I am working through another program at this time, but will definitely be following the results of this one and saving the details of the workouts for future use. I'm sure it's likely he will begin another challenge when this one is over.
Check it out: The Abs Challenge
Afterburn II is a sequel of sorts to the original Afterburn program. No-nonsense and no hype, just hard work and focus. It's a 12 week program and really not for beginners, due to the exercises chosen and the intensity of the program design. The nutrition is very straight-forward and not fancy. The first section of the program involves a very strict plan with a clear list of food choices and advances to specific guidelines that make sense. The training is planned in 3 stages, each lasting a month. For each stage you either get 2 or 3 full days off a week. You will need them! Resistance training and interval training protocols are mapped out in full detail, so there is no question about what to do and when. Periodization is incorporated, so if you're concerned about strength, hypertrophy and endurance you are covered. The program includes barbell complexes and strength training circuits and of course a true-to-style Alwyn surprise, which I won't tell you. Overall the program is pretty amazing and I had comments in the gym from men and women alike regarding the workouts. In my opinion it's not really conducive for home as you will need access to barbells, dumbbells, some cable equipment and a way to do inverted rows.
Beware, you must go into this with determination and commitment. It will highlight any issues you have with nutrition compliance or short attention span. It doesn't let up and if you've been stuck in a rut with the same number of reps/sets you will immediately realize it.
I learned to love barbell complexes and hate bulgarian split squats. I mastered T-push-ups and figured out how hard plank can really be. I discovered the inverted row is one of my new favorites. It confirmed my love of workout intensity. I advanced my skills, increased my endurance, gained strength, blasted some fat and figured out some of my personal challenges. Overall, this is an absolutely solid training program that incorporates everything I believe to be true right now about training for fat loss. I will be doing this program again in the future.
So what do you suggest for those contemplating the purchase of, or just beginning this program?
Do it! Get your mind around it, ratchet down, take a day at a time and just do it! Post the workouts and food list on your fridge, and put a big red X through each day. Make sure you are ready to commit and work hard. It will pay off!
What do you suggest for those that are new to Alwyn Cosgrove programs?
Plan of attack:
Of course if you are in a hurry for swimsuit season you could always start off with WarpSpeedFatLoss and then continue progressing with Afterburn. Hmmm...that would be quite an adventure, if you try either I'd love to hear about it.
This post contains affiliate links for Warp Speed Fat Loss. The New Rules of Lifting and The New Rules of Lifting for Women can be found in my Amazon Store. Please see my disclosure statement.
The trainer, Chris Caudy, who also specializes in body building, gave Jimmy all the information on an upcoming body building competition. He told him if he wanted to do it, he could get him ready. Jimmy decided to give it a try. Why not? He liked him and wanted to train with him even though he'd never thought about bodybuilding.
His training brought about amazing changes in his body. He had been guilty (like most of us) of gravitating to his favorite workouts and not shaking it up enough. Well, in literally 2 thirty minute sessions a week Chris shook him up alright. He worked his tail off, tightened up his diet and competed the first time (just 10 weeks later I must say) in June 2008 at the NPC Southern Classic, just under 8% body fat. Jimmy had never even seen a bodybuilding competition, much less thought about entering one. He ended up doing 3 competitions total last year and here's how he ranked:
Not bad for a newbie starting in his late 50's. It was an interesting process to say the least. We had to learn about entering, the weigh-in, mandatory posing, shaving, tanning, developing a posing routine and the flow of the competitions from pre-judging to the final show. I must say the most interesting and somewhat traumatic part of the process at first was figuring out the tan. This pic was taken in our hotel room, so you can see the difference in what the tan looks like in normal light vs. on stage (above).
This year he will compete in the following:
He turns 60 in July, so the Pittsburgh and Murfreesboro events will be Grandmasters Over 60.
It's fascinating to watch his body change. He's still as lean in terms of body fat, but has put on several pounds of muscle in the last year. Not everyone has a God-given mesomorph body type, but it just shows that it's never too late in life to get started. A lot can be accomplished with hard training and balanced nutrition. I will continue to post our adventures along the way this year.
