] find is the fi rst 12 weeks are the most chall enging because, fo r many,

Questions and Answers

117

it requires breaking nume rous pattern s and climbin g a prell y sleep learning <.: urvc. Cu mparat ively, your secund 12 weeks w ill be a breeze, your thi rd will be a way o f life. Q : Whal if I make a mi stake and mi ss a workout or meal? A: If you mi ss a workout , you mi ssed it. If you miss a meal , you missed il. Just gel back on schedul e and keep mo ving forward. A nd please do not let setback s or "m istakes" slow you down . We've all made mi stakes in Ihe past, and we ' re all going to make mi stakes in the fUlure , espec iall y if we're tryi ng something new and chall eng ing. So, let's start making 'em. Because if we're making mi stakes, it means we' re trying, and we' re learni ng. Q: I showed my tra iner some of the before-and-after photos o f people who fo llo wed your Program . He to ld me it lakes at least physique transformati on like that. Is he ri ght ?

tlVO

years to make a

A: YOli know that say ing, " I' ll believe it when I see it"? Well , li ke most max ims, it has except ions. What I've obse rved is that some people can only see it ajier they be li eve it. You see, one o f the fi rsl sleps to making a change is to believe il can be done. And I' m not just ta lking aboul gell ing psyched up for a few minutes, a few hou rs, or even a few days. I'm talkin g about truly believing . T he truth is, len s of thousands of peop le have already dramatically transformed their phys iques in as little as 12 wee ks, and te ns of thou sands more are doi ng it rig ht now- burning more fat and building more strength in a matter of monlh s than they have in years. So why do so me grow n me n an d women reject the tru lh ? We ll , w hen you rea ll y gel down to iI , the person who d isbe li eves somethin g that there's enormous soc ial proof 10 support is nol just experiencing heal thy s kept icis m. It 's actu all y a symptom o f cy ni c ism- that doubting mindsetthat robs peop le of the potenti a l to tran sfor m or 10 accept th at they too have the power to change.

U8

Questions and Answers

And the solut ion? For starters, you must open your mind. And you have to start setting and achi ev in g goa ls. T hat will fue l your desire and let you drea m- to be inspired. The bottom line is, if yOll beli eve you can do it , the n y Oll can. And when you succeed, you' ll inspi re your trainer 10 beli eve it 's possible; then he' ll see it, too. (Pretty ni fty how that works, huh ?) Q: How much fat should I ex pect 10 lose if I fo ll ow the Program fo r 12 weeks? A: I've bee n track ing and researchin g th is for years, and I be lieve most peopl e can lose up to 25 pounds of body fat in 12 weeks, if that 's the goa l. If yo u' re losing more we ight than two pounds a week, you may be losing musc le ti ssue as well, which is bad news- remember, if you lose muscl e, your metaboli sm will slow down , and your fat loss cou ld come to a screeching halt. Although it's rare for someone to lose more than 25 pounds of body weight (notice I didn ' t say body fat) in 12 weeks, wi thout losing mu scle, it's not imposs ible: Some people's bod ies are so far out of whac k- they're holdi ng so much water- that once they start the Program, the ir bodi es just completely readjust. Don ' t forget what we' re tryi ng 10 accomplish is a reduction in body fat, not j ust body weight- there's a bi g difference. Your body weight is made up of lean body mass (muscl e ti ssue, water, bone, internal organs), and your body fat is ... well , it 's/at. So me fi tness centers and hospitals now offer various meth ods of bod y- fat testin g, but I think th e most conveni ent way to do it is 10 usc somethin g ca ll ed "skin-fold ca lipers." You simpl y pin ch your skin at certai n sites with this device, and it helps you calculate the amoun t of body fat you have. You can buy a set of skin -fold cal ipers ca lled the Accu-Measure, wh ich cost only about $20 by calli ng a company ca ll ed Body Tre nds Hea lth and Fitness at I -800-549- I 667, or visit their websi te at www.bodytrends.co m.

Questions and Answers

119

Or you can bu y
work out- the " best" kind is whatever you li ke: Rock, j azz, opera. It 's up to you. Sometimes I li sten to YOLI

music; sometimes I li sten to books on tape whil e I work OUI. Sometimes I li ke it quiet. Q: I' m naturall y very lean. I don't need to lose fat. Can I usc the Body:forLIFE Program 10 ga in mu scle size and strength ? A: T he Bod y-for- L1FE Program desc ribed in thi s book is desig ned to he lp YOll bu ild your best bod y ClIul enhance your mental and phys ica l strength. It 's rea ll y about so much more than building mu scle- it's about bu ilding a stronger life. That being said , for those who are naturally very lean and whose goa ls include gai ning muscle size and strength but not losing fat, I suggest you fol low the Training-lor- LIFE Experience and the Eat ing-for-L1FE Method, and for your lirst three mea ls of the day, include two carbohydrate pol1i ons instead of one. Thi s extra energy inWke will ensu re that the fu el required to build muscle is avnilable when and where it 's needed because if you arc very lean (below seven percent body fat for men and below 12 percent body fat for women), the energy required to build muscle may not be pulled from stored body fat ; therefore, it mu st be provided through your food intake. For examp le, in stead of hav ing an egg-w hite ome let (a portion of prote in) a nd a grapefruit (a portion of ca rbohydrate) for breakfast, you would have that plus a bowl of oatmea l (a second port ion o f carbohydrates). And , for your mid-morn in g mea l. in stead of havi ng a Myoplex

120

Questions and Answers

Performance-N utrition Shake (whic h contai ns a porti on of prote in and carbohydrates), you wou ld have that plu s a porti on of yogurt. And , fo r lunc h, instead of having a grilled chicken breast (a portion of protein), a haked potato (a portion of carbohydrates), and steamed spinach (a vegetable portion freme mber, you should have a vegetab le portion wi th at least two of your six dail y meal s]), you can have thai, plus a servi ng of pasta. Another thin g that could help you ga in mu scl e size and strength faster is to use an EAS suppleme nt called Phos ph agen HP, whi ch is very popular among athle tes who are try ing 10 ga in muscl e size and stre ngth . Thi s suppl ement contains creatin e, a nutrie nt whi ch has been shown , in dozens of un iversity studies, to e nhance size and mu scl e stre ngt h, as well as energy. University studi es have shown th at Phosphagen HP (a uniqu e blend of creatine plus energy-rich carbohydrates and other nutrie nt s th at enhance the transport of creatine to mu scle ce ll s) may work eve n better than pla in creatine. The ot he r suppl ement I recommend 10 e nhance the muscle- bu il ding e ffects of the Train ing-lor-LI FE Expe rience is called HMB (beta- hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate). T his is a nutrient whi ch un ivers ity studies have shown e nhances the posit ive effects of inte nse exercise, and, like creatine, it is ex tremely po pular wilh athletes. The onl y supple ment s I'm using ri ght now are Myoplcx PerformanccNutriti on Shakes and an EAS supple me nt called BetaGen (whi ch conta in s both creati ne and HMB ). BetaGen is a powde red drink mi x that I usua ll y just add 10 Myoplex. When I consume these suppl ements, I get the vitamins, minerals, protein , extra anti oxidants, creatine, HMB , glutami ne (an important amino acid Ihal helps with muscle metaboli sm), t:1It:rgy- rit:h carbohydrates, and other micronutri ents I need. I don ' t make it any more com pli cated than that. Now remember, suppl ements alone will not help you build a better body. You have to cross the aby ss and apply your know ledge of exercise and nutrit ion.

Questions and Answers

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By the way, fo r those of you who are interested in thc sc ience of performance nutri ti on and supple me nt ation, you ca n find detailed sc ientific informati on, incl uding dozens of peer-reviewed studies and research reports at www.cas.co m. Q: Is the 20-Mi nute Aerobics Solut ion really enough to burn fa t? A: Yes. Remember, it's not just the amou nt of ca lori es yo u burn duri ng the exerc ises sess ion, it 's the amount you burn the hour after as well. Q: Is it true once you have cellulite on your thighs, you can never get rid of it? A: Although so me "experts" insist cellu li te is a " medical syndrome" you' re stuck with , I disagree. And I know severa l thousand women who will bac k me up-women who have successfull y com pl eted th is Program and lost cellul ite. The fact is, whe n you lose fat, you lose ce llulite. And when you follow thi s Program, you' ll lose fat , and you' ll buil dfirlll mu scle. Q: The last th ing I feel like doin g in the morn ing is exerc ising. Can' t I do my aerobics at ni ght? A: The te mptation to eat mu ffi ns and drink coffee may be overwhe lming (just as go ing back to bed mi ght be) first th ing in the morn ing, but keep th is in mind: Doing inte nse aerobi c exercise on an e mpty stomac h for just 20 minutes fi rst thing in the morn ing is more e ffective in bu rn ing fat th an a f ilII hOllr of aerobic exercise performed later in the day after you've eaten a few meal s. You see, afte r an overn ight fast, blood-sugar levels are low, as are carbohydrate rese rves . Exercising be fore you eat ca uses the body to dip ri ght into stored fat to come up with the energy requi red to make it through whatever rude awakenin g you've subjected it 10. Now, if you just can' , do your aerobic exercise in the mornin g, the nex t best thing is to do it in lhe evenin g, after not eat ing for three hours. For example, if you plan to conduct the 20-M inute Aerobic Solution at 6:30 P.M., ha ve a protein - and carbohydrate-containi ng mea l at 3:30 P.M. The n eat agai n an hour after your workout. 122

Questions and Answers

Q: Ca n I exerc ise at home and still foll ow the Body-for- LIFE Prog ram? If so, what kind of equipment do I need? A: You can put together an excelle nt home gym with a quali ty set of dumbbell s and an exercise be nch you can buy at any sport ing goods store. What you'll probabl y need is a set of adju stable dumbbe ll s that go as li gh t as 2.5 pound s and up to 30, 40, or 50 pound s each (depending on your level o f stren gth , of course). You' ll al so need to in vest in an adju stable exerc ise bench. Compared with most home-exercise equipme nt, dum bbells ,ll1d a be nch are a bargain . Take a look at just some of the adv'Ult ages of usin g dumbbe ll s: • Dumbbell s permit indi vidualized and o ptimi zed al ignment of joints. mak in g the exerc ises both safer and more e ffective. In other word s, the dumbbe ll s fit you; you dOIl 't have to fit yourself 10 a machine or its move me nt. • Dumbbe lls all ow wri sts and elbows 10 be in the moslnatural positi on an d 10 rotale throughout the range of Illoti on of exerci ses in volving your upper body.

• Dumbbe lls allow upper body exercises, li ke presses. to occur in arcs. whi ch are the most natural way for our bod ies to move- th us increasing the range of Illotion of all exercises, whic h potentiall y allows for greater improvements in nex ibi lity, whi le enh anc in g coordin ati on and ba lance. • Dumbbell s permit th e greatest poss ibl e va rie ty or exerc ises. Most can be lea rned qui ck ly and pe rformed easily by men and wome n of all fitness le ve ls. • Dumbbell s work the muscles which help swbil ize the joints along with Ihe primary movers fo r each exerci se, cUlltributing to total body development. • Dumbbell s permit a faster workout , contri but ing to workout e ffi cie ncy. calori e burning. and overall aerohi c and carciiovasc lIl:lr hene fi ts of the workout. • Dumbbell training is inherentl y safe. I' ve never obse rved a torn musc le or any other se rious injury resultin g fro m the proper use o f dumbbells.

