I have good news, friends. The answer to the above question is yes, you can eat junkfood and stay lean.
In some cases you can even eat junkfood and lose weight and fat.
I will share with you the secret to eating junkfood and staying lean and mean.
But first, let me show you a picture of me after having eaten junkfood almost daily for the past several months…..
In the weeks leading up to this picture I drank many coca-colas, drank many fruit smoothies, ate many Snickers bars, ate many strawberry pop-tarts, and ate many cans of Pringles sour cream n' onion chips.
Let me first make a couple of things clear, I do not binge eat, I do not eat junk daily, I typically do not eat junkfood more than one time in a day.
I have a calculated method for eating junk and not adding extra junk to my trunk. Also, I only eat the same few snacks, all mentioned above.
So you can eat junkfood and stay jacked but but but but but you cannot just stuff your face with anything and everything.
There has to be a rhyme and a reason to your junkfood eating madness. Without a rhyme or reason you will look like you belong in Walmart and not at the local beach party.
How to Eat Junkfood and Not Get Fat
#1) Do not be fat already
Obviously fatso's have emotional over-eating problems. They don't eat until satiated, they eat to gluttonous excess. They binge eat to quiet the demons, or something.
I don't care why they eat so much, the point is that if you want to eat junkfood and be lean YOU MUST NOT BINGE EAT ALL THE TIME.
Fat people should take drastic measures to lose their lard, and that is the subject of another article. In this article we will share how normal men can enjoy some tasty treats and not develop a spare tire around the midsection.
#2) Don't binge eat, and eat your junkfood at night
Again, this must be stated. DON'T BINGE EAT! Eat your snack, enjoy it, and then quit. The way to not binge eat is to only buy what you want to eat that evening.
Do not buy a weeks worth of snacks and keep them in the cupboard, that weeks worth of snacks you were clever enough to buy ahead of time can easily turn into two days worth of snacks.
If you want junkfood, buy it one day at a time and eat it at night. If you eat it during the day you will often think to yourself “well, that sure was good. I should go get some more” and then you will have all day to think about eating some more snacks.
When you eat at night, before bed, you are tired and won't want to leave to go pickup more junkfood. Don't buy a ton of junk to eat at night, buy enough to satiate your junk hunger and call it quits.
#3) Eat sugary junkfood pre-workout
Typically the only time I will eat sugary chocolate bars is when I am heading to the gym and I am hungry. I will often grab two Snickers bars and eat them on the way to the gym IF, and only IF, I am very hungry and need energy.
I don't do this everyday, only when I am hungry and need some calories to lift. Then I go to the gym and lift like a maniac and burn through all those sugar calories.
#4) Eat less fat and fewer carbohydrates
If you know you are going to snack then you need to eat less fat calories and less carbohydrate calories on that day, and replace those calories with junkfood calories. A calorie is not just a calorie, HOWEVER I am not convinced that there is any difference between 200 calories of pop-tarts and 200 calories of brown rice.
If you want to eat junkfood snacks that evening then skip the portion of carbohydrates with your dinner. It's as simple as replacing your dinner carbs with your snack carbs. I know all the paleo diet gurus will tell you otherwise but they are full of shit and the big-time paleo gurus are ripped because they use human growth hormone, not because they eat steel cut oatmeal.
#5) Do not eat snacks in addition to your regular meals, eat snacks in place of meals
Cliff's Notes version - Replace fat or carbohydrates with junkfood. You may also skip carb or fat meals at different times throughout the day. Just remember that when you want to eat junkfood you need to remove a carb or fat meal from somewhere else. Replace the calories, don't add additional calories.
Long version - Yes, you can replace your meals with junkfood but with a twist. Be sure to eat your protein. You can skip the carbs and fat but you need to get your protein in. It is often said on bodybuilding websites that you need to eat 1 gram of protein per each pound of bodyweight.
The world's greatest protein drink is liquid pasteurized egg whites that you buy in a carton at your local grocery mart. They are pure protein, they are clean and pasteurized, they are cheap enough and, more importantly, THEY WORK!
