Ebook full body transformation program

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WORKOUT TEAM

FULL BODY TRANSFORMATION

BASIC

PRINCIPLES OF EXERCISE, NUTRITION AND RECOVERY

www.workout-team.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS 3 The Basics 8 Being in Shape 12 Six Pack and Instant TV Products 16 Basic Principles of Nutrition 20 Muscle Anatomy 26 Strength 29 Warming Up 32 Stretching 35 Workout and Recovery 40 Workout Tutorials Explained

CHAPTER ONE

THE BASICS

The Basics By working with many people over the years our first conclusion was that most people interested in exercises can be divided into three groups:

The first group are the ones who need to start exercising ASAP or have just started to exercise. The majority of these people need to lose a couple of inches of fat from here and there and most of them have tried almost everything during their lives: exhausting diets, long series of home workouts for abs, buns and thighs and all ending in disappointment. Diets exhaust them and create a yoyo effect making them even fatter, false labels on foods trick them into getting more sugar and getting even more fat and boring and ineffective workouts just kill their will for anything else. It’s a vicious circle.

The second group are the ones who we like to call “advanced amateurs”, who already have a good muscle tone but are unable to move onto so called “more advanced systems” because of the lack of time or money for expensive programs, machines or supplementation... They mostly just maintain what they have accomplished while they can and abandon the gym eventually.

The third group are professionals and those who feel alike, who know exactly what they do and invest a lot of resources in their bodies.

Our second conclusion was that the first two groups are usually unaware of what are they doing wrong (or even that they are doing something wrong) and are not quite certain how to achieve their ultimate goals. The goals are mostly to get fit, firm or in shape and they all mean the same: burning fat and defining muscles.

The increase in the diameter of the muscle cell cross section, or muscle hypertrophy, is the primary goal of most exercisers, whether they just started or are professional athletes, especially those involved in sports dominated by physical strength.

Hypertrophy occurs as a result of adaptation of the organism to “stress” to which we expose our bodies during training.

The body reacts to stress, at first, by going into alerted state, then by adapting to circumstances and finally by improving the ability to meet the next stressful situation. You see, it has mostly been the same for the past 20.000 years, since prehistoric times, when our ancient ancestors lived in a very dangerous and hostile world, in which, if they hadn’t adapted, they would have been exterminated.

That is why regular diet with frequent meals is important - it sort of “tells” your body that there is abundance of nutrients and there is no need for storing the energy in the form of fat. What happens with so called yo-yo diets is that your organism understands that there is not enough food resources out there and the metabolism is not being pumped up by hormones since you aren’t physically active enough as you simply don’t have enough energy. So your body just stores as much energy as it can and your appetite jumps back to “beast mode” very soon.

However, with proper training and diet your body will be able to turn itself “on” while being properly nourished.This will naturally stimulate positive hormonal responses in the recovery period which will lead towards the increase of muscle mass and fat burn, the so called “afterburn”. At the same time it will regulate your metabolism and effectively burn calories while improving many functions in your body from bone density to functionality of the peripheral nervous system.

Another big problem with untrained practitioners, is that they don’t have a clue about the proper dosage of stress during training. Simply because they don’t feel tired and sweaty enough, they overdo it thus provoking a negative reaction of the body. In order for the training to have the maximal efficiency, the muscles need to be forced precisely up to their limits and these limitation are not ruled by subjectibe feeling, but by science. Depending on the condition of your body, there is an exact dose of intensity which returns maximal results without consequences such as muscle and tendon injuries and even the drop in the functionality of the immune system. We will teach you to find this dose.

Furthermore, one the main problems concerning many inexperienced practitioners is following a widely spread misconception that a proper training is only the one from which one gets out completely exhausted and dripping with sweat.

Constant running on treadmills or doing all sorts of cardio training only brings anxiety and disappointment as they deliver results very slowly, which finally results in lack of will for further training. The training needs to be a part of your life, complementing your everyday activities, nutrition and sleeping regime. Normal biorhythm is essential for achieving a proper balance between different organ systems, as well as your general health.

