Tag Archive: diet


FREE Cutting & Building diets for a ripped muscled physique

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet — Leave a comment
September 8, 2017

Click here to watch video “FREE Cutting & Building diets”

As discussed in previous videos the Cutting and Building phases/diets are done in a 3 month cycle. Three months Cutting diet followed by 3 months Building diet. This is called a cycle. Then after each cycle repeat the cycle again, and again and so on.

The purpose of the Cutting diet is to drop body fat while keeping muscles safe. Typical targets in a 3 month Cutting diet period is to drop the body fat with roughly 6% – 8%.

The purpose of the Building diet is to increase both the body fat and muscle size. Reason for the body fat increase is simply to stimulate better muscle growth. Muscle growth happens most effectively in a caloric surplus environment. The aim with the Building diet is to add roughly 4% – 5% body fat to help muscle growth.

Both diets stick to a small frequent meal system. For the simple reason that a frequent meal system keeps the digestive track activated continuously and thus results in a significant higher metabolic rate for the body which equals better fat loss. It is MUCH better for fat loss to take 5-7 small meals instead of 1-2 huge meals. It results in better fat loss plus you never feel bloated or uncomfortable from big servings plus you crave food much less.

The same following rules apply to both diets:

  1. NEVER exceed your daily calories.
  2. You MUST perform EVERY 14 DAYS a body monitoring with fat calipers, weighing scale and tape measurements to determine how your body responded to the previous 14 days daily calories.
  3. Never increase or decrease your diets calories with more than 10% in a 14 day period.

The body monitoring process is the CRITICAL part of the diet. If you do not do this thoroughly your diet will NEVER be correctly aligned for your body. You must remember that no 2 people’s metabolic rates are exactly the same. There are a magnitude of factors determine each of us metabolic rates. So if you do not align the diet for YOUR metabolic rate…the diet WILL FAIL!

Now the next step is to interpret the results from the 14 day body monitoring intelligently.

For the CUTTING DIET you do it as follows:

RESULT: lost muscle, ANALYSIS: very bad, ACTION REQUIRED: increase daily calories across the board with 10%

RESULT: lost muscle & fat, ANALYSIS: very bad, ACTION REQUIRED: increase daily calories across the board with 10%

RESULT: lost fat but muscle stayed the same, ANALYSIS: good, ACTION REQUIRED: this is where you want to be during your cutting diet. No change, but redo monitoring every 14 days to ensure you stay in this sweet spot.

RESULT: gain fat & muscle, ANALYSIS: very bad, ACTION REQUIRED: decrease daily calories across the board with 10%.

 

For the BUILDING DIET you do it as follows:

RESULT: lost muscle, ANALYSIS: very bad, ACTION REQUIRED: increase daily calories across the board with 10%

RESULT: lost muscle & fat, ANALYSIS: very bad, ACTION REQUIRED: increase daily calories across the board with 10%

RESULT: lost fat but muscle stayed the same, ANALYSIS: bad, ACTION REQUIRED: increase daily calories across the board with 10%

RESULT: gain fat & muscle, ANALYSIS: good, ACTION REQUIRED: this is where you want to be in the building diet. But be careful that you do not add too much fat so do the body monitoring  every 14 days to ensure you do not pick up too much fat.

WANT A HOLISTIC TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM FULLY CUSTOMIZED?  The program I am following for the past 6 years (age 46 to 52), available now fully customised on all levels. before-and-after-dec2016Every little secret, every hard-earned practical fact, every scientific study that actually support the (very) few supplements between all the thousand ridiculous advertisement claims have been filtered en incorporated into one system that MAKES A DIFFERENCE click here: 

https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

 

Right now on to the actual diets. Both have a complete breakdown with detailed caloric values and protein/carb/fat content. This enable you to exchange food easily to spice up the diet. But be warned! Do NOT exceed the calories when exchanging food and ensure you stick to the protein/carb/fat ratios.

You will see there are 3 days provided for each diet. The Monday and Tuesday you must shuffle between all the weekdays except for Saturday. The Saturday menu plan must ONLY be followed for Saturday. It is meant to be a more relaxed menu plan that will enable you to socialize a bit. You can also squeeze two meals in one or even 3 into one ONLY on Saturday. Again…do NOT exceed calories.

THE CUTTING DIET

cd 1cd 2cd 3

THE BUILDING DIET

bd 1bd 2bd 3

Now you got all the diet tools to go and get shredded and add muscle.

MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Gert Louw

gert b&A 12May2016

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Extreme training dedication? how to get it.

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet, BB Training & Exercises, Be MOTIVATED! — 4 Comments
September 4, 2017

Click here to watch video “Extreme training DEDICATION? How to get it!”

 

In this article I want to take you through the process of how to acquire an extreme dedication to your training and body transformation goals.

As you know MANY set out on this journey, nearly on a yearly basis. But close to 99% fail.

The simple reason for this failure is dedication to training. The smallest stumbling block and the grand hope of transforming the body to superhero looks, fail dead in its tracks.

Now I know what I am talking about. Before the age 40 I had more-than-I-can-count failures in my body transformation goals. For this simple reason – lack of dedication. After 40 I got my act together and things really start changing. How and why did I got my act together? Well that will become evident later on.

For now, let’s discuss the process on how to get this EXTREME DEDICATION to training.

There are two parts.

PART I – Stop with the shallow and superficial aims and reasons to transform the body!

When you decide to transform your body, what are your reasons? Too look sexy, to look nice or better, to attract more girls? Well sorry, but I am gonna burst your bubble here. That will NEVER hold. Superficial reasons carry no weight and with the first obstacle in the road, your dreams is going to come tumbling down.

Now everything change when these reasons are not superficial anymore. The more weight a reason carry the better your chance of pushing through! This must not be about the outside of the body but about the whole you! Change from the inside out. Become a better man, a better father, a better husband and a better friend. Start caring, start having compassion for others, start helping others. A natural outflow of this process to become the best YOU will be to change the outside of the body for the better. You will want to be fit, healthy and muscled because you want to be the best you on all levels. Simply put – the more weight your reason for change carry, the better your chances of success.

PART II – Training time is NOT optional!

Let me put it to you like this. Why do you get up and go to your job everyday? Because it is not optional but a requirement. If you are sick you get a doctor’s certificate. But as soon as this certificate expires you have to get back to work. No matter whether you want to or not. This is just the way it works. Now this exact same rules that hold for your job holds for your training time. It is NOT optional. The only time you miss gym is when you are sick with a doctor’s certificate. If that certificate is expired and you get back to work well, then you get back to gym. There is no but’s or why not’s…the training rules is equal to your job rules.

 

WANT A HOLISTIC TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM FULLY CUSTOMIZED?  The program I am following for the past 6 years (age 46 to 52), available now fully customised on all levels. before-and-after-dec2016Every little secret, every hard-earned practical fact, every scientific study that actually support the (very) few supplements between all the thousand ridiculous advertisement claims have been filtered en incorporated into one system that MAKES A DIFFERENCE click here: 

https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

 

I’ve been through this. AT age 40, training was not optional anymore for me. My life depended on it due to serious medical issues. There was no choices. I simply had to train 4-5 days a week. Then success came and it dawn on me why it was different this time. It was because I apply the same dedication level that one apply to your job to my training and diet regime. No “optional” anymore, no excuses. This is the mindset that must happen. Only when part I and part II become part of your aims and mindset, will there be success. Otherwise chances are very high for failure.

Let this sink in. It comes from someone who has failed many times and then one-day it all changed. Learn from this and make the dreams that dance in your head reality!

Happy training!

Gert Louw

GertLouw54Small

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Firing up your metabolism

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet — 2 Comments
September 1, 2017

Most of us know that the key to controlling fat-loss lies in our bodies metabolic rate.

Now as already proven by science there are quite a few things we can do to manipulate the metabolic rate of our bodies. And by applying all these WILL have a massive impact on our fat-loss journeys to obtain ripped physiques’.

 

Click here to watch video “FIRING UP YOUR METABOLISM”

 

But one thing stands apart from all these. There is one thing we can do that head and shoulders stands above the rest to elevate your metabolic tempo of the body.

Before I name this golden trick, let me take you back a bit.

When we eat a meal our digestive system is activated for 2-3 hours to process the food. This has been scientifically proven to be a very high energy requirement process. So for 2-3 hours after eating a meal (small or big) the body will have a significant raised metabolic rate.

For those that eat 1 large meal a day, it means their metabolic rate is raised for a max 3 hours per day

Those eating 2 biggish meals a day has raised metabolic rates of maximum 6 hours per day.

However those that divide the same amount of food into 5-7 small meals a day will have a raised metabolic rate for about 15 hours and longer per day spanning well into sleeping time. They will eat the same amount of food but just in much smaller meal portions and they will have a significant raised metabolic rate for the major part of a 24 hour cycle. This will have a dramatic impact on fat-loss efforts.

Sure this will result in insulin spiking much more frequently…but insulin spiking is not at all that bad. Insulin is the most potent muscle-building hormone in the body by far and this eating habit will result in a huge advantage to increase muscle size when combined with resistance training.

 

WANT A HOLISTIC TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM FULLY CUSTOMIZED?  The program I am following for the past 6 years (age 46 to 52), available now fully customised on all levels. before-and-after-dec2016Every little secret, every hard-earned practical fact, every scientific study that actually support the (very) few supplements between all the thousand ridiculous advertisement claims have been filtered en incorporated into one system that MAKES A DIFFERENCE click here: 

https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

 

But what about the fat gaining aspects of regular insulin spiking? Well, the benefits of a raised metabolic rate by consuming small frequent meals by far offset the negative aspects of spiking insulin multiple times during the day and on top of this the muscle-building benefits of the insulin spiking further add significant benefits to body shape, muscle size and achieving fat-loss.

The bottom line is – when in search for a great looking body, a small frequent meal system can have a drastic positive impact.

