GertLouw’s BodyBlog

My LIFE LEASE program

Please note. What might have worked for me, might not necessarily work for you. Use what you can and create your own workable solution from all other successful trainers’ experiences.
You MUST please first consult a physician before taking part in any aspect of this program, diet or supplements. The writer cannot be held accountable for any injury or bodily harm as a result of partaking in any aspect mentioned in this document. The info in this document is used and followed completely at your own risk.
 
 
Contents      
- LIFE LEASE program overview       
- Training, the LIFE LEASE way   
- Maintenance Phase and Building Phase  
- Basics       
- The LIFE LEASE weekly training schedule    
- Points of Note      
- Dieting, the LIFE LEASE way    
- Typical day sample - training middle of day  
- Typical day sample - training in evening  
- The LIFE LEASE diet    
- Points of note      
- Why two different protein powders?   
- Why so many shakes?     
- How to grow as quickly as possible    
- How to get cut       
- Fat Loss Inner Circle interview    
- Spirituality, the LIFE LEASE way    
 

The LIFE LEASE program overview
This program is about “making yourself better” on every level of your being.
 
Maybe you say “but, all I want is some decent muscles and a 6-pack”.
You need to sit down my friend and think about this carefully.
WHY do you want that? - Is it to look better? To impress the females? To impress your mates?
If it falls in any of the above categories or something similar, it is at best a very shallow aim and will be, unfortunately, of a very temporary timeframe (at least through my own and many others experiences).
I have nothing against anyone who just want to built muscles to look better, but I’ve been there many times and at last I am realizing the shallowness and short-lived motivation of such an aim.
 
Don’t you rather want to look in that mirror and be able to say “I like the guy I am seeing. I like who I am. I am no longer the selfish person I used to be. I am at peace with myself and God.” Muscles and a great body should just be a normal outflow in this holistic process to become a better person and because of the weight your decision to change carries, it becomes much easier to stick religiously to your training and dieting regimen. Now, you don’t just do it to look better, you do it to BECOME a better person and you realize it is just one of the steps you have taken.
 
I was given a 2nd chance to live. I used this 2nd chance to address my life on all levels following the LIFE LEASE program. So you might not yet be at this point in your life, well, consider yourself lucky. Then you need to take some quiet time and think about life, your body and the person you are and be honest to yourself. Do you like what you see (not just your body, but the whole person)? Do others like what they see?
 
Make your muscle building and dieting plans a starting point to change YOU and go on the biggest journey, life has to offer.
 
To be able to sit back and say “I actually like the person I am” will add immeasurable value and peace to your life.
 
So what do you need to address? Three things – Diet, Training, and the most important of them all, Spirituality.
 
Spirituality is the key to unlock everything. When you become a deeper spiritual person, then it is not just you in the battle to become a better person, but God is with you in this battle. And the strength He provides for you to change is real and amazing.
 
I don’t want to force any specific spiritual road upon anyone and this is not the aim of the program. Each of us has to make our own decisions. What I do try to achieve through the LIFE LEASE program, is to give you a glimpse into my spiritual journey to help you get on your way. My journey was and is real and I speak of experiences and factual happenings as they occurred to me. This is just to give you that little extra hope that it CAN be done!
 
 

Training, the LIFE LEASE way
MAINTENANCE PHASE AND BUILDING PHASE
There are 2 parts to the training program, Maintenance Phase and Building Phase. These two phases are alternated continuously. You will be doing a Maintenance Phase for 3 months (12 weeks) and then switch to an intense Building Phase for the next 3 months (12 weeks) and then repeat cycle.
 
It is suggested that you start off with a Maintenance Phase to ease you into lifting weights.
 
When you start out, it is critical that you determine the weight size at which your point of muscle failure occurs at the 8th repetition (let’s call this weight size, your “failure weight”) for each exercise (excluding abdominals). This means the point where you fail to be able to make another repetition of the exercise.
 
Make note of this “failure weight”, because starting off with your Maintenance Phase, you will be doing 12 reps with the “failure weight” minus 20 percent of the “failure weight”.
Hmm, OK that just sounds complicated, so let’s look at an example.
Let’s say you’ve determined that with Bicep Barbell Curls, you can lift 30kg and only complete 8 reps but fail on the 9th rep. Then in your Maintenance Phase you will lift 20% less of the weight (which equals to roughly 24kg) and do 12 reps in your each set.
 
With your Building Phase you will revert back to 8 reps per set. Starting with each Phase, you must again determine your “failure weight” since this will (and must!) increase with every Phase. The 8 reps must then be done with your new “failure weight” reaching muscle failure on your 8th rep.
 
IMPORTANT: When finished with a Building Phase, your lifted weight levels for the Maintenance Phase will be the ones that you’ve ended on in your last Building Phase. Do NOT reset these values. They must continually increase with your phases or you will not grow. It is a good idea to re-determine these “failure weight” at the start of each Phase.
 