Most people just want to stay in shape or get thinner. There are various programs which can provide just that, but they usually view body as something external and don’t pay any attention to your health or long term effects. Because of that, chronic problems arise in the form of a yo-yo effect which leads towards general anxiety, disappointment and, finally, depression.

It is important to start from the inside, by realizing what the proper and healthy lifestyle is, and that good looks don’t come just from endless treadmill running, but from a unique and somewhat holistic approach to life and training.

Natural Looks: In order to have a lean, muscular and natural look, you should avoid the common traps of instant products and food supplements. Training should be a part of your life.

Strength training: is specializing in the use of resistance to induce muscular contraction which builds the strength, anaerobic endurance, and size of skeletal muscles.

And it works great for both Men and Women!

- Latin proverb

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

CHAPTER TWO

BEING IN SHAPE

Being in Shape In this day and age, the importance of staying fit and controlling body fat percentage is essential to a modern man. Being and staying “fit” isn’t as simple as the first association suggests. It implies having a type of body that can endure all sorts of daily activities without a feeling of exhaustion or a direct impact to one’s health. The modern job requirements range from working long hours in an office, sitting, which is certainly not good for your health and your body posture, to jobs that require lots of standing and walking such are various sales jobs, waitressing, working on service desks and so forth. Our Full Body Transformation Program gives a simple and accessible, yet thoroughly planned and optimized, recipe for improving all overall fitness, body posture, concentration, looks and overall self confidence.

Running VS Strength training There are quite a few ways to reduce body fat. One of them, most commonly used by recreational athletes is the extended treadmill running. This method requires constant running or brisk walking for 28 to 29 minutes with the pulse ranging from 120-135 bpm, after which the process of burning fat starts (entering into oxidative phosphorylation) with the rate of 1 kg of fat burned for every 10-30 hours of running, depending on the intensity.

As you can see, and probably have tried before, this method is extremely slow and pretty much unproductive and here’s why: By running you increase your aerobic endurance and you really burn some fat BUT at the same time you stimulate secretion of hormones which have a negative effect on your muscles. Not only is this somethig you want to avoid, you want the exact opposite. Furthermore, while running, muscles of your legs work only with 40 to 50% while the rest of your body is pretty inactive, thus your complete musculature is neglected

The results are burning SOME fat, not being tight and body posture staying the same as before.

There is a second way to getting fit and burning fat and it is called Strength Training, which combined with a healthy diet, positively affects your complete body posture from strengthening of joints, improving bone resistance, gaining muscle strength and mass, regulating fat, and tightening the body. It also transits into “real life� as it teaches you how to correctly and safely use your body in situations that vary from proper sitting to lifting furniture.

Tip: Strength training gives much more serious effects in much lesser time. And it does all that completely naturally.

Goal Perception VS Health Every individual person has its own set of goals and his/hers way of thinking.

Because of that they frequently make mistakes when it comes to choosing the right way to achieve a certain look. People often start exercising in order to look more like someone else, without realization how much and in what way their own body proportions and individual characteristics can be changed.

Body proportions and individual characteristics are inherited from parents so our shoulder width, hip width and bone length can not be changed. The part of our body that we see in the mirror, and the one we can modify by training is comprised out of muscles and fat. We can make a slight increase in bone diameter by applying pressure on them with muscles, but we can’t make them longer or grow more (at least there’s no natural way to do it). We can however make our muscles longer, bigger and stronger by exercising and our body fat in check by healthy eating and leading a healthy lifestyle.

To conclude, every man’s (or woman’s with that said) goal shouldn’t be just to lose some weight, increase muscle mass or look better, it should be reducing body fat to a lower level, so that an entire organism can function better and be healthier in general. Strengthening bones and joints, bettering body functions and physical appearance, fighting against inactivity and bad eating habits should be the primary goal of a rational individual that wants health and success.