Questions and Answers

123

Q: I have trouble find ing time during the week to prepare heallhy mea ls. How can I stick wi th th is? A: Most of us are too bu sy to prepare healthy, low-fat food s every day: T hat's the sec ret to the success of fast-food restaurant s. One poss ible solution would be to prepare some low-fat protein- and carbohydrate-ba lanced mea ls on Sunday night or whenever you have some ex tra time and then freeze them. Then, just lake them out an d put them in the microwave for a few minutes whenever you need them, and you ' re all set. Another way to make it a lot easier 10 consume six meals a day is to consume three regu lar, whole-food mea ls, each consisting of a portion of protein and carbohydrates, and protein-rich, low-fat nutrition shakes or bars for the ot her three meal s. Remember, by feeding your body freq uently throughout the day, you can avoid hunger cramps and maintain stabl e energy levels and a healthy metaboli sm. It 's also a great way to provide your body with the nutri ent s it needs to recover from weigh t-training exerc ise and squelch cravings, especia ll y those uncontrollable urges to binge du ri ng the eveni ng. Q: Is it a ll ri ght to drink wine wi th my eveni ng meal s? A: An occasiona l glass or two of wine is line. But you mll st li se moderation . Beer and wine drinkers are often re luctant to give up the beverage of the ir cho ice. Case in point: Last summer I was trying to help a guy who coul dn't lose fat " no matter what. " I di scovered he was eat ing right , bu t he was a lso drinking a six-pack of beer each ni ght. Do that every night, and you' ll put on six to 10 pou nds of unhea lth y fat a month. Q: My unfit friends alway s try to get me to cat unhealt hy foods whe n we go out. It 's hard to say no. What should I do ? A: Don ' t fall prey to the sa me eatin g habi ts th at may have had so meth ing to do wi th making you r frie nds unfit in the first place. If you ea t wit h people with poor eatin g habi ts, you must be care ful not to use their

124

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d ietary sho rtcom ings to justify slipp in g in to sim ilar eating patt ern s. Turn the tab les. so to speak- innuence them to improve thei r eating habits by ex pla in ing your reasons for maki ng a change and let the m know you' II support them if they're in terested in improv ing the way they look and feel. Or try to visit with those fri end s o n yo ur free day- that o ne day a week when yOll can eat whatever you li ke- apple pie, Fre nch fri es. pi zza, etc. Q: Is it o kay 10 eat frozen yogurt ?

A: Do not mi stake froze n yogurt fo r a health food. Not all frozen yogurt is low fa l. Some vari eties average about e ight g rams of fa t per cup. Second ly, there' s hardly an y way of telli ng what the fat content is of the loca l neighborhocx:l yogu rt stand's frozen offerings. The re fore, I recommend you eat fro zen yogurt onl y on your free days. Q: S houl d I eat somethin g before I work o ut , like an energy ba r?

A: It de pe nd s on wha t your goa l is. If your o nly concern is ath let ic performance, you shou ld co nsume carbohyd rates li ke e ne rgy bars andlo r sports drin ks, be fore. duri ng, and aft er you engage in phys ical act ivity. H OH'el'et:

if your goal is to lose fat and ga in muscle. I do not recommend

eating before you work oul. This is a mistake a lot of people make. If you supply the body wi th carbohydrates to use as fu el when exerc ising, it will preve nt

fat burning and preserve body- fat stores. A recent study confirmed that if' you keep tak ing in carbs. your body will bu rn carbs. Cut back on the carbs, and your body will burn fat more readi ly and quickly. That's why I recom mend. fo r max imu m fat -burning effect, you exerc ise 011 an empty stomach . Q: S hould my teenage boys start th is Program? A: The BodyJor- Li FE Program is intended fo r healthy ad ults- ge nerall y those over the age o f 18. I do not be lieve you ng teens-ages 13 to IS- should train with weigh ts. At that age, l recolll mend cali sthenics, likej ulll ping jacks, push-ups, pull-ups, sit-LI PS, and fU nning- lhe type of acti vilY I lIsed Questions and Answers

10

do when I was Ihat age. 125

Six teen- and 17-year-olds can do the exercises described in thi s book, but their a im shou ld be to conduct IS to 25 repetiti ons per set, and using the Intensity Index (page 62), they shou ld never exceed a level 7 effort. You see, during pubert y, the body is so pri med for growth that low-intensit y resistance exercise creates results. But, during puberty, the bones are still growing, and strenuou s resistance exercise may interfere with bone growth ; th us, teenagers should not beg in working out intensely wit h weigh ts un til they have completely "matured" ph ys ically. Typically that 's around age 18. In terms of nutri tion, I beli eve teenagers shou ld develop the habit of eating freq uent, high-nutri ent, prote in- and carbohydrate-contai nin g mea ls. However, fast-growing teenagers should not restri ct ca lori es- as long as the food is of good quality (chicken, potatoes, ri ce, fru it, vegetab les, milk), Ihey should eat often and pl entifull y. t .s for teens and suppl emen ts, when something 's working ri ght, why mess wit h it ? So when kids ask me about whether they should use creati ne or whatever, I say fo rget it. In vest in a good healthy d iet. Eat the ri ght food s six times a day. Avoid the wron g foods. And dri nk a 10 1 of waleI'. Q: Ca n I still eat cheese with th is nutrition method ? A: Cheese is usuall y too hi gh in fal , so I don't recommend it , but if you' re preparing a "healthy" d ish that req uires it , try defatt ing your cheese- zap an ounce of full -fat cheddar in the microwave on the high sell ing fo r two minutes, and much of the fat will liquefy and form a pool o n lOp of the cheese. You can the n pOllr the fat off. Th is method will get rid of more than half the fa t in cheese. (It works best wi th cheddar or mozzarella.) Q : The gy m I belong to has o ver 100 exercise machines wh ich look very hi ghtech. Do these work? A: Please do not be di stracted by a ll those fa ncy exercise machines. Which ones work ? Which do n' ,? Wh o knows? It 's guess work- tria l and error, All you need from a gy m to fo ll ow the Trainin g~for- LIFE Ex perience are barbell s, du mbbell s, benches, and a few standa rd machines, li ke a high-cable 126

Questions and Answers

pulley. leg exte nsion. leg c url , leg press, and sq uat rack. The basic freeweight exerci ses shown in the Exercise Guide on page 136 work for me, and they will work fo r YOll too, In fact, the vast majority of elite ath letes I work wi th st ick with the basics as well.

Q: I've read the success stori es from peopl e who ha ve competed in your chal lenges, and j' d like to take part. Can I enter? A: My ann ual Transformati on Cha ll enges are fo r peop le from all wa lk s of li fe- you ng and old, fit and unfit , me n and women. The ru les are simple: Foll ow the Body:for-Li FE Program for 12 weeks and document your resu lts with before-a nd-a fte r photos and body-composition tests. The n, write an essay about how th is experience has affected your body and life. Your overall score will be based 50 perce nt on your body transformat ion and 50 percent on your essay. The com peti tors with the highes t co mbin ed scores from our 10 j udges wi n. That 's a ll there is to it. Our pri ze purse for 1999 incl udes $ 1 million in cash and 100 first-class. all -expenses-paid dream vacat ions to Hawaii. So if you're looking fo r an ex tra incentive to put the Body -for- Li FE Program to the test, accepting my cha lle nge may help. For de tail s, call 1-800-297 -9776 (Dept. #18) or visit www.bodyforl ifc.com to request your Rules & Regulati ons Kit , which will tell you everythin g you need to know about how to enter and win. Q: r ve tried to stick with an exerc ise progra m. but I've never been able to be

consistent. I guess I j ust don't be li eve in exercise. Aren't so me peopl e just not cut out for it? A: A lot of peop le tell me they just can ' , brin g themse lves to exercise regularly. " It's just too harel," they compla in. ;; ll" s not fo r me." That 's just not true. In fact. having the a bi lit y to move und

lIot

mov in g is just plain

wrong. Consider thi s . I recen tly spent some time with a great youn g guy from Scottsdale, Arizona . Hi s name is Jamie Brunner, and he 's one of our newest Questions and Answers

127

Tran sformation Challenge Champions. Jami e's 25 years old. He's marri ed to a beauti ful , young woman. And he's smart. Bul he had all owed himself to ba ll oon up to 235 pounds-to get, in other words, "dow nri ght fat. " (Those are hi s words, not mine.) Anyway, Jami e has an older brother named Barry whom he looks up 10. Growin g up, they always hung out together. They' re bes t frie nds. One day, a few years back, Jamie and Barry wen t swimming in a lake . Ban'y dove in the water, not know ing there was a rock just be low the surface. He broke his nec k- shattered what they call the C2 and C3 vertebrae. Ever since, he's been paral yzed from the nec k down. It was a trag ic accident thaI, as YO ll might im agi ne, has taken a lot of healing to cope wi th . Jami e exp lai ned to me that one day he was ta lk ing with Barry about the diffi cult y he was ex perienc ing try in g to get in shape. He told hi s brother, " I can' t stand running on the tread mill or li fti ng weights. I just hate it!" To which Barry responded, "Jami e, I'd give an ything in the lVorld to run on a treadmill . I' d give anythin g in the worl d to fl ex the muscl es in my legs- to feel my arms gettin g stronge r- to feel th em

mOlle .

I' d

give anything to have the choice th at you have- to move, to li ft , to ru n ... but I dOtl " ha ve that choice. If you won' t do it for yourself, Jamie , do it for me." Jami e was speechless. He told me he never felt so selfi sh in hi s li fe. How could he com plain to his brot her, who can ' t even raise hi s hand, that exercisin g is an inconveni ence, thai mov ing the body is a "pain"? Jamie told me that was the turni ng poin t fo r him, and he has never mi ssed a workout since. Jami e's break through made me th in k, too. I reali zed that having a healthy body and letting it decay, hav in g the ability to exercise and I/Ot doing it, is like having 20120 vis ion and never ope ning your eyes. Fortunately, more and more people are beginni ng 10 see it that way.

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Questions and Answers

Terms and Jargon Appell"lX B

Abyss: A barrier which stands between know in g what needs to be done and

act uall y doing it. Aerobic: Thi s means " req uiri ng oxyge n. " Aerobi c metaboli sm occurs durin g

low-intensity, long-durat ion exerc ises, like jogg ing.

Amillo acids: A group of compounds that serve as the build ing bloc ks fro m wh ich prote in and mu scle are made. Anaerobic: Thi s mea ns "without oxygen." A naerobi c metaboli sm in mu sc le

ti ss ue occurs durin g intense physical ac ti vities lik e sprint in g or weight lifting. AllIioxidal1ls: Sma ll compounds that minimi ze tissue oxidation and hel p con-

trol free radicals and their negat ive effects. Atrophy: A decrease in size or " wasting away" of muscle tissue frolll lack of use. Barbell: A free we ight consisting of a long bar o n whi ch weight plates are

placed. It is normall y lifted with both arms.

Body compositioll: The percentage of your body weight composed of fat compared to fat· free mass. Calories: The unit fo r measurin g the energy value of foods .