So typically a year period will look like the following:
  Jan – March (12 weeks) Maintenance Phase
  April - June (12 weeks) Building Phase
  July – September (12 weeks) Maintenance Phase
  October - December (12 weeks) Building Phase
 
Obviously you can shuffle your months around to suit your own target dates. Traditionally December is warm beach weather and holiday season here in South Africa, so I want to make sure that I look my best in December and thus make sure that the month of December falls on the last month of a Building Phase period.
 
A typical weight training session will look like this:
  5 min warm-up
  40 min weight training
  10-20 min cardio
 
 
BASICS and important points
? Cardio stays the same during both Phases. After your weight lifting session, the perfect cardio would be to swim laps for 30 minutes. But since most of us have no access to such facilities, we have to consider the stationary bike or treadmill.
Cardio must be done for 10 – 20 minutes. Preferably closer to 20 minutes. Do not make it much longer than 20 minutes even if you become very fit. Rather up the intensity to make sure you are most of the time in the fat-burning zone.
Again here, please take it slowly. Start out slow for 5 minutes (on low intensity) and slowly increase it week by week. Allow your body to adapt.
Please note: Too much cardio will slow your muscle growth drastically. Have you ever seen a muscled marathon athlete? Be carefull, if u wanna grow, keep the cardio intense but not much more than 20 minutes per day.
 
If you are completely new to lifting, I suggest you do one of the following:
-Buy a basic guide explaining the mentioned exercises.
-By just “hanging” and talking to other guys in the gym, you can also learn a lot about the various exercises.
-Do some research on sites like www.bodybuilding.com You should be able to find nearly all you need on a site like this. You can also follow the following link for a complete set of exercises, descriptions and photo’s: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm
Very important thought, is that if you are completely new to lifting, you MUST start out slowly. Start for example, by doing one set per exercise for the first week. Bump it up to 2 sets per exercise in your 2nd week and to 3 sets per exercise in the 3rd week and finally to 4 sets per exercise in your 4th week. This will be accompanied by some rather severe muscle pain. Endure buddy, it is a good sign, it shows you your muscles are listening and reprogramming for growth. If the pain becomes unbearable or influences your workouts, take some anti-inflammatory pills (Dicoflam is a good one), it will deal with most of the pain.
 
? During the Maintenance Phase, as already stated above, you will lift slightly lighter weights (roughly 10%-20% lighter) with more reps (12-14 instead of . The actual program stays exactly the same for both Maintenance Phase and Building Phase.
As part of periodization it is also important to keep exchanging (preferably on a monthly basis) your exercises with new ones for the same muscle group (Choose your exercises from: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm). Again, this keep the muscles guessing and growing otherwise over the longer term they may stop responding.
 
? During the Building Phase period, increase weight on all exercises on a weekly basis, forcing the muscles to respond and grow - kind off like a shock treatment. (Sure this will mean sore muscles, but soon you will learn to LOVE the feeling of sore muscles, because then you know that you had a good workout.)
So last week you failed on the 8th rep with 30kg. Put on 32 kg and go and punish the muscles this week. Increase the weight like this on every exercise. If a 2kg increase is too much to handle, make it 1kg or even 500g, but do NOT stop increasing the weights. Younger guys will grow like mushrooms doing this. Our older folk are like good red wine, it takes some time but our muscles will respond.
 
? A set consists of 8 repetitions per exercise in the Building Phase (with muscle failure occurring on the 8th rep) and 12-14 reps with a 20% lighter weight for the Maintenance Phase.
 
? Typically rest for no longer than 2 minutes between sets. Actually the less you rest the better. But you must rest long enough for your muscles to recover to perform your next set.
 
? WARM-UP! Guys, the older you get, the more important is it to warm-up the muscles before training. You are warmed up when a light sweat appears on your forehead. This usually takes 5-10 minutes of light repetition lifting or aerobics. Be careful to consider stretching as warming up. A cold muscle may tear if you stretch it. Stretching is beneficial after a heavy set, not for warming up purposes.
Another note here: Shoulders are very prone to lifting injuries. Make sure you warm them up double well, just to make sure.
 
? Using caffeine pills or ECA type stack before your training may help you with energy levels while training. There is also some fancy energy boosting and cell volumizing powders on the market, which you can take before training. It is an expensive route but some of the products might be beneficial in providing focus and energy during your workout. Search sites like www.bodyBuilding.com to read up on products available.
 
? Training at gym or home? I do it at home. Sure you must have the right equipment and it could take some time to acquire it, but especially if you have serious family obligations (small kids/babies) it makes it much easier to work out at home. Home workouts only work if you are very focussed. If you struggle with motivation, then going to a gym or even getting a personal trainer might be a good idea.
 