But this is not all you can do to fire up the metabolism…look at the following tricks that can further be applied in an effort to raise the bodies metabolic tempo:

TEN Easy Ways to Boost Your Metabolism (Backed by Science)

Metabolism is the term for all the chemical reactions in your body.

These chemical reactions keep your body alive and functioning.

However, the word metabolism is often used interchangeably with metabolic rate, or the amount of calories you burn.

The higher it is, the more calories you burn and the easier it is to lose weight and keep it off.

Having a high metabolism can also give you energy and make you feel better.

Here are 10 easy ways to increase your metabolism.

1. Eat Plenty of Protein at Every Meal

Eating food can increase your metabolism for a few hours.

This is called the thermic effect of food (TEF). It’s caused by the extra calories required to digest, absorb and process the nutrients in your meal.

Protein causes the largest rise in TEF. It increases your metabolic rate by 15–30%, compared to 5–10% for carbs and 0–3% for fats.

Eating protein has also been shown to help you feel more full and prevent you from overeating.

One small study found that people were likely to eat around 441 fewer calories per day when protein made up 30% of their diet.

Eating more protein can also reduce the drop in metabolism often associated with losing fat. This is because it helps prevent you from losing muscle, a common side effect of dieting.

BOTTOM LINE:Eating more protein can boost your metabolism so that you burn more calories. It can also help you eat less.

2. Drink More Cold Water

People who drink water instead of sugary drinks are more successful at losing weight and keeping it off.

This is because sugary drinks contain calories, so replacing them with water automatically reduces your calorie intake.

However, drinking water may also speed up your metabolism temporarily.

Studies have shown that drinking 17 oz (0.5 liters) of water increases resting metabolism by 10–30% for about an hour.

This calorie-burning effect may be even greater if you drink cold water, as your body uses energy to heat it up to body temperature.

Water can also help fill you up. Studies show that drinking water a half an hour before you eat can help you eat less.

One study of overweight adults found that those who drank half a liter of water before their meals lost 44% more weight than those who didn’t.

BOTTOM LINE:Water can help you lose weight and keep it off. It increases your metabolism and helps fill you up before meals.

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3. Do a High-Intensity Workout

High-intensity interval training (HIIT) involves quick and very intense bursts of activity.

It can help you burn more fat by increasing your metabolic rate, even after your workout has finished.

This effect is believed to be greater for HIIT than for other types of exercise. What’s more, HIIT has also been shown to help you burn fat.

One study in overweight young men found that 12 weeks of high-intensity exercise reduced fat mass by 4.4 lbs (2 kg) and belly fat by 17%.

BOTTOM LINE:Mixing up your exercise routine, and adding in a few high-intensity workouts, can boost your metabolism and help you burn fat.

 4. Lift Heavy Things

Muscle is more metabolically active than fat, and building muscle can help increase your metabolism.

This means you will burn more calories each day, even at rest.

Lifting weights will also help you retain muscle and combat the drop in metabolism that can occur during weight loss.

In one study, 48 overweight women were placed on a diet of 800 calories per day, along with either no exercise, aerobic exercise or resistance training.

After the diet, the women who did the resistance training maintained their muscle mass, metabolism and strength. The others lost weight, but also lost muscle mass and experienced a decrease in metabolism.

BOTTOM LINE:Lifting weights is important for building and retaining muscle. Higher amounts of muscle will result in a higher metabolism.

5. Stand up More

Sitting too much is bad for your health.

Some health commentators have even dubbed it “the new smoking.” This is partly because long periods of sitting burn fewer calories and can lead to weight gain.

In fact, compared with sitting, an afternoon of standing up at work can burn an extra 174 calories. If you have a desk job, try standing up for short periods to break up the length of time you spend sitting down. You can also invest in a standing desk.

BOTTOM LINE:Sitting for a long time burns few calories and is bad for your health. Try to stand up regularly or invest in a standing desk.

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6. Drink Green Tea or Oolong Tea

Green tea and oolong tea have been shown to increase metabolism by 4–5%.

These teas help convert some of the fat stored in your body into free fatty acids, which may increase fat burning by 10–17%.

As they are low in calories, drinking these teas may be good for both weight loss and weight maintenance.

It’s thought their metabolism-boosting properties may help prevent the dreaded weight loss plateau that occurs due to a decrease in metabolism.

However, some studies find that these teas do not affect metabolism. Therefore, their effect may be small or only apply to some people.

BOTTOM LINE:Drinking green tea or oolong tea can increase your metabolism. These teas may also help you lose weight and keep it off.

7. Eat Spicy Foods

Peppers contain capsaicin, a substance that can boost your metabolism.

However, many people can’t tolerate these spices at the doses required to have a significant effect.

One study of capsaicin, at acceptable doses, predicted that eating peppers would burn around 10 additional calories per meal. Over 6.5 years, this could account for 1 lb (0.5 kg) of weight loss for an average-weight male.

Alone, the effects of adding spices to your food may be quite small. However, it may be slightly useful when combined with other metabolism-boosting strategies.

BOTTOM LINE:Eating spicy food could be beneficial for boosting your metabolism and help you maintain a healthy weight.

8. Get a Good Night’s Sleep

Lack of sleep is linked to a major increase in the risk of obesity.

This may partly be caused by the negative effects of sleep deprivation on metabolism.

Lack of sleep has also been linked with increased blood sugar levels and insulin resistance, which are both linked to a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

It’s also been shown to boost the hunger hormone ghrelin, and decrease the fullness hormone.

This could explain why many people who are sleep deprived feel hungry and struggle to lose weight.

BOTTOM LINE:Lack of sleep can decrease the amount of calories you burn, change the way you process sugar and disrupt your appetite-regulating hormones.

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9. Drink Coffee

Studies have shown that the caffeine in coffee can boost metabolism by 3–11%. Like green tea, it also promotes fat burning.

However, this seems to affect lean people more. In one study, coffee increased fat burning by 29% for lean women, but only 10% for obese women.

Coffee’s effects on metabolism and fat burning may also contribute to successful weight loss and maintenance.

BOTTOM LINE:Drinking coffee can significantly increase your metabolism and help you lose weight.

10. Replace Cooking Fats with Coconut Oil

Unlike other saturated fats, coconut oil contains a lot of medium-chain fats.

Medium-chain fats can increase your metabolism more than the long-chain fats found in foods like.

In one study, researchers found that medium-chain fats increased metabolism by 12%, compared to long-chain fats, which raised it by just 4%.

Due to the unique fatty acid profile of coconut oil, replacing some of your other cooking fats with it may have modest benefits for weight loss.

BOTTOM LINE:Replacing other cooking fats with coconut oil may help boost your metabolism slightly.

Take Home Message

Making small lifestyle changes and incorporating these tips into your routine can increase your metabolism.

Having a higher metabolism can help you lose weight and keep it off, while giving you more energy.

Other ways to manipulate metabolism

“I have a fast metabolism; I can eat and eat and stay skinny.” Most of us have heard someone say this, and a majority of us have responded with annoyance and envy. But what is metabolism, and can we make ours run a bit faster? Taylor Newhouse, a registered dietitian with the Texas A&M School of Public Health, helps break down what you should know about your metabolism.

 

What is metabolism?

Your metabolism isn’t just what keeps your bragging friend lean, it’s the constant process that your body is using to keep everything functioning. Your metabolism is always running, even when you’re sleeping.

“Your metabolism is kind of the engine that keeps your body going,” Newhouse said. “It’s the drive that allows your body to utilize the food and nutrients you put into it.”

Some people do have faster metabolism than others, and that is the work of genetics and someone’s lifestyle. Although there’s nothing you can do about your genetics, there are ways to impact the lifestyle side and give your metabolism a boost to keep it running in high gear.

How can you improve your metabolism?

Because the metabolism’s base rate is set by genetics, there’s no quick way to rev it up; it cannot be changed without making some long-term lifestyle changes.

“We can manipulate our metabolism to a degree,” Newhouse said. “It’s like a campfire: just like we need to give a fire tinder and pieces of wood in order to keep it from slowing down and burning out, we need to fuel our metabolism as well.”

If you’re looking to boost your metabolism, then there are a few changes you can make throughout the day. Working out, hydrating and eating right can help with your overall health, but there are also specific habits you can foster in order to give it a boost.

“Eating your leafy vegetables and working out can definitely help your metabolism,” Newhouse said. “Muscle burns more energy than fat, so lifting weights or anything else that builds muscle — along with eating correctly — can play a large role in how our body processes nutrients.”

Apart from getting in more muscle-building workouts and eating better, another important habit to kick your metabolism into gear is not ignoring the most important meal of the day: breakfast.

“People tend to overlook how important breakfast is,” Newhouse said. “We go all night without food, and our body can approach a fasting state, an episode where our body will withhold calories, if we wait too long to eat after waking up.”

What can slow your metabolism?

If it’s possible to speed up your metabolism, then it’s equally possible — and far easier — to slow it down. There are many habits that are easy to fall into that can make your metabolism run at a slower pace. One of these happens in the late hours of night, and involves what you’re not doing: getting enough shut-eye.

Sleep deprivation is one of the biggest epidemics in American society, with more than one-third of adults getting less than the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep each night. Sleep is not only crucial for your metabolism, but skimping on sleep can also lead to long-term conditions such as heart disease and diabetes.

“Sleep is one of the biggest factors that people seem to forget about,” Newhouse said. “Even if someone eats well and exercises, if they don’t get adequate sleep, then their metabolism won’t run as efficiently.”

Although snacks often have a bad reputation for being unhealthy, they are very important to keep you fueled and nourish your body throughout the day. Snacks should have some protein, fiber and carbohydrates and should not have too much salt or sodium.

