Josh Hillis' Fat Loss and Fitness

How does a guy know if he should gain muscle or lose fat?

How to Gain Muscle & Lose Fat

By: Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Are you ready for my famous "gain muscle or lose fat" chart?

I know this is going to make a few people mad, but it's the truth about whether a guy should lose fat or gain muscle. If he doesn't stick to my recommendations, he won't get the ripped abs and muscles he wants.

I often get scrawny guys asking me how to lose fat, when they have no muscle underneath the fat...they think they will look good if they "get ripped", but in reality, will look like they are starving. They should focus on gaining muscle instead.

This is a harsh lesson in reality, but too many guys are trying to lose weight when the focus should be on gaining muscle.

In fact, through my experience in working with athletes and dozens of men in the gym trying to lose fat and gain muscle, I've come up with a height-weight chart that determines whether or not you should lose weight.

Here's the chart identifying the cut-off weight for muscle building, and the rule below.

5'6" - 140 pounds
5'7" - 145 pounds
5'8" - 150 pounds
5'9" - 155 pounds
5'10 - 160 pounds

And so on. For every inch taller, add 5 pounds. For every inch shorter, subtract 5 pounds.

For example, if you are 5'8", 150 pounds, you should NOT be focusing on losing weight. You need to gain muscle if you want to look good on the beach and have muscle. Focusing on weight loss would be the worst thing you could do. If you do, you'll look like crap, and practically anorexic, to be blunt.

Instead, you must focus on gaining muscle. This will improve the appearance of your body, and take you from a stick-figure to a lean, muscular physique with a better chance of seeing your abs.

And don't worry, you're not going to look huge. At 5'8", a guy would have to be at least 180 in order to be considered "jacked" or "huge".

And the best news of all? Because skinny guys are untrained, simply starting a muscle building program will give them maximum fat loss and muscle gain at the same time. They are going to get the best of both worlds.

To use Turbulence Training to gain muscle and lose fat, simply stick to the weight training workouts only. Avoid the hard interval cardio for at least 4 weeks as you gain muscle, and eat extra calories right after your workout (as well as having a bigger breakfast than normal). These two changes will
allow you to gain muscle and lose fat.

Sincerely,

Craig Ballantyne, CSCS, MS
Author, Turbulence Training

About the Author

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. His trademarked Turbulence Training fat loss workouts have been featured multiple times in Men’s Fitness and Maximum Fitness magazines, and have helped thousands of men and women around the world lose fat, gain muscle, and get lean in less than 45 minutes three times per week. For more information on the Turbulence Training workouts that will help you burn fat without long, slow cardio sessions or fancy equipment, visit www.TurbulenceTraining.com

Protein On The Go

It's simple to eat good, clean, whole foods at home. 

The trick is when you aren't at home.  What about when you're out and about?  What if you're in a rush at work and only have a minute for a snack?  What can you eat that's healthy?

If I'm anywhere near a supermarket, I'll eat my lunch out of the deli and the produce section.  I can usually put together a perfect meal of lean meat and fruit for about $4.00.  I'll usually have some almonds with me and add those also.

But lets say you don't have a supermarket handy, or if you are stuck at a desk all day.  People always ask me what they can do for their mid afternoon snack - it's easy to have fruit with you, but what about protein?

Here are a few of my favorite "on the go" protein options:

Protein Pudding available at bodybuilding.com

Salmon Jerky available at wildsalmonjerky.com

Almonds available at any supermarket.

BONUS TIP: When I said it's simple to eat good whole foods at home, here is how to do that:  A good idea is to cook three or four days worth of food at a time, and then set it up, pre-measured, in plastic containers.  It saves time to do it all in batches like that, and then you don't have to do any thinking at all for a few days.  Just pull out the meals and eat 'em!

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds: Take Your Body from Good to Rockstar.

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES),
Level 2 Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor (RKC2)

   

My Favorite Unconvential Fat Loss Exercises:

bear crawl video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfQK2PtHJXI

he's doing a pretty fast w/o dumbbells.  Most of the time I like to put dumbbells in my clients hands.  Either way, it's a full body butt kicking.

renegade row video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ggaj8hB0BUY

Given the choice, I actually prefer renegade rows with dumbbells to renegade rows with kettlebells.  Either way, it's a combined push and pull that puts a really high demand on all the muscles of the core.  Your abs, obliques and spinal erectors all have to work together as a team to keep your hips from rotating. 

If you want to have some real fun - try lifting up the oposite foot at the same time you are lifting up the dumbbell/kettlebell.  I wouldn't do this all the time, but it's a fun game to play once in a while.

pistol (one legged squat) video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEBol54EjVE

pistol tutorial:
http://www.beastskills.com/Pistol.htm

Note how he does pistols down to different box heights - that's my favorite way to manage the difficulty of the exercise, to shorten the range of motion.  Most people start off doing pistols to a normal chair or bench height, and work their way down from there over time.

I also like to hold a light weight, 5-25lbs, in my hands while doing pistols.  The counterbalance makes it easier for me to do the exercise without falling over backwards on my butt.

The pistol also has the unique distinction of being the only squatting exercise where I will ever instruct you to round your back forward.  Most squatting exercises you will want a tight, strong arch in your back because that's the strongest and safest position to bear weight.  With pistols I'm never going to put any weight on your back.  Getting harder will be about going lower.  So with no weight on your back, you've got the green light to round forward - but just this once. 