Chris Caudy of Next Level Training in Memphis is Jimmy's trainer in-season. Jimmy is a member of the NPC for competition purposes. Please see my disclosure statement.
Here is the list of items and my thoughts on them (three of these are on my recommended list already)
Best Home Gym: Freemotion Ext Dual Cable Cross
Really cool and much better than fixed machines, I like using cables at the gym. However, the price at $4000 is pretty steep for home gyms of most folks I know.
Best Lo-Fi Fitness Tool: Iron Woody Woody Bag
I have not yet done sandbag workouts but would love to! Looks like a really durable item, and seems reasonably priced at $60 - $120 based on weight and also comes in packages.
Best Total Body Tool: TRX Suspension Trainer Force Kit by Fitness Anywhere
I love this, saw it demonstrated at the Arnold and my husband has been using this at his trainer's studio. Awesome for maximizing your bodyweight and gravity. Not sure I'd feel good about the door mount but the X-mount is what we will purchase when we get ours for home.
Best Stability Trainer: Valslides
These are wicked little gadgets. They point out in the article that it puts a whole new twist on lunges and squats, but I've had my butt kicked pawing my way across a gym floor in a crawling plank with my toes on these bad babies and then running back in a bear crawl position with them under my hands. Closest to puking I've ever been during a workout.
Best New Cardio Tool: Art of Strength Ropes Gone Wild
I love Art of Strength kettlebell workouts and first remember hearing about the ropes from Alwyn Cosgrove. Can't imagine how tough these are. Anthony Diluglio is a great resource. You can go to the website and see some short video clips of them in action. While you're there check out Minute of Strength.
Best Upper-Body Upgrade: JC Predator Band
I like working out with bands due to the different type of resistance (than dumbbells) and versatility. It's much tougher than it looks, and this looks like a well-made band. Wouldn't mind adding this to the arsenal.
Would love to know what others think about these products.
This post contains affiliate links for Fitness Anywhere (TRX), Art of Strength and ValSlides. Please see my disclosure statement.
"One thing you must realise is that you need to stop working out and start training, as there is a big difference between the two. People who train do so with a true purpose, a detailed plan and they know what they want and how to go about achieving it."
Deep down I know this, but sometimes I just need it to pop me in the face again. If I'm not concentrating, I tend to workout. When I am in focus, I train. Goals may be more virtuous than New Year resolutions, but they still don't help us if what we're actually doing everyday is not in sync with them.
We've all heard it before but seeing that quote helped me re-focus. I've certainly spent my fair share of time in the gym working out. The first quarter of the year is almost over! Time to review those goals and make every effort count as true training.
I already have the most recent version of the Precision Nutrition system but recently purchased the book The Metabolism Advantage, also by Dr. John Berardi, published in 2006 (sometimes I do things a little backwards).
I've not been in the habit of formally making recommendations, but I think this is an excellent resource for those wanting to build muscle/strip fat, especially for those that struggle with understanding or dealing with metabolism issues.
It has a not-too-geeky science section that sets the stage, and then moves on to a very complete review of the components of sound nutrition. After that it covers supplements, but only the ones that are truly necessary, and fully explains the advantages of using them. It then moves into a nice illustration of the exercises and workout plan. It even covers some of the psychosocial and environmental issues, giving you assessments to determine if you're really ready to make a commitment to positive nutritional and activity changes. Goal setting is also reviewed. Simple recipes are included to help get you started.
Here's the most impressive part to me though. The eight week plan is all mapped out, including meal plans, grocery shopping lists, the exercise plan and a workout journal. You literally could take it to the grocery with you or to the gym in your bag. The book wraps up with encouraging instructions on maintaining the advantage long term.
If you don't have The Metabolism Advantage already I would pick it up and work through it. It's a great addition to your toolbox for reaching your goals. I'm giving it an official Get Fit With Kelley stamp of approval.