“Eating snacks won’t slow down your metabolism if you’re eating the right foods,” Newhouse said. “Healthy snacks — such as nuts, fruit or vegetables — have the nutrients to slow the rate of digestion, keep you feeling fuller longer and keep your body working to process the nutrients.”

Stress can also indirectly lead to problems with your metabolism. People with high amounts of cortisol, a stress hormone, tend to be overweight, and being overweight can slow your metabolism. Lowering your cortisol levels can start a chain-reaction that can help your metabolism run more efficiently.

What does your metabolism do over time?

Believe it or not, metabolism — just like the rest of our body — goes through the aging process. As your metabolism slows, your continuous diet and exercise choices become more important.

While the cause for this is unclear, women entering menopause will experience a slower metabolism and can find it more difficult to stay at a healthy weight, which makes diet and exercise vital to healthy aging.

“Nothing changes overnight,” Newhouse said. “It’s a matter of making the small choices that can add up to try and negate the effects that are naturally slowing down your metabolism.”

If you’re worried about how your metabolism is affecting your lifestyle, contact your health care provider or sit down with a registered dietician to set up a plan for a healthier daily life.

So everyone, fire-up that metabolism and train hard!
Cheers…
Gert Louw

Gert METABOLISM

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Diet tricks for fat loss – intermittent fast & carb cycling

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet — Leave a comment
July 4, 2017

Diet tricks for fat loss

I get many guys asking me about “intermittent fasting” and “carb cycling” and similar “tricks” in the search to drop body fat.

Let’s look at this objectively.

I am not going to shoot any of these methods down, I think there are enough counter-proof that at least for some it is working.

However the people contacting me is never advanced athletes but Joe average who plays around with bodybuilding and want to get a quick road to loosing fat.

This is where the problem comes in.

The advanced athletes employing these diet tricks are already at very low body fat and are preparing for a show or event. In their toolbox which they use constantly, are their fat-callipers, tape measure and weighing scale and caloric counter. They approach this very scientifically and got the whole process down to a tee. They hardly ever make a mistake. But even then some do make a mistake and the consequences are close to disastrous. The truth is that with these tricks they are walking a thin line and it is very easy to make a mistake. You really need to know what you are doing and monitor the body extremely closely. You need to be very scientific about it to the extreme!

But Joe average is not a guy who will put in the time and effort these guys do with these tricks. He will not daily pull out the fat calipers, the tape measurement and scale and double-check calories etc. He just wants a simple to follow solution that will allow him to shed fat. And this is NEVER a simple solution. This is a hardcore solution. And nearly 99% of Joe average who have tried these hardcore solutions have badly burned their fingers. By burned fingers I mean training derailed, getting sick (due to immune system dropping as a result of too much required from the body) or losing all the hard-earned muscle in the process.

If you want my complete training/diet/supps system customised specifically for your body and goals, have a look here: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

The risks simply outweight the benefits for Joe average …by far.

It is not worth it.

For Joe average and most advanced athletes it makes sense to follow a proven sensible approach.

Such a sensible approach is to monitor the body every 14 days with fat calipers and a weighing scale. Then to interpret the results with wisdom and make the necessary caloric adjustments to reach your goal.

In the cutting phase you want to lose fat and keep muscles safe (not necessarily build muscle but definitely not losing muscle!).

In the building phase the goal is adding a little body fat (2%-4%) and built muscle. Whenever you have to adjust calories, never do it with more than 10% in 14 day period up or down. The body need time to adjust and by adjusting calories with more than 10% will throw the body’s normal responses off for up to 1 month which makes the 14 day monitoring very difficult to interpret correctly.

The type of diet to follow is simple.

For cutting: https://gertlouw.com/2014/08/16/cutting-diet-challenges/

For building: https://gertlouw.com/2014/10/27/muscle-building-phase-sample-diets/

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Now I hope this let’s you think twice about venturing these risky paths. If you want to use me as an example…I have never done these diet tricks, simply because they are too risky! I am not about to sacrifice my hard-worked by slipping up once.

Wish you all happy training!

Gert Louw

GUYS & GIRLS DREAM BODYc

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Incredible LIFE inspiration at age 52

Filed under: Be MOTIVATED! — 4 Comments
September 3, 2016

Hi guys and girls, Gert Louw from Cape Town.

Every year just after my birthday it is sort of a tradition for me to do a flexing and inspirational video.

This year it was my 52nd birthday.

So here is the video just after my birthday:

Click here to view video “Life INSPIRATION at age 52”

 

With this video I want to inspire a little.

Neither your age, nor your health should ever (!) stand in your way.

Now, most of you know by now that 12 years ago I nearly died and doctors did not give me any good news. But with faith I moved forward and apply healthy living on all levels and also did some house cleaning and moving closer to God ( I am a follower of Jesus Christ).

Obviously it was a long and hard road and the body took long to respond to this healthy living but the wheel did turn and it is keeping on turning as a result.

Now, I am not naïve in thinking everyone with serious health issues can and will turn around like I did, but what I do believe is that with faith in God and by living very healthy, one CAN make a huge difference. Obviously you need your doctor’s approval to embark on such a journey.

But, let me share with you the core of my healthy living

Gert Louw face2

 

My training program is as follows:

  • Mondays – Chest, Biceps and abs
  • Tuesdays – Shoulders, Traps and calves
  • Wednesdays – rest
  • Thursdays – Back, triceps and abs
  • Fridays – Legs, upper pecs and calves
  • Saturdays & Sundays – rest

 

My supplement regime

Health supplements:

  • ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid)
  • CQ10 (Co Enzyme Q10)
  • Omega 3+6
  • Strong Multi Vitamin
  • Slow release Vit C

Muscle building supplements:

  • Whey protein powder
  • L-Glutamine
  • BCAA

 

How do I structure my training?

I do a 3-months Cutting phase with a very specific cutting phase diet and training with lighter weights at a higher rep range followed by 1 week rest and then a 3-month building phase with a very specific building phase diet and training with heavier weights to absolute muscle failure at lower reps (about 8 reps per set) followed by 1 week rest and the repeat.

This allow me to build muscle but also to recover the strained tendons and joints.

 

About my diets

I make use of one of the top fitness nutritionists in the field (BERNADETTE BEYER) to work out my diets for each phase according to my bodytype and goals. This is the crucial part of your success and without a very focussed diet there will be no success.

My blog contains a LOT of info for free that can help you through all these processes.

But for those interested, I also offer my exact training/supplem and diet system via the ADVANCED SYSTEM II (option E). The same nutritionist I use will also work out your diet solution and I myself attend to working out your training and supplement attack based. If you want to signup, just choose option E via the following link: https://gertlouw.com/contact-me

Now, everyone…happy training!

Cheers

Gert Louw

Gert Louw REACH FOR THE STARS small

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Cheat and still win with your diet

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet, Be MOTIVATED! — 2 Comments
June 8, 2016

Cheat and still win with your diet!

Click here to view video “CHEAT & STILL WIN WITH YOUR DIET“

Now this is probably what everyone wants to hear – lol! BUT, the truth is, there are methods to cheat and still get to the top!

Life is not meant to be without a dessert once on a while…and I am talking Baked Chocolate Fondant with oozing real sweet chocolate out if it’s center with ice cream (real ! ice cream) liberally used. The same goes for the odd glass of wine/whiskey or beer or whatever blows your skirt up, even a chocolate!

A certain balance needs to be applied to stay sane with anything in life. I’ve just done a 3 weeks severe cutting diet, sticking 100% to it…and, it’s was hell! The more you are going to disallow yourself a treat once in a while, the bigger the chance that your diet will fail completely in the end. You would just say…”I had enough”. And you know what? I have big compassion for that…so let’s have a look here how (!) you can cheat regularly without crashing your diet and keep yourself sane and focused to stick 98% to your diet.

Sundays to Fridays – sorry that (!) is where you stick 100% to your diet.

Get yourself some sugarless, carb less, fat free sweets. Do some searching and buy those that have as little calories as possible…like below 10! Then during the Sunday to Friday period…pop a few (3-4) of those during the day when you feel the urge to treat yourself a bit. Apart from that – nothing else.

The key is always to eat all your regular meals and drink all your water (2L-4L)…THAT is what keeps you full and keep the urges to eat wrong away.

Obviously, if you are at your target body fat then some different rules apply. Then you are allowed 2 -3 cheats evenly spaced out during the week. But for this documents purpose, let’s assume we are dealing with all those that are still far from the target body fat levels.

Your cheat should be left for a weekend day…when you are less stressed, more relaxed and doing something you like. This cheat will go to great lengths to make you not feeling deprived of some great things and food in life. Even if you don’t feel like a cheat, maybe it is a good idea…simply to help you stay balanced and not feeling deprived later on in the week.

Gert Louw LEGS CB

Now, “HOW?” should you cheat?

There can only be one cheat and that cheat can only be once per day per week on just 1 day of the week!

First you eat the diet as normal for that day as specified.

Let’s look at the next cheat scenario’s:

1.       Ice Cream cheat / Soft drink / dessert cheat / potato crisps – once anytime during day. Then for 2 of your meals for the day cut out carbs completely. One small meals carbs and one larger meals carbs.

2.       Chocolate cheat 150g – anytime during day. The same as above:  For 2 of your meals for the day cut out carbs completely. One small meals carbs and one larger meals carbs.

3.       Alcohol cheat (500ml equivalent wine) – anytime during day. Usually late afternoon or evening you will use this cheat. So for the evening meal cut out carbs completely and ONLY clean fatless meat and salad…no sauces, no carbs, nothing else! And definitely no dessert. If you want dessert, then no wine! One or the other… [Note: be very careful with alcohol. It is the key reason why men, especially older men, struggle to loose fat around the tummy and have a bloated look to the tummy. Best is to cut alcohol COMPLETELY out and have other types of cheats.]

 

Remember that with any of the above cheats it will set you back 24 to 48 hours before your body reverted to the level before you cheated and only then will it be able to start losing fat again. So even though you have cheated it is STILL very much possible to loose fat for the week, but only within above rules.

