ECA stack

Have you ever tried doing the ECA stack? ECA stands for Ephedrine, Caffeine and Asprin.

The main idea is that when all three items are taken at the same time then they provide a synergetic affect that allows you to burn more calories and therefore increase your chances of burning more fat.

Wikipedia has a good definition.

2-3 times a day you would take about 20mg of Ephedrine; 200mg of caffeine and about 81mg of asprin (baby asprin).

This is the cheaper alternative than buying an off the shelf product like Hydroxycut which no longer has ephedrine.

Forget the P90X for now

Well it's on! I followed my normal Day 1 routine on Monday (Chest/Back/Abs) and I'll be moving to my Day 2 routine (Legs/Calves/Abs) on Wednesday!

I just have to pick up some whey protein powder in order to ensure that I get enough protein supplements for my diet.

P90x workout

I'm thinking about doing the P90x workout for 90days. It gets away from my 5 week plan, but perhaps a change will be good.

I've been on vacation for the last 3 weeks and I'm BBQ'ed out. I'll keep you posted next week if I go ahead with the change in plans in order to incorporate the p90x workout or if I stick with my 5 week plan.

Summer vacation

I hope that you are taking time off for yourself and actually enjoying the summer. We will be starting the program all over near the end of August. If you plan on thoroughly enjoying the summer and need to turn that 12 pack back into a 6 pack then be sure to follow us once again as we venture toward the land of fitness and lifestyle balance.

So how did you do?

So how was your 5 week program? Did you manage to stay with the workouts and maintain focus on the goal. I'll admit that there were days that I skipped due to work priorities, family committments, and even the occassional sick day.

I find it much easier to stick to a shortened goal and see gradual progress. I'm going to start this all over again this weekend.

I still don't have the chiseled abs, but I'm able to comfortably tuck in a dress shirt into a pair of dress pants...while losing about one notch on my belt.

If you'd like to share some of your experiences while doing the program then please send me an email to: businessintelligencecentre@gmail.com and I'll post your feedback.

Stay tuned for round two!

Wed April 16

I ended up working out in the afternoon and had a great shoulders/traps/arms workout. I still need to focus more on my cardio. It's taking me 45-50 minutes to do the weight workout, so I'll either need to do the cardio at a seperate time or I'll need to bring a workout snack. This will give me a boost of energy after doing the weights.

April 12

I did the Workout 1 on the Saturday morning. The gym opens at 8am instead of 5:30am on the weekends, so I guess I was able to sleep in!

I had a solid chest/back/abs workout combined with 20 intensive minutes of cardio on the eliptical machine. I need a towel for the next time!

Last night I had a choice to eat pizza or a bbq chicken sandwich with salad. I feel as if I'm gaining momentum so I chose the bbq chicken sandwich to keep my progress climbing.

The good news is that I wore a suit on Thursday that 2 months ago didn't fit me. I can feel my body tightening but it's not as I dropped 20lbs overnight. I may have lost 2-3 lbs but I can feel my body shape changing. Let's keep it going.

April 7 & 8th

April 7

I had a choice to either hit the gym or deal with a family matter. The family matter won.

April 8

I was up at 5:12am and I proceeded straight to the gym. I had a great chest/back/ab workout. I'm taking some creatine before and after my workout, however when you mix in a 20 minute cardio session with my 45-50min weights workout, then I think that I need to start eating something light during my workout. My goal is to gain lean muscle so perhaps I should be drinking a protein shake that is mixed with water to have some food energy. Normally, I would snack on an apple prior to the workout just to have some type of energy.

Day 3

Day 3 was focusing on my shoulers, traps, and arms. I was still feeling a bit of tightness from my Day 2 workout on my legs. The key once again was to make it to the gym before 6am. Today I was there around 5:40am and I decided to do my 20+ minutes of cardio.