Note - The world's greatest snack is hardboiled eggs. Sometimes I replace meals with snacks because I am on the run and can't wait for my maid to cook my chicken and rice. I will just grab 2-4 hardboiled eggs and 2 Snickers bars and go on my way. Something about hardboiled eggs really makes you full.
You can drink egg whites all day and night with no problem but after you eat 4 hardboiled eggs you are just plain full. You can cook up a bunch of hardboiled eggs and toss them in the fridge and grab a few whenever you need something to eat. And they just happen to be a little healthier than junkfood.
Next time you want to snack, eat some hardboiled eggs first (don't eat the yolks if you plan to also eat junkfood) and you will not eat as much junk as you would normally. This method is tried, true, tested and perfected by yours truly.
Example meals - If you typically eat chicken, broccoli and rice for dinner but you want to eat junkfood what you would do is simply eat chicken and broccoli and then eat your snack, skipping the rice.
If you typically eat a 5 egg omelette for dinner and you want to eat junkfood as well what you can do is make a 7 egg omelette, but only use one or two egg yolks and 5 egg whites and then eat your junkfood snack.
#6) Lift weights like a man
Obviously you should be in the gym most days per week, liftin' weights and burnin' cals. Cardio can be utilized if extra fat burning is required, and it is best done first thing in the morning on an empty stomach.
Personally, I don't do any cardio and I rely on my lifting sessions to keep me fit. Unless you're really, really super trying to get lean (or you are fat) then cardio isn't necessary. Weights will be enough for the average fella to stay lean and mean and be able to enjoy some tasty treats every now and again.
Body of a Spartan is the best program on the planet to help you get lean and mean, and in fact I was much leaner when I was following that program than I am right now, but as long as you hit the weights with fire and energy then you should be good.
#7) Use Fat Burners
Obviously if you want to eat junk you need to increase your metabolism. So here's how you do it: Take 2 Red Burners in the morning.
This will give you extra energy so you can train harder in the gym, it can increase your metabolism and it can heat your body up - causing you to burn more calories.
#8) BONUS: Coconut Smoothie Recipe
Coconut smoothies are the most delicious drink on the face of the earth, and now you will be able to make your very own.
Ingredients needed: coconut, blender, ice, sugar, condensed milk
- Buy a coconut
- Open the coconut with a machete or chainsaw
- Pour the coconut water into a blender
- Use a spoon to scoop out all the coconut meat from inside the coconut into the blender
- Pour ice into the blender (1-2 cups)
- Pour condensed milk into the blender (1-2 spoons worth)
- Pour sugar water into the blender -
*heat a mug half-filled with water in the microwave for 2.5 minutes, put about 5-6 spoonfulls of table sugar into the hot water and stir it well - add this sugar water concoction to your coconut smoothie, the amount you will add is taste dependent. You can put a lid on your sugar water, put it in the fridge and use it again next time. - Blend, pour, drink and enjoy your fresh coconut smoothie
I always drink my coconut smoothies post workout.
For an extra protein kick you can add liquid egg whites to your coconut smoothie. Egg whites do not degrade the flavor and they give you your post workout protein.
It's a win-win situation and everybody's happy.
Enjoy.
I use jelly sweets to get a large portion of my carbs on workout days, with the odd chocolate bar on rest days - all following the mantra of IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros). As you say, it’s fine as long as you are not having the junk on top of your normal food.
I do a similar tactic by just adding apples. When i want to snack i get my protein from chicken or beef and then eat 2-3 apples and a certain amount of jelly sweets or some other sweet. If i want some more jellies i eat another 3 apples.And it goes on. Its kind of effective with cutting binge eating because you will be bored of eating so many apples. No apples=no snacks. I now consiously stop at 3 apples and a sweet.
Pro-tip:
Have a super-fit Asian hottie prepare your coconut smoothie while you kick back on the couch!
haha, that’s exactly 100% how I make my smoothies.
tim says
Great tips, thanks.