The LIFE LEASE Weekly Training Schedule
For detailed exercise description with pics check out: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm
 
MONDAY - pecs & abs
 Pec routine
a. Barbell Bench press – medium grip
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
a. Barbell Incline Bench press – medium grip,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
a. Barbell Decline Bench press – medium grip,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
b. Butterfly/Pec Deck Fly
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
 
 Abdominal (ab) routine
 Three different crunch exercises
c. AB Crunch machine,
Building Phase: 3 sets of 20 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 3 sets of 25 reps each
d. Air Bike,
Building Phase: 3 sets of 20 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 3 sets of 25 reps each
e. Standard Ab Bench/exercise mat crunch
Building Phase: 3 sets of 20 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 25 reps each
 
With the Abdominals (ab) routine, you must feel the PAIN, if no pain then you are simply NOT squeezing those abs hard enough! Abs is like any muscle group they must be train in low reps to the point of failure to grow. You are not gonna grow deep rippling abdominal by doing 200 crunches in a row…

TUESDAY – shoulders & Traps
(Note: some people prefer to switch the shoulders and leg routine around so that legs are on Tuesdays and shoulders on Wednesdays.)
 a) Lateral dumbbell raise,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
a. Front dumbbell raise,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
b. Dumbbell Shoulder press,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
a. Dumbbell/Barbell Raise,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
b. Dumbbell Shrugs
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
c. Barbell Shrugs behind the back
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
 
WEDNESDAY – legs
a. Barbell Deadlift,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
b. Barbell Full Squat,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
c. Stiff leg Barbell Deadlift,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
d. Lying Leg Curls,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
a. Standing Calve raises
Building Phase: 4 sets of 15 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 20 reps each
 
THURSDAY - back
a. Close-grip Front Lat Pulldown,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
b. Gironda Sternum Chins,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
c. Lying T-Bar Row
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
d. Back Extensions
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each

FRIDAY - biceps & triceps
Biceps and triceps exercises are done in supersetting mode. Supersetting means doing different exercises back to back without any resting in-between the sets - Provides a great pump.
a. Alternate Dumbbell Curl,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
b. Tricep Dumbbell Kickback,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
c. Barbell Curls,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
d. Cable One-arm Tricep Extension,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
e. Alternate Hammer Curls,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
f. Bench Dips (Triceps),
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
g. Concentration biceps curls,
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
h. Decline Dumbbell Tricep Extension
Building Phase: 4 sets of 8 reps each. Maintenance Phase: 4 sets of 12 reps each
 
SATURDAY – rest (feel free to do some cardio, but not required)
SUNDAY – rest (feel free to do some cardio, but not required)
POINTS OF NOTE
1. 45 minutes before training take 5g BCAA’s on an empty stomach.
This helps to protect your muscles from being used as a source of energy during training, protecting your muscles. Yip you got it right, doing things the wrong way can actually result in your muscles shrinking!
 
2. 15 minutes before training take whey isolate 40g with water (milk not allowed here) as well as 5g Glutamine powder mixed into your shake. It is wise to add NAC and ALA to your pre-workout supplements as well.
This Whey and Glutamine helps to feed your muscles during lifting.
If you can afford it, it is a GREAT idea to also include NAC (N-acetylcysteine, 200mg) and especially ALA (Alpha Lipoic Acid, 200mg) into your pre-workout supplements regimen as well. Their benefits for muscle building (and other health benefits) has been well documented (especially ALA) and many top bodybuilders use it this way. To read more about them, Just type “NAC benefits” and “Alpha Lipoic Acid benefits” on Google.
Both of them have positive effects on your immune system as well as protecting your liver. ALA also has a important and powerful effect on insulin blood levels, which in turn have a positive impact on your muscle building efforts.
3. Other supplements?
Creatine – one of the best supplements to take, although some people complain in makes no difference. Best is to take it with the whey shake directly after training. It is best absorbed when mixed with grapejuice. Some products include everything needed for optimal uptake so be carefull to check packaging. Vitargo is generally assumed to be one of the better products.
Flaxseed Oil – Take in morning with breakfast and at night with evening meal. Benefits to many to mention but overall a great supplement to take for both fat loss and muscle building.
Saw Palmetto – protect that precious prostate, enough said. Take with breakfast.
ZMA – good product for healthy testosterone levels, but be sure to take it on a empty stomach at night, 45 minutes before your last bedtime shake.
ALA and NAC – discussed in point 2.
Multi Vitamin – This is a very important part of your supplement regime. You need a potent combination. I suggest the following two: OPTI-MEN or Universal Animal Pak
 
4. Lots of water while training.
Do not rely on going to drink water while training. You must have your own bottle of water with you while training and continually sip from it. I cannot stress how important the water consumption is for muscle building and dieting purposes.
Cola drinks and coffee/tea is NOT a substitute for water. They have the OPPOSITE effect and dehydrate your body because they are a mild diuretic.
To give you and idea, let’s look what typically happens when you go on a muscle building/dieting quest with very little water consumption:
? You will experience frequent headaches.
? You will struggle to loose fat!
? You will struggle to build muscles!
? You will experience bad skin.
? You stand a great change of kidney damage. Concentrated protein intake without sufficient water intake as well, place high stress on your kidneys. This high stress over a period will definitely cause harm to your kidneys.
? Great stress will also be placed on your liver.
 
5. Immediately after training take whey isolate (40g) with water (not milk!) and a medium banana and 5g Glutamine plus 200mg NAC and 200mg ALA.
After training your body wants energy and fast absorbing protein. NO fat whatsoever must be taken, not even fat-free milk (which is also a slow release protein).
Do not leave out the banana since it is critical for your post workout nutrition. Although a banana is your first choice, you can also consume 200ml – 300ml fruit juice (apple) instead.
Again the NAC and ALA is optional but if you can afford it, it’s gonna make a difference with your muscle building efforts.
 

