John Fit

(Ahhh.. 4th of July! The beach.. The Smell of Barbeque.. The taste of Corona.. The Sound of Fireworks.. The Tan Lean Bodies Walking Through the Sand.. The Birds Chirping.. The Warmth of the Sun.. Making Plans for Fun with Friends and Family.. I Love the 4th of July.. Its a Great Day to Show off Your Hot Body!)

July 4th is exactly 28 days away, and for all my Non-US readers, this is a US “Independance Day” & sunshine date when our crazy Americans get to “let it all hang out” and have some fun! Since it does fall in the middle of the summertime, there will be more people in bathing suits & shirtless than any other date on the calendar.. My July 4th plans just got a face lift, as I’ve found out that I will be playing host to a number of college friends (To the Tune of about 10-15 East Coast Ft. Lauderale/Miami girls that will be rockin hot bodies when they get here! There will be some guys too, but ONLY because they didn’t listen when I told them to stay home! ) I can’t wait! I’m also going to have some family in from out of town that I haven’t seen in a while.. July 4th is a day when I want to look great! Here’s a synopsis of where my bodies at now.. I weighed in this morning at 173 lbs. & I estimate my body fat is around 7.5-8%.. My stomach is really cut and looks great, but my body does look and feel really dry right now because I’ve been maintaining for about 2 months now.. I haven’t been trying to put on muscle, but I haven’t been cutting hard either.. Just trying to keep my leanness and maintain my size.. But, as I signed off of my last post, this week was the beginning of my “Add 5-7 Pounds of muscle to my frame” phase that should only take me about 4 weeks.. My new focus and date for this short term goal is July 4th.. I want to step out on the beach on the 4th of July @ 180 lbs, & at most 8% body fat.. That will leave me full in my “beach muscles” (Chest & Back), but still show off my cut abs and lean stomach.. Here’s my “Sexy-Time! For July 4th” routine and diet..

My Diet is the Most Important Piece..
I need to eat to grow.. Since my body is so pretty dry now from eating clean, & doing lots of cardio, the excess calories and carbs I take in for weight gain should go mostly to fueling new muscle.. This is where fitness models like Gregg Plitt, Gregg Avedon, & Eric Carlson get away with eating tons of calories and not putting body fat.. It’s a “metabolism thing”.. When you have a fast metabolism, most weight gain will go straight to fueling lean muscle.. (I will be posting on how to speed your metabolism to create this soon).. So, I will be raising my “energy in”, and & taking in more calories through clean carbs to fuel this new muscle I want.. Here’s a layout of my new diet that I will stick to for the next 17 days..

8 am-  1 Scoop of Isopure
1 Banana
5 Fresh Strawberries
2 Cups of Oats

11 am- 1 ½ Cuts of Oats
4 Egg Whites or Lean Turkey Slices

2-3 pm- 2 Cups of Rice
2 Cans of Tuna

6-7 pm- Avocado (Good Fats with Some Protein)

9-10 pm Salmon or Chicken Breast (3/4 of a Pound)
1 Sweet Potato or 1 ½ Cups of Rice
Some Form of Veggie (Probably Broccoli.. My Favorite!)

I used to count calories so closely, but that drives me crazy now.. Today, I just look at my meal and try to portion out how much protein, carbs, and fat I’m eating.. I’m taking in lots of carbs on this gain muscle plan (Probably 350+g of grams throughout my day here) but they are clean carbs and my sugar intake is low (with the exception of the high glycemic fruits in my shake in the morning.. When I start cutting about 7 days prior to the 4th, I will eliminate the banana and strawberries..) This is roughly about 2700-3000 calories, and emphasizes clean carbs for energy, with some protein & good fats, coming from the Oats & Avocado.. Plenty of Nutrition here to add good muscle without a lot of fat to my frame.. The late night eating is a killer I know, but I need to eat to grow, so I’m willing to take in those calories at night to make sure my muscles are receiving the fuel to grow and get denser..

(Lee Kholafai Shows How Good “Lean” Can Look When You Lay that Foundation of Muscle First.. Lee’s look totally changed from the bigger/heavier pic on the left (180 lbs. & 10% BodyFat), to the Lean, Toned (165 lb. 6% Body Fat) Pic on the Right.. Not only does his stomach look better, but look how his chest is better shaped & looks bigger.. When you’re cut, you deceivingly look bigger, even though you weigh less.. Looking Good “Lean”, requires that you first lay that foundation of muscle as he was doing in the bulkier/heavier pic on the Left.. These Underwear Ads are Ridiculous for Me to be Splattering on my site because I Really Don’t Want to highlight this guys “package”.. So don’t get the wrong idea.. I just think visuals are great support tools for me to show you how to achieve an athletic, attractive physique. We wish the visuals were from the waist up huh.. ha (I had to get that little disclaimer out there.. I feel better now))

