Tag Archive: diet


Diet SHOOTOUT – KETO vs IF vs CALORIC CONTROLLED 40/30/30

Filed under: DIET stuff — 2 Comments
March 12, 2019

Before we start…Let’s get one thing straight. All three of these diet variants can be used to get success for fat loss purposes and has more than enough proof to give them validity.

This article will focus on which of these works best to produce long-term results in a bodybuilding environment. 

There is enough science to support all three approaches. There is no obvious looser.

So that said, let’s focus on the negatives of each approach to help us come to a conclusion.

First up – KETO

For those that do not know what KETO (Banting) is, it is an approach that replaces most carbs with fat. Protein and Fat is high and carbs is low in calories in the diet structure.

Negatives:

  1. The adaption process can be uncomfortable for some. It is called Keto flu and involves headaches, fatigue, nausea, etc.
  2. Dramatically increasing your fat intake while drastically cutting carb intake may cause gastrointestinal issues, ranging from constipation to diarrhea.
  3. It can take a while for the gall bladder, pancreas and liver to adapt to digesting the high amounts of fat.
  4. May cause cholesterol for those who are genetically predisposed. Many had to stop Keto as a result.
  5. Although not as unsocial as IF, it still present a problem for most to interact and eat in a social environment. However, it seems many restaurants are catching up to the craze and quite frequently one will see Keto options on the menu.
  6. There is a concern about harm to the sensitivity of insulin for long term use. Carbs raise insulin levels. When carb intake is severely restricted insulin responses tend to become desensitized.

Second Up – IF (Intermittent Fasting)

It is exactly what it says. A diet structure defined by regular fasting periods (16:8 or 5:2) and which gives you freedom during the non-fasting periods to eat pretty much what you want. Technically there are no diet restrictions with IF.

Negatives:

  1. Some big studies found that Intermittent Fasters have a HUGE dropout. The biggest among any diet group. Nearly 40% of everyone who started IF drop out in the first month. This increases even more for month 2 and 3.
  2. Hugely unsocial diet structure. Probably the most social unfriendly of all diet structures.
  3. Due to the drop of insulin during fasting periods it might interfere with focus and concentration and impact your job/studies.
  4.  In a 12 month study (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2623528) amongst Intermittent Fasters it found that amongst all the participants, the LDL cholesterol had increased significantly after 12 months. This spell trouble for your heart and arteries.
  5. IF users tend to fill up the non-fasting periods with not so healthy food which lack nutrients. It is thus generally not considered the healthiest diet even if you take all the positives into account.

Third up – The 40/30/30 caloric restricted diet split.

The 40/30/30 refers to the caloric content of the protein/carbs/fat. Although this is considered the healthiest of the 3 approaches, it is by no means devoid of negatives.

Negatives:

  1. Only work when one put in effort the previous night to prepare all meals for the next day in ready to use containers.
  2. If above not done the risk for diverting from diet is very big.
  3. Considered an expensive diet as one has to ensure all required foods are available. 
  4. The caloric restriction can lead to hunger pains (although splitting meals into regular smaller 5-6 meals a day can easily bypass that problem and keep insulin levels stable).
  5. This diet requires the most prep time per day to keep correctly in place compared to the other two.

Let’s score these 3 diet approaches

(Determining how they stack up against each other.)

  Values out of 10. Higher value better.
QUESTIONSKETOIF40/30/30
How easy is diet to follow?675
Freedom to eat what you want?6107
Social stumbling block?-5-8-3
Effectiveness?786
Long term solution?438
Cost-4-2-5
Health risks-5-30
How easy do people drop out?-4-8-5
TOTAL5713

It is clear that for most people the caloric controlled 40/30/30 split diet will be the best solution, especially for a long-term solution. But not for all, MANY people have reached great success with both Keto and IF. However, it is not everyone’s cup of tea and also not working for everyone. But not all is so simple. There has been people who combined Keto with IF and got great success and they claim discomfort (like Keto flu) was very short term.

Also, although IF is considered a unhealthy diet (due to the fact that technically one can eat what he/she wants in the open window), if one follow either the Keto or Caloric Controlled 40/30/30 diets as the eating pattern with applying IF rules, then the whole picture changes drastically and one can have a potent weapon in your fat busting arsenal.

The big negative for the 40/30/30 split caloric controlled diet is the effort one needs to put in to make it a success. If you are not prepared to make food for next day the previous night and put into ready to use containers for next day, the risk for diverting from diet becomes very big.

The good news with the 40/30/30 split caloric controlled diet is that there are short-term tricks where one can force the fat down from that difficult-to-lose-areas (grey fat). This trick is called Carb Cycling an works especially well with this type of diet. Here is an article I have written which explains Carb Cycling in detail: https://gertlouw.com/2015/06/09/carb-cycling-explained/

Here is a good example of such a caloric controlled 40/30/30 split diet: https://gertlouw.com/2014/08/16/cutting-diet-challenges/

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The other big negative of the 40/30/30 split is its actual effectiveness, which is considered low for most people. But the truth is, it is because people manage the diet wrong. One cannot follow a diet off-the-shelve and think it will work for everyone, even when designed by a dietician. The diet MUST be aligned for your body’s unique metabolic tempo. And that can only be done by monitoring (fat calipers + weighing scale + measuring tape) the body every 14 days to see if muscle and/or fat was lost or gained. Then the daily caloric value of the diet must be adjusted upward or downward with a maximum 10% value until you have reach the “sweet spot” where you lose fat and NOT muscle. Sure, this sounds (and is) like a lot of work. But this is eventually where the men are separated from the boys. This approach combined with the 40/30/30 caloric controlled diet and using carb cycling when needed is what many competing athletes are following to get to their goal physiques. All of this forms part of my transformation system for the older guy (The ADVANCED SYSTEM II). More here: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

Now, everyone – happy dieting and make your dreams come true.

Gert Louw

MAKE IT HAPPEN
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The 3 STEPS to SUCCESS in your life

Filed under: LIFE stuff — Leave a comment
February 28, 2019

Click here to watch video “3 Amazing steps to success in your life.”

Last week I had someone who contacted me on social media and ask me “What can I do to be successful?”. He felt he was getting nowhere in life and his work.

We went through a long discussion where I explained to him the 3 concepts or steps that had to be in place for any guy to be successful in life. It is not easy steps. NOTHING worthwhile in life is easy! But it is doable, very doable. And believe me it works.

So, I thought I need to share this. Maybe there is just that one person out there that need to hear this.  There was a point in my life that if someone shared this with me, it would have made a very, very big difference in my life at a much younger age. But the way our gears function is that most of us men have to hit rock bottom before we are prepared to sit down and actually listen to this kind of talk. We are difficult to bend and set in our ways. So maybe you are at that bottom point in your life right now…then buddy listen up and if this makes sense to you reach for it with everything you have!