Dieting the LIFE LEASE way
Let’s get one thing straight. No matter how good or hard you train, you will NOT grow if you do not get your diet sorted correctly. Diet makes up easily 80% of your muscle Building Phase success.
If you don’t believe me, you WILL learn it the hard way.
 
This diet is designed for a male person who generally does not struggle to loose weight and are only mildly overweight (generally with a BF% of lower than 20%).
If you really struggle to loose weight, there is no getting away without weighing food. In such a case, I suggest joining a weight-loss organization to help you monitor you diet and fat loss.
They should have plans available for people who want to focus on muscle building and if not, a dietician should be able to help you adapt your diet for muscle building requirements.
 
Please note: The diet has been designed for a male of medium height (1.75m) and weight (77kg).
For significantly shorter or taller individuals, the diet must be adjusted accordingly.
If you struggle to do this please email me and I will see if I can help.
Be warned: This is not a diet to loose weight without training. This will work great to loose unwanted weight BUT ONLY in conjunction with a dedicated and serious training routine.
 
It is an easy-going diet without having to worry too much about sizes and weighing stuff.
The diet is also designed in such a fashion to limit preparation time to the absolute minimum.
 
Just to give you a quick overview, here follows 2 examples of a typical day dieting program. The first with training in the middle of day and the second with training in the evenings.
 
Typical day sample - training middle of day.
07h00  - (waking up) 1 scoop (20g) whey and 1 scoop casein (20g) protein shake with water.
07h30  - bowl of oats (80g uncooked weight) with fat-free milk and 2 tablespoons honey.
11h00  - 4 egg whites, 1 scoop whey (20g) with 400ml water & medium apple.
12h30  - 2 scoops whey (40g) with 400ml water & 10g Glutamine.
Workout
Directly after workout - 2 scoops whey (40g) with 400ml water & 10g Glutamine + 1 medium banana.
17h00  - 2 scoops casein protein (40g) with 400ml water.
19h00  - small evening meal. No starches.
  Only veggies/salad and protein (fillet, chicken or fish - 150g).
  No butter and very limited salt with veggies/salad.
  Use liberal (2 spoons) amounts of extra virgin olive oil with salad/veggies.
22h00  - (bedtime) 2 scoops casein (40g) shake with 400ml water.
Typical days sample - training in evening.
07h00  - (waking up) 1 scoop whey (20g) and 1 scoop casein (20g) protein shake with water.
07h30  - 4 wheetbix pieces with fat-free milk and 2 tablespoons honey.
11h00  - 4 egg whites, 1 scoop whey (20g) with 400ml water & medium peach.
14h00  - Large starch-free salad with protein (fillet, chicken or fish - 150g).
  Use liberal (2 spoons) amounts of extra virgin olive oil with salad.
16h30  - 2 scoops casein protein (40g) with 400ml water.
18h00  - (Just before workout) 2 scoops whey powder (40g) with 400ml water & 10g Glutamine
Workout
Directly after workout - 2 scoops whey powder (40g) with 400ml water & 10g Glutamine + 1 medium banana
22h00  - (bedtime) 2 scoops casein shake (40g) with 400ml water.
 
 

The LIFE LEASE Diet
07h00  - upon waking up, immediately mix 1 scoop casein (20g) and 1 scoop whey (20) with 400ml water in a shaker and drink.
No substitutes allowed here. For extra calcium and protein, you can mix your shake with fat-free milk. However, water is cheaper and also makes the shake easy on your kidneys.
On this point, do NOT drink concentrated shakes. At least 400ml of water/fat-free milk are required. A concentrated shake can actually damage your kidneys if taken regularly. It over taxes the kidneys.
 
07h30  - bowl of oats (80g precooked weight) with fat-free milk and 2 tablespoons honey.
There is no porridge that you can take that comes close to oats for muscle building purposes. Oats and muscle building goes perfect together as a morning meal. Oats boosts the immune system and release it’s energy slowly throughout the day, so you won’t feel drained or hunger pains.
Substitutions: none really, nothing comes close to oats. Try Cinnamon over your oats.
If you have to exchange with other porridges, be careful of the calorie count and do not exceed the calorie count of the oats.
 
11h00  - 50g protein, 1 scoop whey with 400ml water/fat-free milk & medium fruit
The 50g protein must be a solid food protein. Be weary of bananas. They are excellent directly after working out, but due to their quick releasing energy, you want to avoid them at any other time.
Substitutions: 50g protein = 4 medium size egg whites / small piece of chicken fillet/fish or beef fillet. By small is meant about half of your fist size.
Although the yellow of an egg is very healthy, the amount of calorie’s it contains due to it’s fat content makes it unsuitable for muscle building purposes. At most you can take one yellow and mix it in with the 4 whites if you have to. But as stated, it’s best without.
 