 

I strongly believe that the only winning approach is a balanced approach. That keeps you focused and you feel like “life” is not deprived of you. Part of this balance is to cheat on a weekly basis with your diet by applying above wisdom!

 

Wish you all happy dieting and a great training week!
Gert Louw

http://www.gertlouw.com

Gert Louw green small

 

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Transforming your body STEP-BY-STEP

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet, BB Training & Exercises, Be MOTIVATED! — 7 Comments
May 26, 2016

In all my coaching systems and many articles on my site, I regularly refer to the process of transforming into a wow physique by “climbing a ladder step by step”.

Facebook profil

Here I want to explain as to WHAT exactly I mean by that.

Now, many people think they are starting to climb the ladder and start transforming, and they actually start doing rather great, but then stuff starts happening…things like: getting sick regularly, tendon/joint injury or other serious injury or they lose hope because they just cannot put on muscle no matter how hard they train and some just cannot lose fat no matter how hard they diet.

This is when the train stops and they get off the ladder.

Not because it was not possible but because they LACK knowledge.

KNOWLEDGE in terms off:

  1. You CANNOT lose fat if the calories are too low…then your body enters famine mode and you WILL lose all your hard earned muscle first before it uses the fat – no matter how HARD you train! There is a sweet spot with calories where the body use fat for energy and keep muscles safe. You need to find it. (In my SYSTEMS I and II this is covered).
  2. You CANNOT build muscle if: caloric intake too low, body fat too low or you do too much cardio!
  3. You WILL get sick regularly if you continue pounding your body week after week, month after month, in the wrong fashion and you do not use certain basic health supporting supplements.
  4. You WILL run into serious tendon and joint issues if you do not alternate every 3 months between BUILDING and CUTTING phases to allow healing and strengthening.

All of these are covered in detail in my COACHING SYSTEMS (https://gertlouw.com/contact-me), but the bottom line which brings all these together are a continuous alternating between a 3 month CUTTING PHASE and a 3 monthly BUILDING phase.

Each Phase has its own specific training methodology and specific type diet.

The two phases are vastly different and by continuously alternating between them, you allow your body every 3 months to go through a process off:

  1. Loosing max fat while protecting muscles in Cutting Phase.
  2. Building max muscle at slightly higher body fat levels in the Building Phase.
  3. Allowing your body to be fed correctly for your exact goal and training methodology for each phase.
  4. Allowing tendons and joints to strengthen and recover regularly in Cutting Phase.
  5. Allowing the body a balanced and healthy approach preventing sickness and injury by not overtraining and stressing the body and immune system.

These 2 phases hold the KEY to climbing the ladder. One step on the ladder = 1 BP (Building phase) + 1 CP (Cutting Phase). After each step you will be able to see a significant difference in shape and size. THIS is how you climb up the ladder.

Look at the following graph showing the BODY FAT variation during the phases

This is what your body fat will do when sticking to my SYSTEM I or II training that incorporates these principles (BP = Building Phase, CP = Cutting Phase):

Climing the ladder BODYFAT

Every BP1 + CP1 covers a 6 month period. At the end of each of the cutting phases your body fat is lower and lower till typically after a 3 year period you reach crazy levels like 5% body fat.

 

Let’s look what your muscle size will do when alternating between the phases:

Climing the ladder MUSCLE MASS

At the end of each of the cutting phases your body weight is higher than after the previous cutting phase. That COUPLED with the fact that the body fat is lower after each Cutting Phase compared to the previous cutting phase makes a HUGE difference on how the body looks and the amount of lean mass you are carrying.

THIS (!) is how you climb the ladder…not after one cutting phase or one building phase but after various of these phases. Stopping with the process simply mean you stop climbing the ladder.

Simply put – After each Building Phase your muscle weight is higher at lower body fat levels, and during the Cutting Phase you show your results, keeping that muscles safe and dropping the body fat on each Cutting Phase lower and lower than in the previous Cutting Phases until after a few years you look back and say…”WOW!”

Wish you all happy training!

Cheers – Gert Louw

gert louw B&A

 

 

 

 

 

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Sickness, injuries and gym off-time

Filed under: Be MOTIVATED! — 8 Comments
May 5, 2016

This is where a LOT of dedicated people get derailed completely! They get sick or injured and well, that is where their road to transforming the body stops…dead in it’s tracks. Until that point they are so motivated and charged up and then that happens…and the de-motivation is just too much. They just never get it off the ground again afterwards.

Right now, I am down from gym with kidney infection and this will keep me out of gym for close to 7 days. But after the 7 days off, I’ll be back doing one week light work and then all back to normal.

Not ONE of us are spared sickness or injuries. Now, injuries we can manage better especially with applying more wisdom as we get older (warming-up, stretching and simply avoiding high risk exercises for injury). But sickness is difficult to prevent. Sure we can apply the basics (anti-oxidants, multi-vit, CQ10 and ALA) and wash our hands regularly with anti-bacterial soap/spray, but even with that, chances are we will still get flu in the winter and still get the odd infection.

It is not a matter of preventing sickness and injuries but a matter of accepting that they form part of the training/body transformation environment as a given. You WILL get sick and you WILL get injured. But that must never (!) derail your efforts. Accept that it will push you back one to two weeks. Do not allow yourself to get negative about it, it is PART of the whole process and those with a winning mindset accepts that!

Now, what is even more important is that after a week of sickness, be careful to go in full force back to gym. Your body is still weak and in a process of recovery. Your immune system not nearly back to normal. Pushing yourself to the limits the first week back can and most probably will result in a recurrence of the sickness even to a worse degree putting you out gym for 3 weeks or more. That first week back after being sick make sure you do not do more than 50% your normal capacity. Go through all the motions and exercises but keep the exertion levels low.

Then the 2nd week back in training you will find you feel yourself again. That is where you start pushing the limits again.

A KEY ingredient of the winning mindset is to force yourself to stick 100% to your diet while sick or injured. Doing this will go great lengths to keep the motivation levels high! This is NOT the time to binge or eat what you want. This is the CRITICAL time to feed the body correctly. Sometimes I experienced when going back after a week sick I actually am in better shape than before, simply because of the control I had with my diet and my body that actually had a well deserved break!

Now, my timing for my kidney infection is real bad because 21st May I got a photoshoot coming up. But that is where all your hard work you have put in over the previous months and years will show the dividends…

Wish you all good health and injury free training!

Gert Louw

http://www.gertlouw.com

Gert Louw INJURY

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Vacation flexing!

Filed under: Be MOTIVATED! — Leave a comment
April 4, 2016

I had a 10 day rest with wife and kid. Few months then I am hitting 52.

So while rested and relaxed I just always seems to have the urge to flex the hard earned muscles a bit!

We (me, wife and kid) visited all the local quaint little towns and wine farms – Hermanus, Struisbaai, Agulhas, Napier, Standford, Bredasdorp, Arniston, etc…

On my last day I did a short flexing video while we were eating out at one of the restaurants on a wine farm – dicy move, because I took it in the public restroom of the restaurant (thus while I kept my sunglasses on!).

During the holiday after 1o days of no training, binging and eating just what I wanted. Picked up about 2kg body fat.

In fear of being busted while doing the video in the restroom (which would not have been nice, actually real bad!), I finished up as quickly as possible – so it is a short vid!

Click here to watch video “Restroom muscle flexing”

 

Here are a couple of photos while on holiday:

Now for the next 3 weeks I am preparing for photoshoot and get body fat levels down with at least 1.5% – 2%. No wine, no binging…sticking perfectly to diet!

Wish you all happy training!

Cheers

Gert Louw

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Visual study to determine the impact of cardio on a muscled physique

Filed under: BB Training & Exercises, Be MOTIVATED! — 4 Comments
March 1, 2016

Men aiming at maximum muscle size usually steer clear from any form of cardio. The bottom line is that all cardio, even moderate cardio, WILL decrease muscle size and make it more difficult to add muscle. It is the normal reaction the body has to cardio. It can be most clearly seen in marathon runners who have these thin sinewy physiques with almost no muscle size.

Body fat should be managed by a very focussed diet and NEVER via cardio. Cardio primarily “eats” into muscle and actually help surprisingly little to bring the fat levels down. It is much easier for the body to use the muscles for energy during cardio than to tap into fat storage and thus why cardio nearly always has the opposite effect.

Now, for one who refuse to give up his resistance training and has no other choice but to drop muscle weight due to health reasons (such as kidney problems), cardio presents a great and healthy opportunity to simply add it to the training regimen. The response the body will have when cardio is added, even by sticking to the same diet and resistance training, is to decrease muscle size.

 

WANT A HOLISTIC TRANSFORMATION SYSTEM FULLY CUSTOMIZED?  The program I am following for the past 6 years (age 46 to 52), available now fully customised on all levels. before-and-after-dec2016Every little secret, every hard-earned practical fact, every scientific study that actually support the (very) few supplements between all the thousand ridiculous advertisement claims have been filtered en incorporated into one system that MAKES A DIFFERENCE click here: 

https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

 

The general thought process out there is, that if you want to lose fat you must do cardio. It is unfortunately far from the truth. If you want to lose MUSCLE (!) you do cardio.

This video goes a long way as to give some proof about the matter although, admittedly, this is not an actual scientific experiment.

  • All factors like diet, resistance training frequency and intensity remained the same throughout the study with the only real added change being cardio that was added 5 days per week.
  • Supplements and all other forms of health support stayed exactly the same during the process.
  • The project spanned over a 6 month period.
  • Before the 6 months only resistance training (4 days a week) with no cardio.
  • During the 6 months significant cardio was added 5 days a week (speed swimming – 20 to 30 laps).

Click here to watch video “Visual study to determine body changes when cardio added to resistance training.”