I stepped onto the eliptical and did a jog / sprint approach. This meant that I did a 5 minute warmup going about 70% of my maximum and then I would do 60 seconds at a sprinting pace followed by 2 minutes of a jogging pace. My goal with this exercise is to do a 60 second split for the jog and sprint.

Since I missed Day 1 I'm going to miss my day off and go to the gym tomorrow. Consistency is the key.

Day 2

I woke up at about 5:30am and brushed my teeth before heading out the door. I started off with a typical 10minute warmup on the eliptical machine. I did Workout 2, so I was focusing on my legs and abs.

It felt like a huge accomplishment being able to make it to my workout first thing in the morning. A solid workout required a solid breakfast. I had a bowl of instant oats with raisins and 5 egg whites mixed with mushrooms. MMMMM!

We're back on track.

Day 1

I set the alarm the night before, but it didn't go off! That wasn't in the plan book. My goal was to get to the gym before 6am, but that didn't happen. I had to cut my losses and not take my Wednesday rest day.

Tomorrow will be better!

What is whey protein?

What is creatine?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creatine

Creatine as a supplement will increase the amount of fluid your muscles store, causing a bulkier look and feel. It also increases the amount of energy you have. Creatine is naturally created in the body to be used in the chemical process of forming ATP, energy. A supplement of creatine simple add more fuel for energy.

As for definition, creatine will not necessarily help with this. You may want to supplement with it to add muscle, then cycle off and perform a workout routine that concentrates on toning. (Build bigger muscles, then tone up, leads to greater definition.) Be sure to drink plenty of water with the creatine and avoid caffeine. Caffeine dilutes the creatine and inhibits the absorption into the body, thus you simply urinate it all out.

You should have little difficulty buying a 99% to 100% pure creatine from either a health food store or even your local mega store. I personally would take creatine starting in week 2 and then cycle until the end of week 5. As I said in an earlier blog post -- be sure to drink lots of water. It is also not recommended to mix your pure creatine in any acidic beverages such as orange juice.

Weeks 4-5 Workout 2 Chest + Shoulders + Arms + Abs

Exercise Sets Reps
Incline Barbell Press 3 15, 10, 8
Flat Bench Dumbbell Press 3 10, 10, 10 * pushups to failure
Peck Deck Flye 2 15, 15
Machine Overhead Press 3 15, 10, 8
Cable Lateral Raise 2 10, 10
Reverse Pec-Deck Flye 2 10, 10
Weighted Bench Dip 3 10, 10, 8
Lying Triceps Extension 2 10, 10
Barbell Curl 3 12, 10, 8
EZ Bar Preacher Curl 2 12, 10
Hanging Knee Raise (med ball in knees) 3 15, 15, 15
Cable Crunch 3 15, 15, 15

Workout 3 -- Shoulders + Traps + Arms + Abs

Exercise Sets Reps
Overhead Dumbell Press 3 15, 10, 8
Dumbell Lateral Raise 2 10, 10
Bent-over Lateral Raise 2 10, 10
Barbell Shrug 3 12, 10, 8
Close Grip Bench Press 3 12, 10, 8
w/ Rope Pressdown 3 10, 10, 10
Barbell Curl 3 12, 10, 10
w/ Dumbbell Hammer Curl 3 10, 10, 10
Reverse Crunch 2 15, 15
Machine Crunch 2 15, 15

Workout 2 -- Legs + Calves + Abs

Exercise Sets Reps
Squat 4 15, 12, 8, 8
Hack Squat 3 12, 10, 10
Romanian Deadlift 3 12, 10, 10
Lying Leg Curl 2 12, 10
Standing Calf Raise 3 15, 15, 15
Decline Weighted Crunch 2 20, 20
Straight Leg Crunch 2 15, 15
Hanging Oblique Knee Raise 2 15, 15

Energy, muscle, chiseled, health!

These keywords should make you ask either, "What the h*ll is this person talking about" or "Shouldn't we be talking about nutrition at some point".

During our program we'll need to focus on proper nutrition. I'm not going to provide a full diet plan but here are some important elements.

