The All-Day Fat-Burning Diet: The 5-Day Food-Cycling Formula That Resets Your Metabolism To Lose Up to 5 Pounds a Week (24 page)

Ladies, Don’t Worry: You Won’t Bulk Up!

The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of people I’ve helped over the past 2 decades were women: young, old, and in between. Not once have I seen an “after” picture where these ladies looked bulky or complained about getting too muscular from following my workout and nutrition recommendations.

Here’s why: Everyone has a GDF-8 gene that controls a substance called myostatin, which in turn determines the amount of muscle we have. The base levels of myostatin and muscle in basically all women and most men make it impossible for them to naturally build bulky muscles. It does not matter how much resistance we use. The majority of us—especially women—do not have the genes to build bulky muscles via any form of exercise.

Additionally, women have only about 10 percent as much testosterone as men, and since it is the main muscle-building hormone, exercising for 90 minutes per week is certainly not going to turn you into a freakishly muscular bodybuilder.

Here are three workout options for you to choose from.

1. Bodyweight Blast

2. Bodyweight Eccentrics

3. Eccentric Strength

As you follow this program, I would strongly recommend that you cycle among these three workouts on your Regular-Calorie Days so that you tap into all their benefits and prevent your body from getting used to doing the same routine all the time. For pictures and video demonstrations of these workouts, plus some more advanced options, visit
alldayfatburningdiet.com/resources.

Bodyweight
Blast: Beginner

Protocol

1 set of each exercise for maximum reps (or hold where noted) within 1 minute

30 seconds of rest between exercises

1.
Pushups (from knees or feet)

2.
Reverse Lunge Pumps

3.
Plank

4.
Reverse Pullups (requires Smith machine or other fixed bar)

5.
Triceps Pushups (30 seconds of work per side)

6.
Hamstring Pushoffs (requires bench or chair)

7.
Side Planks (30 seconds of work per side)

8.
Hip Thrusters (requires bench or stability ball)

PUSHUPS (FROM KNEES OR FEET)

Muscles worked: chest, shoulders, triceps

Place your hands on the floor so they’re slightly outside shoulder-width. Spread your fingers slightly out and point them forward. Rise up onto your toes so that all of your body weight is on your hands and your feet, or your hands and your knees if that’s too challenging.

Contract your abdominals to keep your torso in a straight line and prevent arching your back or pointing your bottom in the air. Bend your elbows and lower your chest down toward the floor. Once your torso is just above the floor, push up so that you return to starting position.

REVERSE LUNGE PUMPS

Muscles worked: legs

To begin, stand tall with your hands at your side. Take a large and controlled step backward with your right foot. Lower your hips so that your left thigh (front leg) becomes parallel to the floor with your left knee positioned directly over your ankle. Your right knee should be bent at a 90-degree angle and pointing toward the floor with your right heel lifted.

Return to standing by pressing your left heel into the floor and bringing your right leg forward to complete one rep. Alternate legs, and step back with left leg. Continue alternating for required reps.

PLANK

Muscles worked: core

Get into a pushup position on the floor, then bend your elbows 90 degrees and rest your weight on your forearms. Your elbows should be directly beneath your shoulders, and your body should form a straight line from your head to your feet. Tighten and draw your abdominal muscles in (as if putting on a tight pair of pants), squeeze your glutes and legs, and hold for required time.

REVERSE PULLUPS

Muscles worked: back, biceps, forearms

Lie on the floor underneath the bar (which should be set just above where you can reach from the ground). Grab the bar with an overhand grip (palms facing away from you). Contract your abs, and try to keep your body in a completely straight line. Pull yourself up to the bar until your chest touches the bar. Lower yourself back down and repeat.

TRICEPS PUSHUPS

Muscles worked: triceps

Lie on your left side with your body in a straight line and the palm of your right hand planted on the floor just under your left shoulder. Put your left arm across your chest and grab your opposite shoulder. Use your left triceps muscles to push your entire upper body off the floor so that only your legs and hips remain on the floor. Return to the start. Finish the set with that arm and then switch sides.

HAMSTRING PUSHOFFS

Muscles worked: hamstrings, glutes

Lie on the floor with the heel of your right foot on a chair or bench (make sure it’s stable or up against a wall). Come into a bridge position, lifting your pelvis off the floor and driving your left leg in a straight line toward the sky. Lower back to floor and repeat for required reps, then switch legs.

SIDE PLANKS

Muscles worked: core

Lie on your left side with your legs straight. With your left forearm directly under your left shoulder and abdominals contracted, prop yourself up so that all of your bodyweight is supported by your left forearm and your body forms a diagonal line. Rest your right hand on your hip. Hold for required time, then switch sides.

HIP THRUSTERS

Muscles worked: glutes

Sit on the ground with your back against a stability ball, feet planted firmly in front of you and hip-width apart. Squeeze your glutes together and raise your hips off the floor so that your body forms a straight line from your shoulders to your knees (parallel to floor), and then slowly descend back to the ground. Repeat for required reps.

Bodyweight
Eccentrics: Beginner

Protocol