 

The following very noticeable results after the 6 months:

  1. Bodyweight down by 7kg’s (mostly muscle with a smaller fat component as well).
  2. Body shape has become more pronounced and defined.
  3. Visible body fat decrease on upper body and lower body for a more shredded look.

Continuing with the cardio indefinitely will further decrease muscle size but at the same time enhances shape and shredded look thus providing a healthy fit looking body.

But alas, those in search of size should never follow this route!

Another interesting article on this subject: http://massgainsource.com/get-best-cardio-workout/

Wish you all happy training.

Gert Louw

http://www.gertlouw.com

Gert sea4bb

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After training – LOW or HIGH-GI carbs to ignite growth and fat-loss?

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet — Leave a comment
November 17, 2015

Click here to view video “After training – LOW or HIGH GI carbs?”

 

How to spike your insulin naturally to ignite growth and shed fat…this will tell you how.

The whole idea of immediate after training nutrition is three-fold:

  1. To flood your system with muscle-building amino acids.
  2. To create environment for repair, healing and recovery.
  3. To get your insulin levels spiked to ignite growth and speed up fat-loss.

 

Let’s look at each point individually.

 

FLOODING THE SYSTEM WITH MUSCLE BUILDING AMINO ACIDS.

After training your body needs protein (amino acids) to feed the muscles and help with the growth/healing process. The key here is NO FAT. If you take in even the least amount of fat it will slow down the process of replenishing the body to such a degree that the feeding after training becomes near worthless. After training your body requires amino acids that are quickly absorbed. The best way to achieve this is to take a couple scoops of whey protein in water (not milk = fat!). The whey protein got all the required amino acids and will give the body with all the protein it requires to grow/heal. Make sure the brand you are using have no carbs added and that it is only pure whey protein.

 

CREATING AN ENVIRONMENT FOR REPAIR, HEALING and RECOVERY.

It has been proven in various scientific studies that supplementing with L-Glutamine during and immediately after training adds significantly in providing the environment for recovery. Simply put, you will recover faster when you supplement with L-Glutamine.

 

TO GET THE INSULIN LEVELS SPIKED.

Insulin is the MOST powerful anabolic hormone in the body. Nothing comes close to it, not even testosterone or HGH. When insulin levels are spiked in the right way, the result is increased muscle growth and increased fat loss. Now how do one get insulin levels spiked after training? Well, Whey protein will already add to this effect but a compounded effect will happen when you consume the RIGHT type of carbs. Low-GI carbs cannot spike the insulin for any type of significant effect. That is the job of High-GI carbs. But don’t think chocolate here! ZERO fat must be in the carb. Plus it is highly advisable to use a natural, healthy high-GI carb with added fibre like a banana or apple to do the job. Vitargo is also a good choice.

This type of spiking is only effective immediately after training. Do not try it outside this window of training.

 

Summary

So after immediately training you need to consume the following:

  • L-Glutamine – 5g
  • Whey protein powder – about 40g
  • High-GI carb – Banana/apple or Vitargo

 

It is believed that this is an absolute key aspect of obtaining a “wow” physique and can be seriously beneficial in helping gaining muscle and shredding fat.

 

Wish you happy training!

Cheers…

Gert Louw

Gert sitting

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The DIRTY road too forcing fat loss

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet — 2 Comments
September 30, 2015

Now, we all wish there was this magic pill that would melt the fat away while we sit on the coach drinking our beer…

Reality is, there are a few “dirty” tricks one can apply to melt the fat away. Some of it will work by sitting on the coach and some of them would need a caloric restricted diet and training to work effectively. So either way there is hope for the coach potatoes wishing for a fat melting pill although it is a bit of a “dirty” road!

  • Dirty trick 2, 3, 4 and 6 will work for the coach potatoes.
  • Dirty trick 1 and 5 must have a caloric restricted frequent meal plan in place and a training system.

But ALL dirty tricks will work much more effective when they have a caloric restricted frequent meal plan in and a moderate to intense training system in place.

 

Please note – the fact that I discuss these “dirty” methods, does not mean I approve of any of it. Neither does it mean I am using it or have ever used it in the past!

This article is meant as an informational study into what last alternatives there are legal and otherwise to control weight for those not prepared to put in the effort with a healthy living and lifestyle. Knowledge is power and to suppress it simply because you disagree with what is being said is not a healthy road to enhance your knowledge base and understanding.

 

Now as you all know, I am not sponsored by any supplement company or brand out there and regularly shoot down overrated/worthless supplements so what I am saying here is unbiased and cutting to the bone.

On the subject of supplement companies, just about ALL the supplements claiming magical fat-loss and other fantastical claims are close to worthless. You will spend a lot of money for something that will make a very, very small difference. You should either just focus on your diet/training/core supplements to reach your goals and if you WANT to spend money on fat loss products then choose something that actually works and steer clear from marketing hype.

Those that think the golden path to fat loss is via cardio, well, in a caloric restricted environment the body very easily go into a catabolic state when doing cardio and such will burn more muscles away than fat! Even under the best scenarios cardio will ALWAYS limit muscle growth/size. So for those wanting some size, cardio is not a weapon but an enemy. With that said, if size is not at all on your agenda then cardio can be beneficial. But one thing you must understand is that losing muscle will mean less shape to your body, especially without clothes. If you want to look great you must have muscles – that IS what gives your body shape and nothing else.

The reason why I call these tricks “dirty”, is because with every one of these there are certain potential health drawbacks. So anyone considering them needs to educate themselves and apply the necessary wisdom to monitor their health and do it under a medical doctor’s supervision.

So back to the “dirty” tricks, here is the list:

 

1. Captopril – prescription required

Health risk level: low, Fat Loss ability: meduim

Dan Duchaine first wrote about the fat loss side effects of Capropril ( a cheap blood pressure medication) and brought the notion to the bodybuilding fraternity. The fat loss effects of Captorpril is well documented by medical studies.

The medical studies also show that Captopril had a slight anabolic effect on muscles with no virilization in women

The wonder about Captopril is that it seems to help one to lose fat in areas where one traditionally struggles to lose fat. However Captopril is not a short-term approach. It take months before it starts showing it’s true colors and usage should be longterm for optimal results.

 

How to take it?

If you suffer from hypotension (low blood pressure) you cannot take it.

25mg before bedtime (Mild diuretic and also makes one slightly sleepy.)

After you established that you are fine with the 25mg, dosages can be increased to 50mg before bedtime.

It is prescription medication so you must get it from your doctor.

A good stack with Capropril is Yohimbe at 10mg per day. It will increase the fat loss effects of Captopril.

 

2. ECA stack – The ECA stack combines ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin in a predetermined ratio.

Health risk level: medium, Fat Loss ability: medium

It causes your body to target specific fat cells to be burned for energy, all the while raising your overall metabolic rate and suppressing appetite. Each ingredient in an ECA stack works with the next. Ephedrine works as a beta agonist and stimulates production of norepinephrine, as well as circulating it through adipose tissue. The caffeine and aspirin function to inhibit the body’s natural response to halt this cAMP production, thus prolonging the effects. If you want to take an ECA stack, review your medical situation with your health care provider before you begin. (It can raise your heart rate and blood pressure)

How to use ECA?

Consume ephedrine, caffeine and aspirin doses up to three times a day, and no more than four, in equal intervals. Slowly taper the dose upward as your tolerance increases. Begin at one dose each day, and add in the next dose every two to four days until you reach the full amount. Take the first dose immediately upon waking. Take each subsequent dose on an empty stomach, at least four hours after the previous one. Avoid taking too close to bedtime as it may interfere with sleep.

Repeat this process for up to eight weeks. Do not exceed this time without taking a break, as your body will gradually build up a tolerance to the ECA stack, and it will stop to work. To maximize the effects of ECA for both fat loss and energy, it is advised to take one to two days off each week to allow your receptors to recover and avoid adrenal fatigue.

Things You’ll Need

  • 25 mg ephedrine
  • 200 mg caffeine
  • 80 mg aspirin

  

3. Glucophage – also know as Metformin ER – prescription required (available on black market)

Health risk level: low, Fat Loss ability: low – medium

This is a very interesting medication. It is prescribed for type II diabetics.

Metformin works by promoting AMPK, which acts like an energy sensor in the body. When activated, AMPK does promote greater fat oxidation, but it also blunts muscle protein synthesis. In addition, some studies show that metformin in high doses many interfere with testosterone synthesis. On the flip side, animals provided with metformin live longer, thought to be due to better glucose control. Also, emerging studies show that metformin provides a significant protective effect against cancer onset, particularly lung and pancreatic cancers.The way it does this is by interfering with the activity of mTOR, which also happens to be a key player in muscle protein synthesis. – Jerry Brainum

Metformin seems to be only truly effective at dosages of about 2000mg per day. Less than that and the fat loss effects dissipate. The problem however is that not many people can stomach dosages above 1000mg a day. Upset stomach, runny tummy and feeling nausea’s.

It also seems to be less effective for fat loss purposes the more healthier the person is. The closer the person is to being diabetic (insulin resistant) the better fat loss effect metformin has.

However all considered it might be beneficial taking metformin simply for it’s amazing anti-cancer properties. This has been proven in a massive study including more than 180 000 people with significant reduced risk for cancer.

 

How to use Metformin

Start with 250mg tablet morning and evening after meals.

If no side effects increase to 500mg tablets morning and evening after meals.

This can be increased eventually to a max of 2 x 500mg tablets morning and evening after meals.

 

4. Clenbuterol – prescription required (available on black market)

Health risk level: medium-high, Fat Loss ability: medium

Clenburerol has been around for a long time and many Hollywood actors have used this as a trick to get body fat levels down.