Being in shape means achieving a state in which your body can perform everyday tasks with ease and recover quickly from intense physical activities. Our body works in a way that can be, roughly, summarized like this: the brain controls different systems through glands of the endocrine system which produce certain hormones which further influence all of our bodily functions, from our sense of touch to our heart beats. Well balanced secretion of hormones is based upon proper intake of nutrients and on the function of the neuromuscular connection.

Strength training is the only approach that helps in development, keeping and re-balancing aforementioned functions and systems in the most effective and completely natural way.

From this point we move onto more favorable and popular topics. Go to the next section to learn about getting the six pack abs.

CHAPTER THREE

SIX PACK AND INSTANT TV PRODUCTS

SIX PACK AND INSTANT TV PRODUCTS People around the world are being influenced by various media to buy expensive equipment that can allegedly help them to get into shape. Unfortunately, one workout machine can’t solve problems such as local body deformations, excess fat, getting a six pack, etc. You did not create them by doing the right things, so why expect it to work overnight? Like producing results by training, this is a graduall cumulative effect but of bad habits like: not eating properly, drinking alcohol, eating junk food combined with a lack of physical activities. The road to improvement lies in the will to change, followed by a good workout plan and doing exercises that can benefit the entire body.

You can find optimal conditions for any type of exercise at your average local gym. Equipment and machines that you actually need are: • dumbbells • pull down machine • cross machine • benches • leg curl • squat rack • olympic bars • power tower • stepper All of them are contained in almost every gym in the world.

How to Get a Six Pack?

One of the main misconceptions that people with a pot belly have is that you can get a six pack by just doing exercises for abdominal area or wearing a sweat belt. That is not the case and sweat is not fat.

Every one of us has a specific genetic abdominal muscle structure over which there is a layer of fat which hides the shape of abdominal muscles. In order to remove that layer of fat you need to do exercises for your entire body, because fat can is burned by muscle activity. More activity means that more calories are burned. Abdominal wall is an important muscle group, however it is not such a large calorie consumer. In order to make your training more efficient you need to do exercises that can activate large muscle groups, such as sit ups, lunges, squats etc. Those exercises activate more than half of muscles in your body and burn much more calories than just doing abdominal exercises.

That means that you need to: • have a training that consists of exercises that activate as much muscles and muscle groups of your body as possible. Here is where strength training and our Full Body Transformation Program expresses it’s unique concept which is activating your whole body and thus burning large quantities of calories and lowering the amount of fat, in this particular case- abdominal area.

• eat healthy - This means: regular consumption of carbs, protein and fat in the right ratio (a lot of proteins, high quality carbs and just a small amount of good fats). Carbs you should avoid are simple carbs: all types of sugar that come from processed food (like candy) or excessive fruit consumption. Good fats can be found in all types of nuts as well as in fish and olive oil. We’ll talk about it some more in a section called Proper nutrition.

• be persistent Persistency is an important factor if you want to achieve anything, regardless of what aspect of life you are looking at.

The reason why someone needs to be persistent in this particular instance, is because sometimes the stomach can be the slowest area of your body to respond to a workout. That is normal for people who are genetically predispositioned to burn fat in such order. Some people simply start burning the fat on their legs first, while other people start burning the fat on their arms first.

Persistency is not so much about following the program, as much it is about proper nutrition. Today we are surrounded by people who are eating very unhealthy and some of them are even the ones that are closest to us. We live with them, share meals‌ It is hard to find the time for proper nutrition while working in an environment full of stress, but it most certainly can be done. What’s the most important about nutrition, and the best advice you can get, is that you plan your nutrition in advance and appropriately. We will give you the means to do so.

If you follow the given instructions, desired results are guaranteed, however, the amount of time and effort you need to invest to get to those results may vary and depends mostly on your current shape and age.

Rectus abdominis External oblique Internal oblique Transversus abdominis

Abdominal wall muscles: There are 4 muscles in the abdominal wall.