The Metabolism Advantage is in my Amazon Store. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my disclosure statement.
Activities include amateur and pro male and female bodybuilding, figure, fitness, amateur bikini (new this year), powerlifting, boxing, grappling, mixed martial arts, gymnastics, table tennis, weightlifting, armwrestling, archery, cheerleading, dance, youth dancesport, deadlift and bench press contests, wrestling, an educational summit, an active aging festival, party with the pros, racewalking (also new this year), a 5K run, and 5K pump and run, a fitness fashion show and a three day expo of 700+ vendors. The Governator himself shows up on Saturday and the expo tickets (including most of the sports activities) were only $10 a day!
We were able to see a friend compete in the amateur figure competition and also got to see some world records broken in the strong man competition. Approximately 17,000 athletes from all over the world come to compete and participate. We watched some weightlifting competitions covering all ages, where even an 87 year old man was doing snatches and clean and jerks! There's something going on in pockets of space all over the convention center and a few other buildings every day. It was quite a weekend!
First, let's talk about bodybuilding. We walked in the Expo the first day and on the first aisle ran into Jay Cutler, Mr. Olympia 2006, 2007 and a former Arnold Classic winner. I had to take Jimmy's picture with him, and he was a really personable guy.
And these traps and arms are off season?!?!
We also met Dexter Jackson, Mr. Olympia 2008. For some reason, all the bodybuilders had huge watches. I guess the bigger the arm, the bigger the watch!
I must mention Lou Ferrigno, the incredible hulk. He looks great at age 57 and is much taller than I imagined.
There were male and female bodybuilders of all shapes and sizes at the show, competing and in the vendor booths. I don't think my camera memory card could have held all the inches of biceps and quads we witnessed. I have an appreciation for what it takes to build muscle, strip fat and go through the competition process. Some are tremendous athletes, and some are just jacked up. For that all I can say is Holy Steroids!
Now let's talk food. One of my favorite highlights was meeting and talking with Tosca Reno, creator of The Eat Clean Diet. This woman literally changed the way we eat for life, and I was excited to be able to tell her so. She is quite beautiful and a very gracious lady. Her story is amazing as she didn't start her own transformation until her forties and is now pushing fifty. Wow.
It was interesting how all the hotels and even the convention center made an effort to have extra protein on hand (they all advertised grilled chicken breast) and there were even hard-boiled eggs to be found. There was a really cool, one-stop-shop style market with every kind of food you can imagine being served, groceries, sundries, etc. called the North Market. We ate the best bison I've ever tasted at Ted's Montana Grill, just across from Nationwide Arena, where events were being held and Rampage Jackson fought Jardine in a UFC fight Saturday night (and won). I do have a confession though; we slipped in a great meal at La Fogata Grill (Mexican) and topped it off with salted caramel ice cream from Jeni's Ice Creams the last night we were there! Fortunately the weather was fantastic and we could walk everywhere we went, so that helped counteract the carborama.
Now for the expo. If you love sensory overload type events with huge crowds this is for you. (I happen to love it, the same way I love the chaos of the Las Vegas strip). There was an overabundance of supplement companies giving out samples of fat burners and other chemicals that do God-knows-what to your body, but there were others that had some very cool stuff. One vendor had The TRX Suspension Trainer System set up with a really fit guy doing demonstrations. We had already discovered this but it confirmed we want to get one as our present to each other for our anniversary. What, you don't think that's romantic? I was surprised though that only 2 vendors were highlighting kettlebells. I think they are still an underappreciated tool in the fat loss arsenal for anyone.
Overall this was a fun event for all ages. It definitely provided some renewed motivation and encouragement for me. Columbus is a nice, hospitable city with friendly people and we were in a very clean, safe area. We would definitely go back, so I would recommend it!
This post contains an affiliate link for the TRX Suspension Training System. The Eat Clean Diet book can be found in my Amazon Store. Please see my disclosure statement.
Complexes for Fat Loss Part II - Sample Complexes Posted using ShareThis
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