Good read, I dont even bring the shit into the house, if I want ice cream I’ll go out to eat it someplace. I too agree that cheat meals should be done at night, simply because having them earlier in the day spikes insulin levels to such a degree that your extremely sluggish and overtired all day long. I train much better when I’ve gone a few hrs without a meal, and good reason too. When your body is trying to digest food during a workout its making more work for itself instead of just lifting weights. I can see something small and fast like a Snickers bar (I myself wouldnt do it, but I’m not as well rounded as you are either Vic, LOL) Protien powders, most are garbage and yes I agree the liquid egg whites are much better if you can afford them. I have found Dymatize Elite to be a very good protien powder though IMO. Its actually FDA regulated and tested (unlike most others) and I digest it very well. Most protien powders bloat me, but I drank that Dymatize right up until my last competition and was bone dry shredded and pumped. Now pre-workout drinks are some straight up bullshit!! Jack3D, No Xplode, whatever, they are all just overpriced arginine, caffeine, and Niacin, with some kool aid mixed in. I did away with them years ago. I either have 1 of 2 different energy drinks if I need them, black coffee with a few ephedrine HCL tabs (check out guerillajack.com, sweet fucking deals on that shit, and ephedrine HCL destroys sports marketed ephedrine IMO) also Rock Star sugar free energy drinks, those Rock Star drinks beat those pre-workouts all to hell!!! Really good post my man, shows what getting lean is all about, making compromises with yourself!!
I much prefer working on an an empty belly, but there are days here and there where I’m just flat out starving and need something before the gym. But I always, always, always train the best an an empty belly. I was going to say I had never heard of dymatize but I googled it for a pic and, I’ll be damned, I have a tub of it sitting on my fridge. A buddy of mine left town and I inherited a bunch of his tuna and protein and rice and stuff. I used the dymatize for a while, I’m willing to give most things a try, but now it’s been sitting on the fridge for months now. Small world, I have a post coming up and I mention ephedrine and gorillajack.com (unfortunately they will not ship to me). The thai’s use ephedrine to make this meth shit called yaba so, as near as I can figure, ephedrine in illegal here. In the same place you can buy dildos on the street you can’t buy cough medicine, go figure. Currently I only use music to get pumped up for a workout, I barely drink coffee anymore. 10 or 15 minutes with the headphones on before gym time and I’m ready to kill.
Fit John says
Meth is ephedrine without an OH group. It’s extremely chemically similar.
So what you’re saying is you live in Thailand?
Did you come here to give me snark? Change your name if you want to comment here and converse like a man.
Victor I gotta say man you are jacked so props to that, although I know you juice but still you gotta work at it so well done on that. But what is the deal with the puckered lips duck facial expression? You’ve got your lips all pushed out like a facebook skank.
Also what is up with your kitchen man? I know you live like a spartan but holy shit I thought you’d have a nicer place than that, with a real stove instead of an electrical hot plate like I used to have in my dorm at Cornell. I know you’re all about “Fuck unnecessary luxuries” but holy shit, you’re in Thailand. You must be able to afford something better than that. There’s living like a spartan and living in a shithole. Which one are you doing Victor?
haha! Blames the Asians, don’t blame me. That’s how stoves are in Asia, none of them have real ones. It’s all hot plates. Kitchens here are tiny and everyone buys their food on the street. I have never even seen a place with an oven. I live in a high rise condo with 500 security guards that salute you every time you come and go, cameras everywhere, fingerprint scanning for entry, big beautiful pool (see here: https://boldanddeterminedarchive.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/DSC_0125.jpg) and I pay more in rent than most people here make in 2 months salary. But the kitchen sucks, 100%.
re: the puckered lips, a million people have said that to me. I don’t even notice it. I guess that’s just how my face looks. I never smile in pictures, ever. I do only a shit-eating grin fake smile.
Looks pretty nice Victor. Do you swim a lot?
Also I dunno where you are but certainly you can find a condo in Bangkok with a super nice western style kitchen. I lived in one for six months a few years back. It even had a huge american style fridge. Although it was pretty pricey for Thailand, about 70k baht for a 1BR duplex.
James, in true Thai fashion they closed the pool for one month to paint - to be reopened in one month they said. That was 4 months ago. I leave town about once every 3-4 weeks and make sure to stay somewhere with a nice pool where I can get some good sun. And you are right, you can find a place with a terrific kitchen, but I’m not going to spend that much.