I am not going to preach to you that money does not matter…the fact is, it does. One need a certain amount of money to live comfortably. But, when your only goal is about money then you might reach success (or whatever you define as success) but happiness will be far removed from your daily life. That unfortunately is ALWAYS the case when money takes center stage. So, money is in the picture, but not close to be the main aim of the 3 steps. Money is a natural outflow after the 3 steps, I’ll explain later…

For now, let’s start with the 3 steps.

Each of these 3 steps are inter-dependent. You cannot choose just one or two and think the end result will be success. You MUST put all three in place.

Step 1 – Body optimization – easiest

Step 2 – Heart & soul optimization – more difficult

Step 3 – Mind control optimization – most difficult.

When I say “most difficult”, it is far from impossible. All it means is that it will take a lot of effort to put in place.

STEP 1 – BODY OPTIMIZATION

A person will struggle to reach success when the body is not functioning optimally. An optimally functioning body means a healthy, fit appearance and a brain that is alert. This is more important than you think. When you walk into a job interview or your boss has to decide who to promote…well, in the real world these factors becomes important.

This also means you will gain more self-confidence as you are increasingly happier with your body. I went through such a Body optimization process and any person that has gone through it will tell you it changed their life on many levels for the better. People want to be around you, people want to talk to you, people respect you more and all these equals too more opportunities coming your way. 

This is easy, I got everything for you on this site. All it takes is sweat and some pain and time!

Here is a link to a completely FREE basic BODY OPTIMIZATION / TRANSFORMATION process that includes detailed training, dieting and supplement programs and instructions: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-program/

The above process is however generic. So, for those that want a more customized and comprehensive step by step system, follow this link: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

This is a never-ending process that will become part of your life. You cannot live life to the fullest by sitting on the couch. A critical ingredient to be successful in life is to get up and start looking after your body.

STEP 2 – HEART & SOUL OPTIMIZATION

Now we starting to get deep. Up to this point (after step 1), you liked what you see in the mirror. The body looks great (the outside of the body). However, looking at yourself, most of us realize we don’t like the inside so much, the heart/soul and character. We don’t like the person we see and the person we have become, easily offended, carrying hate in our hearts, lacking integrity, weak minded and constantly choosing “wrong” in life. Our dreams were so much bigger and better for ourselves than this reality. We thought we were going to change the world, but sadly the world changed us. 

The thing that is missing in our character is INTEGRITY. An unshaken integrity that makes anyone that comes in contact with us look up to us with respect. An integrity that includes a strong but kind heart that cares for our fellow human being. An integrity based on an unshakable moral cornerstone that guides our decisions in life.

This whole process of HEART & SOUL OPTIMIZATION starts with MAKING RIGHT WITH GOD. I’ve said this in many of my videos and I will continue to say it. For me it is irrelevant whether you are and atheist or whether you believe in “the force”, the bottom line is, unless you make right with God on all levels of your life, you will not become the full person you were meant to be. You need to know what is right and what is wrong, you need an unshakable moral conduct guiding your life in every decision you make.

Only then can you start growing your character again. Through a close relationship with God we start shaping our character. My moral compass and mentor and to whom I aspire is Jesus Christ. You need to go on your own journey. Without this journey you will never reach your full potential.

This is no overnight process and like Step 1, this is a lifelong process that never stops. Changing one’s character IS possible but not on your own. I went through this process and I can now proudly say I like the guy looking back at me in the mirror, the inside and outside (but believe me, the process is far from complete!).

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Off course this is not easy! If it was, it would have been available in pill form at the Chemist! No, this takes bigtime effort, lots of knee time and sometimes pain-full changes you have to apply in your life. This is what separates the men from the boys…men with an unshakable integrity.

This is the type of person a boss wants to appoint in a key or important position in his firm or business. Someone he can trust and someone with integrity. When you have become this person, everyone around you will see it. You don’t have to do anything…it will be obvious.

STEP 3 – MIND CONTROL OPTIMIZATION

Ok, now we are talking! You are already far on the journey to become successful, but a key ingredient lacks. The training of the mind to cultivate positive thought patterns. Both point 1 and 2 is pretty much meaningless if you do not complete this step.

I’ve made video specifically about this point to explain the process to you.

Click here to watch video “CONTROLLING YOUR THOUGHTS”

This is where you start cultivating positive and uplifting thoughts. When you have completed and mastered this mind training then big things start to happen. Remember this few times you came across those positive good vibe people? You just wanted to spend time with them and surround you with them. They just uplift you! Well this will be you when you get his under control. And this is where things in the work environment start happening. The glass is not half empty anymore but now it is half full and THIS is what bosses LOVE. They will see your attitude and positivity and they will want (!) to appoint you in a key position…and that boys and girls is when everything falls into place (money included).

But be aware. This is not easy. This takes much training. NO GOOD THING IN LIFE EVER CAME EASY! How much do you want this? …then MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Wish you all happy training and making those dreams come true.

Gert Louw

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Supplements – the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY

Filed under: SUPPLEMENT stuff — 2 Comments
January 30, 2019

Supplements – the GOOD, the BAD and the UGLY

 

Sounds like a movie title! And I am sure we are going to see a movie about this one-day. It is one of the biggest money turning industries and one of the shadiest mafia style operations out there. I would go so far as to say it is one of the biggest scams ever pulled on consumers.

 

One thing that is undeniable and proven by science is that the best of the best supplements out there makes less than a 3% contribution to your success in bodybuilding. It has a laughable small contribution for a LOT of money spend. (The key components are – Diet 80% and training +15%)

Thus, why supplement companies have to make such ridiculous fake claims and try and dress them up as facts to lure consumers into the trap of partying with their money. And they know consumers can’t really proof anything because it will take too much money and there are too many variables.

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There is not a single supplement out there that comes even close to the claims of its marketing material. Even from the “trusted” and big companies. There simply is no integrity in the supplement industry.

It is all blatant exaggeration coupled with fake “proof” photos which are either stolen or where people are paid to lie. Not a single photo used in the marketing of ANY supplement is ever real. Listen to this…not a single photo is real! They are ALL fake.

 

All these fitness guys with their Instagram posts and YouTube videos showing off the supplements in a subtle or not so subtle way…they all get paid to do this!

 

I personally have, to date, more than a 100 supplement companies (I will list some of more prominent ones at the end of this article) that stole my before and after photo and used it as “proof” with fake stories of how great their supplement is supposed to be working. And there are 100’s of cases similar to mine. If you have a striking before and after photo roaming around on internet, I guarantee you, rather sooner than later that it will start appearing in online supplement advertisements, off course without you even knowing about it.

