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Narkissos' 6 Steps to that Summer 6-pack
by Corey Springer
aka Narkissos
Hello friends. It seems that time of year is upon us again. You know what i mean: SUMMER! That time of year when even the most conservative among us wants to 'rip up', 'strip down', suit up, and show off their hard bodies :)
Unfortunately for many, that '6-pack' often falls short by 2 or so. This is often due to last season's overly entusiastic 'bulk-up' period... or worse yet, last seasons overly adamant denial of the obvious increases in girth.
Guys often tell themselves: "It's hard to get huge so I'll just bulk my butt off and then cut it up no problem!"
Girls may say "It's just around the tummy so i'll start doing some crunches and it'll be fine!"
Sadly, it doesn't work like this.
Well... i've been there... and got past it.
So can you.
Step 1:
Make a Plan!
This is where MOST routines fall short. If you've no plan how can you expect to reach a goal by a certain time? Sure, having a general idea of what you want is better than having no idea at all... but is it optimal?
No!
Far from actually!
The planning process:
Firstly... Assess yourself realistically. Get your bodyfat percentage tested. Think about where you'd like to be... and think logically about the time in which you have to do so.
Secondly, set a realistic and acheivable goal.
Fat loss should be at a rate of no more than 2 lbs per week. Anymore than this and you'll just be spinning your wheels. I say this because, a higher rate of weight-loss will result in muscle-loss. Muscle loss willl result in a slower metabolic rate... which will in turn slow fat-loss.
That makes the process of losing too fast a double negative.
That being said, after determing how much fat you need to lose, the third thing you'd need to do is to lay-out the number of weeks it'd take you to lose the aggravate weight total. That total number of weeks, is the length of time your cutting phase should last.
Ok ok.. enough technical mumbo-jumbo :)
Here's the summary of step 1:
1. Assess yourself
2. Set a realistic goal
3. Set a realistic time-frame in which this goal can be acheived.
Step 2:
Change that dietary mindset!
"I can't understand why i'm not lean. I eat healthy!"
Healthy is a confusing term. That i know firsthand. I'm not an eaves-dropper, but i can't begin to count the number of conversations i've walked in on where the above lament was being relayed.
Everything is labelled 'healthy' now-a-days. It's a marketing scam honestly: 'Healthy' being relative to the individual product v.s. its top competitor... whereas healthy simply means that brand 'a' has 5 grams less fat than brand 'b'. 'Light' is another misnomer. Companies market 'light' versions of their products... touting a reduced calorie content. In truth they substitute fat for sugar, thus reducing the total calorie count... but in no way making the food less evil.
That being said, the only truly 'healthy eating' is that based around minimally processed and non-processed foods.
Furthermore, it is required that we take it another step.
For that summer 6-pack, we need to differentiate between 'healthy eating' and 'healthy fat-loss eating'.
Both of the above eating styles are based around:
¤Lean Meats, poultry, fish, eggwhites, soy products, and protein powders, for Protein.
¤Minimally processed and unprocessed starches (brown rice; oats; potatoes; yams; etc.); veggetables; select fruits, for Carbohydrates.
¤Flax seed oil; select nuts; olive oil; avacado, for Fats
The difference between the two however would be nutrient timing. This will be discussed in a later article.
by Corey Springer
aka Narkissos
Hello friends. It seems that time of year is upon us again. You know what i mean: SUMMER! That time of year when even the most conservative among us wants to 'rip up', 'strip down', suit up, and show off their hard bodies :)
Unfortunately for many, that '6-pack' often falls short by 2 or so. This is often due to last season's overly entusiastic 'bulk-up' period... or worse yet, last seasons overly adamant denial of the obvious increases in girth.
Guys often tell themselves: "It's hard to get huge so I'll just bulk my butt off and then cut it up no problem!"
Girls may say "It's just around the tummy so i'll start doing some crunches and it'll be fine!"
Sadly, it doesn't work like this.
Well... i've been there... and got past it.
So can you.
Step 1:
Make a Plan!
This is where MOST routines fall short. If you've no plan how can you expect to reach a goal by a certain time? Sure, having a general idea of what you want is better than having no idea at all... but is it optimal?
No!
Far from actually!
The planning process:
Firstly... Assess yourself realistically. Get your bodyfat percentage tested. Think about where you'd like to be... and think logically about the time in which you have to do so.
Secondly, set a realistic and acheivable goal.
Fat loss should be at a rate of no more than 2 lbs per week. Anymore than this and you'll just be spinning your wheels. I say this because, a higher rate of weight-loss will result in muscle-loss. Muscle loss willl result in a slower metabolic rate... which will in turn slow fat-loss.
That makes the process of losing too fast a double negative.
That being said, after determing how much fat you need to lose, the third thing you'd need to do is to lay-out the number of weeks it'd take you to lose the aggravate weight total. That total number of weeks, is the length of time your cutting phase should last.
Ok ok.. enough technical mumbo-jumbo :)
Here's the summary of step 1:
1. Assess yourself
2. Set a realistic goal
3. Set a realistic time-frame in which this goal can be acheived.
Step 2:
Change that dietary mindset!
"I can't understand why i'm not lean. I eat healthy!"
Healthy is a confusing term. That i know firsthand. I'm not an eaves-dropper, but i can't begin to count the number of conversations i've walked in on where the above lament was being relayed.
Everything is labelled 'healthy' now-a-days. It's a marketing scam honestly: 'Healthy' being relative to the individual product v.s. its top competitor... whereas healthy simply means that brand 'a' has 5 grams less fat than brand 'b'. 'Light' is another misnomer. Companies market 'light' versions of their products... touting a reduced calorie content. In truth they substitute fat for sugar, thus reducing the total calorie count... but in no way making the food less evil.
That being said, the only truly 'healthy eating' is that based around minimally processed and non-processed foods.
Furthermore, it is required that we take it another step.
For that summer 6-pack, we need to differentiate between 'healthy eating' and 'healthy fat-loss eating'.
Both of the above eating styles are based around:
¤Lean Meats, poultry, fish, eggwhites, soy products, and protein powders, for Protein.
¤Minimally processed and unprocessed starches (brown rice; oats; potatoes; yams; etc.); veggetables; select fruits, for Carbohydrates.
¤Flax seed oil; select nuts; olive oil; avacado, for Fats
The difference between the two however would be nutrient timing. This will be discussed in a later article.
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