Kieran says
Victor, I love the blog but there’s a glaring error in this post…
“I know all the paleo diet gurus will tell you otherwise but they are full of shit and the big-time paleo gurus are ripped because they use human growth hormone, not because they eat steel cut oatmeal.”
It seems you do not know the principles of the Paleo diet as steel cut oatmeal sure as hell isn’t Paleo. Paleo contains NO grains at all… So I’d edit that as it looks stupid. The steak & eggs diet you were following actually fits into Paleo… And Paleo is typically low carb due to 0 grains and sugar.
I can get behind that, I’m 100% positive oatmeal is poison. Gruel was a better name for it.
Gruel was technically hemp-meal.
This is exactly what I do! Last night I ate chicken in tomato sauce so I could eat some chocolate I got given. Works like a charm.
Mind if I ask how your Internet Business is going Vic? You certainly look financially stable.
Hi Russ, I live completely off of my internet income. How are things going with you?
Congrats Vic, that’s a real achievement. Hope you continue to build.
I’m getting by on a Spartan budget. Launching my first software product in April. Booked an open ended ticket to China mid-August, in time for the new School year, going to TESL to support myself and give me more time to work on my business.
Another great post. I might sound a little crazy, but my junk food secret is pushups.
If I eat junk, like my favorite (Gummy Bears) I do extra pushups. If I drink a beer, I wash it down with 20 pushups and a glass of water.
Intermittent Fasting + Lifting Weights + Not Already Being Fat = Eating Like A King. Whatever the hell you want.
Keep up the kick ass posts. 2013 has been a bunch of ass kicking.
I used to do that too, I forgot all about it!
Hi VP, this is a good article.
My question is if I am a naturally skinny ectomorph (not skinny fat, skinny skinny) do I need to worry about what I eat at all? Can I just eat everything (including the basic protein/fat/carbs of course) and lift heavy like a beast? Is this the “shotgun approach”?
Or do I still have to abstain like meso and endo type guys?
he already said this so many times, yes if youre skinny skinny eat everything in sights
Man what’s up with that long dirty hippie hair?? ahaha just kidding, great post as always!
A young lady looked at my hair and said she thinks I will have male pattern baldness in 10 years. I had been shaving it with a zero guard for many months prior, and had a high n tight for many months prior to that. I had to grow it out, survey the damage, assess the situation and see if preventative measures were needed. Turns out my hair is as thick and full as a Lion’s mane. Joke is on her.
Victor,
Due to certain circumstances that are far too extensive to get into, I am not able to go to the gym to lift weights. Yes I have a gym membership and indeed I was following Body Of A Spartan (highly recommended) for many months and put on an unheard of amount of muscle mass.
The question I pose to you now is; what is the possibility of gaining muscle mass through body weight exercises alone at my casa everyday? Not medicine ball crunches with pussy-footed cardio, no, but rather push-ups/pull-ups/sit-ups/jail house shoulder and bicep desk-pulls. Would be interested to hear your thoughts.
Second question; $7 on 7, any chance of that or a revamped version coming back brother? Interested in purchasing that personally.
It should also be known that I am a user of pro-hormones.
Look forward to hearing from you
Mike
Mike, guys in prison get jacked doing pushups all damn day. Pushups, pullups, situps, handstand pushiups and dips will get you jacked. But you’ve got to do a bunch of them. Anyone who can do pushups for 30 mins to an hour straight is going to be very, very jacked.
re: $7 on 7, I don’t have an answer for that right now. Take care, and good luck.
@Victor
This proves to be true on a personal level, but doesn’t necessarily fit the question to the extent I was asking.
(If you’re in a rush, scroll to the bottom of my post for a summary)
When I was in for two months for a minor charge, my cellmate and I did bodyweight exercises for hours a day, split up between meals and rec. time. We were jacked there’s no doubt about it, but my question for you was in regards to the viability of adding muscle mass through bodyweight exercises rather than gaining straight muscular endurance and giving off the ‘jacked’ image.