129

Carbohydrates: Organic compound s containing carbon, hydrogen, and ox ygen. They' re a ve ry effective fue l source for th e body. Th e d iffe rent types o f carboh ydrates include starches, sugars, and fibers. Carbohydrates co nlain fo ur calori es per gram . G lu cose- blood sugar- Is a carbohydrate used by every ce ll in the bod y as fu e l. Cholesterol: A type of fat that , although most widely know n as a " bad fat " impli cated in pro moting heart di sease and stroke, is a vital co mpo nent in the producti o n of man y hormones in th e body. There are differen t types o f chol este rol: namely, HDL and LDL (HD L bei ng the "good" form and LDL be ing the "bad" fo rm ). Cleall diet: Thi s re fers to eat ing nutrie nt -rich, low-fat meal s. Concentric : Th e li fti ng phase of an exe rcise, when th e mu sc le short ens o r co ntracts. For exa mpl e, whe n you liftlh c we ig ht in a benc h press, pressin g it fro m your chest to th e lock-out positi o n, that's the concentric, or " positi ve," phase of th e exe rcise. Deficiel1 cy: A subopt imal level of one o r mo re nutrie nt s that are essential for good hea lth , most often seen with vitamins. A defi ciency can be caused by poor nutrition , increased bodily demands (especia ll y fro m inte nse tra ining), o r both . Diet: Food and dri nk reg ul arl y consumed by a person, ofte n accord ing to spec ifi c g uidelines to im prove ph ys ica l cond iti on. Dumbbell: A free we ight made up of a short handle on which weig ht plates arc placed. These are norma ll y li fted with one arm. Eccentric: The lowering phase of an exerc ise, when the muscl e lengthens. For example, lowering the we ight to your chest durin g the bench press is the eccen tri c, or "negati ve," porti on of the exerc ise. En ergy: Th e capacit y to do work. Energy harnessed is power.

130

Terms and Jargon

Essential faIty acids (EFAs): Fats our bod ies can't make, so we must obtain them through our diets. These fats (which include linoleic and linolenic ac id) are

very importanl 10 hormone produclion, as well as cellu lar synthesis and integrity. Good sources of these fats are fl axseed oil and safflower oil. Fat: One of the macronulTi enls. Fat conta ins nine calories per gram ; it has the most calories of all the macronutrients. There are two types of fat-saturated "bad" fa t and un saturated "good" fa t. Fat-free mass (FFM) : The part of the body not containing fa l, including: bone, muscle, ski n, organs, water, hair, blood, and lymph. Free day: A day on the Body-for-LIFE Program when you mu st eat the foods

you've craved the prev ious six days and must nOI exerc ise. Frequent feeding : Ealing oft en throughout the day to work with your body, not against it. By eat ing at regular interva ls throughout the day (approximately

every two to three hours), you can keep your metabolism elevated and energy leve ls stable. Fructose: The main type of sugar found in frui L. It 's sweeter than sucrose (t ab le sugar). Glucose : The simplest sugar molecu le. It 's also the main sugar found in blood and

is used as a basic fuel for the body. Glycogell: The principal stored form of carbohydrate energy (g lucose), which is reserved in muscles. When your mu scles are full of glycogen, they look and feel fu ll.

Gorgillg: 'fhi s refers to eating large amoun ts of food at one meal, then wai ting for many hou rs, maybe a full day, berore eating again. Thi s is a lso known

as bi ngei ng. Grazillg: T hi s term refers 10 freque nt feed ings--eatin g small amoun ts of

food often.

Terms and Jargon

131

HDL: Thi s stands for "h igh-density lipoprotein." It ' s o ne of the s ubcategories o f c hol esterol - typi call y thoug ht of as the "good" cholesterol. Yo u may be able to raise your HDL cholesterol levels by ingesting qua lity un saturated fats like fla xseed o il. Exercise has also been show n to increase HDL leve ls.

Intensity: A measu re o f how much force o r e nergy is put forth durin g a tas k. Law of Nature: Use it or lose it.

Lean body mass (LBM): Another tenn which describes fat -free mass (see fa tfree mass).

LDL: Thi s stands for "l ow-densi ty lipoprotei n" and is a subcategory o f cholesterol, typicall y thought of as the "bad" cholesterol. Levels of LDL cholesterol can be elevated by ingest ion of saturated fat s and a lack of exercise.

Linoleic acid: An esse ntial fatt y acid and, more spec ifically. an omega-6 po lyun saturated fatty ac id. Good sources of th is fatt y acid are safflow er oil and soybean oiL

Linolenic acid: An essential fatty acid and, more prec isely, an omega-3 po lyunsaturated fatty ac id. Il is found in high concentrations in fla xseed oil. Meal: Food that 's eaten at one time. Eac h mea l should contain a portion (which is the size of the pa lm of you r hand or your clenched fist) o f protein and a portion of carboh ydrates.

Metabolic rate: The rate you convert ene rgy stores into working energy in your body. In other words, it's how fast your "whole system" runs. The metabolic rate is cOll lro lled by a [l um ber o f factors, illc1udillg: muscle I[lass (the greater your muscle mass, the greater your metabolic rate), ca lo ri e intake, and exerc ise.

Metabolism: The use of nutri ent s by the body. It 's the process by which substances come into the bod y and the rate at w hi ch they are used.

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Terms and Jargon

Minerals: Nat urall y occurring, inorgan ic substances that are essential fo r hum an life, which play a role in many vital metaboli c processes. Nutrients: Components of food that he lp nouri sh the body: that is, they prov ide energy or serve as "buildin g materi a ls." These nutrients include carbohydrat es, fats, protei ns, vitamin s, mineral s, water, etc. Optimal I/Iltritioll: The best possible nutrition ; di stinct from merely adequate

nutrition , which is characterized by no overt defic iency. This term describes pcople frcc Frolll margi nal deficicncies, imbalances, and toxicities, and who are not at ri sk for such.

Portion: The amou nt of carbohydrates or protein one should eat with eac h meal. A portion is the size of the palm of your hand or your clenched fis t.

Power Mindse/: The state of be ing where you feel self-re liant, confide nt , and slrong .

Proteills: Proteins are the building bloc ks of muscle, enzy mes, and some ho rmones. They are made up of amino acids and are essenti al for g rowth and repa ir in the body. A gram of protein contains four calories. Those from animal sources contai n the essential amino acids. T hose fro m vegetable sources contain some but not all of the essenti al amino ac ids. Proteins are broken up by the body to produce amino ac ids.

Repelilioll (rep): The number of times you li ft and lower a weight in one set of an exercise. For example, if you lift and lower a we ight 10 times be fore setting the weigh t dow n, you have compl eted 10 " reps" in one set.

Resistance exercise: Working out with weights or usi ng your body to resist some other force. Thi s includes a wi de spect rum of motion , from push -ups to dumbbe ll curl s.

Rest period: The amount of time you all ow between sets and exercises. Set: Group of reps (lifting and lowering a weight) of an exercise after which you take a brief rest period. For examp le, if you compl ete 10 reps, set the Terms and Jargon

133

weigh t down. complete eight more reps, set the weight down again , and repeat fo r six more reps, you have co mpl eted three sets of the exercise. SalUraled fals : These are "bad" fats. They are ca ll ed saturated because they

contain no open spots on thei r carbon skeletons. These bad fats ha ve been shown to raise cholestero l leve ls in the body. Sources of these fats include anima l foods and hydrogenated vegetab le oil s, such as margarine. Supp/elllelll: Thi s is a term used to desc ri be a pre parat ion such as a tabl et, pill ,

or powder that contains nutrients. Supp le men ts are used to help you achi eve optimal nu trient int ake. Unsatura ted fals: T hese are "good" fats. They are called un saturated because

they have one or more open spots on thei r carbon skeletons. Th is category of fats includes the essential fa tty acid s linole ic and linol eni c. The main sources of these fa ts are from plant foods, such as sa fflower, sunOower, a nd flaxseed oi Is. Universal U I IV of Reciprocation: The more you help others, the more your life is enh anced. Vilalllills: Organi c compounds that are vita l to life, indi spensab le to bodil y

fu nct ion. and needed in minute amount s. They are c'll orie-free essenti al nutrient s. Man y of them fun ction as coenzy mes, supportin g a multitude of biological funct ions.

134

Terms and Jargon

Exercise Guide - - - Appendix C - - -

135

Here's a list of 36 very effective weight-trai ning exerc ises, which wi ll work all the major mu scle groups in your body (as show n on my body on the next page--or cou rse, you have the same musc les in your body). On the pages that rollow, you' ll fi nd compl ete, step-by-step instructions, wh ich show how to do each or these resultproducing exercises. I realize this mi ght seem so mewhat overwhelm ing, but with a lilli e pract ice, you will be able to properly conduct all of these exerc ises. Like learn ing how to ride a bike, once you know how to do it , you' ll always know how to do it.

Chest

• dumbbell bench press • incli ne dumbbell press

Shoulders Back Triceps Biceps Quadriceps Hamstrings Calves Abdominals 136

• seated dumbbell press

• dumbbe ll flyes • barbell bench press

• standing barbell press

• side raises • bent -over raises

• wide-grip pu lldowns

• reverse-grip pull downs

• one-arm dumbbell rows

• dumbbell pull overs

• dumbbell extensions • close-grip pushdow ns

• bench dips • lyi ng dumbbe ll extensions

• incli ne dumbbell curl s

• standing barbell curl s

• seated dumbbell curl s

• hammer curls

• leg exte nsions

• barbe ll squats

• leg press

• dumbbell squats

• dumbbell lunges

• lying leg curls

• standi ng leg curls

• strai ght-leg dead lifts

• seated calf raises

• one-leg calf raises

• standing ca lf rai ses

• angled calf raises

• floo r crunches

• decline si t-u ps

• twist cru nches

• bent-k nee leg raises Exercise Guide

Major Muscle Groups - - - - - -

Chest

Shoulders Deltoids (delts)

Pectora ls

Arm Torso Abdominals

Arm (tris)

Back Latissimu s Dorsi 1

Front Back Thigh

Calves

Exercise Guide

137

Dumbbell Bench Press (chest) Sta rting Position: Lie o n your back on a bench, holding a dumbbell in each hand. Bri ng the weights to a point j ust above your shoulders. palms faci ng toward your fee l and elbows out. This is a great chest exercise. I like il even more than the barbell bench press. By using dumbbells, you can stim ulate your chest muscles even more. and it"s easier on your shoulders.

The Exercise: Press the weights straight up until they 're locked out right over your collarbone (not over your face and not over

your belly). Then :,'Iowly lower them to the starting position, fee ling the stretch in your chest muscles as your elbows drop below

the level of the bench. This one's a bit awkward at fi rst. but sometimes exercises that feel the most "clumsy" are the ones which work the best .

0011 'f fet the dWlllbbe{{s sway back fowl/rtl

your head and

over your/ace.

Don'l lift your huul off fhe bencll fhroughoullhe

exercise.

138

Exercise Guide

Incline Dumbbell Press (chest) Starting Position: Sit on the edge of an incline bench. Pick up a dumohell with each hand, place them on you r thighs, and then, one al a lime, position them at the base of your shoulders. Lean back, get firmly silUaled on the bench, and

you're ready to go.