Or if it is one of the big well-known companies, they will contact you and pay you money for the rights to use your photo with all kinds of fake claims of how you “transformed” with their product.

 

You will eventually have many fake names and fake stories on the internet of how you were supposed to have reached success with this supplement.

 

Attorneys are unwilling to take on these cases because they know that, especially the internet “companies” are more slippery than jellyfish with one front-end company after the other easily disappearing of the radar and popping up under a different name in a different country.

 

Consider this: One of the most widely advertised type supplements are products claiming to increase a man’s testosterone levels (and now I am talking about them all, does not matter which one). Now, if they were so effective even in the smallest way, why would a Doctor/Urologist not prescribe them when treating low testosterone levels in men? Simply because these supplements do not work! None of the information presented in the marketing of such products are legitimate. All are either false or half-truths. None of the science experiments they quote are legitimate and objectively verified. All is simply well-dressed up lies and half-truths.

This is the exact same case with ALL other supplement marketing campaigns. And the uneducated population is standing queues to buy these supplements believing the lies they are fed.

 

What is even scarier is that a significant slice of these internet supplement companies are actual scams, just to get their hook into your credit card and then the monthly deductions starts! How do they operate? Let’s look at an example…

The following (Delta Prime marketing) is how they typically advertise, abusing platforms like ESPN, well-known magazines (aka MUSLCE & FITNESS) and well known celebreties and photos from many guys who work hard and long to get their muscled bodies…all of whom are completely unaware they are being abused and all who have never used the supplement advertised (you will spot me also in there!). No one has given permission.

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The above is an example of not just a fake product but an actual scam. They just want access to your credit card. After that you will have the “pleasure” of rather large recurring monthly deductions from your credit card which you will not be able to stop unless you cancel your card.

Another scary aspect of some supplements, is dangerously raised liver values and strain on kidneys. If you have raised liver values this is about the first thing your health care provider will ask you “Are you using bodybuilding supplements?”. So please take care what you put into your body. Many of these supplements have unverified contents.

 

Even the few supplements which have legitimate science behind them, makes but a very small difference. That difference is less than 3% at best. The supplements with solid science behind them are: Creatine, Whey Protein, BCAA and L-Glutamine. Sure, there might be new ones emerging in future that is backed by real legitimate science studies but be very careful what to trust and believe. The science quoted in marketing campaigns are nearly always disinformation or half-truths and not legitimate science at all. You need to verify the science from medical journals and independent science studies.

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These are the reasons why I am so outspoken regarding bodybuilding supplements. Believe me I could have made a lot of money pushing brands and supplements by now! I had even companies trying to bribe me with money to keep me quiet about their products. We are made to believe supplements are the magic solution, but the truth is, it is lies and deceit carefully designed to simply get our money. Make your choices very careful.

 

Your focus in your bodybuilding goal must be your diet and your training. This is where more than 90% of your bodybuilding success lies. Supplements is what it says, “supplemental” and makes a very small difference, or none at all for most.

 

Considering the above and applying some wisdom, your budget allocation for transforming your body should be as follows:

  • 80% budget should be allocated towards ensuring you have the necessary diet food (and containers, food scales, etc.) available to ensure your diet is effective in place.
  • 15% of your budget should be allocated to gym fee’s and gym training clothes/attire.
  • Less than 5% of your budget should be allocated towards supplements because it cannot make a bigger difference than 5% (probably not more than 3%) in your success.

 

But off course having the correct system in place is critical otherwise you will continue wasting money and bumping your head without reaching any significant success. I have the complete system that I follow, available for clients. I customise it for their goals, body type, shape and current condition. It is a very extensive system which ensures EVERYTHING is correctly in place thus preventing all the common mistakes newbies in bodybuilding make. If you are interested, you can signup here: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

 

As mentioned earlier in the article, here is just some of the more prominent scam and fake supplements out there that use fake photos and fake stories to try and proof their supplements. My photos (any other people’s) have been used and abused multiple times by all of them and the list is ever growing:

  • ALPHA FUEL X
  • ANABOL X1
  • AMINO PRIME
  • APEX T
  • APEX IP
  • BIO MUSCLE XR
  • CRAZYBULK WINSITROL
  • DELTA PRIME
  • ELITE TEST 360
  • HGH XL
  • LIFEFORCE ENERGY
  • LIFEFORCE T-2000
  • NITRO FOCUS N03
  • NITRIC MAX MUSCLE
  • NIWALI TESTO BOOST
  • NUTRAGENTEX
  • NUTRA TESTERONE
  • POWER NO2 MAX
  • PROMAX PUMP
  • SUPER TEST-O-BOOST
  • T-ADVANCE
  • TESTO XL
  • TESTERONE XL
  • T-REX MUSCLE
  • TESTO XTRM
  • TRIG X2
  • ULTRAMAX BOOSTER
  • XFORCE NO2
  • XTREME NO
  • XENGTH X1
  • 1285 MUSCLE

And many, many more!

 

Wish you happy training

Gert Louw

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How to get it ALL TOGETHER

Filed under: LIFE stuff — 4 Comments
January 9, 2019

How to get “it all together”

Click here to watch video ” HOW TO GET IT ALL TOGETHER”

First everyone, I wish you a blessed 2019 with GREAT health and many, many muscles!

I will put on a few pics I took during my Pearly Beach vacation so you can see what I was up too.

 

 

Ok, back to the topic of the video/article – I deal with a lot of guys that tells me they look up to me for always having it all together. In their eyes, I am on top of my game and in control of my fitness, diet, marriage, parenthood, work and well, just everything.

But the truth is, there is not a single human being on this earth that has ‘everything and all together”!

No matter how “together” someone is looking, I guarantee you that that person has several intense personal issues, hopes, dreams and fears. No one is ever in “control”.

Life is always an unpredictable adventure no one has ever prepared for. We run a race we have never trained for. We do not know the curves in the road or where the potholes are.

I am the same as all of you in running this race.

Believe me I had some severe potholes and if you’ve seen me at my weakest, you would not think I got it all together.

But what is true, is that I do have a certain calm and focus over me that gives the perception that I got it all together in running this race.

 

We are starting a new year so let me give you some of my personal wisdom.