Being in for only two months did not allow enough time to accurately measure the results of bodyweight exercises for muscle mass addition. And yes, the guys that were ‘big’ and not just ripped, or jacked, were using roids. They aren’t as popular in jail as you may think, but they are certainly there and relevant to this discussion.
Summary: have you ever done bodyweight exercises alone for more than a couple months and seen visible muscle mass addition?
@$7on7 - Will be on the lookout for it if you come up with an answer in the future.
Look forward to speaking with you
Mike
Mike,
No I have never done bw only exercises, I have always lifted.
Rhonda says
Love the coconut smoothie recipe. I found a sweet little store locally where I can buy young coconuts by the case… and drink them like I used to drink cokes!
With a little practice, they’re almost as easy to open as a pop-top coke can. Really. And did you know that during WWII, coconut water was actually used as emergency IV’s? True story. I did a post about it called “The ultimate combination pop-top sports drink and intravenous blood plasma substitute - can your sports drink do that?”
Here’s the link:
http://wp.me/p2rBtv-ka
Great post. Looks like a hot chick lady to serve your smoothie too.
Mike, I think I can best answer your question about bodyweight exercises. Simply put, yes you can be in extraordinary shape from bodyweight exercises alone but BIG? All depends on what you consider big. 175-200 lbs lean, yes. 200 + lbs from bodyweight exercise alone? doubtful, unless accompanied with some bodyfat. The food in prison is awful, most guys that go in actually get fatter unless they exercise like crazy to burn off the bullshit. But the food is very high in salt and lacks protien. Also hard to get enough quality calories at times on just 3 meals/day. Yes, there is protien powder you can buy but you couldnt buy enough to drink a couple shakes/day on the $3/day you make in the joint The serious guys locked up do some really crazy shit to get extra calories, they drink bread yeast packets, work deals out with other inmates for food, have visitors send them things, etc etc.
Inmates dont just do bodyweight exercises either, they have other inmates apply resistance to them. For example, you can take a towel and one guy can do tricep pressdowns while the other does bicep curls at the same time, working against each other. Or you can sit feet to feet on the floor and do a simulated cable row with the towel where one guy rows and the other guy bends forward, then vice versa. Squats are performed with someone sitting on your shoulders, its like squatting with 200-250 lbs, and for added resistance 2 guys stack up on your shoulders, just like squatting with 405, even harder. Dumbbells can be made out of pillow cases and the weights can be adjusted by how many books you put in the pillow cases, bibles make the heaviest ones, especially the Koran bible because its like a 20 lb book!! The handles for the dumbbells can be conveniently made from toilet paper dispenser rollers. So not all inmates just do bodyweight exercises, just the tiny little dumb fucks that the more innovative weightlifters such as myself, used to fuck in the ass!!!
@john doe
Yes I believe you did indeed answer my question quite thoroughly so thank you for that.
Look forward to more upcoming posts from Vic. Rumor has it that one is coming up fairly shortly here?
I’ll be in touch.
Mike
btw, that last part was a joke Mike!!!
@john doe
Hahaha I caught the humor in that one brother.
But good tips and well appreciated overall.
Thanks
Mike
Thom says
How much does it cost you to live the life you do in Thailand? How little could you spend if you were determined to?
After living in Thailand, do you ever think you’ll be handle to living in the States again?
This is a question that requires more details to answer. My cliff’s notes version: in Bangkok to need bare minimum 1k usd to live an ok life, but you will NOT be living like a king. You will be broke. In Chiang Mai you need MINIMUM $500 per month and you wil be broke. Pattaya, don’t live in Pattaya. Phuket is about the same as Bangkok or slightly more expensive than Bangkok, restaurants there are very expensive. The islands, I don’t know. Probably pretty cheap but claustrophobic. If you want to live well in BKK I would say you need to start at 2k per month minimum, but I am positive you COULD live on less. I would not personally want to live anywhere other than Bangkok. Chiang Mai is the hippie capital of the world, Pattaya is the brothel of the world, Phuket is the 2nd whore capital of the world and the #1 Aussie juicehead capital of the world. Fun for a weekend, but not fit to live in.