The Exercise: Press the weights up to a point over your upper chest. and hold 'em there for a count of

one. Then, inhale deeply as you lower the weights 10 the starting position. Hold the weights in the

bottom position for a brief count of one, and then exhale and drive 'em back up. Because of the angle and leverage. you probably won' t be able to lift as much as you can on the

11m dumbbell bench press, but thaCs okay- we're trying 10 SCI a record for how much we can

improve oursel ves: we 're 110/ trying to set ;my weight lifti ng records,

DOl! 't set your bel/cli at too steep of (III il/c/itle, or

Jail 'II Ifork YOllr

sholllders //lure 11/(11/ your chest,

Exercise Guide

139

Dumbbell Flyes (chest) Starting Position: Sit down on the edge of a bench with a dumbbell in each hand. Then lie back, keeping the dumbbells close 10 your chest. Get finnly situated. Your hips and shoulders stay on the bench.

and your fect, flat on the floor.

The Exercise: For the firs t rep. push the weight up using a pressing-like motion with your palms fac ing e:tch other.

Then. with your elbows slightly bent. slowly lower the dumbbells out to the sides to a point where they arc on a horizontal plane even with the bench. Really streIch those pees, but dOIl'r try 10 lower Ihe weights all the way 10 the floor. Take a count of " I am building my Body -for-LlFE" to lower the

weights while inhali ng deeply. Once you get to the bottolll. hold for a count of one, and then exhale while you lift the weights. Keep your arllls stretched out, j ust slightly bent at the elbows. And move the weights in an arc. Imagine you' re wrapping your arms around someone to give them a big hug.

'. I \

140

;:::.

00/1" lei yOllr al"m$ go below the level of the bench, This will pili too milch stress 011 )'O/lr shoulders.

Exercise Guide

Barbell Bench Press (chest) Starting Position: Lie down o n a bench, and fi rmly position your feel fla l on the floor a little more than shoulder width apart. Arch your back sl ightly, but keep your hi ps on the bench . Using a grip broader than shou lder width, hold the barbell, with your elbows locked out, right over

the middle o f your chest.

The Exercise: Start by towering Ihe weight slowly to a point in the m iddle of your

chest. Make contact with the mid-chest area. pause for a count o f one, then,

without bouncing the barbell off your chest. dri ve the weight back up. Ho ld il in the starti ng position, with your elbows locked Q UI.

for another count of

one, and repeat.

DOli 'llift your hips off the bellclt while you press the weight III'.

Exercise Guide

141

Seated Dumbbell Press (shoulders) Starting Position: Sit on the end of a bench with your feet nm on the noor. Hold a dumbbell in each hand , at shoul de r height, elbows out. and palms facin g forw;lrd.

T he Exercise: Press the dumbbells up and in. so they nC:lrl y touch

above your nCild. Don't let the we ights stray back :md forth. Press the weights up until your arm s are almost straig ht (your elbows jusl short of lockout). Then, slowl y lower the dumbbells to the starting position .

•

1)011 ~ le(l" )'Ollr head bllck roo far-whell

do ing (his exercise, YOII silO/lid look ,I"(r(liglir for-

l1'{//rl wilh YOllr chin lip,

shoulders squared,

(111(/

che.fl hig",

142

Exercise Guide

Standing Barbell Press (shoulders) Starting Position: Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. Bend your knees slightly. and keep your back straight. nOl arched. Hold the barbell w ith a grip just a bit broader than shoulder width apart. ri ght above you r collarbone.

~Y---"~='~I~II-_ _ _ _ _-

-

The Exercise: Press the weight up unlil your arms are fu lly extended over your head . Pause for a coun t o f one,

and then lower the weighl slowly to Ihe start ing posi tion. Pause at the bot10m fo r. you guessed it. (///O(her count of one. Do not arch yo ur back as you press Ihe weight overhead on this exercise. T haI can put undue stress on

your lower back.

I'

DUII"/ fean back liS YOII

press lhe weiglll up. This clIn calise (/ back i"jlll)~

Exercise Gu ide

143

Side Raises (shoulders) Starting I~os iti oll: Stand upright, with your feet about shou lder width apart and your anns at your sides. Hold a dumbbell in each hand, your palms turned toward your body.

It's important to keep your pal ms turned downward as you lift the dumbbells so your shoulders. rather than your biceps, do the work,

The Exercise: Keeping your arms straight, li ft the weights OUI and up 10 the sides unti l they arc right about level with your chi n, and hold 'em there for a count of one. From th is position, lower them

slowly back to your sides-remember, there's a lot of good muscle work going on in that portion of the exercise.

0011" leall back ami "swing" fhe weigilts III'. Lift them straight alit to your sides until rhey (Ire almost directly 0111 f rolll your shoulders- in the top position, it looks almost like (I gyll/lUW doing an iron cross on the rin g_~.

Don't lean your torso fonvarli alld bring the dlllllbbe//,~ (Jown in from of you r body. II/stead, (et the weights down to yOllr si(les.

Exercise Guide

Bent-Over Raises (shoulders) Starting Posit ion: With a dumbbell in each hand and your fecI shoulder width apart, bend forward at the waist so your upper body is parallel wi th the floor. Lei your arms hang waigh! down, palms faci ng each other. This is a great e xercise for your rear deltoids (where your back m uscles and shoulders corne

together).

The Exercise : Rai se the dumbbells, pulling your arms :.pan and movin g your elbows up.

Resist the temptation to raise your lorso as you lift the dumbbells. Pause for a cou nt of one at the top whe n the dum bbells are in linc with your shoulders, then slowly lower thc weights to the starting posi tion.

0 0/1 "/ /call over /00 IIIllCh ami I/I/l/cft your back. Yow back sholl{d be straight, lIl1(/ YOllr lorso, afmost paraflef with the

groulld.

Exercise Guide

145

Wide-Grip Pulldowns (back) Starting Position: Seated on a pulldown machine, position the knee pads so your thighs fil sn ugly under them. Then firmly grasp a wide bar- your

hands shou ld be almost twice your shou lder width apart. This is a great exercise for the major muscles of your back.

The Exercise: Pull the bar down to the lOp o f your

chest. Focus on keeping your e lbows d irect ly below the bar. Arch your

back slightly, and hold the bar in that pos ition right on top of your collarbone for a count of

one; then slow ly lei the bar bllck up to the starling position. 0011 '/ leall back /00 flit

and /mllihe \l'eight down with mOll/clllllm.

[)(111 'f pull fhe bar down to your chest bOlle (sternum) . The bar should (lc(lIally be p/lf/cd

d01l'1I 10 )'OUI"

collarbone area. 14&

Exercise Guide

One-Arm Dumbbell Rows (back) Starting Position: Start with your right fool nat on the floor and your left knee resting on a flat bench. Then lean forward so you' re suppOfting the weight of your upper

body with your left ann on the bench. You r back sho uld be almost parallel w ith the floor.

Reach down and pick up a dum bbell with your right h;md. Look straight :!head instead of al the noor in order to keep your back st raight.

The Exercise: Concentrate on pulli ng YOllr elbow as far back as il can go. The dumbbe ll shou ld end up roughly parallcl w ith yo ur torso. A fter you've "rowed" the dumbbell up as far as you can. slowl y lower it to the start-

ing position. After you complete the planned number of reps fo r your ri ght ann. follow the same instru ctions for your left.

0 011 'I IlIlIIef, or mU1U1 YOllr back.

Keep il flal.

Exerci se Guide

147

Reverse-Grip Pulldowns (back) Starting I~os ilio n: Scated on a pu1ldown machine. reach up and take a shou lder-width gri p with your palms facing you (hence. the reverse grip).

The Exercise: From this stretched position. pu ll the bar down to your upper chest while contracting your back muscles and keeping your elbows in close 10

back /00 plr ami lei I/I(J/I re llllllll take 0 011 " Jelill

your body. Your back should be arched slightly, your chest high. chin up. and your abs and tower bad:: light. Then. lei the weighl back up. resisting it as you straighten your anns. A s you fi ll1sh Ihe rep. your amlS should be fully exte nded. and your tats wi ll be stretched .

Oller.

Remember fa pulillie bar d01l'11 all

the way 10 ),0"1' collarbollc- i/yoll just /ml/ il (/OWlllo )'our c"ill. )'01/ WOII " maximiz.e rile all101111l your back IIIII.';cfe.~ gel.

148

of work

Exercise Guide

Dumbbell Pullovers (back) Slarting Position: Lie (lem.n' a nat bench. Be sure only your upper back

makes contact wi th the bench. Lifr the weight overhead, and ho ld it at ann's length over your facc.

The Exercise: Wit ho ut raising your hips. lower the dumbbell. in an arc. slow ly. while you breathe in velY deeply. When you reach a fully stretched position, hold it for a quick count of one, and then

raise Ihe weight back up, in an arc, and exhale deeply.

DOli 'f let your hips rise "I' as tile l/umbbefl is /owerell

behind your head- keep your hip.)' ill Ihe S(llIIe low spot.

Exercise Guide

149

Dumbbell Extensions (triceps) Sl'lrting Position: On this exercise, you have 10 usc a dumbbell Ihal has collars which hold the weights on firml y. Stand with your fect shoulder width apart :md your knees slightly bent. Grasp one end of :I dumbbell with both hands (palms up), and raise il above your head.

The Exercise: S';'fl by bending your arm s and slow ly lowering the dumbbell behind your head. Keep your elbows close 10 your head and

I>ointed straight up throughout lhe exercise {o keep Ihe focus on your tri ceps. nOl on your shoulders.

Lower the weight until you fee l a stretch in your triceps. hold for a COll nt of o ne . :md press [he weight b:tck up. following an fIrC so you dOll" bonk the back of your head. Keep lifting until your arms arc

locked out and the dumbbell is again directly over your head.

Keep your elbows 1'0illle(/ up. lIlIll Iwld Ih l'm ;n. . . . .dOIl·,

In Ihl'm flare 10 Ihe s;de.l".

OllT

DOli ~ hoMlhe tlumbbell like

a .1"(1I1(/1I';ch. Place yOIl!" palm.l· so they jace Ille ;1I.~it/e em/IJlare oj Ihe dumbbell,

wirh

yOI/I" indexfillge,..~

lUlll

Ihllmbs tOl/ching.

150

Exercise Guide

Close-Grip Pushdowns (triceps) Sta r t ing Position : Usi ng a high-cable machi ne, take a slight ly closer than shoul der-width. palms-down grip. Position your forea rms so they are about parallel with the floor. Keep your feet shoulder width apart fo r added stabi li ty, and bend your knees slightly. Your wrists should be locked in a neutral position (neither bent forward nor back) for the duration of the exerc ise . Tighten your abdominal s 10 stabi l ize your upper torso and keep it from swayi ng. (Gol all that?)

T he Exercise: Push the bar down and in toward your legs in a circular motion unti l your aTIllS are straight and your elbows aTC locked. Keep your upper arm s close to your body, and flex those

triceps in the bottom position for a COll nt of one. Then Ict lhe weight slowly return to the starting position , and do it again,

DOIl'/ hUllch IO/wanl alld leall ol'er the bar- tfte prolJulorlll should be wil}' yUUI" .r},:mlde/"s

squared. chI'S' tllld chill lip. alld your eyes looking straigh, 1()I1\·ard.