12h30  - 2 scoops whey (40g) with 400ml water/fat-free milk & 10g Glutamine
This is taken immediately before working out.
1. Substitutions: None
 
Workout (45min – 60min)
Warming up: 5-10 min
Lifting: 30-40 min
Cardio: 10-20 min
 
Directly after workout - 2 scoops whey with water & 10g Glutamine + 1 medium banana
Note this is the ONLY time that your are allowed to eat a banana. Your body requires immediate energy and a banana is excellent in providing it.
Substitutions: The whey and Glutamine cannot be substituted. However, the banana can be replace by 200ml fruit juice, any flavor. Apple works great. But, a banana stays the number one choice.
 
17h00  - 2 scoops (40g) casein protein with 400ml water/fat-free milk.
Substitutions: None

19h00  - small evening meal. No starches.
 Only veggies/salad and protein (fillet, chicken or fish - 150g)
 No butter and very limited salt with veggies/salad.
   Use liberal (2 spoons) amounts of extra virgin olive oil with salad/veggies.
? It is critical that you do not eat starches after 18h00 in the evening. That means no rice, pasta, bread, rusks, potato, etc…
? The protein portion must be a solid food and is typically the size of your fist in volume.
? Critical that the protein portions must be fat-less. Choose chicken fillet, beef fillet or fish.
? Be careful to use sauces over protein. It adds a lot of unwanted calories. Rather use herbs and spices liberally and things like squeezed lemon juice, basic gravy sauce. Try also to cooked the chicken in orange juice for a tangy change.
? You are allowed a large salad portion. But we are only talking basic salad here, no fancy stuff. Only, green leafs, tomato, cucumber, gherkin, seeds, very little nuts and some parmesan shavings allowed. Use 2 spoons of extra virgin olive oil over salad. For a something different, also use Balsamic vinegar to taste. It goes especially nice with the olive oil.
? Cooked and raw veggies are allowed. Note: Potato and sweet potato does NOT fall into the veggies group.
? Butter and salt is generally a taboo. However, over veggies you can use a tablespoon of butter for taste purposes. You are allowed salt but very sparingly.
Substitutions: See above bullet points 
 
22h00  - (bedtime) 2 scoops casein (40g) shake with 400ml water/fat-free milk.
Substitutions: Although the casein protein powder is preferred, you can instead eat 250g Fat Free Cottage Cheese.
 
There is a LOT of reasoning behind exactly why the diet is structured this way. Do NOT tamper with it. If you have specific queries, please email me at gertlouwljc@hotmail.com
 
 
Points of note:
1. Try staying away from diet Carbonated drinks and too much coffee (only 2 cups allowed daily with fat-free milk and no sugar). Both these items act as a mild diuretic and means that you will have to drink even more water to replace the water lost as a result. Plus the sweeteners used in diet carbonated drinks is simply unhealthy!
 
2. Do NOT skip a meal. This is the no. 1 enemy for Building Phase muscles.
 
3. Do NOT eat more than the suggested amounts or you will gain fat.
 
4. Do NOT eat less than the suggested amounts or you will struggle to build muscles.
 
5. Eat your meals even if you feel full!
 
6. Your meals must be spaced between 3-4 hours apart.
 
7. Sorry, NO alcohol allowed during the week and weekends only one glass of wine or 1 beer per day. Alcohol is a big enemy of dieting and building muscles. Cutting it out completely is the best option.
 
8. Smoking? You cannot be successful at building muscles and continue smoking; the two opposes each other. It’s a great habit to stop if you wanna better yourself.
 
9. Sweets & chocolate. Sorry, but they are out.
 
10. Cheat meal? Once a week (only one meal). Do not stuff yourself (important), but have a sit-down meal and eat whatever your tastebuds feel like including your favorite dessert. Preferably leave this for the weekend.
 
Note: whey and casein protein contains little carbs and is pure protein. One scoop = 20g approximate.
 
Why two different proteins powders?
? Whey Isolate is a quick releasing protein powder and perfect to use when your body requires and immediate uptake of protein.
? Casein protein is used when you need a slow uptake of protein, for example while you is sleeping.
? I try use trusted local (South African) supplements when I can, simply because they are cheaper than the imported ones.
Whey Isolate: EAS – 100% Whey Protein
Casein Protein: Evox – Synergy Whey Protein (special combination of fast and slow release proteins).
 
Why so many shakes?
? Well, simply to make your life easier. I do not have the time to stand for hours at night preparing the next day meals.
? Shakes do make it so much easier to obtain your muscle goals.
? But be careful; do not replace your existing solid meals with shakes. The human body has not been made to live on liquids alone; your body needs some solid meals.
 
HOW TO GROW AS BIG AS POSSIBLE QUICKLY
I get asked a lot by guys new to lifting, what to do to grow as quickly as big as possible. I am no guru on bodybuilding, but I have learned my fair share as time progressed. So here follows some of the truths that I have learned:
My suggestions to guys new to bodybuilding are always the same. You will not grow, no matter how hard you lift if you do not get the train/eat/rest pattern sorted.
1. Do NOT overtrain. This is the easiest way for your muscles to shrink - literally!
The best growth usually occurs when you work a muscle group intensely only once a week. You have to rest about 2 days a week. Your body MUST have time to grow and recover.
 