Fit John says
#2 whore capital, no wonder why they call it Fuck-it.
I had always heard Chang Mai was a good place and a lot of digital nomads and entrpreneurs hung out there. Guess somebody is talking shit.
What do you consider broke ass poor? Eating at home? Room sharing? Not being able to afford to go out?
“(100% of the white girls in asia are fat pig cows). ”
Fuck, I don’t have yellow fever and I love white girls. I hate the over priced shit hole than is Australia right now and want to go somewhere else where I am not supporting 500 new immigrants through my taxes.
“I had always heard Chang Mai was a good place and a lot of digital nomads and entrpreneurs hung out there. Guess somebody is talking shit.”
100% true, but they’re all hippies.
“What do you consider broke ass poor? Eating at home? Room sharing? Not being able to afford to go out?”
Living in a dirty room(s) and barely being able to eat.
Hmmm….can’t help you about Australia. Eastern Europe?
Thom says
“Living in a dirty room(s) and barely being able to eat.” So, basically, the truly authentic live like a local experience. Think I’ll pass thanks.
Do you know if there are any of those teach english scams and whether the pay is liveable. I’m looking at a year or two before my gig starts paying.
“Living in a dirty room(s) and barely being able to eat.” So, basically, the truly authentic live like a local experience.
Yes, exactly. “living like a Thai” means being broke as a joke. The pay for a teacher is livable, because there are teachers here who are alive. They all look broke though, from what I hear the pay for an english teacher here is terrible.
Is Ho Chi Minh City suitable to live in or at least more than Chiang Mai?
Personally I don’t care for HCMC.
Fit John says
Hey Vic, did you ever see Office space and American Beauty? Off topic but they speak to the bold and detrimned mindset.
Yes, I’ve seen them. Office Space is hilarious.
Pattaya and Phuket here I come baby!!!! Vic, is it actually pronounced like “fuck-it”? or is it pu-ket? Wondering if the P is pronounced as an F sort of like Phyzer pharmaceuticals. BEcause that would just be awesome if a whore capital was called “fuck it”
Poo-Kett, with emphasis on both syllables.
Vic, do you find that foreign women are more attracted to muscles than Americans? As a white male myself, and 225 lbs single digit bodyfat, I seem to find I attract other ethnicities more so than white chicks
answer pending.
I haven’t been in the States much in the past two years so I won’t talk about white girls (100% of the white girls in asia are fat pig cows). In Asia the way I look is a BIG benefit to me for sure BUT BUT BUT when I see a little cutie that I like she will often be with another farang, and he never, ever looks like me (except for when the guys in the gym bring their piece with them). In a nutshell, it probably doesn’t make too much difference. They are into for sure, 100%, but they’re probably more into my white skin, big nose, height, and my ability to give them a light skinned baby with blue eyes and brown hair. Oh, and an American citizenship. Last time I was in the States I was blown away by how big everyone was. I went to the local bar and 10+ fellas were juiced up AND taller than me (I’m 6’1). It’s not so exotic in the States. White birds are used to it, Asian birds are used to Asian fellas who are half the size of me….on the other hand you might be too big, 225 single digits is huge. On the other other hand white girls are spoiled rotten.
220 is my goal weight and I’ll probably scare the shit out of these little girls. I’m currently at two hundo, if I lost a few % bf I would be at the perfect movie star weight.
On a side note, I met Gary Strydom in the gym yesterday, there is no way on earth that guy is beating birds off with a stick, he’s huge. Too big is scary to a lot of birds.
PS - It’s a real nice thing to hear “you are so big!” and not have any sarcasm or snark underneath it. Asian girls are so blissfully free of sarcasm and nastiness.
Fit John says
Fuck yes, I just accepted a Job offer in Bejing, My parents will be ready to disown me when they find out.
Congrats brother.
you say cardio is worthless all the time, but what about for people with shitty lungs? i’m not fat, not a smoker, but i’ve been hospitalized 5 times in the last year due to incurable lung problems that i was born with. i dont wanna let it stop me from becoming jacked but how are you supposed to lift weights like a beast if you cant even take a full breath?