Exerci se Guide

151

Bench Dips (triceps) Starting Position: Stand with your back to a sturdy bench or chair. Bend your legs and place your hands on the front edge of the bench. Posit ion your feet in front of you so most of

your body weight is resting on your arms.

The Exercise: Keeping your elbows lucked against your sides, bend your arms and slowly lower your body until your upper ar lll S are parallel with the Ooor. Your hi ps should drop

straight down. Then. straighten your arms to ret urn to the starting position.

DO/l',lolVer your body 100 far. Thai call slress YOllr .I'hou/(/ers.

DOli 'f lei your upper body ex/end roo far 01/1 alVay [mill the belich, which also creMes stress 011 yOl/r sllOllldt:r jo illl.~. YOllr hips should slay prelly close fO rhe bench.

152

Exercise Guide

Lying Dumbbell Extensions (triceps) Starting Position: Lie down on a

nat

bench with a dumbbell in each hand. arms extended over your hC:ld, so you arc looking straight up at them. Your palms should be fac ing each other.

The Excrtisc: Bend your elbows and slowly lower the dumbbells toward you r shoulders. IIor toward your head. Your upper anns sho uld remai n stationary. Keep your elbows po inted

not back. This is a great triceps exercise, but it's hoard at first. Keep pract ici ng, and

III),

you' ll gel the hang of it.

0 011 'r let your elboll'·\'flllre 0111. KCCf)

Ihem

;11 (lild

poimed Slrtliglllllp.

Exercise Gu ide

153

Incline Dumbbell Curls (biceps) Sta rtin g Position: Grab a pair of d umbbe ll s, and sit down on an i ncl ine bench. Keep your shou lders

squared and your chest e lev:lted. In the starting posit ion, your arms will be hanging straight down.

The Exercise: While keeping your back flat ag:linst the bench and yo ur palms facing fo rward. curl the dumbbells all the way up 10 your shoulders. Then slowly lower the weights until yo ur arms are hanging straight down. so you get a full stre tc h o n your biceps before you lift the dum bbells back up.

DOli ~ IcclI! f0l1l'ard away

fro m rlie /J{lck of the inc/illt! bel/ ch. This IIslIally leads 10 swingil1 g Ih e weighrs up.

154

Exercise Guide

Seated Dumbbell Curls (biceps) Sta rt ing Position: Sit on the edge of a nat bench with your arms at your sides, a dumbbell in each hand. Now gel ready 10 focu s on Oexing your biceps-lake Hdeep breath and begin .

T he Exercise : With your palms facing forward. curl both arms, lifting the dumbbells toward you r shoulders. D uring the curl. keep your

upper arms and lorso still- there will be some move ment. but avoid swinging the weighl ll p (a COIIIIIIOI/ mistake). lei your biceps do the work. Then lower the dumbbells slowly to the start ing point

Don't {call back 01" [ol1l'f1rd as you lower rhe II'cighl.\'. Thi.f CIlIS dowlI OIllhe (11/101111/ of

work rhe bic('ps (lH' doing.

Exercise Guide

155

Standing Barbell Curls (biceps) Starting Position: Stand with your feet roughly shoulder width apart, holding a barbell with a sho uldcrwidth grip. Keep your chest up and shoulders squared-sort of as if you were standing at attention.

The Exercise: Now, withollt leaning back, curl the weight up. keeping your upper anns close 10 your sides. Your elbows shouldn't dig into your

ribs for leverage, nor should Ihey tum outward. Lower the weight all the way, in a controlled manner.

DOli 'f lake a very narrow or vel)' wide

grip. Both ca ll COIlse stress fO the wris/.s lIlId elbows. Your halld~' should be shouhler width apart.

156

Exerci se Guide

Hammer Curls (biceps) Sta rting Pos ition : Stand with your feet roughly shoulder width apart. wi th your arms extended down at your sides, a dumbbell in each hand, with your pal ms/acillg each olher.

The Exercise: Curl both arms, lifting the dumbbells toward your shoulders. During the curl.

..

~.

keep your upper anns and IOrso

still. Lower the dumb bells under control. Remember to follow the cadence "[ am building my

Body-for- Ll FE,"

Because you keep your palms facing each other on this exerc ise, il works a di fferent part of your upper arms.

u DOI/'/leall forw(lrd or back

lOO

IIIlIch. K eep

YOllr abs liShl{II1(/ YOllr DOli I lift witll YOllr palms facing (1011'11. Th e proper form to lif/the (1lIIIIbbdls i,~ w;rh yOIll" pafms facing

IOrso III'rigllll itrollgh olllrhe eXl'rcis('.

each otlll!!:

Exercise Gu ide

157

Leg Extensions (quadriceps) Sturting I'osition: Sit down on a legextension machine. and hook your

ank les behind the roller pad. If the roller pad is adjustable. it should be positioned so il resls on the lowest part of your shins. /lot on the top of your

fecI nor on the middle of your shins. Grasp the handles o n the machine o r the edges of the seat lighlly to keep your hi ps from lifti ng up as you perform the exercise.

The Exercise : Straighten your legs. lifting the weight with your quads unti l your knees arc straight. Always try for the fullest range of motion

you can- :III the way up. all the way dow n. Remember. we actually

while we're working out with this Program.

SIre/eli

Lower rhe weighr all/he way

dOWIl-l1

for oj people

go ollly {wIjW(IY dowll {llId

then lifl/he weighl back lip. Tllis makes the exercise half as effective.

158

0011 f let your hips come III} off the seal.

Exercise Guide

Leg Press (quadriceps) Starting Pos ition: Position yourse lf on the seal of a leg-press mac hine. placing your fecI about shoulder

width "p'1I1. toes slightly pointed out on Ihe pressing plalfonn.

The E xercise: Slowly lower Ihe weight to a point where your quads touch your belly as you inhale deeply. Then press the weight b"d: to Ihe start ing position. Be sure to push from your heels, /101 your toes. and don ', quite lock your knees al the top. This is a great leg exercise. but it is a challenging one.

DOli ~ pilI yourfeel /00 fill' apart Will poillf YOllr roes 0/11 (II (I ,slimp (Illg/e, Keep YO/lrlOe.\' jIlJl ,\-1i8",ly

poil1l(!(/ 0111. lI"ilh YOllrfeel jim abolll sholllder width aparl,

Exercise Guide

159

Barbell Squats (quadriceps) Sta rti ng Posit ion: Position the barbell on the upper portion of your back,

your neck. Firmly grip the bar with your hands almost double shoulder width apart. Position your fec I. angled j,'lightly OUI, about sho ulder width apart . Iw l

T he Exercise: Bend your knees and slowly lo wer your hips straight down until your thighs are parallcl with the noor. Keep your back as straight as

possible. your chin up. and your shoulders squared. Once you reach the bottom position, press from your

heels, and drive the weight upward. Inhale deeply on the descent. and exhale o n the way up. (If you have trouble balanc ing on this exerc ise. try placing a sturdy. o nc-inch-thick wooden block under your heels.) Thi s is one of the most demanding exercises there is. but it works great for building firm, strong legs.

IiIiI /)0 11 " leal1 forward much. or Y OIi '/I IIIlIch stress all yOllr lower back. 100

1'111100

160

Exercise Gu ide

Dumbbell Squats (quadriceps) Sta rling Position: Hold two dumbbells at your sides. with your palms lac mg 1Il . Stand with your feet about shoulder width apart. If y Oll hnve trouble balancing. try placing a sturdy. one-inch-thick wooden block or a couple of dumb bell plates under your heels.

The Exercise: Wh ile keeping

your shou lders, back . and head upright. bend your legs at the knees and lower your hips until your thighs arc parallel with Ihc noor. lllcn, pushing rrom your heels. lif! yourself back up to the sl:1t1ing position. Keep your back .. s straight as possible throughout Ihis exerc ise.

Exercise Guide

161

Dumbbell Lunges (hamstrings) Starling Position: Stand with your feet together, toes pointed straight forward, and a du mb bell in each hand. Keep your shoulders squared, your chin up, and back straight.

The Exercise: SICP forwa rd wit h your right foo\. Bend at your knees. and lower your hips lIntil your left knee is

just a few inches off the floor. Push wi th the right leg. raising yourself back up 10 the starting point. Repeat until you've done the p lanned num ber o f reps for YOU T right leg; then do the same for your left leg.

DOli ~

poim youl"

lOes ill or 011/, iJOIh

feer should point Jlmiglll forll'ard.

DOII'IIiJl your/oo/ lip. Keel' il flat. The proper form i.l" willi olle leg eXTel1(led to Ihe

poilll where. when yOIl /)elld down, yO/lr kl/ee 011 Ihe forward leg is oller YOllr/ool, 110/ way (Jill ill front of iI,

162

Exercise Guide

Standing Leg Curls (hamstrings) Sta rting Position: Using a standing leg curl machine, position your thighs and chest against the pads and your ankle against the roll er pad. Lean forward, and grasp the handles.

The Exercise: Curl the weight up, flex yOllr hamstring (the back of your leg) :IS hard as you can. and hold it for a

count of o nc. Then ~·'O\rly lower the weight all the way down to the starting position. After you' ve finished the planned number of reps with one leg, do Ihe same ror your opposite leg.

DUII't leall jorll'lI/'{:1 or stick yOllr

hips

wlIy 0111.

Olllhis

exercise, JOI/I" whole bOlly shou/tl be straight.

Exercise Guide

163

Lying Leg Curls (hamstrings) Starting Position: Lie facedow n on a lying leg curl mach ine, adj usting your

position so the pads are resting on the back of your ankles.

T he Exercise: Curl your legs up, and bring your feel as close to your hips as possi ble; ideally, the roller pad should

touch the lOp of your hamstrings. Hold this fully contracted position for a coun t of one before .rlowly lowering

the weight to the starting position. once agai n trying for the full range of motion.

0011 ~ lifl YOllr hil'S as YOII curl Ihe lI'eiglll as this /m/.I' slress all YOllr

lower back.

164

Exercise Guide

Straight-Leg Deadlifts (hamstrings) Starting Position: Stand up straight. with your feet shoulder width apart and a dumbbell in each hand. your pal ms faci ng toward your legs. Thi s is a te rrific exercise for thc hamstrings. and it hel ps strengthen the lower back.

T he Exercise : Bend forward at your hips. and slowly lower the dumbbells in front o f you

until the weights almost touch the floo r. Keep your back strai ght throughout thc exer-

cise. Then, while concentrating on the muscles in the back

of your legs, raise your upper body and the weights to the starting position.

001/"' 1!llIIeli Ollel:

Keep your back fairly rigid Ihrougfwl/I rhe

exercise. Exercise Guide

165

Seated Calf Raises (calves) Starting Position: Posi tion yourself o n a scaled calf-raise machine with the balls of your feel on the platform and the knee pad on the lower part

of you r from thig h. Keep your upper body still during the exercise, and focus o n those calves.

The Exercise: Slowly lower your heels and leI you r calr muscles stretch as rar down as you can. Hold that streIch for a COUlll of

one before pressing the weighl up as high as possible. Flex hard and hold for another count of one. T hen lower the weight

slowly.