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES),
Level 2 Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor (RKC2)

© Joshua Hillis 2007

   

Strong and Hot

Why girls shouldn't be afraid of lifting heavy and getting strong:

"Hey Josh, I've emailed you a few times since buying your e-book. I
wish I had a proper before picture... I was about 120lbs and 23%bf...
now I'm 135lbs and 17%.

I used your site, your book, and the other sites you shared to get
this far.  All the "weights are good" information you imparted really
hit home and I now have a much better understanding of how it all
works. As a woman/girl I was never really encouraged to lift weights
before and holy cow do I ever love it!

Thank you so much!

-hilary"

With her new level of fitness, Hilary does some crime fighting on the side...

I always talk about bodyfat percentage, not scale weight.  Here is why:  Hilary is leaner at 135lbs than she was at 120lbs. 

Now I realize most people don't have any reference points for bodyfat percentage.  So it's hard to know the difference between 23% bodyfat and 17% bodyfat.  To learn what 17% bodyfat means, take a look at her stomach.  There's nothing hotter than a flat stomach, and the way to get that hot flat stomach is to get leaner - to get to a really rockstar bodyfat percentage.

The average American female is over 30% bodyfat.  At 30% bodyfat, you won't see your abs no matter how many millions of crunches you do - there is just too much fat in the way.  Women who go to the gym are usually around 26% bodyfat.  "Fit" is usually listed as 21-24%.  In that 21-24% range you're more fit (and hotter) than most people. In the 16-20% you're all rockstarred out - you're in the Jessica Alba/Jessica Biel/Eva Longoria/Jessica Simpson bodyfat range.  And you don't want to go much lower than that.  Down at 13% what you are talking about is essential fat, meaning that if you have less than that you'll get sick.

She's got the abs and flat stomach that every girl wants.  And guess how she got them?  Full body lifting like lunges, squats, deadlifts, single leg deadlifts, kettlebell swings, pushups, dumbbell ball presses, standing shoulder presses, pullups, body rows, bent over rows, and renegade rows.  My leanest clients are always the strongest.

Hilary built some muscle, and she looks leaner at a higher scale weight.  Always remember - leanness is your goal.  If you want rockstar abs, you've got to do full body lifting, eat a clean diet, and drop your bodyfat percentage to a point where you are lean enough that you can see your abs.

*Send in yout success stories and after pictures!  The top 20 success stories will get a copy of my next book, Advanced Fat Loss Workouts, for free.  The top 5 success stories will get a free 30 minute coaching call, and a copy of my next book.  Send your success stories and pictures to joshsgarage@gmail.com.

By Josh Hillis
Author of How To Lose The Stubborn Seven Pounds

National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (NASM-CPT) and Performance Enhancement Specialist (NASM-PES),
Level 2 Russian Kettlebell Challenge Certified Instructor (RKC2)

© Joshua Hillis 2007

   

Long Slow Cardio Makes You Old, Sick, and Ugly

Check out this article at slowtwitch.com.   It's a phenomenal article on how marathon training tears you down. 

I always say: "Half marathon runners are always hotter than marathon runners.  10k runners are hotter than half marathon runners.  And 5k runners are hotter than 10k runners."  This article, while it approaches it from an anti-aging perspective, explains why longer training makes you sick, injured, and less attractive.

It's even more interesting when you note that the author is a former sub-2:20 marathoner and a 4th place finisher in the Hawaiian Ironman.

-Josh

from slowtwitch.com:
Training is no guarantee of health

Let’s get one thing straight right off the bat: Endurance training is antithetical to anti-aging. So it amazes me when guys in their 40s and 50s who are training for a marathon or Ironman suggest that doing so will keep them young. It won’t. You may feel like a stud now with your shaved legs and your magic marker biceps tattoos, but endurance training speeds up the aging process almost as fast as watching TV, drinking sodas and eating potato chips. Actually, in some cases, it speeds it up even faster.

Read the rest here: http://www.slowtwitch.com/mainheadings/features/health_doping_slowtwitch2.html

I also thought this was pretty good - from Mark's official bio on his blog:

"In fact, the running was going so well after college that I decided to forgo medical school for a few years (it’s at 31 years now) and concentrate on a running career. I trained seriously as a marathoner for another five years, racking up well over 100 miles each week in training. The effort culminated in a top 5 finish in the 1980 US National Marathon Championships and a qualifying spot for the 1980 US Olympic Trials. Unfortunately, by then the inhuman amount of training and weekly racing was taking its toll and I found myself constantly sick or injured. (Note to self: too much exercise is not a good thing). In fact, in my last year of competition, as a world class, extremely “fit” athlete, I experienced eight upper respiratory infections! Clearly I was ruining my immune system and my joints doing too much exercise. That’s when I started exploring nutrition and supplementation as a way to enhance my performance and to support my damaged body and bolster my immune system."

Check out his articles on all kinds of cool stuff about fitness, looking athletic, anti-aging, and health - http://www.marksdailyapple.com/

BONUS!

For another look (possibly a more balanced look) at Strength Training vs. Cardio, check out this article from this month's issue of Women's Health:

A WH Fitness Face Off
In one corner: Dumbbells. In the other: A jump rope. The ref: WH, slicing and dicing the research to determine whether strength or cardio rules.

To resolve the strength vs. cardio conundrum, we culled research and chatted up experts to find out how each would fare in a head-to-head matchup (don't worry, nobody's going to bite anyone's ear off). Whether you want to get buff, torch calories, or run your fastest mile ever, we've decoded which discipline you should devote your sweat to -- and created a workout that's perfectly proportioned to give you all the benefits. Now, let's get ready to rumble...

Read the rest of the article...