The following is my “rules of life” that guides me in this race of life:

  1. I always get back up after falling and continue where I left off, no matter how big the fall. I do not go and sit in a corner feeling sorry for myself. I get up, look life squarely in the eyes and get my act together to get on the path to reach my goals again. Most of u know 2017 I very nearly died (for the 2ndtime), but I got up and I am back in the game working very hard to reach my goals.
  2. Focused mindset. If you got a goal, you need to elevate this goal very high on your ladder of priorities. As I said in the past, for me it is just church, work and family before gym. NOTHING else! You need to prioritize to such an extent that gym is on the same level of dedication as work. You do NOT skip gym that day if you do not have a sick certificate. It is not about how you feel or whether you “think” you do not have energy…that is all irrelevant. You get in your car, you go to gym and you work out. Full stop!
  3. This same focused mindset applies to your diet. The night before you prepare all your meals for the next day and put it into ready to use containers in the fridge. Get the whole family on the system. In fact, it is very good quality time preparing food together for next day as a family…with your kids. If you do not make the effort the previous night for the next day, I guarantee you your diet WILL fail!
  4. My faith is critical to my calmness. Most of you know I am a passionate follower of Jesus Christ and every day I seek His guidance with my life. He is my moral center on everything I do. He determines my walk and direction I take in life. I don’t follow the world or the latest craze, and I DON’T care for political correctness, I do what I believe is the right thing to do.
  5. My personal motto is, MAKE IT HAPPEN. So, no matter what your goal…just MAKE IT HAPPEN. Were created in God’s image and that means we are immense powerful creatures. Realize that, LIVE IT and make use of this amazing power you have. You CAN change your life and you CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN! Nothing is forcing you to continue sitting on that couch and reaching for another beer. Only you are forcing yourself and most of the time, it is simple laziness and just a habit. Use the power you have inside you to rise above bad habits and a bad lifestyle.
  6. My rule: I refuse to be average. I refuse to live everyday over and over the same way. I will continue to better myself on every level. I will become a better person, inside and out. That is non-negotiable and critical when you want to move forward in life and not staying stuck in the trenches.

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Living life by these rules and a natural outflow is a great looking body, but also a person of integrity to who others look up to.

So, guys and girls, I do NOT have it “all together”. But I do have above focused approach, cutting out excuses and laziness and with my faith I have a strong moral center. I do what I believe is right without trying to please the world.

These are my rules for life, I hope it can help some of you out there. I have been priviledged in walking a very difficult path in life which has made me what I am today with my knowledge, life skillset and focused approach.

If any of you are interested – I’ve designed a very comprehensive transformation system for the older guy called the ADVANCED SYSTEM II. It contains all my knowledge, skills and my workout and diet approach, customized for your body and goals. So, if you are interested, then you can sign-up through the following link: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

 

The following is an interesting pic – my 9 most viewed photos on my instagram for the year of 2018 (my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gertfitness/ )

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To you all my friends and followers – Be the best version of you that you can EVER be!

Wish you a blessed 2019.

Gert Louw

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Over 40 – counteracting declining testosterone levels

Filed under: MEN ONLY stuff — 2 Comments
December 4, 2018

Click here to watch video ” OVER 40 – counteracting declining testosterone levels”

 

The fact of life is such that the testosterone levels of a guy over 40 are declining rapidly every year.

The worse is that average male testosterone levels are declining with every generation. Your blood testosterone levels are lower than your dads and his lower than his dad and so on…

No wonder men are so feminine today. No more Viking warrior type guys. Just this body-conscious guys, buying designer clothes and using more facial creams than the average girl. Wish, but I must be careful with the comparisons here, I might not like on which side I fall myself!

Whether we want it or not we are consuming many chemicals in our processed food everyday and this coupled with already ever so slightly chemically tainted water and land nearly everywhere, results in the natural testosterone levels of males declining artificially year after year. Definitely not the way God has made us! We are made men, strong, muscular and with LOTS of testosterone flowing through our veins. THAT is what is making us men and keeping us healthy.

Why do you think that most blacks from Africa are these virile muscled strong warrior guys? There is a very good reason for it…Africa is significantly less dependant on chemically enhanced food products and the water and land is yet mostly untouched by chemicals. Many argue it is genetic. I say sorry I disagree, if we lived in the same untouched environment consuming untouched food of the land then we would have been the same…we are changing ourselves! So wondering why I am living in Africa?

We are NOT meant to have this artificially lowered testosterone levels that’s currently running though the 21stcentury male’s veins. We are meant to be warriors, muscled strongmen and protectors.

So if you are over 40 and your blood testosterone level fall in the middle to bottom part of what is considered “normal” then I tell you it are not close to what you supposed to be. One or two generations ago this would have been way below normal.

Studies show that men’s testosterone levels have been declining for decades. The most prominent, a 2007 study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, revealed a “substantial” drop in U.S. men’s testosterone levels since the 1980s, with average levels declining by about 1% per year.Oct 2, 2017

Now, this is scary guys! This mean I am not what I was meant to be! Me, don’t like!

Anyway this is just further ammunition that should spur us on to make sure our blood testosterone levels are very close to the max of healthy. Because that would have been the average just 2 generations ago!

The current min/max for male testosterone levels are: 270 to 1070 ng/dL with an average level of 679 ng/dL (although this actually differs slightly from region to region)

So, our target should be 800-1070ng/dL. Still considered within normal range but now with all the benefits that we were supposed to get from healthy testosterone levels:

  • Higher energy levels and less fatigue,
  • Easier to build muscle,
  • Easier to lose fat,
  • Impotence & ED would be unknown words to us,
  • Less heart problems and
  • MUCH less depressive states!
  • Strong bones, preventing osteoporosis (just some of the many benefits)

We would be real men as we were supposed to be!

SO, I don’t know about you, but I am not taking this lying down. I would do everything in my power to get my levels to the 800-1070 ng/dL range!

But be warn. Too much of a good thing is NOT always good! You do not want to exceed the max levels. Then there are unwanted risks you will be taking which is similar to the risks with some anabolic steroids.

So, for this article we assume that we stay within normal ranges.

So let’s get scientific here. How do we get that testosterone levels to the max?

Through a three-tier attack: Tier 1: Lifestyle, Tier 2 – supplements and lastly Tier 3 – TRT.

You might not want to do all or even need all. Do not move on to the next attack level if you have not tried all in the previous Tier. When starting with your journey to increase your levels, get your testosterone level checked then implement some of the below suggestions systematically, wait three months and get tested again and if not yet good enough implement more steps and after 3 months test again and so on.

It takes a minimum of 3 months for the body to adapt the new stimulus and correct hormonal levels.

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First Tier attack – lifestyle changes.