0011 'f {Jilt 'he pads high III' 011 yOllr thighs. rhe {lad sho/lld be placed dowlI closer to .1'0111' knees.

166

Exercise Guide

Standing Calf Raises (calves) Starting Posit ion: Using, you guessed it ... .. standing calf-raise machine, posit ion yourself so the balls of your

feel are on the platform and the pads which trans fer the weight arc on top of your shoulders. Don't hunch over.

The Exercise: Without bending at your hips or knees. slowly lower the weight. usi ng a count of " I am bui ld ing my Body-for-LlFE." and stretch your c;llf muscles as f:u' as you can . Hold them in that lower position for a count of one. Then tift the weight up as hi gh as you can, and hold the contraction for another count of one.

0011 " Ie' your back hl/llch over. Keel) yOllr sholiider.f sqlla red. JOll r chill lip. lIml YOllr face

forward. Exercise Guide

167

One-Leg Calf Raise (calves) Sta rting Position: Stand with the ball of your ri ght foot resting on a step or a sturdy wooden block, a dumbbell in yo ur right hand. holding on to something for balance wi th your left hand. Lift your left foot up and hook il behind your rig ht calf.

T he Exercise: Lower your right heel as far as you can. really stretching you r calf al the ballom. Then press up on your toes as far as possible. contracti ng the calf muscle. Hold that llex for a count of one; then slowl y lower the weight, and repeat for the pl anned number o f reps.

DOII'rlel YOlIl"fOOll"01I tow{//"(I the lillfe /oe

when you're lifting. Imre(l(l, raise III'. flexillg your calf, amI pllt the weighl 01/ (he ball of your fool.

Sw itc h legs. and foll ow the same inst ructions.

168

Exercise Guide

Angled Calf Raise (calves) Starting Position: This is a good calf exercise you can do at home or at a gym. All you need is a pair uf dumbbells. Start by holding a dumbbell in each hand and standing with your feet about shoulder width apart. Now, turn your toes out, so your feel fo rm a 45-dcgree angle.

The Exercise: Keeping your legs strai ght. raise up on your toes as high as possible. Pause for a count of onc. then s lowly lo wer to the start ing position.

DOI/" do this exercise all cmpet-jilld a solid

surface like {/ han/wood or cOllcrelefloor.

Exercise Guide

169

Floor Crunches (abdominals) St:lrting I'osition: Of all the newfangled doodads and gimmic k devices Ihal pro mise to deliver a firm, "sexy" tummy in record lime. I' m convinced no ne work as well as a properly executed, simple abdominai-slrcnglhening exercise called fl oor crunches. All you do is lie on a floor (prefer-

ably a carpeted fl oor or a pad of some kind). pili YOllr hands heside your head . bring yo ur knees together, and place yo ur feCI flat on the floor about a foot from yo ur hi ps.

T he Exercise: Start by pushing yo ur lower back down.

almost like you're trying to make a dent in the floor.

DO/l" lock yOlo' hl/llds behind your head YOIf" hlillds shoilid be ClIpped (If the .~idl!.\· o/ yollr head (Iml should lIot

be

lI.\'el{ fo r

170

le l'erage.

Then and only then. begin to roll your shoulders up. keeping your knees and hips stationary. Co ntinue 10 push down as hard as you can with your lower back. The range of motio n on thi s exercise is very limited. Your sho ulders actually corne o ff the ground onl y a few inches. Hold this position and fle x yo ur abdominal muscles as hard as you can fo r a count of one. and then slowly lower your shoulders back down to the floor, bUI never sto p pushi ng down with your lower back . Take your time on this exercise . It"s not a race, and it's not a contest to see who can do the most sit-ups. If you do this exercise properly. I gu.. rantee your abs will be burn ing by the time you gel done with a dozen re ps.

Exercise Guide

Twist Crunches (abdominals) Sta rting Position: Lie Oat on your back with your knees bent and your hands bes ide your head . Let your legs fa ll as far as they can to your left side so your upper body is Oat on the Ooor and your lower body is 011 its side.

DOli 'f lock your ham/s behind your head.

Exercise Guide

The Exercise : Press your lower back down into the Ooor. while you roll your upper body slightly up until your shoulder blades cle,lr the ground. Concentrate on the obliq ues (the muscles on the sides of your waist), and contract and hold the crunch fOr a count of one. The key to making tillS exercise ultra-effective is to hold tlUlt contraction. (Most people don't do this- they simply lift up and then lower baek down.) After you've held that contraction, slowly lower 10 the starting position. count one, then perform your next rep. After you complete the planned number of reps 011 the right side, switch to your left and fo llow the same instructions.

171

Decline Sit-Ups (abdominals) Starting Position: This is a great exercise for the lower and middle abs. In order \0 do Ihis one, you'll need a "decline bench" thaI allows you to hook your feet. Position yourself on the decli ne bench with your fect locked in. Your upper body should be perpendicular to the bench, so you have to contract your abs just to remain in place. Place your hands

on each side of your head. just behi nd your c:u·s. Don't lock your fingers.

The Exercise: Lower your upper body while you con tract your abs. Go back just about a foot. (Do lIot go all Ihe way down.) Ho ld and Ocx extra hard for a count of one. Then cf ul1ch hack up 10 th e sl:lrli ng [lOsilion.

When your strength increases and you can do more than 12 re ps. grab a weight plate (sIan with just 10 pounds) and perform the exercise as described here, while holding the weight against your chest.

0011 ~ go back roo far- this will pllt srreSJ 011 YOllr lower back.

172

Exercise Guide

Bent-Knee Leg Raises (abdominals) Starting Position: Lie flat on YOUT back on a padded or

carpeted floor with you r hands under your hips, palms down for support. Lift your head slightly off the floor. but don', bring your chin to your chest.

T he Exercise: Start by lifting your legs off the fl oor while you simultaneously bend them at your knees. pulling your thighs up toward your

chest, slowly. Now, with your knees approaching your chest, contract your abs and slightly lift your pelvis up off the fl oor. Then, slowly straighten your legs. Bri ng them back down toward the floor, but dOli '( let them rest on the n OOf. Hold them in that extended position for a count of one, and then bring 'em back up.

DOll 'f lift your head lip too far or fer )'Ollr lower back arcll;

your/ower back .~/willd be pressed illfo the ground, alld your head sholl{(f swy hCICk,

just slightly oJfthe grolll/(i.

Notice: If you'd like to sec a video demonstration of any of the exercises shown in this section, visit www. bodyforlife.cotn.

Exercise Guide

173

Dai Iy Progress Reports - - Appendix 0 - -

175

The Eating-for-LIFE Method

Body

Dai ly Progress Report

LIFE

I Date:

Day 1 of 84

Total portions of protein: 6

Total portions of protei n: Total portions of (arbs:

Total portions of (arbs: 6 Total cups of water: 10

Total cups of water:

D a.m.

O a,m. O p.m.

Oa m. D p_rn

O p.m.

r------------------------i

D a.m. D p.m.

D a.m. O p.m.

O a.m.

O a,m. D p_m

O a,m. O p.m.

O a,m. O p.m.

O p_m

r------------------------i r - - - - - - --i r------------------------i

NOTES

D a.rn O p.m.

~

Body

The Training-for-LIFE Experience '"

LIFE

Da ily Pro gre ss Report

-,"-

Date: Day 1 of 84 Upper Body Workout

Planned Start Time: Planned End Time: Time to Complete: 46 minutes

R,,,

"

Weight (lbs)

-, Minutes

s."

,

Actual Start Time:

Actual End Time: Total Time: AaUAl

IflIemity

"'"

R."

Weight (lbs)

Minutes

10

NOTES

Daily Progress Reports

Intensity

'''-, l'" ""

177

The Eating -for-LIFE Method

Body

'" LIFE

Daily Progress Report

I Date'

Day 2 of 84

Total portions of protein: 6 Total portions of carbs: 6

Total portions of protein : Total portions of (arbs:

Total cups of water: 10

Total cups of water:

O a.m O p.m.

Oa.m. D p.m.

O,.m,

'I - - - - - - - - - - - --1

1 - - - - - --1 1-___________ -1

O p.m.

O a,m. O p.m.

D •. m.

D,.m,

D p.m.

D p.m.

1-__________-1 1 - - - - - --1

D I .m. O p.m.

O ... m.

1-__________ -1

O p.m.

D • .m.

O p.m

D iI,m,

D p.m.

f - - - - - - -- - i 1-------------1

f - - - - - - - --i 1------- -- - - - -1

1 - - - -- - - 1

O , .m. O p.m.

D iI.m. D p·m.

1 - - - - - --1

f - - - - - - - ---1

1-__________-1 f - - - - - - - ---1 1--------------1

NOTES

178

Daily Progress Reports

Body

The 20-Minute Aerobic s Solution '"

LIFE

Daily Progress Repo rt

- ~-

Into .... II1 Patte '"

Date:

Planned Start Time:

Actual Start Time:

Day 2 of 84

Planned End Time:

Actual End Time:

Aerobic Workout

Time to Complete: 20 minutes

Total Ti me: ACTUAL

Exercise

Minute by Minute

Intensity

level

Exef
Minute by Minute

Intensity Level

, , •,

7

6 7 8

, " " " " " " " " ,."

, "

7

"

7

B

NOTES

Daily Progress Reports

179

The Eating-for-LIFE Method Daily Progress Report

I Date'

Day 3 of 84

Total portions of protein: 6 Total portions of (arbs: 6 Total cups of water: 10

Total portions of protein; Total portions of (arbs: Total cups of water;

PLAN

ACTUAL Meal 1

Meal 1

O a.m.

O a,m. O p·m.

D p.m.

Meal 2

Meal 2 D a.m. D p.m.

O a,m.

D p.m.

Meal 3

Meal 3 D a.m. D p.m.

Meal 4

Meal 4

O .,.m.

O a.m.

O p.m.

O p.m .

Meal 5

MealS

Oa.m.

O ... m.

O p.m.

D p.m.

Meal 6

Meal 6

O l.m.

O a.m. D p,m.

D p.m.

NOTES

IRO

_

Body

'" LIFE

Body

The Training-for-LIFE Experience '·

LIFE

Daily Progress Report

-"'-

Q,""

her(ise

Planned Start Time: Planned End Time: Time to Complete: 42 minutes

'''''

" 10

8

Weight (I~)

.

M,nutes ~

So"

,

6

HamSlfin~

P~lt.m

J

Date: Day 3 of 84 Lower Body Workout

!

In_SI\1

IntensIty

""",

0

Weight

(Ibs)

..

Minutes ~

So"

Intensity

"""

6

7

8

1

9

,

10

6

10

7

6

8

" "

,

10

6

8

7

,,-

10

8

,,"

8

" " "

"

Actual Start Time: Actual End Time: Total Time:

~

6 1

6

7 8

" NOTES

,.,

The Eati ng-for-LI F E Method

Body

Dai ly Progress Repo r t

LIFE

I Date'

b

Day 4 of 84

Total portions of protein: Total portions of (arbs: Total cups of water:

Total portions of protein: 6

Total portions of (arbs: 6 Total cu ps of water: 10

O a.m. O p.m.

O a.m.

O p.m.

D a.m. O p.m.

O a.m. O p.m.

O a,m.

1 - - - - - - - - - - ---1

f--------j

D •. m.

f--------j

O p·m.