Clenbuterol Hydrochloride is a powerful bronchodilator that is used to treat breathing disorders like asthma. Beyond treating breathing disorders, Clenbuterol is commonly used as a thermogenic. In fact, you will more than likely find more Clenbuterol use in fat loss plans than anywhere else. It is a very common fat burning tool used by many. It is a long-standing favorite among competitive bodybuilders and other physique athletes during contest preparation.

Clenbuterol should not be taken for long durations – it can harden the heart and also increase heart rate rather dramatically which makes it dangerous for anyone taking part in extreme fitness activities. But for short durations it can be a very effective fat burning tool. It is available as prescription in most countries, except the USA.

How to use Clenbuterol?

The preferred method of Clenbuterol is as follows: will last for 4-6 weeks and can be an excellent way to use it for the person who is only using it the last few weeks leading up to competition. The individual will start with 40mcg per day and increase periodically until he reaches the maximum desired or needed dose and will hold at the maximum dose the final 7-14 days of the plan. The increases in dosing will not be as dramatic as the two-week rotation schedule but stronger than the continuous plan. At this stage, if more Clen is still needed, the person will need to wait 4-6 weeks before beginning a new phase. This makes this type of use best for those who only need a short period of metabolic enhancement.

The maximum Clenbuterol dose will normally be 120mcg per day. Some may find 140mcg per day to be acceptable, especially some men, but no one should for any reason surpass the 140mcg per day mark if they are going to avoid cardiac damage. Regardless of the total dosing or plan of use you use, Clenbuterol use should be kept at no more than 16 weeks of total use. 16 weeks of total use per year should be your guide. For the person competing in more than one show per year at different stages of the year, we can make exceptions. However, this person should try to keep the total use as close to a 16 week total every 12 months as possible for safety reasons.

 

5. Primobolan (Methenolone Acetate) – prescription (available on black market)

Health risk level: low, Fat Loss ability: high (with very low caloric diet)

Although Primobolan (injections) will not in its own result in fat loss, the magic of it lies in the fact that it has an uncanny ability to protect muscle mass under very (!) low daily caloric intakes. So for those wishing to go on an extreme diet, Primobolan can protect the precious muscle mass while you melt the fat away. It is a prescribed drug for hiv+ patients experience severe muscle wasting which usually also occur during long bouts of very low caloric intake due to frequent diarrhea. It protects and even to some degree restore muscle mass under very low daily caloric intakes.

It is considered a banned substance, so be careful athletes!

However it is extremely mild compound with very little side effects.

 

How to use Primobolan?

The acetate version It must be injected once a day in the glutes – not for the faint hearted! (upper outside corner of the bum). But you want to fat to melt away, then you have to suffer the pain!

Recommended dosages:

MALES – standard male Primobolan doses will fall in the 100-150mg per day range, max 12 weeks.

FEMALES – the standard female Primobolan dosing range will be at 25mg per day, max 6 weeks. [However this is one of such compounds better left to men. Virilization risks are low for women but still a risk.]

Not to be used for longer than 3 months in men. It could have a suppressing effect on your natural testosterone levels and men could experience erection problems.

 

6. Somatropin/IGF/IGF1 LR3 – prescription (available on black market)

Health risk level: low, Fat Loss ability: high

Ok now we are straight into the territory of banned substances. But of all, nothing really comes close to the fat burning effect of HGH and related variants – IGF and IGF1 LR3.

Somatropin (pure HGH) is so effective in fat burning that it is the only considered medical approach to attempt to treat Lipodystrophy (fat accumulation at certain areas and around the organs) in HIV+ people.

Even as a banned substance HGH is remarkably safe to use. The biggest drawback is that it can increase growth rate of tumors. It does not increase your risk of tumors but if you have cancer growth it can increase the rate of growth dramatically. Apart from that it is actually very safe at recommended dosages.

By supplementing with Somatropin the benefits in-which may be obtained are truly great. Largely the benefits provided by Somatropin include but are not limited to (in order of max to min benefit):

Main benefits

  1. Increased Fat Burning
  2. A Leaner and Tighter Physique
  3. Increase Recovery Time
  4. Muscle, Joint and Bone Repair
  5. Increased Energy

Other “claimed” benefits (no study have clearly proven any of this)

  1. Healthier Skin (only after long periods of use)
  2. Age Reduction (staving off the effects of age – only after long periods of use)
  3. Decreases Stress slightly
  4. Improved Focus & Clarity of Thought

Based on the benefits that are in almost all cases guaranteed to occur the most obvious question is why wouldn’t you supplement with this amazing hormone? When we begin to look at the aspects revolving around side-effects then the question becomes obvious yet again, as side-effects are in almost all cases non-existent when Somatropin is used responsibly.

Somatropin is not only side-effect friendly it is in almost all cases very well-tolerated in both men and women; a claim not too many hormonal compounds can make and a claim no hormonal compound can make to the extent of Somatropin. Nevertheless, there can be negative adverse side-effects; although rare they will be highly dose dependent, meaning, those who take too much will be more susceptible to such affects. Such side-effects may include:

  • Water Retention
  • Bone Growth
  • Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
  • Tingling of the Hands & Feet
  • Unwanted Intestinal growth

While slight water retention is the most common and tingling is very common in performance enhancing level doses, bone growth and carpal tunnel are only concerns when such doses far exceed personal responsibility.

Somatropin and all its variants are VERY expensive. Black market options are drastically cheaper but can be counterfeited, so be carefull and know your brands. In any case this seems to be the playground of the Hollywood stars!

 

How to use Somatropin

For women a dosing of 1 to 2iu per day is all they need for optimal results. For the average man, 4iu per day will prove to be the perfect dose, providing all the metabolic benefits and muscularity and healing attributes associated with it. Somatropin should be used 1 month on followed by one month off and repeat if necessary. Do not use on a continuous basis since this can increase the risk of unwanted intestinal growth.

 

Other options

DNP – If you ever hear of DNP – skip that page…you play Russian roulette with your life by using it!

Nolvadex – (and other anti-estrogen drugs) are temporary measures to get water levels down but do not have real fat loss abilities.

Insulin doping – this is downright dangerous and should be avoided at all costs. Yes, some bodybuilders reach massive success by performing this successfully but the risks by FAR outweight the potential fatloss and muscle growth benefits…in any case in a sane person’s mind! This is the quickest way in becoming a Diabetic I (insulin dependant for the rest of your life, plus one wrong move calculating the injection protocols and the bodybuilder can be dead within 24 hours)

Thyroid hormones (T3 and other related hormone treatments) – have proven to be mildly effective at best.

 

Conclusion

Well as you see this article hold true to the ‘dirty” side of fat loss. The next step beyond these “dirty” tricks is an operation removing some of your intestines to limit food absorption. So if you want to stay out of hospital, this approach is probably your last call in getting the fat down in a dirty way!

These may seem extreme but can produce real results unlike all the hundreds of fat loss supplements with all their fantastical claims which are close to worthless and will cost you and arm and leg.

Of course there is a simple solution to all – a balanced caloric controlled diet (based on a frequent meal system) combined with a moderate to serious training regime. We are not created sedentary beings. God made us active beings and the moment we become coach potatoes the fat will (!) come rolling in!

 

Wish you all happy training!

Cheers

Gert Louw

gert15

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A killer 6-pack in 90 days!

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet, BB Training & Exercises — 10 Comments
August 12, 2015

Click here to view video “Program for washboard abs in 90 days”

 

How many times have you heard similar slogans and the only requirement was this or that supplement that will do the trick, or a simple exercise that is supposed to produce magic results.

In this article I will tell you how to get that coveted 6-pack in 90 days BUT one thing you need to understand, there is NO magic pill that will ever produce a 6-pack (not even anabolics can do it alone!) and there is no single exercise that on its’ own can give you a 6-pack.

You will see that I said, “90 days”. There is a very good reason why. 90 Days is a period in which the body can actually make a visible difference in muscle-building and fat loss with the necessary skill applied.

To get that coveted 6-pack you need to do two major things:

  1. Build the ab-muscles to increase in size (enlarge the peaks and valleys).
  2. Decrease the fat layer covering the abs while feeding the muscles for growth.

cutting

So let’s get down to business…

How do you build the muscle of the 6-pack in a 90 day period?

  • The abs (and calves) are of a different muscle fibre type that get stimulated for growth with more frequent training than the other muscles groups and also at a higher rep range per set.
  • For just about all the other muscles you will perform (for muscle growth) about 8 reps per set. For abs we are talking closer to 25 reps per set.
  • Other muscles will generally be trained once a week intensely. Abs can and for the purpose of this discussion must be trained up to 3 times a week intensely, typically Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
  • Forget about fancy moves, stick to proven fundamental exercises that build muscles. One word here – CRUNCHES! There is NO other ab exercise that stimulates the 6-pack growth like the crunch. Various forms of crunches exist, ie: exercise ball crunches, legs in air crunches, crunch bench, etc…

 

About CRUNCHES 

The purpose of a crunch is to contract the muscles of the abs really intensely. When performing any type of crunch, you need to lift the shoulders and upper body just slightly and crunch with the abs. You need to focus the abs so hard at the crunch that you feel pain. If the abs do not start paining after a couple of reps you are NOT doing the crunch correctly. Very few exercises deliver the intense pain the crunch delivers and 99% of people do it wrong because they don’t like the pain. A saying from one of my favorite movies is: “Life is pain princess. Anyone tells you differently, well they are lying.” So suck it up and do it. If you really want that 6-pack you will learn to LOVE that pain!

Here follows your plan of attack for growing the ab muscles:

 

upper-body-crunchesimagesimages (1)exercise ball ab crunches

 

The above is all different versions of the crunch. The crunch focuses on the ab area but not the obliques.

To get the obliques to stand out it is usually just a matter of putting in a slight twist with the crunch, alternating between the two sides.

A dedicated oblique exercise is the following – RUSSIAN TWIST:

ath_todd_duffee_medicine_oblique

This can be done with a medicine ball or holding a weight. However when this move is performed your technique must be perfect or you can hurt your back. Keep the abs contracted and stop the move with your abs and core and not the back or other muscles.