The following lifestyle changes has been proven by scientific studies to increase total testosterone levels in men of all age groups:

  1. Exercise and lift weights. Weights especially plays a big role to increase testosterone levels.
  2. Taking caffeine and creatine monohydrate as supplements for training help boost testosterone levels.
  3. Caloric controlled diet. Too little calories or too much calories can disrupt your testosterone levels. A combination of 40/30/30 protein/fat/carbs in calories are best suited.
  4. You might also want to experiment with Intermittant Fasting which is claimed to have positive effects on Testosterone levels – however most find it an unsustainable long-term diet approach.
  5. Minimize stress and Cortisol levels.
  6. Extra Vit D & sun to activate Vit D. Half the US population has a vit D deficiency. Optimal vit D levels can increase testosterone levels by 25%!
  7. Plenty of restful high-quality sleep. For example just cutting sleeping from 8 to 5 hours a day result in a 15% reduction in testosterone levels.
  8. Healthy sex life boost testosterone levels.
  9. High exposure to estrogen-like chemicals will decrease testosterone levels dramatically. We are talking about fuel vapor, BPA, parabens and other chemicals found in plastic (remember my Africa vs the rest of the world example?)
  10. Laughter and happiness boost testosterone levels.

 

Second Tier attack – supplements

Already mentioned in above is Vit D, Creatine monohydrate and coffee.

But before we discuss the supplements, let’s look at the science again here. The supplements out there that claim to raise overall testosterone levels has been shown to be close to worthless or has such a small effect that it is really not worth the money. There is no supplement out there that can effectively raise overall testosterone levels naturally. But (!) it is not actually about the overall testosterone levels. What it is about, is the FREE (not bonded to any proteins or SHBG) testosterone levels. Your total testosterone is made up of:

  • Testosterone BONDED with SHBG – roughly 64-65% of our testosterone
  • Testosterone bonded to the protein albumin – roughly 34-35% of our testosterone
  • Testosterone that is not bonded and are FREE – roughly 2%

There might not be supplements that effectively raise overall testosterone levels but there are plenty of scientifically proven supplements out there that can rather effectively raise the FREE test levels, thus making the testosterone in your system MUCH more potent. Most of your testosterone in your system binds with SHBG (the sex hormone) or the protein Albumin and then become pretty much worthless to you! All that matters are the FREE testosterone (that 2%) that is available in your blood. They way most of these supplements work is to encourage SHBG or Albumin to bond with something else before it bonds with testosterone thus leaving more, FREE (unbonded) testosterone available in your system…and that’s all you want! The science studies showed a FREE test increase of 25% and more with these supplements.

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The following easy-to-come-bysupplements has been proven scientifically to rather quite effectively increase FREE test levels:

  • Boron at (10mg per day)
  • Vitamin D (as directed on container)
  • Magnesium Celate (as directed on container)
  • Zinc (as directed on container)
  • DHEA (as directed on container)
  • DIM (as directed on container)

The following difficult-to-come-bysupplements has some interesting science studies on mice/rats that showed to be very effective in increasing FREE test in subjects:

  • Avena Sativa (active ingredient Avenacosides must be higher than 5%). Tthis is actually OATS! But you need the concentrated active ingredient for it to be effective.
  • Urtica Dioica / Stinging Nettles – must be from the root of the plant.
  • Carao (from the Cassia Grandis Plant)
  • Muira Puama

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Third Tier attack – TRT

If your doctor prescribe you TRT and your testosterone does not exceed the max level then you are NOT on steroids. He is treating a serious medical condition to get you healthy again. However, if you use TRT treatment while already having healthy (high) testosterone levels then well, then you are just another juicer.

Typical TRT dosage is 100mg every 7 days or 200mg every 14 days. More than 130mg per 7 days and you are juicing.

The medical experts dealing with this is either a sports doctor or Urologist. They also have more understanding and knowledge in the field of TRT treatment. Your normal house doctor usually has very little knowledge about the subject and will most probably be reluctant to prescribe treatment.

So, what are the risks you are taking by having a testosterone level slightly above the max level?

  1. You will be slightly more prone to blood clotting. This however is not a problem when you are an active person taking part in regular training/sports/activity. But if you are very sedentary person, then there might be a risk.
  2. Shrinking “ball” size. The testis are the testosterone factories and when they are not being used, then they stop producing. Thus, when not used it will shut down and becoming smaller and smaller. But all is not lost. If you start TRT treatment you MUST simultaneously start with HCG treatment every 2ndday at 500iu. This will keep stimulating the testis to avoid shutting down and you should be able to keep the size. They might even get slightly bigger, bonus!

These are about the only real world side effects from TRT treatment you will ever experience. Remember guys testosterone is as natural to your body than water! There are many scary fake news and uninformed people out there claiming all kinds of things about TRT treatment, but simply put, they are uneducated. TRT has been very well tested and researched. You cannot get any of the normal steroid side effects from TRT because your testosterone levels are NORMAL when on TRT!

Sadly, there is a trend lately of these uninformed people to vehemently oppose TRT treatment. Well, each to his own. If they want to suffer from bad heart health, low energy, severe depressive states, struggling to lose fat, struggling to build muscle, erection problems and ED then let them be, it is their choice. Me on the other hand will continue my fight with all the tools at my disposal to increase my quality life as I get older.

So, I do not know about you, but I intend to be that man I was MEANT to be.

And if that means I have to manipulate a couple of things to be that man, then so be it!

Let’s rise fellow Vikings and flex our muscles to strike fear into the hearts of the lads with their facial creams and designer clothes!

Those over 40 guys that want to get a transformation lifestyle approach to get that Viking body, you can signup here: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/ 

Cheers everyone

Gert Louw

 

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Mental health for the over 40 guy

Filed under: LIFE stuff — 6 Comments
October 2, 2018

A rather significant portion of men over 40 is on some form of anti-depressant medication…so let’s discuss in this article what you can do as an over 40 male to avoid this trap which is destroying many lives out there.

Click here to watch video “Dealing with depression – for the over 40 guy”

Pressure from family, work and life is ever rising in the race to make more and more money. Time is at a premium and the first thing sacrificed is nearly always looking after our bodies. Then add unhealthy eating and the use of alcohol/smoking to the mix and this becomes the perfect recipe for impending disaster waiting to go off like a time-bomb. The first signals we get about impending doom is when depression strikes. This is screaming at you that something is seriously wrong. But what do we do? We grab at pills just to medicate the symptom ignoring the fact that this was a signal screaming at full pitch at us. But our hectic 21 century lives have made us deaf to this voice of our body…we just throw down more and more pills to numb us more and more until the time-bomb eventually explodes and destroys everything in its path creating pain and suffering for all we loved and cared about. Sounds melodramatic? Maybe, but the sad part is that this is very true!

I’ve come very close to this point in my life. I’ve learned how to avoid it and thought I would share with you my approach on how to handle depression when you are an older guy.