In that case I would say you should do cardio to strengthen your lungs. When I say cardio is pointless what I really mean is jogging is pointless when it comes to burning fat.
Carl Mason-Liebenberg says
You may argue that you can eat junk food and stay lean but I will argue that you canot eat junk food and remain healthy for life…lean does NOT equal healthy!
Not to sound rude, but I think most of the men that follow Vic’s blog would rather Die Young as an above average lean machine, instead of living for a little longer as an average shapely american male.
“Live fast, die young, and leave a good looking corpse”
Cardio is not needed to be lean and have good breathing function. Just shorten your rest intervals between sets, supersets, or circuits. Nothing wrong with killing 2 birds with 1 stone, its all about heart rate and there are plenty of ways to lift weights to elevate the heart rate to a level just as beneficial as cardio
Victor, it’s Friday morning here in the states. Most folks are waiting for five o’clock. I’m not. I howled a supreme OWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW this morning. Fired up! Thanks for an awesome blog.
C.B.
Fuckin’ A, brother!
On the cardio/poor lungs issue: I wonder if intense, short-burst exercises would be better than long, sustained cardio. For example, uphill sprints (walk downhill and catch your breath in between), sets of burpees, plyometrics, etc. Exercise intensely until you breathe heavily, take a short break, then repeat. Both Dr. Al Sears and Dr. Joseph Mercol say this is far superior to “marathon cardio” in other regards and show a lot of data/studies to back their claims. Sears in particular talks about this kind of exercise and the importance of strong lungs. If nothing else, you may want to combine this with more traditional cardio.
I agree with what you’ve written, chicken and broccoli only get you so far. In my personal experience your body wants rich calorie foods beef and steak roast potatoes pasta ice cream basically anything that isn’t sugar. As someone who lifts and eats you know what your body needs to grow, you know what makes you fat and soft, all that’s needed is some common sense and you can get away with junk.
Combine common sense and a few months on tren ace, that would be a good article
Something that some of you guys need to realize is there will come a point when your basically maxed out on size genetically, and this point is usually within about 5 yrs of lifting weights. Even with supplements or any chemical assistance, I’d say for the average lifter your at about 95% of your maximum POSSIBLE size after 5 years of lifting weights consistently. I’ve been hard at it for 16 yrs, and my arms are probably 1/2″ bigger than they were 12 years ago, and I’ve tried everything. My belief is that once you hit this point after your first 5 years, your far better off carving the diamond from then on, rather than trying everything including “willing” your muscles to grow larger. The reward is far greater with conditioning and “carving the diamond” rather than continued hope and yo-yo attempts at any more gains. I look at it like a sniper rifle vs. a shotgun bast. The shotgun blasters will pack on a quick 20 lbs of fat and bloat and they may hear a few comments on “man you got huge” but then they yo-yo diet to lose the junk weight or stay puffy and chalk it up as “bulking” where a rife blaster will keep it smooth and steady while eating clean, and he may only put on 5 lbs of muscle in a year vs. the other guys 20 lbs of junk weight. But when the shirts come off the guy with the sniper rifle will be far more impressive. My .02
You get hold of legit ‘juice’ out in Thailand ,if you kn ow what I mean.
Great stuff Victor. I’d love to chat sometime about startup business and exercise. I think we would be able to swap some really good ideas.
I know it’s a running post but I think this mentality really goes a lot in line with what you preach here on the site: Why should we think failure is good?
http://teachtorun.com/2013/02/16/why-failure-is-good-in-life-and-running/
Hey Victor,
Very nice tips out there!
I had a question about The Spartan Entrepreneur, it says that it is sold out. Is there any chance I can buy a copy?
I’m waitin for that too, any extra income is always good
bro… huge freakin fan.. been following since the beginning… but who’s shittin who… pride yourself on being a man and come clean on what your on… you didn’t get that jacked just on eggs and steaks… we all want to know… I want to get on what your taking…
^When I can write about it in a way that I feel is responsible I will do it. Cross my heart and hope to die.
much respect Victor…no lie, I was surprised you accepted the comment… I’m going to hold you to that.. I know your a man of your word
Damn, I’m sitting right here drinking a coconut smoothie and that thing is a lot better then I expected.
