You want to gain some muscle and lose fat!
Did you know most people sabotage themselves from making their goals?
Usually, they do it immediately after their workout!
After a workout, most people reward themselves with a sugary smoothie and some sedentary time in front of the television.
Maybe you’ve even stopped by the fast food place and grabbed a burger, fried and a shake, because, you know… you deserve it.
But that's not the way to realize your fantasy about someone walking up to you and asking for your photo.. without your shirt on.
If you want talent scouts calling you to be in the next issue of their magazine as the cover model, then read on...
USE POST-WORKOUT TO MAKE GAINS
There are a few things you can do post-workout that will help you gain more lean muscle and lose body fat without much work.
If you know what they are.
Chris lost weight and got totally JACKED in just three months.
I swear, we were at PaleoFX in April and he looked normal, then 3 months later these photos showed up in our Instagram account.
Whoa!
The photos were taken the same year, 4 months apart.
Thaddeus gained muscle without gaining fat, as measured by Dexascan at Dexafit Minneapolis.
The photos are 6 weeks apart.
Was this done at the gym?
Not really.
While it’s true, you need to exercise to gain muscle and lose some fat, don’t be deceived by the thinking that you need to go to the gym for 2 hours a day to get jacked and lose weight.
You don’t!
Both Chris and I do most of our workouts outside under the sun and not in a gym at all.
Of course, when it starts to freeze outside, we spend time in a gym. As LITTLE as possible!
In fact, we spend as little time as possible working out at all. 15-25 minutes might be a maximum workout time most days.
It’s what we do afterward that counts.
SAUNA
Get in the sauna immediately following a workout.
I see a ton of guys get in the sauna before a workout to “warm up”, and more men than you’d think come into the sauna before a workout just to warm up their gym clothes before they put them on!
What I don’t see is enough people, hardly anyone, getting in the sauna after a workout.
Sauna has been shown to increase growth hormone when used after a workout.
Growth hormone can induce muscle synthesis, MUSCLE gain, and fat loss.
According to Harvard Health, a study was performed on college athletes where they received growth hormone for 20 days.
In that time, they increased muscle mass by 4.6lbs!
AND lost 4.6lbs of fat.
Human Growth Hormone is powerful.
Increase your own growth hormone.
When your workout is over, take a 20-30-minute sauna.
If you have more time or are super committed, try two back to back 30 minutes sauna sessions with a 10-30-minute break in between.
This has been shown to increase growth hormone by as much as 8 times.
COLD SHOWER
Follow the sauna with a cold shower.
Don’t do cryotherapy or get in a cold tub or do a cold shower right after your workout.
That will blunt the stress your body has just gone through and make your workout less effective.
You want to sauna first. Get hot. THEN get cold after 20-30 minutes in the sauna.
Cold can also increase growth hormone and deplete muscle glycogen through shivering.
In fact, use cold, as in cold baths, cold showers, cold therapy as often as possible if you want to lose fat and gain muscle, but never immediately following a workout.
REST
Sleep restores the body and builds new muscle.
Gains are made outside of the gym.
Sleep is a critical component.
So many people we see push themselves through a workout when they haven’t had enough sleep because they think if they power through, they will be better off.
Without proper sleep, they probably don't get any benefit from that workout and in fact, likely hurt themselves.
Proper sleep and low stress are needed for the body to be signaled it can safely gain muscle and repair.
You need to come out of fight or flight and relax to gain muscle.
Plus, life is just better when you’ve had enough sleep and you aren’t stressed.
MAKE USE OF TECHNOLOGY
Scientists learn more about the body and our biology every single day.
Take advantage of what we've learned to spend less time working out and breaking yourself down and more time building yourself up.
Modern scientists have designed special peptides that work with the body to turn on pathways that increase lean muscle mass and reduce fat.
Some of these peptides are classified as SARMs (Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators). And others are just pure peptides.
Both Chris and I experimented with SARMs and peptides. That's part of how we achieved our "After" photos.
Peptides are compounds designed to help people gain muscle and lose fat.
Many bodybuilders use these, and the majority of peptides have been banned for professional sport. Because they WORK!
As you can see from our results, we found peptides to be effective.
PROBLEM WITH PEPTIDES
So why doesn’t everyone use peptides?
Well #1, they are hard to find.
Few sites carry them, and many are made overseas with questionable practices.
It’s been shown in THIS NY Times article that many peptides sold aren’t even what they say they are.
Second, they taste terrible!
Like jet fuel.
We know...we’ve tried a ton.
Many people we know that tried to do a month of SARMs had to bail due to the taste.
Third, some have to be injected.
Not everyone is up for burying a syringe in their body. Plus, you have to buy water for injection (WFI) and mix it with a specific amount of peptide.
Finally, they're not well studied yet. So it's always use at your own risk.
Make sure you do your research, start out slow, and check in often.
CONCLUSION
After your workout, get in the sauna.
Take a cold shower.
Get home and rest to lock in those gains.
Cheat with peptides if you want to.