To Get Cut & Lean, 10 Days Prior to July 4th, I will Make a Few Small Changes to My Diet..
To hold on to muscle and only cut body fat, I will tweak this diet very finely.. I will eliminate the banana and strawberries in the morning shake, & eat the rice/sweet potato at 6-7pm, instead of 9-10pm.. The only elimination in calories will come from cutting out the high glycemic fruit in the morning.. I want to keep my calories up to maintain this muscle because if I cut them to low, my hard-earned muscle will crash.. I will rely on my “Energy Out” levels (As I spoke about in a recent post.. I will raise my activity by adding in lots of cardio) to do the cutting for me.. So, my calories stay high enough to nourish muscle, so the muscle is on my body by the 4th.. Cardio will define my body & lean me out, along with the clean foods I will be eating.. I’ve never liked cutting calories, as you know.. If I’m super lean, its because I’ve been doing a lot of cardio.. If I’m looking bulky, then I need to hit the treadmill.. I always eat and lift to fuel lean muscle to keep my muscles hard & tight..

My Workout to Look Great on the 4th!
My workout rarely changes unless I’m looking for a new challenge, or my muscles need a “shock” to get over a plateau. I mix exercises around sometimes, & may change the volume, or amount of work I put on a particular muscle, but for the most part, I lift heavy weights with low volume.. I think this is the best formula for lean muscle because it blends heavy resistance to tear down fast twitch fibers for strong, hard muscle, but the volume is low enough that I’m getting enough rest to benefit from the training & no overdevelopment takes place.. (For me, if I perform more than 8 INTENSE sets of work on any given muscle in a workout, the muscle will shut down and stop responding, and this actually does more harm than good..) So, here’s the workout I will follow..

Monday- Upper Body (Chest 6 Sets, Back 6 Sets, Shoulders 3 Sets, Arms 3 Sets)
Tuesday- Abs/Stretching
Wed. – Lower Body (Legs 8 Sets)
Thr. – Abs/Stretching
Friday – Upper Body (Same as Mon. with Different Exercises)
Sat.- Abs/Stretching
Sunday- Off

Monday – Lower Body (Legs, 8 Sets.. Different Exercises Than Last Wed.)
Tues. – Off
Wed. Upper Body (Same as Last Monday & Friday but Different Excercises than Last Friday).
& So on.. & So “Forth”.. (Forth, not to be confused with the 4th.. The Unveiling Party Day!)

Miscellaneous Notes For the Formula..

• Rep Range- 6-10 Reps
• I will not repeat any exercise in back-to-back to workouts..
• I will start doing 30-45 Min of HIIT Cardio in the AM on Friday the 20th every day & Even on the morning of the 4th.. (Depending on how I feel &  Look will depend on the duration of the cardio workout..)
• I will be Resting 1-1 ½ Minutes between sets
• I won’t focus too much on my arms & shoulders because when I’m eating excess calories, these muscles grow really easily on my body and could lead to disproportion’s. Keeping those muscles tamed at 3 sets will be enough to keep blood in the muscle & pumped, but not enough to stimulate growth.. Plus, intensely working Chest & Back gives the arms a bit of a workout anyway..
• I’ll drink water only and no soft drinks.. (Red Wine in Moderation @ Night if I’m out with Friends)
• I will get at least 8 hours/night of sleep..

My workout usually last about an hour in the gym if I go at it intensely.. I’m more focused on staying true to my diet because that will shape my look.. If I eat at a restaurant, I will eat only lean meats on salad or wraps.. I don’t trust too many of the carb choices our restaurants offer as they are mostly loaded with sodium, cooked in bad fatty oils, & contain sugars to make them taste better.. Chicken salads, Salmon wraps, & those types of foods are a better fit for my goals to gain only lean muscle and keep body fat off my body.. Even though I only have 4 weeks to achieve this 5-7 more pounds of muscle, I expect this plan to cover the bases in the get fit formula.. I have enough food energy to grow new lean tissue, I am lifting heavy weights to spark that lean growth, but I’m doing it at low volume so I’m resting enough to let the process take shape & no overdeveloping or overtraining will result.. I love having something to look forward to, and the 4th will be a great day! Does anyone else have a plan to get in shape for the 4th?? Let me know what it is.. It’s a big day to show off a great body, so I’m hoping I can get some of you to set some goals with me.. I’m @ 173 now and 7.5-8% Body Fat.. I want to be 180lbs & 7% on July 4th, 2008! Who wants in??

John Fit.. (Summer’s Here & Looks Like it Brought the Heat.. 93 Degrees in Sunny Sarasota Today..)

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