I've been reading through some of our most recent issues of Muscle&Fitness magazine looking for a complete plan to get ripped fast....and I found the perfect program. In the July 2009 issue of Muscle&Fitness (Hugh Jackman on the cover) there is a 4-week workout routine by Dr. Jim Stoppani, our M&F Science Editor. The workout is on page 152 and it's titled "It's Show Time". This is the 4-week "Show Time" training program to get lean quick. The workout is comprehensive and and also includes the cardio sessions to work hand in hand with the training to burn fat fast.
The only thing I was missing was the nutrition component but then Jim reminded me that on www.MuscleandFitness.com there is the 4-week "showtime" diet to go along with the training regimine. We will be posting both the workout and the nutrition program on www.muscleandfitnesstrainer.com so you can download the exact same plans. You can also reference the M&F RAW videos, by Dr. Jim Stoppani, for tips on some of the training techniques, including the "HIIT Training" that is referenced in the program.
Now I'm armed with all the information I need and this sounds like a perfect "Lab Rat" experiment. We'll see if I can put this information to the test....or maybe more acurately, put myself to the test. I know the training will work, I just need to put myself to work. I'll be starting the workouts this coming Monday. I'm going to try and get on here (blog) as much as possible during the four weeks and detail my workouts and nutrition. In the "Lab Rat" videos http://www.muscleandfitness.com/lab_rat/ I'll chronicle the workouts and my progress.
Wish me luck.
James, I changed my diet last June with great success and got a 6 pack. My problem is my face has gotten too thin looking and my muscle mass isnt wear I would like it. I am 51 years old 5 foot 9 and weigh 165. My typical diet is,
630 am a shake with 1 cup oatmeal, 2 scoops whey protein, 3 egg whites, 1 bannana.
930 am 5 ounces chicken breast, 1/2 cup brown rice.
workout at 1130am
post workout turkey breast sandwich on whole grain bread and protein shake 2 scoops whey protein.
3pm 1/2 cup brown rice and 1 can tuna.
6pm a vegatable, sweet potato, and either chicken or fish
9pm a protein shake.
I want to keep my 30 inch waist but get bigger muscle mass and have my face fill out.
Thanks,
Conte Stamas
Hi. Sounds like you've made some good progress. It's easy to get a little thin in the face sometimes when you're bodyfat drops really low. I can suggest two things, from my own personal experience, that might help with the lean muscle mass and also feeling too thin. The first thing I would do is add a little healthy fats back into your diet. If you look at my post with the Supplement Regimine that Dr. Stoppani put together, you'll see the CLA and the Fish Oils. Not only will these good fats help your body to burn fat but they are also good for your skin, hair, hormone production, etc. The other things I would suggest is getting some immediate fast-acting post-workout carbohydrates. If you go to the "showtime diet" which is available on the nutrition page of MuscleandFitness.com, and also MuscleandFitnessTrainer.com, you'll notice that there are some post-workout suggestions. There is a window of 20-30 minutes after your workout where your body and muscles are hungry to replenish glycogen stores. These extra carbohydrates will keep your muscles full and speed recovery. I'm not the science guy in the crew so my knowledge is limited but if you visit Jim Stoppani's blog he would be able to answer your questions more in depth.
Keep it up and good training. - James "Lab Rat" Grage
Hi james
Ive been looking all over the website and m&f trainer and cant find the show time workout and i dont have the issue it was in, where can i get a hold of the program?
cheers
Hey Dave. They were having some problems with the program loading on the muscleandfitnesstrainer site but it's all up and running now. Good luck with the program! Cheers
Quick question on showtime training,
Do you get 1 min rest between each pair of supersets? i.e Inc Press + Inc Flys rest 1 min repeat?
Or should it be inc press + inc flyes repeat, then 1 min rest after 3 sets of each.
Thanks
Hey. Sorry for the slow response. I haven't been on my blog in awhile. To answer your question, you'll want to do the 1-minute rest between each superset....so it would look like this:
Press+Fly superset
1 Min rest
Press+Fly superset
1 Min rest
Press+Fly superset
1 Min rest
Next set of supersetted exercises
BTW...the results are in. I finished the 4-weeks and it worked great! I'll be posting the video in the next few days. I'll also put all the data on my blog.