• 1-1.5 g of protein per pound of body weight
• drink water -- this will help keep you hydrated, assist with metabolism, energy levels, and is important when you're taking a supplement such as creatine
• reduce your soda intake -- even your diet sodas. I find that I crave sweet foods when I drink diet soda
• don't drop all carbs. Switch to whole wheat grains and don't eat complex carbs after 8pm. Never eat complex carbs (spaghetti, bread, rice, potatoes, etc..) before bed
• get fish into your diet -- you'll enjoy the variety of foods, plus it will give you healthy fats and Omega-3.
• eat at least 4-5 meals a day -- realistic portion sizes is the key. remember a fist size is equivalent to the amount of steak that you should have at one sitting; getting your veggies in every meal
• never skip breakfast -- this is critical for your blood sugar and energy levels throughout the day
• give yourself one cheat day with one cheat meal -- 7 days a week * 5 meals a day = 35 meals...focus on having 32 solid meals and give yourself one cheat meal with two healthier choices of a "fast-food" meal such as pizza. For pizza you could make it yourself with whole wheat crust, some chicken with your peporonni, more veggies, and a tad less cheese.
  

Workout plan overview

I have already posted Workout 1 and in another blog entry I'll post Workout's 2 & 3. We should start off with the overview of the program that I'll be following.

Warmup -- 5 -10 minutes of a warmup at about 70% of your maximum effort. For me breaking an initial sweat is a psychological goal that gets me pumped to start my workout.

Weeks 1-3
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday = WEIGHTS & CARDIO
This will have you doing the 3 Workouts on different days of the week.
60 second rest between sets

Weeks 4-5
Monday - Friday = WEIGHTS & CARDIO
Do the weight workouts for 2 days in a row and then take a day off, however do cardio each day! The cardio is the key for these weeks.
15 second rest between sets

If you find that you can't push out that last one or two reps then focus on proper form and work toward partial reps. This hard work is where you'll see the true results!

Pullups at home

Workout 1 -- Chest + Back + Abs (Cardio)

This is obviously the weight lifting side of your workout. The other core component is doing the cardio routine(s).

For your cardio you can choose any piece of equipment but try and shoot for the sprint/job approach. For example, if you're using the treadmill then you would do an intensive 20-30 minute routine where every you would sprint for 1 minute and then job for 1-2 min; sprint for 1 minute and then job for 1-2 min; etc... This is an ideal way if you're looking to blast away fat. As a precaution you should keep an eye on your heart rate and pay attention to your body if you feel that you are over exerting yourself.

I normally start this after doing at least a 5 minute warmup at about 70% of my maximum effort.

You can use the same cardio exercise for the total of your program or you can switch up between hitting the streets for a job, cycling, eliptical, treadmill or even a rower. If you find that you can't hit the gym to do this then try and plan your day where you could incorporate an intensive walk. If you need to return that late video to Jumbo Video then you could speed walk instead of taking your car.

Workout 1 -- Chest + Back + Abs

Exercise Sets Reps
Bench Press 4 15, 12, 8, 8
Inc. Dumbell Press 3 12, 8, 8
Pec-Deck Fly 2 12, 12
Bent Over Row 4 12, 10, 8, 8
Seated Cable Row 2 8, 8
Back Extension 2 20, 20
Pull up 3 to failure
Hanging Leg Raise 2 15, 15
Crunch 2 20, 20
Decline Twist Crunch 2 15, 15

Welcome to my Get Lean Program

On this blog I am going to chronicle my 5 week journey of cutting fat and gaining lean muscle mass.

My goal is to get down to a size 33-34 waist and approximately 205lbs.

Here are my current stats:

225 lbs
6'2
38 waist

My main activities will be to lift weights 4 times a week and do cardio 5 days a week. In the next blog entry I will talk more about my routine and diet that I plan on following. In future blog entries I'll also talk about the supplements that I'm using. For the most part it will be protein powder and a creatine supplement.