1-__________--1

O •.m.

f - - - - - - --j

O p.m.

o,m. 1 - - - - - - - - ---1 O a.m. O p.m.

D a.m. D p,m.

1-__________--1

1-__________--1

1-__________--1

\ - - - - - - ---1

1-__________--1

f - - - - - - --j 1-__________--1

1-_________-1 1-__________--1

1-_________-1

D a.m. O p.m.

O a.m. O p.m.

1-__________-1 f--------j

NOTES

182

Daily Progress Reports

Body -{"'-

lnt. n'ily Patt.m

The 20-Minute Aerobics Solution '" Dail y Progress Report

LIFE Date:

Planned Start Time:

Actual Start Time:

Day 4 of 84 Aerobic Workout

Planned End Time: Time to Complete: 20 minutes

Actual End Time:

Total Time: ACTUAL

Exerdse

Minute by Minute

Intensity

Exerdre

Level

Minute by Minute

Intensity Level

5 2

, • 5

,

6

, •

6

9

"

'" "

6

" " " " "

,

"

" " "

'"

20

NOTES

Dail

Pro ress Reports

183

The Eating-for-LiFE Method

Body

'" LIFE

Dai ly Progr ess Report

I Date'

Day 5 of 84

Total portions of protein : 6

Tota l portions of protein;

Total portions of (arbs: 6

Tota l portions of (arbs: Total cups of water:

Total cups of water: 10

D •.m. D p.m.

1 - - - - - - - - - - --1

1 - - - - - ---1

Meal 2

O a.m.

f - - - - - - - - - --j

Meal] O •. m. D p.m.

O • .m.

I - - - - - - - --i

0 1.11'1.

f------------I

1 - - - - - ---1

D p.m.

f - - - - - --I

aD •.p.m. m. I - - - - - - - - - - ---i

f - - - - - --I

Meal 5

f-----------j f - - - - - - - - - --j

Meal 6

D '.m.

O a.m. O p.m.

Meal 4

Meal 5 O p.m.

O p.m.

Meal 3

1-__________-1

Meal 4 O p.m.

D p.m.

Meal 2

D a.m. O p.m.

O a.m.

O •.m. O p.m.

r------------i

f - - - - - --I

Meal 6

1-__________-1

1 - - - - - ---1

D '.m.

D p.m.

r - - - - - - - - - ---i

NOTES

184

Dailv Proqress Reports

Body LIFE -,"-

The Training-for-LIFE Experience '· Dai ly Prog re ss Report

Date:

Planned Start Time:

Day 5 of 84 Upper Body Workout

Planned End Time: Time to Complete: 46 minutes

"'"

Weight (ItH)

--

Actual Start Time: Actual End Time: Total Time:

ACTUAL

Minutes

""

"'"

Weighl (lbs)

. ""

Minutes ....."

NOTES

Daily Progress Reports

185

The Eating-for-LIFE Method

Body ,.

Dail y Pro gress Report

I Date'

LIFE

Day 6 of 84

Total portions of protein: 6

Total portions of protein :

Total portions of (arbs: 6 Total cups of water: 10

Total cups of water:

Total portions of (arbs:

PLAN

Meal' O •. m.

_

' - - - - - - - - - --1

O p.m. I

f - - - - - - -----l

O a,m. O p.m.

1-__________-1 f - - - - - ------l

O a.m. O p.m.

O a.m. O p.m.

Meal 3 O a. m. O p.m.

Meal 4 O •. m. D p.m.

O a.m. O p. m.

1-__________-1 f - - - - -- -----l 1-________ __-1 f - - - - -- -----l 1-__________-1 f - - - - - - -----l

D "m, O p·m.

D ...m. O p.m.

f---------j

Meal6 ~

-1 f - - - - - - -----l

o a.m. ' -_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ O p.m. I

O ll,m.

O p·m.

NOTES

186

Da ilv Proqress Reoo rts

Body

-"'LIFE

iotMSll)' Pattfrn

The 20-M inute Aerobics Solution ,. Dail y Pr og re ss Rep or t

Date:

Planned Start Time:

Actual Start Time:

Day 6 of 84 Aerobic Workout

Planned End Time:

Actual End Time: Total Time:

Time to Complete: 20 minutes

ACTUAL Exercise

Minute by Minute

Intensity

Exercise

level

Minute by

Intensity

Minute

Level

2

, 4

7

4

5 6

,

9

6

7

,

7

9 10

9

10

"

7

"

9

" "

" "

15

" " 17

19

20

NOTES

Daily Progress Reports

187

Real-Life Success Stories - - - Appendix E - - -

Real-life Success Stories

189

"/'ve reached a new level of physical and menta l fitness. "

It wa~ early last year when I found out my mother was terminally ill with cancer. When I was [old she had only three months to live, I was devastated. [ moved from Californ ia, where I was living al the time, to Florida, \0 help my sisler (:Ike care of her. My mom and [ have always been close. Seeing her sick and bedridden tore me aparl. I began venting the stress by eating uncontrollably, which made il harder 10 do the things for her that I wa llll;u. Tin:: weight I was gaill illg Idl li lt: su wt:ak ,HlU exhiluslt:u lilal it rn:t:aITII,:: a struggle to ma ke

il through each day with any energy at all . One day I was sitting on the bed with my mom, and I saw our reflections in a mirror. I saw someone dying, but il was me, not Mom . It was then I decided I had to change. How cou ld I take care of Mom if I couldn't even take care of myself{ I also realized that my poor condition was hUl1 ing her-she d idn't want 10 see me like th is, Li ke all moms, she wanted the best out o f life for me. That was it. I had more than enough reasons 10 accept Bill's challenge, Since my mother required 24-hour care, time was my biggest constraint. But I WllS determined. And as the weeks went by, time became less of a problem because [ gained back my energy and was able to get so much more do ne, My friends and fa mily began compli menting me on my appearance and asked me how they could achieve the same extraordinary results, My self-esteem and con fi dencc skyrocketed. After 12 weeks. 1 was so excited 1 kept o n going! I've lost over 30 pounds, and I' m still making progress, And my mother received the gift [ wanted to give her most of all, which was the best r had to give,

Gail Gosselin Age 32 Marketillg Represelllalive; Dade City, Florida

190

Real- Li fe Success Stories

"During the process of re-creation, I realized my purpose in life. "

Like many baby boomers. I was drc:lm ing about the day I could retire. I should have been happy this day W:I S in sight for me. but I was miserable. I had spent years Ir..Lining [0 become an ER doctor. Outwardly, I had il made. I have a great f:un ily. my kids are going to the best school in town. and I li ve in a house bigger than I need. But on Ihe inside. I was miserable. J resented the vcry things that gOI me where I was. my mind was Slagnant. and my body was on ils Wlly to Ihe gmvc. By accepting mediocrity and giving up hope. I 10S1 my passion for life. One thing [ secretly wished for was to be in except ional shape. NO! overwhelmingly muscuhiT but mong and 111 enough [0 feci good abom mysel f and feci like r was in Ihe "Oow" when playing o utdoors (mountain biking, hik ing, or kayaking). So, I accepted Bill's challenge. My goal wa s (0 build my body and find my passion for life again , all in 12 weeks. The Program was diffic ult at first. but within a few weeks. I began to feel my confidence a nd self-esteem ri se. My energy level surged, and I was starling 10 sleep beller than I had in a long time . My mind was becoming mo re acute. and I was interested in the world again. I reached my physical goals. and I rediscovered passion in my life-my mind, my body. and my soul are one. I am no longer a 47-year-old dreaming of escape. I feel good. I look better, and there is no mountain too high for me to climb. And, most impon:tnt of al L during thi s process of re-creation. which I have gone through over the last 12 weeks. I realized my highest purpose in life is helping others. I can' , think of a more grati fyi ng reward. HI/uell Sill/p.wlI. M .D. Age 47 Phy.fi ciclI/: H UII/.wille. A la/XlIII(l

Real -Life Success Stories

191

"We learned how fitness affects every aspect of life."

There arc moments thaI mark your life. Moments when you realize nothi ng will ever be the same. and time is di vided into two parts-before this and after Ihis. This Program creates such a moment by providing an opportunity for people of any age, race, or ge nder to change the way they are li vi ng and become healthier. happier, stronger, and more confident. Over the last few years, o ur li ves had fallen into a ru t. We knew nothing about nutrition. worked out very little, and were each about 30 pounds overweight. Worst of al l. our self-esteems were pl ummeti ng.

We decided \0 accept Bill's challenge. We set goals as a couplc that we would each lose fat, gain muscle. and, for once in our lives. show others that anything is possible. Linle by linle. we started to rebuild our physiques, and as our bodies started to stre ngthen. so did our family. We were finally doing someth ing of extreme significance together. Our children saw their mom and dad work together 10 achieve the same goal, and we involved them, so they too became part of somethi ng special. We learned how fitness affects every aspect of life. There is no bener way to boost your selfworth than by setting and achieving goals. And what better place to stm11han with your body? We are committed to sharing our experiences with others and showing how they can reach their true potential.

Fred alld Stephanie Morales Ages 30 and 28 Business Owner and Homemaker; Carlsbad. Callfomia

192

Real- Life Success Stories

"//ost 19 pounds of fat and I'm stronger than / have ever been."

1(:\

As a teacher and high school football coach, my acti ve lifestyle has always included whatever activities were required to maintain a high level of fitness and a physical appearance I took pride in. However, as I approached my fift ieth birthday. career responsibilities, family comm itments, and the rigors of everyday li fe pushed my plans for personal fitness lower and lower on my priority list. There always seemed to be a reason I couldn't find time to "cat right" Of exerc ise. Finally. my weight contributed \0 a chronic back proble m and constant pain. And [ began \0 surrender to the tired notion that my best days were behi nd me and a continual physical decl ine was all [ could look forward to. I learned about th is Program from my doctor while seeking relief from my back pain. As he began to ex plain the details to me, I had the overwhe lmi ng feeli ng thi s was the real reason I was there. I was meant to accept this challenge. Within a few weeks, my muscles began to change and grow al most on a daily basis. They began to become more defined as the layers of fat disappeared. I lost 19 pounds of fat. My back has ncvcr fclt better. I' m stronger than I have ever been in my life. My cholesterol has dropped to an all-time low. [t is almost as if I have discovered the ';secrets of the ages" or the location of the fountain of youth. I fee l like I' m 25 agai n, and my "six-pack" is the envy of every 17-year-o ld athlete in my high school weight room. Bralldol/ McFadden Age 49

Teacher: Oxford. Ohio

Real -life Success Stories

193

" .. :if I help one person feel as good as I do, I have accomplished something important. "

I now know what it feels like to be a winner. [ know what il fee ls like to set yo ur mind on 11 go.11 and accomplish il. I had no idea how much 1 would be changed by this ex r~::ri en cc. When I began the Progr!Ull, [ W;15 like a lot o f new mothers: Qut of shape. tired. and unin spired . O ver 16 months .. ft ef my daughter was born. I still weighed 25 lbs more than before. I fi nally realized how bad [ looked after seeing a photo:1 friend look of me lasl summer in :I bathing suit. [ was shockL"
Ma ry Queell Age 28 MotherlAC(:ount B eClllil'e; High Point. NC