The last ab exercise of note that works the ab to the core and WILL make the abs ache for at least two days is LEG THROWS, yep, good old-fashioned leg throws. Your training partner must throw the legs straight down with force and to either side without you knowing where he is going to throw it.You are not allowed to touch the ground. (If you don’t have training partner, try and find someone to help you with this, I consider it an important aspect of developing impressive abs.)

leg throws

These are the three types of ab exercises to stimulate growth.

Your training must be as follows – Monday, Wednesday and Friday you must do an ab session consisting of:

  • 4 sets of 25 reps of CRUNCHES (any form of crunch)
  • 4 sets of 50 reps LEG THROWS.
  • 3 sets of 25 reps RUSSIAN TWIST with weight.
  • 3 sets of 25 reps of CRUNCHES (different variation)

 

You doing this consistently for a 90-day period and you WILL stimulate the abs for growth. But now come the even bigger part of the trick!

No matter how good you train and stimulate the abs for growth, if you do not feed the body now correctly NO GROWTH WILL OCCUR!

The Diet is critical for 2 reasons

  • To feed the muscles to grow (after they were stimulated for growth by the exercises).
  • To cut down the fat layer on the tummy. If the fat layer on the tummy is more than 12%, no matter how good those abs are, they will be covered by an invisible cloak!

 

Now, how do you cover the above two points? Well, I can refer you to a serious diet structure specialized for this kind of deliverable, but instead I am going to make it easy for you.

Stick to these basic simple diet rules and you WILL see results:

  1. You must eat 7 small meals per day – evenly spread out from point of waking to point of going to bed.
  2. Each meal must contain clean protein, low GI (Glycemic Index) carb and some veggies – generally fist size portions.
  3. You must drink a BCAA and L-Glutamine shake during training to prevent muscles going catabolic.
  4. You must drink a WHEY shake and L-glutamine with banana after training – immediately (replace one meal)
  5. You must get at least 3 tablespoons of salt free, sugar-free peanut butter in per day – this is critical to keep your hormone levels healthy!
  6. You must drink 4L (1.05 gallon) of water per day.
  7. Alcohol only once a week and not more than 500ml of wine (2/3 of a bottle). No carbs at meal when drinking alcohol.

 

As easy as that! 90 days later and that 6-pack will be rather impressive!

Regarding genetics – I’ve never met a person that was unable to increase muscle size by following growth principles (including right diet, etc…). The abs are like any muscle, when sufficiently stimulated they will grow if fed correctly!

Last point…

Although the above plan will deliver 6-pack results, that body is going to look all the more impressive with not just a 6-pack but broad strong shoulders, deep chest, muscled biceps, strong legs and a v-back. Make this an opportunity not just to get that 6-pack in 90 days but an impressive body from head to toe!

 

Interested in my online coaching? Here are the systems available: ONLINE COACHING

 

Wish you all happy training! Cheers

Gert Louw

www.gertlouw.com

gert3

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Water speeds up fat-loss – RESEARCH EVIDENCE

Filed under: BB Supplements & Diet — 6 Comments
August 3, 2015

Water controlling APPETITE & SPEED UP FAT-LOSS

Various studies have found that water intake have a significant impact on suppressing appetite and speeding up fat-loss.

Although drinking water just before, during or immediately after eating might have a negative effect on food and nutrients absorption, there is some evidence that drinking water before or during a meal may help aid weight loss when used in conjunction with a calorie-controlled diet.[1]

GertLouw15Large

Drinking water prior to each meal may actually help in appetite suppression. Although this was believed to be the case for many years by dieticians, it was only recently that the approach was subjected to a scientific randomised controlled trial to see how much effect it had:

  • A 2008 study concluded that drinking water is associated with weight loss in overweight dieting women independent of diet and activity.[2]
  • A 2009 study concluded that consuming 500ml water prior to each main meal (combined with a hypocaloric diet), leads to greater weight loss than a hypocaloric diet alone in middle-aged and older adults. [16]
  • A 2010 study concluded that people who consumed two cups (500 mL) of water right before eating a meal ate between 75 and 90 fewer calories during that meal.[3]
  • A 2011 study conducted on middle-aged and older adults (aged ≥40 years) given 500 mL 30 minutes before meal 3 times daily for 12 weeks found that the individuals lost 2 kg body weight compared to the control group.[6]
  • A 2013 study conducted on adults 18-23 concluded that when they were given 500 mL given 3 times daily for 8 weeks they lost body weight.[7]

 

Water controlling BASE METABOLIC RATE

Various studies have found that water intake have a significant influence on the bodies base metabolic rate, the rate at which the body burns energy.

  • A 2011 study conducted on obese children concluded that water drinking on resting energy expenditure was significant.[4] Pediatricians agree that hydration in children may be optimal only in breastfed infants.[5]
  • Another study found that drinking 500 ml of water increased metabolic rate by 30% after 30-40 min with a total thermogenic response of 100 kJ (24 kcal). About 40% of the thermogenic effect originated from warming the water from 22 to 37 °C.[9]
  • However, a later study in 2006 states that approximately 500 mL 3 °C cold water caused only increase in energy expenditure by 4.5% for 60 minutes.[10]
  • Michael Boschmann, MD, and colleagues from Berlin’s Franz-Volhard Clinical Research Center tracked energy expenditures among seven men and seven women who were healthy and not overweight.

After drinking approximately 17 ounces of water, the subjects’ metabolic rates — or the rate at which calories are burned — increased by 30% for both men and women. The increases occurred within 10 minutes of water consumption and reached a maximum after about 30 to 40 minutes.

The study also showed that the increase in metabolic rate differed in men and women. In men, burning more fat fueled the increase in metabolism, whereas in women, an increased breakdown of carbohydrates caused the increase in metabolism seen.

The researchers estimate that over the course of a year, a person who increases his water consumption by 1.5 liters a day would burn an extra 17,400 calories, for a weight loss of approximately five pounds. They note that up to 40% of the increase in calorie burning is caused by the body’s attempt to heat the ingested water.

 

Water controlling DIET BEHAVIOUR

Research by Barry Popkin et al. has shown that people who drink lots of water eat more vegetables and fruits,[11] drink fewer sugary carbonated beverages, and consume fewer total calories.[12] The reason for drinking less sugary beverages would likely be that the increased water substitutes for them in the diet, quenching the thirst so that the person does not feel as much need to drink sugary beverages.

Increased water consumption, or replacement of energy-containing beverages with energy-free beverages,[13] or consumption of water-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables with a lower energy density,[14] may help in weight management.

 

Other water benefits

Apart from above significant fat-loss aspects of higher water intake, water adds to the following in the body:

  • Smoother bowel movements and less constipation.
  • Better muscle tone – the less dehydrated the muscles the better they can function and the fuller they look.
  • Water helps clean the body from waste. Healthy amounts of water will decrease colon cancer, breast cancer and bladder cancer by 70%!.
  • Water plays a significant role in kidney health. Higher water intake lessen the pressure on the kidneys especially for the bodybuilder taking in excess food and supplements.
  • Healthier skin, teeth, bones and joints.

 

How much to drink?

Everyone is preaching 8-10 glasses per day. However, there is no real science behind it. From experience by dietitians and the bodybuilding community, it is suggested not less than 4L water per day for men and 3L water per day for women. However bodybuilders should, due to the higher protein and supplement intake, drink closer to 6L water a day to make sure proper hydration for training and kidney health. Less than these suggested amounts and the body tends to hold back water.

 

The following extract from an article by Ron Kosloff:

 

Stay away from soda pop, an almost lethal poison. Listed below are several reasons why:

  • To clean a toilet, pour a can of cola into the toilet bowl and let it sit for one hour, and then flush clean.
  • The carbonic and phosphoric acid in cola removes stains from vitreous china. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers, rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of aluminum foil dipped in cola.
  • To clean corrosion from car battery terminals, pour a can of cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion. (One at a time, though – don’t electrocute yourself!)
  • To loosen a rusted bolt, apply a cloth soaked in cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
  • To remove grease from clothes, empty a can of cola into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent and run through the regular cycle. The cola will help loosen the grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.
  • The active ingredient in cola is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about 4 days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis and arthritis.
  • To carry cola syrup (the concentrate), commercial trucks must use hazardous material placards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
  • The distributors of cola products have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!
  • In many states in the U.S., the highway patrol carries two gallons of cola in their vehicle to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
  • You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of cola and it will be gone in two days.

 

WHAT’S IN OUR DRINKING WATER?

Dr. Kurt Donsbach, shared with me, many years ago, that half of the heart attacks and cancers in America are caused by our drinking water.

Drinking water contains toxic levels of chlorine and fluoride. Chlorine attacks organic matter. What are you made of? Organic matter. Our drinking water is so polluted, it’s scary. Dioxins, E.coli, PCBs, DDT, human waste, trihelamethanes, just to name a few, are in our drinking water. Then add to that the conglomeration of our industrial pollutants.

It’s a fact that all of our oceans are polluted today. When PCBs and dioxins are found in the fat cells of walruses in Antarctica and the South Pole, we must realize that the whole world is now polluted.

Our lakes are polluted and are loaded with Methyl Mercury, which is a very toxic poison, so it’s not very funny that they put it in your teeth fillings. The American Dental Association continues to tell us that this is not true, but metal poisoning, we now know, causes diseases.

The main reason that chlorine is added to our drinking water is to kill bacteria and it ends up killing us! In Europe, they never use chlorine, they use oxygen purification and deionization or they use ozone purification.

Some years back, a myth was created that adding fluoride to the water would prevent tooth decay. Fluoride is a toxic chemical that is painted on children’s teeth, and, among other things, is responsible for causing cancer. The man who heavily promoted fluoride when it became law, Dr. Faulkes, passed away a few years ago. On his deathbed, he expressed great regret and said that he was sorry he ever told people to use fluoride.

