Anyone who've seen Fight Club in 1999 would have gone "Woooaaaahhhhh....." when they saw Brad Pitt. I was one of them. I'm still straight though.
Looking at Brad’s physique, it is obvious that he didn’t get that way eating burgers and fries. Stay away from dairy and fried foods, and processed foods like bleached white flour, soft drinks, pastries, and fruit juices. Instead, eat whole fruits -- like apples, grapefruits and oranges -- early in the day. Stick to grilled chicken breast or fish, eggs, whole grains like 7- or 12-grain bread, brown rice and lentils, whole-grain cereals like oatmeal, farina and cream of rice/wheat, and starches like yams and sweet potatoes. Your fats should be included in a few of your meals and should come from olive, canola or flaxseed oil, natural peanut butter, avocadoes, and fatty fish. How many calories you need
You should strive to eat a balanced diet and stay within your body’s Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR), which is the amount of calories your body needs to perform its daily functions. At the end of the day, your progress will be determined by the energy (calories) you take in from food, minus the energy (calories) you expend through exercise.
Another thing to keep in mind is that you should strive to eat every two to three hours. When you go much longer than that without consuming a meal, your body goes into starvation mode and your metabolism slows or shuts down in an attempt to burn as little energy as possible to keep you alive.
There are many formulas to calculate your BMR. A simple one for adult males is [bodyweight x 10] + [2 x bodyweight]. So the BMR for a 170-lb. male would be 1,700 + 340, or 2,040 calories per day to sustain itself. Divide this into equal meals every two to three hours, combining protein and carbohydrates in your first few meals, and then protein and vegetables in your final meals of the day.
The post-workout meal
The only exception to this rule is your post-workout meal, at which point your body is starving for protein and carbohydrates. The two carbohydrates that work best are dextrose and maltodextrin; these are both digested at a high rate and will replenish your glycogen stores. You can get them from any health food store. If that isn’t adequate for you, feel free to have something that acts more quickly, like honey or a sports drink, which will also suffice. Fruit sugars (fructose) take much longer to be absorbed by the body and should be avoided. With your carbohydrates, you must also have protein to halt protein breakdown, and repair and build muscles. Typically, 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body mass is effective.
Exercise
In terms of exercise, you should perform about 30 minutes of cardio five times a week as soon as you wake up in the morning -- on an
empty stomach. If you are a “hardgainer” with a small build who just wants to become leaner, however, you might want to have a small meal that includes protein beforehand to avoid burning away muscle tissue.
When you eat carbohydrates, your body takes them and stores them as “glycogen” in the liver and in your muscles. Only when your muscles and liver are completely filled with glycogen will excess carbohydrates be stored as fat. While you’re sleeping, your body burns liver and muscle glycogen. Therefore, when you do your morning cardio before breakfast, you decrease stored glycogen rather than adding to it with food.
If you tend to put on fat easily, stick to high-intensity cardio such as the elliptical trainer or running. If you have trouble keeping your muscle mass, stick to low- to medium-impact cardio like speed walking on the treadmill. Just because Brad Pitt beat himself up in
Fight Club doesn’t mean you have to beat yourself up by doing high-impact cardio.
You should also do a total body resistance workout at least three times per week. Keep your reps between 15 and 25 per set, which will ensure that you don’t build huge muscles, but that you really burn them out and fatigue them. Brad Pitt was far from a bodybuilder, but he was definitely cut.
Also, you should keep your rest periods as short as possible in-between sets so that your resistance training is cardio-intensive as well. Remember: You want to look small and toned, so those low-rep/long-rest sets have got to go -- unless you changed your mind and want to look like Vin Diesel or the Terminator instead.
Pay particular attention to the way you work your shoulders and chest. You’ll notice that although lean, Brad’s physique didn’t include gigantic traps or an overly massive chest. In fact, his traps were almost non-existent and one could argue that his overall muscle structure wasn’t that developed at all. The focus was mainly on his six-pack abs, which we all strive to have.
Here is the workout I recommend.
Core
These exercises should be performed every other day.
Hanging leg raise: Grab hold of a pull-up bar. Once you have a good grasp, slowly bring your knees up to your chest, and then lower them back down. The slower and more controlled the movement, the greater the benefit. This exercise will also target your rectus abdominis, as well as your hip flexors.
Standing cable oblique twist: Get on the cable crossover machine. With your arms straight, hold the handle in front of your chest. While looking straight ahead, contract your abdominals and slowly turn your torso to the right, making sure to not pull with your arms, but to feel the work in your obliques. Release and repeat on the opposite side.
Day 1: Upper Body
All the upper-body exercises should be performed as supersets.
Chest
Incline dumbbell press: Sit down on an incline bench with the dumbbells resting on your lower thighs. Kick the weights to your shoulders and lean back. Position the dumbbells to the sides of your upper chest with your elbows under the dumbbells. Press the dumbbells up with your elbows to the sides until your arms are extended. Lower the weights to the sides of your upper chest.
