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Tuesday, December 22, 2015
Sam Adams Finally Made an IPA for Serious Hop Heads
Rich, hazy, and ridiculously ridiculous, this isn't your average Sam Adams.
Kris Gethin's 4Weeks2 Shred: Day 6 - Active Rest
The active rest days on 4Weeks2Shred are where your real commitment or lack thereof will show. Wake up and do your cardio like it's your job!
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Today my father and I only had to take a 10-minute walk from my apartment to the Millennium Stadium to watch the Wales vs. Australia Rugby match. But don’t think this is my cardio.
Before the game, after breakfast, I did 40 minutes of cardio so, of course, as my training partner, you have to do the same. I ensured that I timed my meals immediately before and following the rugby match so I didn’t miss my food intervals, but I also carried two packets of protein bites with me just in case.
Active Rest Day Kris Gethin's 4Weeks2Shred
Watch the video - 2:50
Following the game, later in the evening, I did my second 40-minute session of cardio, so again, be sure you do too, and remember that your heart rate has to be around 70-80 percent of your maximum heart rate.
PS: Wales won the game.
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Do 1,000 Press-ups Over Christmas with Men’s Fitness
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‘Tis the season…to build a bigger chest. Traditionally, the Christmas-New Year netherzone is a time to put the gym on hold - a time for pinballing between relatives’ houses, eye-bleeding television binges, and pig-in-blanket consumption that dances the line between heroic and insane. But this year, you’re going back jacked, because our challenge to you, dear reader, is simple: do 1,000 press-ups between 24th December and 1st January. It’s a mere 111 a day.
How you do it is up to you: if you like structure, there’s a plan below. If you don’t, just do the press-ups any way you like. We’d also advise you to throw in some ‘pulling’ – pull-ups or band pull-aparts would work, and are simple enough to do without getting changed – but even with that thrown in, you’ll spend less than 15 minutes a day building a bigger, stronger chest.
The only rules: do proper press-ups (the MF standard is explained below) – and let us know how you’re getting on via social media. You might not get everything you want over the festive season, but a bigger chest and better bench aren’t a bad start.
#1000PressupChallenge
Share your progress and follow others with the #1000PressUpChallenge hashtag on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Team MF will be joining in, and we’ll share the best pics.
The Perfect Press-Up
Your standard for the next nine days. The form is simple, but strict: hands roughly shoulder-width apart, elbows tucked (they shouldn’t flare more than 45° from your sides) and body held in a straight line. At the bottom of the move, your chest touches the floor – at the top, your arms are straight. Doing press-ups this way will make you stronger, safeguard your joints, and even build your core.
The Plan
Nice and simple for your first day. Do one press-up, then stop and shake it off for a couple of seconds. Repeat with two, then three, until you’re up to 10. Take a 30-second break, then go back down with nine press-ups, eight, seven... and so on, back down to one. That’s your first 100.
Christmas Day: The 5-Minute Push
Even on Christmas day, you’ve got five minutes. Start a timer going, and do 3-5 press-ups press-ups every 15 seconds, for five minutes. If you chose 5, that’s 100 down, and you’re done for the day. Commence gluttony.
Boxing Day: The All-Out Effort
Time for a challenge. You’re going to do five sets with a minute of rest in between, aiming for as many total reps as possible. That means leaving something in the tank, so stop each set a few reps short of utter failure. Remember to write your reps down.
27th December: The 30/30
Simple stuff: start a timer, do as many press-ups as you can in 30 seconds, then rest for 30 seconds. Repeat for 10 minutes, and record your reps.
28th December: The Ladder
You’re going down, not up. Do 15 press-ups, rest as long as necessary, then do 14. Carry on until you get to one. That’s 120 today – add them to your total.
29th December: The Grinder
Time to make up the numbers. Choose a number of press-ups that feels easy and do that number on the minute, every minute, for 10 minutes. 100 should be easy – 150 is impressive.
30th December: The Tabata
Only four minutes to get through today. Set a timer, do as many reps as possible in 20 seconds, and “rest” for just 10 seconds. Repeat 8 times, and that’s today’s workout. 100 would be an impressive total.
New Year’s Eve: The Test
Time to see if the work’s paying off. Do two sets of 5-10 press-ups to warm up, then rest for 3-4 minutes. Shake it off, then go all-out – as many reps as you can, “resting”, if you need to, at the top of the move. Go to absolute failure this time – the set’s over when you can’t maintain good form for even one more rep. Rest 2-3 minutes, then repeat twice. For bonus points, convince fellow New Year revellers to join in.
New Year’s Day: The Finisher
You knew this was coming. Whatever your total number is up to now – hopefully it’s over 800 – your challenge today is to make it to 1,000, by any means necessary. Pick one of the workouts above, or just do a few sets of 10 spaced throughout the day.
22 Dec 2015
Monday, December 21, 2015
Kris Gethin's 4Weeks2Shred Nutrition Overview
Your nutrition needs to be air-tight to make a meaningful change in your physique in just a month. Get out your calculator and make this plan work for you!
Main | Supplement Overview | Nutrition Overview | Program Overview | Get Started
Over the next 28 days you will join me eating clean to get lean. As with my training, mental and supplement strategies, the nutrition program has evolved from my books, the original 12-Week Hardcore Daily Trainer, DTP, Kris Gethin's Muscle-Building Trainer, and both my success and that of my clients success to create something quite extraordinary: a precise nutrition plan that I personally used to get ripped in four weeks.