Muscles do NOT grow in gym (they actually get torn down); they grow outside the gym while you are sleeping/recuperating/resting.
Overtraining is by far the biggest mistake people new to the sport makes.
2. No matter how hard you train, if you do not eat correctly, you will NOT grow.
Diet determines 80% of your bodybuilding success.
Eat 7 small meals a day. Each meal must have a good protein source.
First meal must be when u wake up (fast update protein shake like Whey) and last meal when u goes to bed (slow release protein shake like Casein).
3. LOTS of water & you must use a potent Multi Vitamin.
No less than 3L but preferably 4L water per day. Use clean water. Preferably filtered water.
Your body is going to require serious recuperating from all the training. If you want your body to function optimally for muscle growth, you MUST take a potent Multi Vitamin.
Examples: Universal Animal Pak and OPTI-MEN
4. The type of exercise you do is not that important. What is important is that you do the exercise with a heavy enough weight so that you reach muscle failure by rep 8.
If you focus on slow controlled movements and forcing the muscle with intensity to failure at rep 8, you WILL grow (if you rest enough and eat right).
 
Follow the above rules; make sure you cover a muscle group once a week and train with highest intensity possible. Then the type of exercise does not matter so much anymore, because you will grow.

HOW TO GET CUT?
First I must state that I have never struggled to loose weight.
The main reason for my low bf% is that I eat VERY little carbs (like in VERY little!).
I try to eat a fair amount of good oils (flaxseed oil, extra virgin olive oil, etc.) with every meal.
It not only help the cholesterol levels but also in truth HELP you to loose fat weight (obviously when consumed in the right quantities).
 
Again, lots and lots of water are critical for a fat-loss environment. High water consumption WILL speed up your fat-loss dramatically. Fat “metabolizes” easier in a high water consumption environment.
If you are new to consuming lots of water, then the following is suggested:
? Start out slowly. Fade in your water consumption.
? Expect a lot of toilet runs until such time that your body gets used to the higher water intake.
? Headaches and bad skin could appear but will soon disappear. It is a sign of all the bad stuff being flushed and worked out by your body. You are on your way to become much healthier and your body realizes it.
? NEVER drink water from a plastic bottle after it has stood in the sun or warm environment. Extremely harmful chemicals get released into the water when sun, etc… heat up the plastic container

NO carbs after 6pm! Your last meal just before bed MUST be a casein slow release protein shake containing near zero carbs.
This rule applies irrespect of when you are training – midday or evening.

Eating every 3 hrs (from waking up to going to bed) means your metabolism is firing continuously, which in turn mean you are burning alot of energy. Do not underestimate these frequent meals for fat-loss environment.
You will also start seeing that your stomach literally shrinks and becomes flatter because it has to deal with less food at a single time.

Some people have done severe damage to their metabolisms through fad diets. For such people, it might take 1 - 3 months of frequent small meals just to correct their metabolism. U won’t see any benefit until such time that you have aligned and corrected your metabolism.
Now you may say “but what about your energy levels because u eat so little carbs?” Very true! The trick I use is to inject me every other day (I’ve heard of people doing it on a daily basis) with Vitamin B12 (and alternating it with Vitamin B complex) into the bum. Yeah, I know, ouch! But the fact is it gives me a lot of energy and also help with metabolizing fat, thus helping you to cut easier.
Does this mean I always have enough energy? Nope! Remember I am 44! But it helps a lot!
Getting cut inevitably means that you will feel drained of energy. Remember you are literally giving your body less than what it requires. But there is a golden line to be walked and this LIFE LEASE program help you to walk that golden line.
 
Injecting protocols?
Doing some Internet searching will provide you with sufficient info. If you still want some help, contact me.
 
Think you won’t be able to inject yourself?
Come on buddy! You wanna built muscles, well then get use to a little pain. The first one is difficult, the 2nd one easier and from there onwards no problem. Sure, now and then I still give myself a very painful injection, but the majority is virtually painless. Alternate between the 2 bums and be VERY conscious of cleaning and sterilizing protocols for injections.
 
Where to get needles alcohol wipes and syringes?
Preferably you’re local doctor. I know, not always possible! Well, there are many Internet sites to order from. One of the trustworthy (albeit expensive!) sites I use: www.sport-pharma.com
If you are from South Africa, I can give you a local site, which will be much cheaper.

Many guys ask me how I get the Adonis belt so pronounced.
I honestly think the biggest factor is your genetic make-up. But I do do something that might help making it more pronounce. With EVERY rep, I contract from my abs/core to perform the rep. It basically results in and abs/core workout with every lifting session.

A last point of note here: When I go for the kill to reduce body fat as low as possible, I include a cycle of CLENBUTEROL. Apart from the fact that it helps with the fat burning process, it has a benefit (to a lesser extend) that it protects the muscle from wastage when on a very low carb diet and heavy training program.
NB: Do not do clenbuterol cycles too frequently (like more than 2 times a year). It has a negative affect on the heart muscle (hardening it). Use it sparingly and stick to the exact cycle specs. Just type “big cat clenbuterol” on google and u will get all the answers regarding clenbuterol and it’s cycles.