194

Real-Life Success Stories

"This Challenge has taught us that ordinary people can inspire others in a way that changes lives. "

We mel as college athletes. Back theil, we spent hours doing cardio workouts, followed ~triC[ low-

c:lloric diets. and had never tried weight training. We did n't rcali ;r.c il then. but our misconceptions about tmining were holding us Ixlck. Then. when we start/,.'(! OUf careers and had a son. we fa iled at our half-hearted attempts to keep our "college figure.,:' For so long. we didnt know cX:lclly what we were missing. This Challenge has given us a second chance to fl:el fit. energetic. and sirong. We beg'lIl by planning our Ih'cs, Ill:lpping out our meals and our workouts, and writin g down our goals. We juggled our schedules so we could work out and share meals together. And Ihc adventure began. In just a few weeks. we were looking and feeling beller abo ut ourselves. Anothcr bonus was Ihe money we saved g iving up fast food! Family and friend s slarted 10 lake notice and said we nOI only looked titler. we sccmed h
ParentsiDOClOr (/1/(/ Weather Anchor; Delll'er. CO

Real -Life Success Stories

195

"Courage is like a muscle; it too takes time to grow. "

Like other people in this world, I have put many limit:Lt iollS on myself because o f iI stigma of society. Bei ng in a wheelchair. there are many expectations of wh:1I your life should be like. Fo r a while, I thought I was going to lead the inactive and dcpendcnllifcslyle so many people expected of me. I had built a wall around myself of embarrassment and fear. When I learned about this challenge. a desire sparked inside of me to look forward. not back. I soon developed a passion for g:lining strength. I started 10 have Ihc mentality thaI these limits I had placed on myself for so long were no different than those that any ab1c~bodicd person has to endure i n his or her own tife. I have had 10 brc:lk beyond those se lf-imposed l imits i n order to grow

in every way possible. The m(li n clement th(lt kept me going since I started lily transfonnation was the idea of knowing I would have the opportunity to inspire o thers. to enhance both their health and their outlook on life . However. ;IS time went on. my desire grew even more. I was starting to see tremendous improvements in my strength and my physique. I gai ned seven pounds of muscle. (lnd my stre ngth ahnosl doubled in three mo nths. In order for me 10 continue. J had to take it further ;lIld develop a deeper courage to learn. do. and succeed througho utlhe rest of my life. I believe courage is like a muscle: iltoo takes time 10 grow. I believe this experience has laid the foundation for me to develop this type of courage. so J cou ld have the power 10 learn . 10 do. to enable me to succeed. I will show others how to get beyond th is firs t SICP in developing the most importanl " muscle"; Courage. RlIl'f!ll SilllfJ.wJ/I

Age 20 Snit/em; Lubf}()L"k, TeXlu

196

Real- Ufe Success Stories

'The Challenge taught me ... to make bold decisions for the right reasons and to act on them. "

I got more oot of the Challenge than I put into it. My momentum made things happen that I IlCver expected. Family. friends, and people everywhere began to ask me what W:l'l going 011. They could sec the physical changes, but it W:l~ the changes in my spirit and attitude Ihey were most curious about. [ get encrgi7.ed shari ng my story w ith them. answering their questions. and helping them get started wi th their own tmnsfonnations. I could never have imagined how rewarding it would be 10 watch them succeed. My mom ha.~ always given so much of herself to our family and others and never helped herself. I helped her lake the first steps of this challenging and rewarding journey. And now she hll'l succeeded beyond her wi ldest dreams! At age 56. she lost 15 Ibs of fal while gaining muscle lone and energy in 12 weeks. She is strong and healthy. and now she inspires me. When my loved ones stat1cd to transfonn. their enthusiasm and suc(:ess began to increase my confidence. I've spent the past ten years worki ng Illy way up to a senior position in 11 large phanllaccutical comp<my. Although there were aspects of the job that were rewarding, what [ real i7.cd was that my career was not fu lfi lling. 'l'llc Challenge taugh t me that the only way to accomplish something meaningful was 10 make bold decisions for the right reasons and to act on them. So, I sct new goals ... and resigned. Now, ill age 32, l'm enrolled in pre-med courses. I have the confidence and sensc of pllrpose to make my dream come lrue. I know I can help make a difference in people's lives. This Challenge has made me a better person. By confronting my fear of fail ure lind changing my h.. bil~ and outlook, I hllve developed my character along wi th my bOOy and health. By sctting and committi ng to goals. I've learned that striving to achieve them is its own reward. By sharing my experiences .md enthusiasm. I've sccn how an ordinary person like me can help so many others. And. mosl impot1ant. I've learned that the.<;e lessons are far more valuable to me than any material prize possibly could be. Tom ArcllilJley Age 32 J.atlleriPre-Med St/ldellT: Okemos, MI

Real-Life Success Stories

197

"/ finally found my best body ever, and I'm determined to keep it'"

Like many women over 35, my body started to slide. I was gaining a lillie fat and losing some muscle tone. Bu\, I st ill looked "prclly good," I thought. I d idll"lhi nk I was eating wrong. And I was e xercisi ng once in a while. T hen clime Ihe wake-up call. I decided to accept Bill's challenge: I weighed myself and look my "before" photo. Yikcs ! I weighed over 150 pounds. and looking allhal photo motivated me like I can'l even explai n. It WilS the reason- the catalyst I so desperate ly needed. In the beginning. [ could not lell you the difference between a barbell and a dumbbell. In fact. I couldn 't even le iI you where my biceps were. But as the weeks went by. [ learned morc and more. The 12 weeks went f:lst. Before I knew il. what was once a challenge becmne routine. The techn iques Bill t:lUght me became a part of life. Now. I've lost 25 pounds of ugly fat and gained muscle tone and strength. I finally found my best body ever, and 1" 111 determined to keep it! This Program has enri ched every ;!spect of my life, fro m my marri:tge and be ing a beller mom and role model for our 10-year-old daughter. to Illy complex ion. It even he lped reduce my PMS symptoms. [ feel as if I Can do anything I set my mind to. It 's not easy juggling all the demands and pressures of working, raising a family, and completing a major transformation li ke this, but it's not easy living life in a body you're not com fortable with e ither. I commend every woman who has the strength to expose her Oaws and the courage to complete the 12 weeks. 1am proof that any car-pooling, kid-totin' "soccer morn" in her thirties who has lost that 20-something body ca ll get it back. Kef/yAdai,. Age 36 Radio Pmduce ,.: Oil/aha.

198

Nebra.~·k(j

Real- Li fe Success Stories

"My patients asked me what I was doing to look so healthy"

Goi ng through a traummic di vorce lefl me cmot ioll:lll y and physically devastated. and my relationship wi th my daughter seemed crippled. M y self-esteem had never been lower. my waist never bigger. and my cholestero l level never higher.

Then. one of my patients len a copy of Bill's magazine in my office. I was awed by Ihc the photos. Impressed with the incredible results of others. [ real ized if they could do il, so could I. It was lime to gel control of my life. I started exercising ;md sct goals. The physical and e motion.. l changes that occurred in j usl the first month were inspi ring. and I real ized my goal s were achievable. I ended up reducing my body rat frOI11 25 108.5 percell\. My fri ends couldn ' t get over my tran sformation. My patients asked me wl1;lt I was doing to look so healthy. More imponantly, my relationship with my teenage d:lughter began to nourish. Wc evcn started exercising togct hcr. My health has dramatic:llly improved. My cholesterol went from dangerously high levels to he:llthy levels. My sclf-csleem improved, my energy level increased, and my medic:ll practicc has never been better. My life has ch:lnged :IS a result of this Program, I have become eXlremely fascinated with exercise, nutrition. and the role supplemcnts play in improvi ng health . fi tness. and longevity. Over the next year, I intend to incorporllie these anti-llging principles, along wi th my own experiences, illlo my pnlctice. Today I look at myself. and I feel :I sense of pride. I TCll ll y like whllt I sec. [ am reminded of Bob Seger's song "Lcnn and Sol id Everywhere-Li ke a Rock!"" Only I" m nOl 18 years o ld llS he was- r ill 60! l effry Life. M.D,

Age 60 Physicilln : Me.f/lOpfJen. Pemuy/nlll ill

Real-life Success Stories

199

"I lost 14 pounds and gained energy, muscle tone, and confidence. "

I never reall y trul y understood until now that to feel good deep down inside, you m ust take cnrc of the outside. After all. we must count on o ur bodies for li fe . But to fee l good physically. a person has to work for it . and most o f us just are n' t able to take

that step and make that commitment. After all , don' t we work enough already? What I realized by doing this Program is that deciding what you work on- whill you spend your lime doing- is so ill1jX)rtant. Before, I was busy getting oul of shape. Now. I'm busy getting in shalX:! A true challenge is not easy. (An "casy challenge" would be a contradiction in terms.) However, the rewards and the benefits o f successfully complet ing a true challenge far outwe igh the difficult times the challenge presenlS. I discovered a 101 aboul myself, aboul my slre nglhs lind my weaknesses. I exr~eri enced Ihe power of looki ng loward Ihe fUlure and promising myself I would achieve my goals. I knew what J wanted my body to look like. J visualized thaI body continually. And now I' m there. J lost 14 pounds and gained energy, muscle tone, and confidence. As a result o f the past 12 weeks, I' ve grown to enjoy exercising. and J also now understand proper nutri tion. I believe the workouts not on ly make me look better but make me feel a lot better. too. My life has completely turned around. I feel that I have been awakened from a 24-year-lo ng nap. I now know much more about how strong I am. both physically and mentally. rm creating and achieving goals in all areas of my lifc . I wou ld like to share Ihis feeling of cmpowemtellt with people. Th is experience has not on ly been a physique transfomtat ion but a li fe transformat ion as well . AIIIY Yarnell Age 24 Rello, Nel'(ula

200

Real-Life Success Stories

"/'ve built a stronger mind, a stronger body, and a stronger life. "

In recent years, my life seemed 10 be getting oul of control. It felt like turbulence at 30,000 fec i-you know, that feeling of being scared to death? I was diagnosed with cancer. I was only 28 years old. Itjusl wasn't fair. I had two choices: I could throw in the towel or believe in myself 100 percent. I decided I would li ve-thai failure was not an opt ion. (I constantly used those words for inspiration.) Cancer is a pretty "smart di sease." The type I had, called "germ-cell tumor with seminoma elements present," circulated throughout my body. It took surgeons six hours to remove 36 Jymph nodes from my abdomen and chest cavity. I was confined to a hospital bed fo r 23 days. I weighed onl y 124 po unds when I started. I followed the Program and looked forward to achieving my transformation. After 30 days, I'd already gained 10 pounds. It was already working! I was gaining confidence and fee li ng stronger. I ended up gaining 26 pounds of muscle. I am the talk of the Kaiserslauttern military medical commun ity- my doctors and co-workers can hardly be lieve it. I have, so far, beat this cancer. I've faced death, onl y to come back and be in my best shape ever. I' ve also gained a tremendous amount of self-confidence. For me, it 's about the accomplishments. I've built a stronger mind, a stronger body, and a stronger li fe. This is just the beginning!

Miclwel Tate Age 29 Mellicaf Technician (USAF); Rammstein Air Base, Germany

Real-Life Success Stories

201