Nutrition Plan Kris Gethin's 4Weeks2Shred
Watch the video - 11:56
I don't swap my training program for Pilates, inadequate supplements don't replace premium grade, and I would never allow a cheat meal during this training plan. If you want to take your foot off the gas and justify your complacency to yourself because other "experts" told you it was OK, go follow their plans and see if it gets you the results my clients attain. Like anything worth doing, you have to work for it and suffer for your art. You simply can't gain extraordinary results with ordinary nutrition.
Shredding down to an art
You will see me consume some meals in the daily videos, and I will explain what to eat and when, but first you need to prepare and clear out your cupboards, invest in the following if you haven’t already:
- Tupperware
- Shakers
- Drink bottles
- Cooler bags
- A food scale
- Measuring cups
- Ice blocks
Your training days will require more fuel to power your workouts and recover from the muscle breakage. The training will intensify week by week, but your calories will slowly reduce as your bodyweight does, and you will be using fat as fuel and taking in just enough calories to maintain muscle. Your cortisol levels will rise during 28 days, so it’s imperative that your nutrition is 100 on-par at all times, non-training and training days included.
The training will intensify week by week, but your calories will slowly reduce as your bodyweight does, and you will be using fat as fuel and taking in just enough calories to maintain muscle.
Although simple to follow, I have the formula down to a science. Below is a simple formula for you to follow when calculating your calories per day. The reason why fats aren’t included in this calculation is because I do not allow any fats further than the naturally occurring ones you may find in your protein sources, especially if you eat salmon or lean cuts of steak, which I recommend you don’t eat more than once per day.
Daily protein requirements:
1.18 x lbs. of body weight
Example: 200 lbs. x 1.18 = 236 g of lean protein per day
Daily complex carb requirements:
Week 1: .65 x lbs. of body weight
Example: 200 lbs. x .65 = 130 g of starch carbs daily
Week 2: .58 x lbs. of body weight
Example: 200 lbs. x .58 = 116 g of starch carbs daily
Week 3: .53 x lbs. of body weight
Example: 200 lbs. x .53 = 106 g of starch carbs daily
Carb depletion and loading process for "after" images:
Week 4, days 22-23: .47 x lbs. of body weight
Example: 200 lbs. x .47 = 94 g of starch carbs daily
Week 4, days 24-25: .35 x lbs. of body weight
Example: 200 lbs. x .35 = 70 g of starch carbs daily
Week 4, days 26-27: .28 x lbs. of body weight (for 2 days)
Example: 200 lbs. x .28 = 56 g of starch carbs daily
Week 4, day 28 (photo day): .50 x lbs. of body weight (for 1 day)
Example: 200 lbs. x .50 = 100 g of starch carbs daily
Some other notes to keep in mind:
- Eat as many green vegetables as you need to keep you full. Graze on vegetables all day if you can. Lightly dip them in an acceptable dressing or mustard if needed for flavor.
- Don’t add any fats. You will be in balance by the natural fat in the clean foods listed during this short four-week period, plus we don’t want the extra calories.
- Cook every meal yourself for the entire 4 weeks. No restaurants if possible. Just one meal that is prepared off spec demands two days to get your body back in the zone.
- Eat only natural meats during the four-week shred. Find a quality local butcher and have them trim all cuts to keep extra lean.
- No dairy, wheat or gluten. This is intended to be an anti-inflammatory diet, because you’ll be getting all the inflammation you can handle in the gym.
Sample Meal Plan
Your food will be relatively basic except for the recommended condiments, herbs, and spices and six-meals-per-day plan.
Meal 1 
Scrambled egg whites (no oil)
Salt and pepper
Oatmeal cooked in water.
Meal 2
Chicken breast
Broccoli
Spinach
Brown rice
Meal 3
Grilled white fish
Lettuce
Cucumber
Sweet potato
Meal 4
Egg white omelet (no oil)
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Spring onion
Meal 5
Grilled steak
Broccoli
Spinach
Cabbage
Meal 6
On non-training days substitute a meal for your post workout protein shake instead of drinking a protein shake.
Example Vegetarian Meal Plan
Meal 1
Scrambled egg whites (no oil)
Salt and pepper
Oatmeal cooked in water.
Meal 2
Low-fat cottage cheese (or paneer)
Broccoli
Spinach
Brown rice
Meal 3
Low-fat tofu
Lettuce
Cucumber
Sweet potato
Meal 4
Meal 5
Egg white omelet (no oil)
Mushrooms
Tomatoes
Spring onion
Meal 6
On non-training days substitute a meal for your post workout protein shake instead of drinking a protein shake. And never have two protein supplements in a row for meals.
Grocery Shopping List
Protein
- Fish
- Poultry
- Lean steak
- Whey protein isolate
- Casein
- Egg whites
For vegetarians: (additional to whey isolate, casein and egg whites)
- Tofu
- Soy
- Low-fat cottage cheese/paneer
Complex/Starchy Carbohydrates
- Quinoa
- Oats
- Sweet potato
Fibrous Carbohydrates
- Asparagus
- Broccoli
- Spinach
- Lettuce
- Cucumber
Fluids
- Green tea
- Black coffee (no more than two cups per day)
- Coconut water (no more than 600 ml per day)
- Water
- BCAAs
Main | Supplement Overview | Nutrition Overview | Program Overview | Get Started
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