HERE FOLLOWS AN EXTRACT FROM AN INTERVIEW I DID
1) Can you tell The Muscle & Fat Loss Inner Circle members a little bit about yourself?
Business owner, with very little time to work out. Been married 18 yrs and 2 yrs ago wife fell pregnant. Our baby boy was born and it gave new meaning to my life.

2) What were your initial motivations for transforming your body?
4 years ago I became terrible ill and ended up on, what I then thought was my “deathbed”. In my hospital bed, I was forced to choose between life and death on more than one level.
I had, what many would consider, a “rough” life before and during the ordeal accepted Christ as my savior. Yeah, I know a lot of you are gonna say “Arrgh, another Jesus Freak”, but the truth is, my spiritual changes had a LOT to do with helping me stay focussed and becoming someone I actually liked. Simply put, I do not see me reaching success without the spiritual side.
So yes, my whole life changed from there on. I became a very different person on all levels. Before this I never wanted any kids. Being so close to death made me appreciate the wonder of life more and me and wife decided to see whether God would bless us with a child. Little Janu was born soon afterwards. He is now just over 2 yrs and in perfect health. My boy gave me new focus to continue on my health and fitness road. I wanted to be there for him to help him though the pitfalls of a teenager and pick him up when he falls.
After my hospital ordeal all my energy went into increasing my health from all angles. Some doctors were very negative about my prognosis, but I just persisted with me new health and fitness lifestyle. I just wanted to see another day, then another month, and then another year. My body responded very well to the new lifestyle. I started actually to look good with a thinner waist and bigger muscles.
In a sense I was “lucky”. I had no option. This made it easy for me to put everything into my new lifestyle. The new me was not seeing failing as an option. The stakes was too high. Consider yourself blessed if you have the ability or opportunity to reach a healthier/thinner you without having to be “forced” to do it!

3) How long have you been on your program for and what kind of success have you experienced so far?
4 years.
My health has increased dramatically.
Well, my wife now call me a hunk…that should explain all (oh and the before and after pics of course).
Bodyfat went from 19% to 7%.
Weight went from 85kg to 76kg and then increased again to 80kg as my muscle mass increased. Bodyfat stayed nearly constant between 6 – 8% year round.

4) How has this success changed your day-to-day life for the better?
There truly is no comparison to my life now and how it was. I don’t want to go into all the boring details, but my spiritual changes made me a new person that I now actually liked. Plus having a body that most guys envy really makes me feel like being young again, ready to take on the world. Add a loving wife and beautiful baby boy to the mix and well, that is what I call happiness!

5) Did you experience any setbacks along the way? If so, what were they and how did you get past them?
As I mentioned earlier, the stakes was very high for me and failure was not an option. But there were days that I really did not felt like lifting weights. My body ached and I had no energy. When the aching was really bad, I might take a painkiller to help.
To overcome these difficult days, I went through a set of set motions. I always had a short meditate/prayer session before I start exercising to focus my mind on the important things. Well, then I simply put on my favorite rock tunes (LOUD) and focus on just the first set. I do not think about what is still waiting and have to be done; I just focus on what is at hand and finish it. Rep, by rep becomes set by set and before long I have completed the whole session. It might not have been my best session, but I’ve DONE it. I NEVER skip a day. There is no excuse worthy of canceling my session.
 

Spirituality the LIFE LEASE way
 
MY LIFE STORY
And Lastly, for those interest, this is my story about how I came to follow Jesus Christ.

My life story. The wrongful actions. My pain. My near-death experience. My death sentence. My new life. My new body.

Important:
This is not meant to offend anyone, this is about my life and the experiences I had.
This is NOT meant to glorify me! All the glory goes to the almighty God, without whom I would not even be here today.
Hopefully this will help the reader to understand why Christ is so central to everything I do. There is “no room in my heart” that is closed for Christ. He stands in the middle of every room. No matter whether it is bodybuilding, work, sport, socializing, etc… With everything, and in everything, I will give the glory to Jesus Christ my savior.
I do not believe or adhere to “political correctness”. I live my life with the focus completely on God almighty.

4 Years ago, I lived a life removed from God. Although I did not realize it then, my life was filled with all kinds of sin. I was following the call of the world. I was self-righteous and in my “wisdom” created a God to suite me. I followed the teaching of “the world” about God, i.e.: Anything is right, anything goes, as long as it is right or true for me. The God I made up was defined by my own rules. Basically I created my own God. How ignorant I realize I was. How can I tell God how and what He should be!
Today I realize that this is actually what most people do…

But through all this, God was watching over me and was about to call me with a loud voice. Because he had plans for me, but I was not fulfilling those plans.

