Winter Lifestyle Tips
When the weather gets cold (Like it does every November in the Northeast) a lot of people decide getting a warmer coat isn’t the option and would rather use this time as an excuse to “bulk”. This means less frequent workouts at a lower intensity and lots of delicious, nutritionally-questionable foods. While we fully support taking time off when needed and we LOVE to indulge in some tasty treats from time to time, we like to use this time of year to make sure we keep the consistency that has proven to give the same lean muscle gains all year round. There is also plenty of science to support that traditional "bulking" is tough on your organs and bad for your metabolism. For those reasons, we spend all of the jacket-covered, driveway-shoveling winter months keeping the lifestyle consistent and getting in the best shape we can so that when the jackets come off and the shovels are down - we’re ready!! We believe everyone should be healthy all year round and the benefits will run thick for you guys as a result.
Below is our winter diet and work-out split. We wanted to give you guys the blueprint that we have found most effective for us, so that you might take it and adjust it so that it can work for you! We love to keep the diet clean and make sure we are always super-setting our lifts. This way we keep the intensity up and keep the body burning calories all day long!
Winter Diet - Lose Fat and Develop Lean Muscle: The most measurable way to change your body is through your diet. Eating clean will not only have you looking good and feeling good about it, but it has been clinically proven to increase your overall health! So get healthy with us this winter!!! Also, adjust this diet to fit what works for you and how hungry you are throughout the day.
1. 5:00 a.m. Breakfast (M-F): 2 cups Cream of Wheat with 4 tablespoons cinnamon
(Weekends breakfasts are 2 protein pancakes - Ingredients [per 1]: 2 egg whites, 1 egg, 1/3 cup of oats, 2 scoop protein powder, ¼ cup skim milk [blended])
2. (Workout 1) 2.5 Scoops TrustFuel for explosive energy, extended muscle endurance and unbelievable focus. It is essential to maximizing performance.
3. Shake (post workout, check out our shake recipes!!) and Oatmeal
a. Example Ingredients: 1 avocado, 2 scoops protein (40g), ½ cup frozen berries, chia seeds, kale, water
b. 1.5 Cups Oatmeal with cinnamon
4. 10:30 a.m. Lunch #1: ½ pound chicken with veggies (peas, broccoli, spinach, greenbeans, etc) and white rice
5. 12:30 p.m. 5 grams of BCAAs (branched chain amino acids) to keep the body in a metabolic state and expedite recovery
6. 1p.m : Protein bar (Quest Bar)
7. 3:30 p.m. Lunch #2: (same as lunch 1 except sweet potatoes or brown rice instead of white rice)
8. (Workout 2) 2 Scoops TrustFuel
9. 7:00 p.m. post workout shake (same as first shake)
10. 7:30 p.m. dinner (2lbs of steak, salmon, chicken) with brown rice, veggies and an avocado
11. 9:30 p.m. Casein shake with water (1 scoop, 20 grams)
This diet (doing it now) is great for maintaining lean muscle and minimizing fat intake. You need to keep the intensity up and make sure your nutrition is on point. TrustFuel is an unbelievable compliment to this diet. Its ingredients are clinically proven to expedite your muscles recovery and maximize your athletic performance, regardless of your sport!!
Winter Workouts!
*Remember that supersets are to ensure the intensity stays high! Check out our Workouts for more specifics!! And see the workout schedule below for more detail!
· Monday Morning: Back
· Monday Afternoon: Basketball
· Tuesday Morning: Arms
· Tuesday Afternoon: Shoulders
· Wednesday Morning: Legs
· Wednesday Night: Plyos/Explosiveness
· Thursday Morning: Chest
· Thursday Afternoon: Arms
· Friday Morning: Legs
· Friday Afternoon: Back
· Saturday: Shoulders
· Sunday: Legs
Core Every Day (or every-other-day): Some differences of opinion exist around how often/when core should be done. We are believers in core being done every day at the end of the work-out, but you need to figure out what works best for YOU! We will typically do oblique work in the morning and more rectus abdominis (“six pack” muscles) with lower back at night. The dumbbell-behind-the-head decline bench sit-ups and hanging leg raises are the current favorites. At least 20 minutes total of core every day!! Make sure all of it is fairly intense.
Here are a few examples of stuff you might consider during this time:
1. Superset everything (like I’ve beaten to a pulp here already): It decreases the overall load you can lift for each movement because you’re constantly pushing your muscles to exhaustion throughout the lift, but you WILL STILL GET STRONGER and unquestionably change your physique.
2. Do the hardest movements first (AFTER A WARMUP): For instance – leg day, do heavier squats first. Chest day, do heavier bench first, etc. You can pair this with something that allows a stretch (lighter RDL’s with squats or light dumbbell flies with bench).
3. Time-Under-Tension: Many people complete tons of quick reps and feel good afterwards (I have been guilty of this), but they may be compromising the workout’s benefits and will increase the chance of injury. Slow, controlled, intense reps often do much more for you than many more very fast reps. Obviously there are exceptions to this, like Olympic lifts that require significant explosiveness and are done quickly. More often than not, however, this “slow and controlled” method is something you should consider employing.
4. Work Hard and Eat Clean: Only you know how hard you’re working and how well you’re sticking to your diet. Skipping sets or reps? You’re only cheating yourself! Eating fast food four times a week? Skipping legs? You’re DEFINITELY cheating yourself!