 

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They key to good mental health for the over 40 guy, starts with a fit body. This is the biggest single contributor to good mental health. We were not created to be sedentary beings and inactivity brings about a lack of all the hormones we require for a healthy mind. These feel-good and uplifting hormones are only released through physical activity and some only through intense physical activity. This can make us feel on top of this world! Without these hormones depression is a given. But the problem is that, when we are in that dark place of depression, the hardest thing is to gather the motivation to get ourselves to the gym. So, what do I do? This is something I have addressed in various of my videos. For me getting to gym and working out is elevated to the same priority as getting to work in the morning. If I do not have a sick certificate I get to work and I GET TO GYM. You do not have an option to not go to work if you’re depressed or not feeling like it! The exact (!) same apply to my gym. It is not a matter off whether I feel like it or whether I am down or not in the mood or not motivated! I just get in the car, drive to gym, put on my workout clothes and my headphones, select my Spotify playlist “GERTFITNESS WORKOUT #1” and start doing my first set. And then the next set and the next. And man, many times I have found that, that was one of my best workouts. And I ALWAYS walk out there positive and feeling great because I have done what I need to do to get my brain filled with the much needed hormones to lift my mood and give me a positive frame of mind. Off course I could have stayed at home feeling sorry for myself because of my depressive state but now I feel positive and uplifted. Nothing comes close to lifting your frame of mind to a positive state like a good intense workout. The key to it all is to elevate your training’s priority setting to the same as that of your job’s priority. It is NOT an option to bail out unless you have a sick certificate.

Want my training and diet approach customised for you? You can signup here: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

Note here: Inspiring tunes can make an incredible difference to help you endure an intense workout when you struggling with a depressive frame of mind. Do not underestimate the power of music. I have created my Spotify playlist specifically for this purpose. (You can find it on Spotify by just searching “GertFITNESS WORKOUT #1”. I have made it a collaborative playlist so if there is a rocking tune you think should belong in this playlist please feel free to add it!)

 

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Now just to remind you, I have reason more than most to be depressed. Nearly died at 40 and given a bad prognosis for my future health. Then at 46 I nearly lost my business. And at 53 an even closer call with death with near complete liver failure as result of drinking dirty water, keeping me for long in hospital and out of gym for a full 12 months seeing all my hard work on my body of the past 13 years going to waste and pretty much had to start over at age 54. This is much reason to be depressed…believe me. But having a system in place where the priority I allocate to gym is non-negotiable and not depending on mood or frame of mind or whether I feel like it, means I get to gym for a great workout and every-time the resultant feel-good hormonal release prevents me from slipping into a depressive state. If it was not for this non-negotiable gym rule I would have been in a serious depressive state.

You don’t “need” motivation. You simply need to put in place this non-negotiable workout rule and elevate working out to the same priority level as rocking up for your job. EXACTLY THE SAME. You only miss your workout if you miss your job that day!

 

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Then off course there are other smaller things I put in place to keep the darkness of depression from engulfing me.

Let me give you a quick rundown:

  1. The first thing any guy suffering from depression should do is to get his blood testosterone levels checked by a Urologist. You must ensure that your levels are healthy. If not you MUST go on TRT therapy. Low test levels in males WILL result in severe depressive states and many other health risks. TRT therapy plays a definite role in a positive mindset in a man.
  2. Alcohol is glue for depression! Thinking you need an unwinding glass of wine after a hectic day is only a good idea if you are faaaaar from a depressive state. Otherwise it will have the opposite effect and pull you much quicker into depression. Plus, that glass of alcohol will most certainly mean you will miss your workout session as well. Plus, the alcohol is not doing you any good with your body fat levels meaning more negative thought patterns because you are missing your goal with loosing body fat. Thus if red lights are flickering because of a lingering depression, steer CLEAR from alcohol. Any overuse of any stimulant (including caffeine), should be avoided because that will result in a “valley” mood (after the peak) which will elevate a depressive state.
  3. You cannot expect your brain chemicals to be healthy when feeding your body junk! Your 2nd line of action after getting yourself regularly to gym is sorting out your diet. Lots of fresh veggies, fresh fruit, moderate carbs and fat free protein with some good oils (virgin olive, coconut, peanut butter, etc…) and no carbonated drinks! A good sample diet to start is here: https://gertlouw.com/2017/09/08/free-cutting-building-diets-for-a-ripped-muscled-physique/
  4. Gert Louw BLACK SHIRT.JPGSerious emotional issues are your worst enemy in your fight against depression. I know life is not easy. Divorce, death of a loved one, serious sickness, retrenchment, financial trouble, all is very real and all can destroys lives. But all of this can also bring out the best in you. It can let you rise up and become a hero and role model that many people can look up to and not just transform your life but even those around you. Or it can mean you become just another statistic of a person absorbed by severe depression. It is all in how you decide to handle what you are facing. This is your time now, to rise up and become that person you have dreamed off, to be the best version of you ever, to be the hero and role model everyone is looking at for inspiration. No, it is not easy. Nothing worth in life is EVER easy…but it is always a 1000 times over worth it.
  5. Off course I use some basic supplements for a healthy and positive mind. They are:

Vitamin B12 injection once a month for optimal nerve system functioning (read this link on a vitamin B12 study regarding its use as an anti-depressant): American Journal of Psychiatry)

5-HTP – natural option for upping serotonin levels.

Vitamin D –a deficiency in vitamin D will feel very much like depression.

Last but not least…and I know many will shrug this off. But, I find my greatest comfort in my faith following Jesus Christ. If there ever was someone that walked this earth that was the epitome for living the great adventure of life positively, being kind and caring and depression free, then it was the example Jesus Christ showed us. So, you might think this is opium for the masses stuff…but boy what opium it is! This alone has the ability to transform many aspects of your life and keep you depression free with a lust for life. Ask me…I know!

So guys, whatever you are facing, there are always choices we can make on how we going to deal with this. In each of us there is greatness, that is the way God created us. This is your time to look into yourself and unlock that greatness. Depression is just an alarm bell…listen to the alarm clock and change what needs to be changed.

May your journey be blessed.

Gert Louw

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How to increase your testosterone levels

Filed under: MEN ONLY stuff — 8 Comments
July 31, 2018

How to increase testosterone naturally – [science based]

Click here to watch video “HOW TO INCREASE YOUR TESTOSTERONE LEVELS”

The search for optimal blood testosterone levels becomes a major issue for guys over 40 who are on a quest for a WOW physique. Without optimal blood testosterone levels this quest is simply impossible. Low blood testosterone levels will mean fat gain, muscle loss, low libido, impotency, low sperm count, low energy, depressive states (sometimes severe) and potential heart problems just to name a few of the typical symptoms guys with low testosterone levels have to deal with.

Having optimal testosterone levels will simply provide a much better quality life for any over 40 guy. It is a no brainer. And it will put a muscled body in your reach if you are prepared to do the hard work. With optimal testosterone levels the body now has the ability to grow muscle and lose fat. Still not like when you were 20, but it will at the very least make it possible with hard work, well, sometimes very hard work.

The internet has a magnitude of products claiming to increase male testosterone levels.