CHAPTER FOUR

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN NUTRITION

BASIC PRINCIPLES IN NUTRITION If you want your training results to be ideal you need to adjust your eating regime. Proper nutrition means that you need to follow certain principles that enable your metabolism to work faster. That way your organism will be more functional, healthier and better prepared for training: These are the principles: • time and 5 meals: breakfast, snack, lunch, snack and dinner. Time interval between meals should be the same and they should be consumed at the same time every day. The first meal should be around 9 a.m. and the last before 8 p.m.

• size: portions shouldn’t be big, they should be moderate. It is better to have even more than 5 smaller meals in a day than having a smaller number of large ones. If you overeat, your stomach is under a lot of stress, especially if you eat heavy, processed and diverse food.

• Fat/Carbohydrate/Protein ratio = 10% / 45% / 45% . Depending on the individual goal, percentages vary between carbs and proteins.

• No gluten: gluten can be found in most types of flour, except those made of rice, corn, millet flour, and buckwheat.

• No alcohol as alchohol contains awfull amount of calories. For instance, only one glass of beer (300ml) has around 150 calories.

• No simple sugars like sweets, juices and snacks • Greater fluid intake: meaning pure and clean water. No fresh juices, smooties, tea and stuff like that. Imagine washing your face in the morning with freshly squeezed orange juice. Well, it’s same in the inside. Take in from 2 to 2.5 liters of water per day.

Better watch out for fast digesting foods such are processed foods, some fruits and sweets. These foods have high amounts of simple sugars which get digested really fast thus releasing lots of sugar into your blood. This results with a lot of insulin being released and, since the sugars got digested, lots of it will be floating around and, basically, damaging your cells. The best option is to eat low-glycemic foods such are meat, nuts, green vegetables, dark red, blue and purple fruits (blueberries, cherries, blackberries, strawberries) and certain fats such are coconut oil, olive oil, fish oil etc. They result in moderate release of glucose and insulin which fills your cells with energy and brain with enough nutrients. On the contrary, people are often bombarded with unhealthy high glycemic foods such are grains, refined or processed foods and some fruits.

If you need to eat bread and flours, go only with whole grain versions.

Consume most of your carbs in the evening as carbs are sleep inducers. Digesting carbs stimulates the release of neurotransmitter Serotonin, the so called “Happiness Hormone” which generally works good for sleep. But don’t forget - keep away from processed foods, sugar filled snacks and fats.

Things you can, and should, eat are: • meat • fish • nuts, walnuts and almonds • dairy products like cheese, milk, yogurt and etc • eggs • olive oil, fish oil and cocoa oil • vegetables • local fruit • mushrooms

You don’t have to calculate daily intake of calories as it’s a common misconception. Eat 3 to 5 medium and well balanced meals per day, watch and steer clear from unhealthy and unprocessed foods, and finally - be persistent.

These are just some of the basic principles of proper nutrition, necessary for you, so that your training can have a maximum effect. You’ll find out more as you progress with your training.

Nutrition tip: Eat 5 moderate meals per day.

CHAPTER FIVE

MUSCLE ANATOMY

MUSCLE ANATOMY Ok, so here’s a short explanation of the anatomy of your muscles. It might be a bit scholarly explanation but we figured you guys need to know the basics in order to comprehend the importance of a scientific approach to training. We’ll try and keep it simple so that you can visualise the most basic model of the muscle.

Human skeleton is covered with 656 muscles which make up to 40% of your complete body weight. Professional athletes and advanced practitioners have up to 50% of their body weight in muscles. Muscles are attached to bones by connective tissue - tendons which directly transmit tension from the muscle to the bone.

Muscle fiber is connected to nerve cells known as motor neurons and this neuromuscular compound is called a motor unit.

Muscle fibers are innervated by motor neurons by a chemical transmission. Action potential induces release of acetylcholine which diffuses through the neuromuscular compound inducing the excitation of the sarcolemma (or the cell membrane). When this happens, the muscle fibers contract and this is how a motor unit works. Think of it this way: the “electricity” produced by your brain travels through nerves and when it gets from the last neuron (motor neuron) to the muscle, the muscle contracts.