Do 15 reps and immediately move on to the next exercise.
Seated pec dec flye: Sit in an upright position on a pec dec machine. Position the pads so that your upper arms are parallel to the floor. Keep your abs tight and your shoulders back. Using your chest strength, bring the pads together and squeeze. If the machine has pads, do not let your elbows flare off of them; this is a sign that you're using more than your chest to move the weight. Slowly return to the starting position. Perform 15 reps in a controlled, continuous motion.
Rest for 60 seconds and repeat both exercises back to back.
Shoulders
Dumbbell lateral raise: Grasp the dumbbells in front of your thighs. Bend over at the hips slightly with your knees bent. With your elbows slightly bent, raise your upper arms in front of you until your elbows and wrists are at shoulder height.
Lower and repeat for 15 reps, then immediately perform the next exercise.
Reverse pec dec flye: Lower the seat a bit and sit facing the machine. You can use a straight or reverse grip; both work the rear shoulders in different angles. Adjust and grab the handles, then contract your rear deltoids and shoulder blades to bring the weight back. Visualize your shoulder blades pinching together throughout the movement. Once you have squeezed your shoulder blades together, return the handles to their initial position without letting the weights rest. Always keep the tension in your muscles.
Do 15 reps, rest 60 seconds, and start the superset over with the dumbbell lateral raises. Do a total of two supersets.
Back
Lat pulldown: Sit with your thighs under the supports and grasp the cable bar with a wide grip. Pull the cable bar to your upper chest. Release until your arms and shoulders are fully extended.
Repeat, and after finishing your set, immediately perform the next exercise.
Seated row: Sit on the platform with your knees bent and grasp the cable attachment. Position your knees with a slight bend. Pull the cable attachment to your waist while straightening your lower back. Pull your shoulders back and push your chest forward during the contraction. Release until your arms are extended, your shoulders are stretched forward and your lower back is flexed forward.
Do 15 reps, rest for 60 seconds and start over with the lat pulldowns. Do two of these supersets.
Day 2: Biceps / Triceps
Bicep / Tricep superset No. 1
Dumbell bicep curl: Position two dumbbells to your sides with palms facing in and arms straight. With your elbows at your sides, raise one dumbbell and rotate your forearm until it is vertical and your palm faces your shoulder. Lower to the original position and repeat with the opposite arm.
Continue to alternate between sides for 15 reps, then move on to the next exercise right away.
Dumbell tricep kickback: Kneel over the bench with one arm supporting your body. Grasp a dumbbell. Position your upper arm parallel to floor. Extend your arm until it is straight. Return and repeat. Continue with the opposite arm.
Rest for 60 seconds, and then start over with dumbbell bicep curls. Do three of these supersets.
Bicep / Tricep superset No. 2
Rope tricep pulldown: Face the high pulley and grasp the rope at the bottom. Place your elbows at your sides. Extend your arms downward. Release until your forearms are close to your upper arms (with your hands no higher than your chest). Repeat.
When you are finished your set, do the next one immediately.
Rope hammer curl: Grab the rope with your palms facing your body and stand straight up. Put your elbows at your sides and keep them locked there. Curl your arms up and try to touch your shoulders with your hands, keeping your wrists locked and your palms facing inward.
Slowly return to the starting position and repeat for 15 reps, rest for 60 seconds, then start over with the rope pulldowns. Do three of these supersets.
Day 3: Legs
The following three exercises must be performed in succession as a triple set.
Hack squat: Lie supine on the back pad with your shoulders under the shoulder pad. Place your feet on the platform slightly higher than the base of the sled. Extend your hips and knees. Release the dock levers. Lower the sled until your knees are just short of complete flexion. Raise the sled back up by extending your knees and hips.
Repeat for 10 reps, then move on to the next exercise.
Leg extension: Sit on the apparatus with your back against the padded back support. Place the front of your lower legs under the padded lever. Position your knee articulations at the same axis as the lever fulcrum. Grasp the handles on the sides for support. Move the lever forward by extending your knees until your legs are straight. Return the lever to the original position by bending your knees.
Repeat for 10 reps and go to the following exercise.
Prone hamstring curl: Lie prone (face down) on the machine and hook your legs underneath the pad; the pad rests on the back of the ankle, below the calf. Raise the weight until it feels comfortable while holding on to the hand grips. Lower and repeat for 10 reps.
Rest for 60 seconds, and start over with the hack squat. Do three of these sets.
Get in fighting shape
If you follow this routine for a while and make sure to keep your diet clean, you could soon sport a nice, lean physique like the one that Brad Pitt had in
Fight Club. Remember to do your cardio in the morning (before breakfast) at least five times a week, work your abs every other day, drink plenty of water, and take a complete multivitamin to ensure your body has all the nutrients it needs to properly carry out its metabolic processes.
All this was from
AskMen.com.
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