But in then end only a small group makes the grade. ONLY the supplements that followed the rules of independent science studies that have proved the product to work against controlled groups form part of this group. All the other product claims are hogwash with empty marketing claims that is NOT supported by science.

So first, let’s look at the one’s that completely failed the science test:

  1. Tribulus Terrestris (science studies show it has zero effect on raising blood testosterone levels but it does have an effect in increasing libido).
  2. Fenugreek extract (science studies shown it resulted in zero increase in blood testosterone or other hormone levels. However as with Tribulus it has shown to increase libido rather effectively).
  3. Aspartic Acid (or aspartate – Although DAA supplementation has been found to sometimesresult in a small increase in testosterone levels in healthy males, this increase seems to only last for about one week before it drops back down to baseline levels. Moreover, research published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition found that a dose of 6 grams of DAA per day resulted in a decrease in the levels of free and total testosterone in healthy resistance-trained males.)

 

My ADVANCED SYSTEM II body transformation system is available customised for your body and goals. You can signup here: ADVANCED SYSTEM II

 

The ONLY ones making the grade and is proven by science studies to moderately increase blood testosterone levels in males are:

  1. Magnesium and Zinc (also called ZMA which combines Magnesium and Zinc supplementation – a supplement for men which is usually taken before bedtime).The main proof was provided by a study published in the journal of Biological Trace Element Researchwhich found that 4 weeks of supplementation with 10 mg magnesium per kg of body weight increased both free and total testosterone in sedentary subjects as well as in athletes. Zinc deficiencies, which are relatively common in athletes and those who sweat a lot, can result in a decrease in testosterone levels, so supplementation with zinc can raise testosterone to normal levels. Two studies published in the journal of Neuro Endocrinology Letters (one in exercising subjects and one in elite wrestlers) found that zinc supplementation for 4 weeks prevented the decrease in testosterone levels which declined in the placebo group.
  2. Yeah, good old creatine. This is a shock for many. How is it possible? Let me explain: The rise in the body’s creatine stores that happens with creatine supplementation and the subsequent increase in energy for short-term activities are mainly responsible for the significant performance increases that take place. What most people are unaware of is that creatine also seems to result in a small but, relatively, reliable increase in testosterone levels, which may also be partially responsible for the strength and muscle gains experienced with supplementation. For example, in a study published in the International Journal of Sports Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, resistance trained football players saw a statistically significant increase of 22% in testosterone levels after 10 weeks of supplementation with creatine. The increases in strength and lean body mass were also significantly higher in the creatine vs the placebo group.
  1. Vitamin D. Although here I must note that testosterone was only raised with Vit D supplementation when subjects actually had a vit D deficiancy. That being said, 90% of us have a vit D deficancy in varying degrees. Supplementation with Vitamin D will, consequently, correct a vitamin D deficiency and, possibly, result in an increase in testosterone levels. This was confirmed in a relatively recent study published in the journal of Hormone and Metabolic Research, where it was found that men taking a little over 3000 international units (IU) of vitamin D for one year saw a statistically significant increase in both free and total testosterone.

 

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Now is this all we can do to increase testosterone levels? No, but this is all you can do on the supplement side. Any other supplement claiming to increase testosterone levels and is not on this list…pass! It is hollow claims unless proven by science.

But there are other non-supplement actions that have also been proven by science to have a rather large positive impact on optimal blood testosterone levels in males. They are:

  1. Regular heavy compound training. I am talking here about intense squats and bench pressing (deadlifts also form part of this bunch). These compounds moves have been proven by science studies to elevate blood testosterone and HGH hormone levels.
  2. Healthy eating patterns – have been proven to have a large impact on blood testosterone levels. Good oils/fats in diet critical for healthy hormonal levels.
  3. Little or no alcohol – alcohol consumption has a direct link to low testosterone levels.
  4. Enough sleep – too little sleep will negatively affect blood testosterone levels.
  5. Levels of stress – regular intense stress situations has been proven to lower blood testosterone levels.
  6. Excessive masturbation has been proven by science to lead to low blood testosterone levels.

So there you have all you can do to get a maximum blood testosterone rating!

Off course there are the “not-so-natural” ways as well to increase blood testosterone levels, which range from DHEA to TRT to plain ANABOLIC STEROIDS…but that is a path one must tread lightly or at best avoid completely!

I cannot stress enough the care you must apply reading marketing claims of supplements. If it is not proven by science, no matter how fancy the words and how many (stolen!) photos and lies are provided as “proof”, well, then it is simply hogwash.

Happy training with optimal test levels!
Gert Louw

 

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Intermittent Fasting – think before you leap!

Filed under: DIET stuff — 2 Comments
June 19, 2018

intermittent Fasting – think before you try!

 

The following quote from one of the my clients about his experience with intermittent fasting summarize my whole point about the Intermittent Fasting craze that is currently sweeping the muscle-building fraternity: “My belief, and my naturapath’s belief is that intermittent fasting downgraded my metabolism and thus now going back to normal eating, my body thinks I’m getting too many calories for it’s new low need.”

The bottom line is,  it cannot be denied that some competing athletes had great success to get shredded by using Intermittent Fasting as a tool in their arsenal.

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What 99% of the people seem to forget is that the people who apply intermittent Fasting are experts in their field who know exactly what they are doing. When someone who is a casual bodybuilder applies IF, the results are most of the time less than desirable. However, there are always the exceptions, I’ll admit that.

But few casual bodybuilders (meaning non-competitive athletes) go to the extreme levels of measuring, monitoring and analyzing everything. These competing guys do regular fat caliper, weighing scale, tape measurements and body water content checks to see (sometimes on a daily basis) the effect their past 24 hours diet approach had on their body. Those are the people who usually get success, because they are to the extreme in touch with every aspect of their body and manage everything in the finest detail.

But the casual lifter just want to look better and do what he does for enjoyment. The dedication is not NEARLY on the level that is required for one to apply something like Intermittent Fasting successfully.

I am not saying IF does not work, not at all, I am saying don’t expect to use a tool an expert use and apply it in a casual fashion and think it will work as effectively as it work for them.

For the non-competitive athlete using IF, it usually spells disaster = less muscles + more body fat, simply because when not applying correctly IF will very easily result the body to enter a “famine mode” whereby it thinks it is in a famine environment. And this means the body will do everything to ensure it can survive as long, thus lowering the metabolism drastically. It will also prefer to use energy from muscles (Glutamine, Glycogen) which usually result in smaller muscles while the body will protect it’s bodyfat storage at all costs to ensure it has what it takes to outlive the famine period it thinks it ‘s detected. With end result loosing muscles and very little bodyfat. This is the last thing you want to happen!