Every actional potential by going through the motor neuron results in a short period of activation of the muscle fibers within the compound unit and this quick muscle contraction is called a muscle twitch. Activation of the sarcolemma releases the ions of Ca (Calcium) and a contraction is made.

If a second twitch is made before the muscle is completely relaxed, the twitches add up and stronger force is gained than it would be with individual twitches. This is very important when practicing exercises and it will be further explained in training videos.

Shortening the interval between the twitches results in higher sum of forces. Stimuluses may be emitted with such a high frequency that they fuse completely into a state called tetanus which is the maximum quantity of force that a motor unit can develop.

Motor Units: Muscle fiber is connected to motor neurons and this neuromuscular compound is called a motor unit.

Sarcolemma: Action potential induces release of acetylcholine which diffuses through the neuromuscular compound inducing the excitation of the sarcolemma.

Factors of muscle strength Peripheral factors: • Size of a muscle: Muscles with a large cross section can exert more power than muscles that have the same length but smaller cross section. Muscles ability to generate power depends on the size of its physiological cross section, number of muscle fibers and cross section.

• Body mass: Muscle mass is a part of body mass. Because of that, a person with more body mass will have more strength than a person with less body mass, even when they exercise exactly the same. We’ll talk about this in the Strength Chapter.

• Eating habits: Strength Training activates synthesis of muscle proteins and causes hypertrophy (muscle fiber enlargement) only when there is enough substances to synthesize those proteins (so no starving!). In the period of rest your body needs to have enough amino acids so that it can synthesize them.

Some amino acids are not naturally produced in the body so they need to be delivered to your body through food. They are called essential amino acids and they are integral part of proteins (as proteins are made up from amino acids). This means that during a period of rest you need to have all the amino acids in your body that you need for protein anabolism. You need at least 2,53 grams of proteins daily for every kilogram of your body weight • Hormonal status: Hormonal status has a considerable influence on your potential to generate muscle power. Anabolic hormones especially can increase the production of muscle proteins from amino acids. They include testosterone, growth hormone and insulin. Concentration of those hormones in your blood can greatly determine the metabolic state of muscle fibers. Women have a lower level of testosterone so they can’t reach the same degree of muscle hypertrophy that men can. Strength Training causes changes in the level of anabolic hormones in your blood so those changes can be current as a result of one training session or cumulative as a result of continuous training sessions.

Central factors: • Intermuscular coordination: Nervous system has three options for different production of the muscle force: 1. “Recruitingâ€? - enabling and disabling the motor units that are needed to overcome the weight currently opposing a particular part of the body.

2. Changes in activation of the motor units - with smaller muscular groups with load less than 50% from the maximum, all motor units are activated and the rest 50% of strength depends on the level of muscle activation or to be more precise- from the strength of the signal coming from the brain. With big groups of muscles, all motor units gradually turn on by 80% of load, where rest of the strength depends on the strength of the signal. Just to be clear, a nerve cell cannot transmit a weaker or a stronger signal, the strenght depends on how many nerve cells are involved in creating a contraction.

3. Synchronized activation of the motor units grows with the level of fitness of the practitioner.

Hypertrophy: Strength training activates synthesis of muscle fibers and causes hypertrophy (muscle fiber enlargement) only when there is enough substances to synthesize proteins.

Proteins: You need at least 2,5-3 grams of protein daily for every kilogram of your body weight.

Types of muscle fibers: Depending on the time it takes for a muscle fiber to contract and relax, muscle fibers can be divided into two groups: slow twitch (red) and fast twitch (white). Slow (red) oxidative fibers (SO or type 1 fibers) have a small contraction speed, but are more durable, with a high aerobic capacity (long term low intensity activities).

Fast fibers are further divided into three types: Fast oxidative-glycolytic (FOG or type 2a fibers) have a higher contraction speed and high oxidative abilities (high intensity activities longer than 20 seconds).

Fast glycolytic fibers (FG or type 2b fibers) have the highest contraction speed, but low oxidative abilities (activities shorter than 20 seconds).