Let me take you 12 years back. God, in his wisdom, led me and my wife to start a business. We both resigned from our secure jobs and went head over heal into creating this business. We knew nothing about running a business and less about the field of business we’ve entered. But God had a plan and He guided us through all the pitfalls and although we were far removed from Him, the business grew from strength to strength against all odds. [That is a miracle in itself. We started the business with $2 266, all the money we had. Today we employ nearly a 100 people, most coming from a jobless background and our yearly turnover is inexcess of $6 000 000 – a lot of money in South African terms! And all this without taking out a single loan to help the business.]
The bigger the business grew the more self-righteous I became and the further removed from God.
I believed I was “invincible”…but becoming increasingly depressed and with all this success found no real reason worth living.
I could afford everything my heart desire, do anything I want, but simply nothing satisfied me.

Then (about 4 years ago) God spoke to me in a very loud voice. I became seriously ill. At one point I was basically clinically dead in hospital (no pulse, no blood pressure). I was severely dehydrated and most of my organs were damaged as a result. Although the doctors could never exactly tell me what went wrong, their official explanation is that it was a normal flu that turned very bad. They said it was one of the worse dehydration cases they’ve ever seen. I was in hospital for more than a week and lost a lot of weight. My recovery was slow.

I knew (unexplainably and with 100% certainty), the moment I hit the hospital bed, this was God working with me. I knew this was the moment in my life where I had to choose between life and death in more than one way.
Then the news came from the doctors: “You’ve got about three years to live.”
My battle with God was over. I surrendered. I can remember how I was lying in my gymroom flat on the ground on my stomach in front of Christ, crying for forgiveness. My sins I’ve done in the past against God just became crystal clear to me. Where I had no remorse in the past, my heart was just filled with painful remorse. My past life was in front of my eyes – all my sins, all my self-righteousness and self-glorification. I literally “felt” the presence of God and His purity and holiness and this overwhelmed me. It made me realize really how unpure I was and how much I’ve hurt Him through my past actions.
I laid everything before Him and pleaded forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. It was an extremely emotional period for me and I cried before God a lot.
There were a couple of times that Jesus lifted me up from this despair with and awesome peace and love. The joy I felt at moments like that was awesomely amazing.

My life changed – full stop. I repented my sins before Christ (each one of them), I accepted Christ as my savior and I accepted that He died for my sins on the cross and I turned from my ways…

My depression disappeared. I wanted to follow Christ with all my heart and started living just for Him. Everything I did was focussed on Him and for His glory. I cut out everything that was part of this world from my life and brought Christ in the middle of everything.
I started doing weightlifting seriously and even with that, Christ was in the middle of it. There was no aspect or facet of my life where Christ was not part of it.
The emotional healing continued.

The business went further from strength to strength.
My health continued to increase.
We started with various gospel projects at work…and then my eyes started opening and I saw what God had in plan for me all along and why He pulled me closer to Him when I did not listen to His calls. With our gospel projects at work, we reached more than 100 families most of who renewed their faith in God and drew closer to Him. Our company’s number one priority became to glorify Christ.
We had weekly praise and worships gathering at work for employees and clients.
We started sponsoring missionaries (and some of our own people are now in missionary/outreach work)
We became involved in a magnitude of gospel projects to spread the word and uplift disadvantaged communities.
Money was of now importance to me anymore, but God blessed us so much that the more we give the more we had.

This is now just over 4 years since the doctors told me my fate. But God had other plans for me. I regained most of my health and the doctors were amazed. I looked physically the best I’ve ever looked in my life. I am at peace and every day is a joy for me. It is the most amazing path to follow Christ. Everything I entrust to Him (my life, health, big+small problems) and it’s incredible how He flattens the bumps in my road and bring peace to it.

I live very close to God now. Sometimes I can literally hear God speaking to me. I daily lay all my problems before Him and he gives me clarity each and every time. Sometimes as quickly as the next day. A couple of days ago I laid 2 serious issues before Him and the very next morning the two first tings that happen to me gave me absolute clarity about the exact two matters. Every day I am so amazed by the wisdom and greatness of God.

A couple of months ago I had an amazing vision while praying. God took me from where I was kneeling and the next moment I was kneeling at the feet of Christ. It all was so vivid. The peace and love was so amazing. It was one of the most wonderful and powerful experiences of my life.

And lastly, after 17 years of marriage God blessed my wife and me with a child. Little Janu is now 9 months old, absolutely perfect and preciously beautiful. I can already see his arms and shoulder muscles developing… Hi name “Janu” means, “gift from God”.

My life before Christ was empty, painful and meaningless. I cannot in words express the amazing changes my life went through when I started following Christ. All I can do is pray that everyone receive the opportunity to experience the love, peace and fulfillment it brings when following Christ with ALL your heart.

When I see the pain and suffering people bring upon themselves, the self-glorification, the sexual perversion, the drug abuse, the gods we create for ourselves, the pain we are causing God, I just want to shout out from a mountain top “Open your eyes people – the real God is out there and you have no idea the love He has for you, Stop telling God how he should be and listen to what God says He is!” [God almighty gave us a detailed account of His being in His word that stands forever: The Bible]

I wanna give u Proverbs 16:3.
“Ask the LORD to bless your plans, and you will be successful in carrying them out.”
 
Please let me know if this info has helped you.

Wish u much success!
Gert Louw
You can contact me on: gertlouwljc@hotmail.com

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