Let’s look at some of the negatives of intermittent Fasting

  1. interference with the SOCIAL aspect of eating
  2. Getting hungry, low energy and unproductive
  3. Fasting = binge
  4. Digestion Issues
  5. Unclear impact on heart
  6. Is is NOT for everyone
  7. Potential long-term health consequences (especially women)
  8. Potential weight gain
  9. Lowered metabolism

Off course there are some really interesting benefits to IF (like cognitive and body rejuvenation aspects) but with the risks especially when you do not have the dedication and time to perform the necessary body monitoring, my advice to you is to rather stick to a tried and tested lifestyle approach and nutrition to reach your success with a standard 14 day body monitoring approach to keep the diet calories aligned to your unique metabolism and leave the tricks of the trade like intermittent Fasting to those that are willing to put in the necessary time and effort to make it work, like the competing athletes as a short-term trick to get shredded..

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As you can recall in my previous video I made a specific point that the truth to reaching success is not held by a single method or person but that many road leads to success because of our diversity with regards to genetics, lifestyle and beliefs systems. But what I am preaching is specific to the guy over 40 who have a job, family and many obligations to fulfill. He is not a competing athlete and never will be. He wants the safest quickest and healthiest road to success. For such people, intermittent Fasting is a risky tool better left alone. And this is where my ADVANCED SYSTEM II comes in to provide you with that total, safe and healthy approach to reach success: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

Wish you all happy training!

Gert Louw

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Finding the TRUTH – 3 criteria to guide you

Filed under: LIFE stuff — 8 Comments
June 13, 2018

How do you choose a fitness mentor through all these opposing ideologies you see in the fitness world? There are probably as many unique approaches and recipes as there are transformations! It is actually crazy…that is the only word that fits.

You have decided it is time to make a change, a big change and you want to choose the right system and coach but that proves to be MUCH more difficult than you anticipated. When venturing on internet and searching for the right approach or system, you are faced with many conflicting solutions. Sometimes directly opposing each other. Now, who do you trust and how do you sift through all this info to find the right approach and person to trust to lead you onto your journey?

 

THREE things are major critical to help you making your choice.

 NUMBER ONE – Accept that there is no magic pill!

This is the number one important thing you have to accept. NONE of these advertising claims hold any truth, NONE! This is not an overstatement. ALL of the supplement advertising claims, even from the prominent companies, are filled with lies and half-truths. Most (nearly 90%) are complete and utter lies. I know what I am talking about. My before and after photo has now been abused illegally by more than 150 companies marketing their products and showing me as “proof” that their product works. And this is the going rate…if you see a before and after photo in any advertising add, it is ALWAYS either stolen or the person was paid a nice sum of money to lie and say he/she used their product to achieve the results. There is no truth to any such marketing photos…sadly. The bottom line is supplements makes no more than a few percentage points difference (I say 2.5%) in your effort of changing your body with a transformation. Easily 80% is made up by following a diet focused to produce results and the rest is made up by your exercise efforts in the gym. There is no magic pill…accept that. Sure, steroids and HGH can hasten the process but even then, it will take great effort and focus on both the diet and training front. Nothing comes overnight, and nothing comes easy and anyone claiming such is lying blatantly. A Significant transformation takes time and a LOT of effort…full stop. Steer completely clear from anyone telling your different because there are many that will…they are not after your happiness but only your money in their pocket.

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NUMBER TWO – Accept that many roads lead to Rome.

Many of these approaches are junk and totally misleading. But, there are many that is the truth and works and many of them preach complete opposing systems/approaches. Is this possible?

Let me explain.

The world of fitness is far from being a scientific fact sheet. Each of our bodies are so vastly different. Our genetic traits make us unique and apart. Each of us have unique metabolisms defined by multiple lifestyle aspects. The bottom line is many of these opposing systems and approaches have produced true results. These people are not lying (well some actually is but to try and make my point here I am referring to those that actually have a moral center!). They have reached success by following the path they are preaching. Let me take my wife for example. Right now, she is getting major success (lost 16kg in just over 3 months) with the 28 DAY DIET. A diet I would traditionally oppose vehemently. Simply because it is too little food and thus would lower the metabolic rate to unacceptable levels. But it is working for her and I can see that she can continue on it indefinitely albeit with some changes when she reached her goal weight to make it more lenient. Bottom line is, not everything works for everyone. Our personalities, genetics, lifestyle, habits, working environment, beliefs and many other factors play a more important role than we realize.

So, this is a very important point you need to realize. Many different roads in the body transformation arena can lead to the goalpost. Science is far from proving a singular all true road. We as individuals are far too unique for that.

 

NUMBER THREE – does your mentor have a moral center?

Ok, this might sound a little condescending, but the bottom line is, can you trust your mentor/coach to have your best interest in mind or is he/she just after the quick buck?

This is probably the most important of the 3 points. Because everything falls flat if this person working out your transformation system is a moral-less person caring just about turning around the quick buck. He/she needs to be a person of integrity that invokes trust. This you need to establish, or chances are you going to burn your fingers. You cannot trust in a person to lead you, but in real life you would never even consider this person making the grade for your friend list because of his/her lack of integrity/moral-less behavior.

You seriously need to look up to this person NOT just because of his/her body but especially because of all the other things.

 

So, let these three points guide you to make the right choice when you ready for that transformation journey!

 

Should you believe I am that mentor that can lead you on your transformation journey, you are more than welcome to consider signing up to my ADVANCED SYSTEM II, developed for the older individual and a truly comprehensive system covering all and every aspect. Customized for your goals and body on many levels: https://gertlouw.com/my-transformation-secrets/

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FREE Cutting & Building diets for a ripped muscled physique

Filed under: DIET stuff — 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: TRAINING stuff — 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: DIET stuff — 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

reference

  • http://www.healthline.com/nutrition/10-ways-to-boost-metabolism#section1
  • Texas A&M University. “Metabolism: What is it and can it be controlled?.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 October 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161019154842.htm>.
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Diet tricks for fat loss – intermittent fast & carb cycling

Filed under: DIET stuff — 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 &amp; GIRLS DREAM BODYc

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Incredible LIFE inspiration at age 52

Filed under: INSPIRATIONAL stuff — 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: DIET stuff — 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

www.gertlouw.com

Gert Louw green small

 

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Transforming your body STEP-BY-STEP

Filed under: TRAINING stuff — 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”.

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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&amp;A

 

 

 

 

 

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Sickness, injuries and gym off-time

Filed under: TRAINING stuff — 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

www.gertlouw.com

Gert Louw INJURY

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Vacation flexing!

Filed under: DUDE Talk — 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: TRAINING stuff — 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.

 

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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

www.gertlouw.com

Gert sea4bb

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

Filed under: DIET stuff, TRAINING stuff — 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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