2c fibers that can transform under certain circumstances and thanks to certain activities. It takes time and only about 7-11% of all fibers are type 2c.

The ratio between type 1, 2a and 2b is genetically determined while only 2c fibers can change under the influence of training. For example, someone who mostly has type 1 fibers will be predisposed for long term physical activities and someone else with mostly type 2a fibers will be better at activities that require speed and strength such are basketball, soccer, running 800 meters and etc.

The ones with predominantly type 2b fibers will be best suited to a 100 meters dash, high jumping and all activities that require maximum strength in a very short time.

CHAPTER SIX

STRENGTH

STRENGTH Strength could be represented as “a function of the nervous system”.

It is a task of the nervous system to create and deliver the nerve impulse to the muscle cell, which your muscle than transforms into a contraction, through natural biochemical reactions. More than 80% of Your strength comes from the functionality of Your nervous system and the collapse of its’ functions leads to a chain failure of all other functions in Your body. This is why proper training and proper diet is so vitally important to Your health.

Endurance in Strength represents the ability to manifest a relatively strong force in a relatively longer time period. This basically means more repetitions with slightly lower weights (usually more than 12-15 reps).

Instantaneous Strength represents the ability to perform one or more moves as fast as possible with lower or higher resistance. In the essence of instantaneous strength is the ability of the neuromuscular system to adapt and oppose to the lower or higher external demand at a very high speed. It determines the success in activities such are jumps, sprints, throws etc.

Explosive strength represents the ability of a muscle to fully contracts in the shortest possible period of time and it correlates with an athlete’s ability to exert as much force as it can in the shortest possible period of time in a single movement.

There are many more types of strength and we’ll discuss them further as you progress to full body transformation intermediate program.

Strength training: Be commited and you WILL succeed!

CHAPTER SEVEN

WARMING UP

WARMING UP Most of the practitioners, especially the ones who are already in the middle of some training regime, often disregard the importance of warming up before the training starts. Strength training is not just a workout that you need to implement the moment you step inside a gym. In order for it to be considered a “successful” workout, you need to prepare your body for it. Warming up increases the temperature of your body and prepares your joints and muscles for stress that’s coming. Every training consist of three parts: Introductory, Main and Final part.

Introductory part of your training includes psychological preparation for the training (in which you watch the videos that explains it) and anything else before it, packing your workout clothes and warming up before the main part.

And regarding the subject of clothes, it shouldn’t interfere with the training in any way. They need to be comfortable. T shirt and shorts preferably need to be made of cotton so they can absorb sweat and stop odors. Training gloves need to be your size, if they are bigger or smaller they can cause calluses. Instead of gloves you can use sponges 2mm thick, roughly the size of 10x10cm. Sneakers should be comfortable with thin sole and shoe laces tied.

Fat burners and reactors are not recommended, and we’ll talk about the reason why later, although drinking coffee 30min before your training can be beneficial. Avoid any type of energy drinks.

Warming up can be done in different ways, but what’s important is that the intensity should be low without any fast movement. This is one way to warm up consisted of different shaping exercises:

1. Circle your shoulders forward 2x8 2. Circle your shoulders backward 2x8 3. Circle your arms x8 4. Circling your forearms x8 5. Lateral flexion- Spread your legs a bit and raise your hand above your head first with your left hand and then with your right 2x8 6. Torso rotation 2x8 7. Stand with feet wider than shoulder width, legs are straight, you touch the floor with your arms straight and stand up raisin your arms in the air x8 8. Stand with feet wider than shoulder width, bend over, spread your arms, touch the right leg with your left arm and vice versa 2x8 9. Take a step, a bit wider than a normal one, don’t tense your back leg in the knee, i lower your body on your front leg 2x8 10. Squat 2x10 (you should watch the video first so that you can do them properly(training video shows sit-up technique in detail) You can find images of every one of these exercises on the following URL: http://www.workout-team.com/workout-programs/warm-up-exercises/ After this weight training begins. If you want to warm up more, you can do another set, but with lower intensity than your actual training. You shouldn’t count this extra warm up set as a part of the training.