Both he and Dr. Hardy Limeback from Canada had been significant promoters of fluoride and have both issued apologies concerning their support of fluoride. They stated that they did not accurately check the opposing scientific date before speaking out of behalf of fluoride. They were just not properly informed. So why do we use it?

“SOME YEARS BACK, A MYTH WAS CREATED THAT ADDING FLUORIDE TO THE WATER WOULD PREVENT TOOTH DECAY.”

When aluminum is produced, the by-product is tremendous amounts of synthetic fluoride. Since chemical and aluminum companies were spending thousands of dollars to dispose of it, why not market it to municipalities to put in the water? So, they ended up selling a poison, and at a profit. I was born with a low thyroid function and I spent a lot of time swimming at the local high school with a pool that was loaded with chlorine.

This lowered my thyroid function even more. If it weren’t for nutritional doctors, supplementation, glandular therapy and purging heavy metals from my body, I probably would have had to have my thyroid removed. Never take synthetic hormones for your thyroid!

When you do this, it displaces the natural nutrients that nourish the thyroid, for example:tyrosine, Vitamin E, essential fatty acids, protein, and manganese. Synthetic hormones actually destroy the thyroid. Chlorine and fluoride are called halogens and act as synthetic hormones. Iodine is the number one nutrient for your thyroid. What halogens do is displace iodine in your thyroid and push it out and then mimic it in your thyroid.

Therefore, you end up with chlorine and fluoride deposits in your thyroid and you can become very unhealthy. I am affiliated with a clinic here in Michigan and the Naturopathic doctor there says that people routinely come to him with poor thyroid function. My friend, Dr. David Jantz, using CRA, will diagnose their health issue as poor thyroid and they’ll say, “No, I went to a medical doctor and he did a blood test and my hormone levels are normal.”

That’s due to the fact that chlorine and fluoride have displaced the hormones and they’re floating around in your blood stream so the medical doctor and the chemist will read that your levels are appropriate when, in fact, the hormones are not in the thyroid to do the job that they were meant to do. Look around at the obesity and the hair loss and the problems we’re having today with low thyroid function.

IS ANYTHING SAFE TO DRINK?

DEHYDRATORS TO AVOID

  • commercial tea
  • coffee
  • beer
  • wine
  • distilled spirits
  • soda pop
  • white sugar
  • white rice
  • white flour
  • hydrogenated oils
  • antibiotics
  • most prescription drugs
  • chlorinated water, etc.

The question becomes, what should we drink? Never drink distilled water. Distilled water is cooked water, it’s depolarized and all the minerals are removed. So when you drink distilled water, it acts as a vacuum and, while it will pull out toxins, it will pull out everything good too.

Drink good reverse osmosis water or deionized water or good spring water that’s tested as pollutant free. You should add either colloidal minerals or Celtic sea salt to your regimen everyday. As I mentioned before, our soil is depleted of half the minerals.

There are 92 minerals in the world, micro, macro, trace, and rare earth, and they are gone due to factory farming, so you have to put minerals back into your own body. Mineral depletion in the United States is paramount. Everyone suffers from a lack of minerals. The people that don’t are the people that supplement.

Remember that in 1936 the government told us that we were missing over 22 minerals in our soil; today it’s over 45. You must take a complete mineral like colloidals or Celtic Sea Salt. People ask me how much water to drink daily. Ah, that is the question of the day, which you and only you might answer.

A decent rule of thumb is that you should drink when you are thirsty, how’s that? The same goes for food, eat when you are hungry. Your body is extremely smart isn’t it? When you do drink, just sip small amounts throughout the day, between meals, of course. Don’t drink large amounts at one time or you will just urinate it out, like big beer drinkers do.

Overhydrating is extremely taxing on your body. If you participate in sports, your perspiration and mineral loss will dictate the amount, but sip it slowly. A decent, accurate test for dehydration is when you take the thumb and index finger of one hand and you pinch a portion of the skin on the top of your other hand, pull up and then let go. If the skin snaps back to a flat position, you are well hydrated. If your skin is very slow to return to a flat position, you are dehydrated.

Always remember how important your thyroid is and have a doctor check it! If you wake in the middle of the night, drink a small amount (8 oz) of good, healthy water. Remember to consume water throughout the day.

When you are in the hospital for dehydration, you are given minerals and water for hydration, but you aren’t told that.

Some medical doctors will tell you that, if you are dehydrated, you should drink 8 to 10 glasses of water a day, but they don’t tell you to take macro and micro minerals. We now know that if you don’t have the 92 minerals found in the world, you won’t have hydration of the tissue.

 

Wish you all happy training!

Gert Louw

GertLouw13Original

 

References

  1. ab“Pre-meal water consumption for weight loss”. Australian Family Physician42 (7): 478. July 2013. PMID 23826600.
  2. Stookey JD, Constant F, Popkin BM, Gardner CD (November 2008). “Drinking water is associated with weight loss in overweight dieting women independent of diet and activity”. Obesity16 (11): 2481–8. doi:1038/oby.2008.409. PMID 18787524.
  3. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/08/100823142929.htm
  4. Dubnov-Raz G, Constantini NW, Yariv H, Nice S, Shapira N (October 2011). “Influence of water drinking on resting energy expenditure in overweight children”. International Journal of Obesity 35 (10): 1295–300. doi:1038/ijo.2011.130.PMID 21750519.
  5. Manz F (October 2007). “Hydration in children”. Journal of the American College of Nutrition 26 (5 Suppl): 562S–569S. doi:1080/07315724.2007.10719659. PMID 17921466.
  6. Dennis EA, Dengo AL, Comber DL et al. (February 2010). “Water consumption increases weight loss during a hypocaloric diet intervention in middle-aged and older adults”. Obesity 18 (2): 300–7. doi:1038/oby.2009.235. PMC 2859815.PMID 19661958.
  7. Vij VA, Joshi AS (September 2013). “Effect of ‘water induced thermogenesis’ on body weight, body mass index and body composition of overweight subjects”. Journal of Clinical and Diagnostic Research 7 (9): 1894–6.doi:7860/JCDR/2013/5862.3344. PMC 3809630. PMID 24179891.
  8. Muckelbauer R, Sarganas G, Grüneis A, Müller-Nordhorn J (August 2013). “Association between water consumption and body weight outcomes: a systematic review”. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 98 (2): 282–99.doi:3945/ajcn.112.055061. PMID 23803882.
  9. Boschmann M, Steiniger J, Hille U et al. (December 2003). “Water-induced thermogenesis”. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 88 (12): 6015–9. doi:1210/jc.2003-030780. PMID 14671205.
  10. Brown CM, Dulloo AG, Montani JP (September 2006). “Water-induced thermogenesis reconsidered: the effects of osmolality and water temperature on energy expenditure after drinking”. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism 91 (9): 3598–602. doi:1210/jc.2006-0407. PMID 16822824.
  11. Popkin BM, Barclay DV, Nielsen SJ (December 2005). “Water and food consumption patterns of U.S. adults from 1999 to 2001”. Obesity Research 13 (12): 2146–52. doi:1038/oby.2005.266. PMID 16421349.
  12. Stookey JD, Constant F, Gardner CD, Popkin BM (December 2007). “Replacing sweetened caloric beverages with drinking water is associated with lower energy intake”. Obesity 15 (12): 3013–22. doi:1038/oby.2007.359. PMID 18198310.
  13. Dennis EA, Flack KD, Davy BM (December 2009). “Beverage consumption and adult weight management: A review”. Eating Behaviors 10 (4): 237–46. doi:1016/j.eatbeh.2009.07.006. PMC 2864136. PMID 19778754.
  14. Rolls BJ (July 2009). “The relationship between dietary energy density and energy intake”. Physiology & Behavior 97 (5): 609–15. doi:1016/j.physbeh.2009.03.011. PMC 4182946. PMID 19303887.
  15. Sichert-Hellert W, Kersting M (December 2004). “Home-made carbonated water and the consumption of water and other beverages in children and adolescents: results of the DONALD study”. Acta Paediatrica 93 (12): 1583–7. doi:1111/j.1651-2227.2004.tb00847.x. PMID 15841765.
  1. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2859815/
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Starting of cutting phase

Filed under: Be MOTIVATED! — 4 Comments
July 18, 2015

Hi everyone,

The past 10 months was an incredible period of adding size and muscle to my body and have exceeded my previous best size with a good margin.

I am at the end of my building phase and my stats are: 1.75m, 91kg and about 9-10% body fat.

This is how I look at the end of my building phase:

 

Click here to view video “Start of strongman cutting phase”

 

I am starting my cutting phase on 20 July 2015 and it will continue for 3 months. The target is a level of 5% body fat.

A photo shoot and video shoot will be done at the end.

As you all know, my cutting phase is where I never train to failure but use lighter weights (anything from 20% to 40% lighter) and do higher reps per set (12 – 20 reps).

Very little rest in between sets and many superset exercises. The idea is a combination of resistance training with a degree of cardio involved (due to lighter weights and higher reps).

The fact that training is never to muscle failure also means the tendons and joints now have a chance to recover and strengthen from the punishing period of the building phase where EACH set was to absolute muscle failure.

The focus during the cutting phase is to keep the muscle size at the same level and then manipulating the body fat to a very low percentage factor. This can be very difficult because most guys (and girls) put their bodies in starvation mode (due to too little calories) and as a result lose more muscle than fat. I am following a very specific process whereby I monitor the effect my diet had on my muscle and fat reserves every 14 days and then adjust the calories accordingly, to force the diet to burn fat and not muscle for energy. I thus make sure that I stay just outside of a starvation mode which eats into the muscle size.

Wish you all many blessings and much success with your training!

Gert Louw (51 y/o)

GertLouw18small

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