Hello Victor. Reading Your blog i became very intertested in fasting and keto diet. I have found this article that suggest that diet without sacharides kill cancer cells as they can only metabolise glucose.
I consider it very interesting : http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/healthscience/2012/december/starving-cancer-ketogenic-diet-a-key-to-recovery/
great physique victor,you look like a fitness model!!do you have picture before steroids??i want to see the difference and how you look like all natural!!
See the latest post entitled Be Somebody with a Body to see pictures of me less than muscular.
i saw the pictures,at the first six it is obvious that you are very young and your body looks nothing special(i imagine that you had just started the gym),but at the last two you dont look natural…
Just read your post and loved it! Goes along with Kiefer’s carb backloading but is a hell of a lot easier and no supplements (he has about 20 that you need to take for it to be effective). Quick question though since I don’t have to shoot for 185 grams of protein per day (my bodyweight) How much protein should I be eating? I was thinking a carton of egg whites to break the fast after 16-18 hours of no food, then dinner would be a pound of meat and veggies, and then toss in cookies,ice cream, scones, etc. To get my needed carbs for the day. Does this sound like a reasonable plan, so I can eat some of the foods I like, and not have to eat white rice every night for dinner! Also do you still so your cheat day even when using this type of set up because you are eating foods you like everyday? Thank you for your help with this. Your minimalistic style is awesome, and cuts through the nonsense of the current fitness world!
Rob, sounds fine to me.
So jogging on the treadmill doesn’t burn fat? I’m a woman and I frequently weight train. I feel like I get more bloated when I don’t run….
kiri says
wow.. man a chainsaw to open a coconut? o.o’ well… thats pretty brave if you ask me lol.
The are pure protein, they are clean and pasteurized, they are cheap enough and, more importantly, THEY WORK! There is no other protein drink I will ever recommend and if you see me recommend something else it will be because I have sold my soul.
Typo in the first word. I’d also tell you if you had spinach in your teeth. I’m gonna buy some pasteurized egg whites and give it a go.
Unrelated, I am getting my T checked by doctor next week. My coworkers think I’m nuts. I’m starting to think I should talk less about the things i am learning from your blog. They seem radical to closed minds. However, I want to share what I learn with other guys so that they can have a better quality of life, the same way I am learning to.
Any thought? Thanks for your time.
Frankly I wouldn’t bother sharing with too many others, esp. at your work place. They won’t listen, won’t care, don’t have the ability to comprehend. The only way to tell if someone is worth it is if they express desire for more, then you will have found a like mind.
Jennyjae says
Am I the only female that loves this blog?
Ángel says
Well i dont know yet if this is good idea or bad idea :( but my brain and HUNGER fot junk food is so huge that i think this article is WHAT I WANTED TO HEAR :3 having baaad times since started my new gym life style … never did befo. Plus im veeery addicted to chips and sweets AND cigarretes.. (clean since 2 months of em’ …) AHEM and just to everybody knows im not fat but i have belly … this is fat too aite? :O oh well … thanks for the advice at least SOUNDS logical.
Hello,
I have really taken an interest in body weight fitness, and I have heard on here before that it is possible to become a sick motherfucker this way. One time you wrote that someone who can do 30-45 minutes of push-ups will be jacked and put on muscle. However, everyone else says that you need low reps high resistance to build any muscle. This doesn’t really make sense (jacked gymnasts) but at the same time doing that many push-ups is just endurance training, so I really can’t make heads or tails of any of this shit. Can you?
ash says
What??
Coconut smoothie for a pre workout, with six Tea spoons of sugar water lol? And milk..
Greek yogurt two bananas an apple 50g of oats some whole milk surely would be better if we wanna stay off the whey.
Junk food is what it is it isn’t great for you but if you eat clean a few biscuits a couple days a week aren’t going to hurt
you have to have enough discipline to be like of today I’m gonna eat clean no junk if we can’t do that then we probably won’t achieve much in anything #discipline
James e says
It’s a scam to get you to buy the products he promotes.
He’s probably a beach whale couch potato?