The main part

is a program written in the table. It’s important that you carefully read the instructions and watch the video so that you are sure that the exercises are done properly. Pause durations given in the table are very important and they need to be carried through in precise order to achieve the maximum effect. It’s important that you write down every set, rep down and its weight right after every finished it so you don’t forget it. Information from your training is very important. You’ll get more instructions in the section that explains tables in more detail.

The final part is a period in which you summarize your training, check if every round is written down and roughly determine the weight for the next training. Also this is when you take a shower and relax.

Every workout that consists of these three parts is complete.

CHAPTER EIGHT

STRETCHING

STRETCHING Now we need to talk about stretching as it is very important for you to know about it before even starting the training. Stretching can be used in different ways depending on the goal that we wish to achieve: • as a helpful tool during warm up • in the main part of training as a mean of muscle relaxation after loading the muscle. This should be used very rarely and only in certain types of trainings.

• as means of better and more effective recovery after training. After aerobic training it should be used immediately and after strength training only 2 to 3 hours after.

• as a special type of training intended for better joints mobility.

First things first, we should determine what the term mobility actually means. Mobility is the ability to perform a certain range of motion in the joint, or to perform a movement in a certain joint with as much amplitude of movement as possible.

Each joint or a type of joint has its own specific mobility so all joints in general can be divided into three groups: • high mobility joints such are shoulders and hips • medium mobility joints such is a knee • low mobility joints Sternocostal joints

There are 4 methods of muscle stretching: • Static stretching is done by keeping the certain amplitude of movement located on the pain limit from 5 to 20 seconds and from 25 to 30 seconds. This method consists of two types: static active stretching where one reaches the pain threshold self initiatively, and static passive stretching where the pain limit is reached by external force and going a bit over the pain limit.

• Dynamic stretching increases ductility of muscle groups in action when a certain body part performs a certain motion, for instance when you make circular motions from your shoulder joint with your arm outstretched. This is the best way to warm up before you do weightlifting.

• Ballistic stretching consists of fast, alternate stretches and contractions of the same muscle groups.

• PNF (Proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation) is a special method applied in training sessions for improving a certain joint’s amplitude. As this is an advance method of training it will be a subject of further articles and videos in the course of more advance programs.

Stretching is not always good for our muscles, if it came shortly after hypertrophy training or high intensity strength workout, after which muscles have micro traumas and micro damages, a certain percent of muscle fibers could be damaged. In these cases you need to take a rest of at least three hours, after which you can stretch in order to relax yourself and your muscles.

CHAPTER NINE

WORKOUT AND RECOVERY

WORKOUT AND RECOVERY Do NOT make mistakes that most people do by not following instructions from your trainer and thus reducing the effect of your training up to 50%, making reaching the desired effect much harder.

Every training system has three parts: • training • eating regime • recovery (through sleep or various methods of relaxation)

Workout Planning - Basic Principles Before you can start with any type of workout you need to know your health status. If you have any deformity or anomaly your training needs to be adjusted specifically for you, with your doctor’s advice corresponding to your training adjustments.

Next is determining exactly the goal of your training.

Every training system needs to have a clear goal and a corresponding plan on a weekly, monthly and quarterly basis. In certain cases even a yearly plan is needed.

Depending on your daily duties and the time of the day reserved for your training, you need to have a meal 60-120 minutes before every workout, regardless of the time of the day when you will be training.

If you have more time for working out, your training can be adjusted also, depending on your level of engagement.

A weekly plan (microcycle) consists of trainings and recoveries within a week.

A beginner can start with 3-4 workouts per week (every other day). Type of microcycle depends on the type of your workout. It can be TRTRTRT, TTRTTRR, TTTRTTR, etc, whereas “T” stands for training day and “R” stands for your recovery day.

Suggestions for Quick Recovery Your progress can be faster if, on recovery days, instead of working out, you use some of the following methods for improving your recovery: • massage and self massage • cryotherapy • hot and cold treatment • using a sauna • stretching • using a foam roller If you combine high quality meals with a greater fluid intake (water or tea without sugar) you should be provided with enough power to do a workout without any problems.

Special requirements: • 2-2.5l of water per day • green tea • moderate amount of red and pink fruit during snack time If you don’t follow this advice, at least don’t do anything that can intensify your fatigue or muscle inflammation and diminish your improvement or your training readiness. Things NOT to do are: • drinking alcohol (dehydration and intensified pain in your muscles) • eating sweets (dehydration) • drinking Coca Cola or other juices with a lot of sugar • engaging in high intensity activities

Preventing Injuries It’s very important to know your body. Before starting the training process, any and all of your chronic pains and injuries need to be addressed/remediated and you need to consult a doctor or a physiotherapist. All health issues need to be resolved before you start working out, or if you have already started, before you continue working out. Exercises need to be done in a complete motion when you perform a complete motion the only problem you might have comes from the lack of flexibility of the posterior chain, which means that every exercise needs to be done either in a complete motion or until your back is extended.

Don’t forget to warm up. Exercises need to be done properly and if you try your best to do an exercise and still can’t do it the right way, you need to stop doing it.

Stretching should not be performed before or after working out. You can stretch during recovery days or at the time of the day when you don’t have a training, at least two hours before or after.

Water: Drinking 2-2.5 L of CLEAN water daily will positively stimulate muscle recovery.

Massage: Massage is one of the great muscle recovery techniques that is highly recommended.

CHAPTER TEN

FULL BODY TRANSFORMATION TUTORIALS

TUTORIALS EXPLAINED Every exercise is shown clearly and is strictly defined so that the training can be efficient and safe. Any deviation can lead to injury. Carefully study every exercise before you start performing it and go back to the tutorials on a regular basis, so that you don’t miss anything. It is recommended to make a video of yourself working out and compare it to the tutorials. Every „gym rat“ has its own idea how to perform a certain exercise. Pay no attention to any advice or addition that others may have and consult only fitness instructors, since they are the ones qualified to know whether your backs are straight and if you’re performing a complete motion.

Weight dosage Every muscle contracts (shortens) in one direction. That means that the force a muscle generates has one and only one direction. So why do people do 20 different exercises for a single muscle group? The answer lies in the fact that if you vary an exercise designed for a single group of muscles, you will influence different synergists which help that motion. Example: Flat bench press and Dumbbell fly equally influence the Pectoralis Major, however other muscles that take part are activated in a different way. If you want to work on let’s say your chest, it is enough to do a single exercise designed for that group with weight that will depend on the exact number of series, repetitions and the weights used in the exercise. In order to keep track of your progress and advance to more weight you need to focus on one exercise that activates a single muscle group for several training sessions. Isolation exercises are mostly used for strengthening synergists, so they don’t pose a problem by preventing the main muscle from doing the “complete” exercise all the way.

Back to Back Training Goals Once you start working out, you will notice that all series and repeats are given in a range. Every exercise starts with an optimal weight, so it is not too hard, but not too easy, with the following goals: First goal - Perform maximal number of repeats in a set range. The harder it is to perform the goal (the bigger the weight), the more efficient training is.

Progression of repetitions in a serie is in a descending order (you can start with 15 reps and finish with 12, but not the other way around).

Second goal - Perform maximal number of series in a set range. Again, the harder it is to perform the goal, the more efficient training is. When you do maximal number of series, or you get to a moment when the number of repeats in a serie drop below the minimum, stop the serie.

Third goal - Increased weight compared to the previous training. Keep doing the same exercise for more cycles in order to determine weight dosage by increasing weight at which you do an exercise in a proper way and try to fulfil both the primary and the secondary goal.

This book is meant to be a starting point in your further education, whether you are interested in nutrition, training, general health, recovery. All subjects will be examined much more thoroughly in futher articels published on our website http://www.workout-team.com and video blogs. Stay tuned and do your best!

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