Man 2.0 Engineering the Alpha (9 page)

The reason the myth that cardio burns the most fat has persisted is that it's still an extremely common prescription made by doctors and fitness professionals. But cardio should never be your first line of defense against fat; slogging away on the pavement or treadmill for sixty to ninety minutes is not the key to a lean, athletic physique.

You know how we know this? Because every single fitness blogger in the world has done the same damn blog post with the same damn picture comparing the sprinter to the marathon runner. In it, the sprinter looks jacked, lean, and muscular, while the marathon runner looks gangly, ill, and thin.

The point that they're making is that long-duration cardio may be good for weight reduction, but it's not ideal for a great-looking body. Science shows us that all exercise burns calories, but all activity is not created equal. The low-intensity, long-duration cardio might help you drop weight, but a significant percentage of that might be muscle. Whereas weight training or high-intensity work (whether with resistance-training exercises or sprints) will ensure that the majority of calories you burn are fat. More importantly, it'll build and maintain your muscle, which will help your metabolism continue burning calories for twenty-four to forty-eight hours and improve your insulin levels so the food you eat is not as readily stored as fat.

 

REJECT THIS THOUGHT:

Light weights + high reps = shredded body

 

Math equations suck—especially those that don't actually end with the correct solution. The equation you see above is one of the most commonly believed in the fitness world. And yet, despite millions of people pumping away for endless reps, we still don't have a nation of Roman warriors (no pun intended . . . okay, maybe a little).
^*

Would you be surprised if we told you there's nothing inherently beneficial about high reps and low weights? Probably not. If you just do lots of light-weight reps and there's no struggle, your body won't change. Likewise, if you follow a traditional bodybuilder approach, with lots of sets and rest, then you won't create a metabolic change.

With light weights, not only are you
not
lifting enough weight to cause growth, but also your workout is not designed to burn fat. You're not really challenging yourself aerobically
or
anaerobically, which is why your body doesn't seem to make progress even if you do get tired during your workouts.

Fitness routines aren't rocket science, but they are a science. We don't want you to have to worry about any equations, so we did the work for you. Only this time, you won't wonder why you're getting results—you'll just wonder why it took so long to figure out a better approach.

 

REJECT THIS THOUGHT
:

Supplements are complete bullshit.

 

DON'T HATE THE CARDIO, HATE THE FITNESS GAME

We just told you that cardio isn't ideal for fat loss, which is why our program will take a more efficient approach to giving you the body you want while still allowing you to eat the foods you love most. But that doesn't mean traditional cardio is bad.

As much as we're frustrated by the overblown claims regarding slow cardio, we're just as pissed at the experts who say there's no place for that type of physical activity. These people posit that you can get the same benefits from weight training, dieting, swinging kettlebells, surfing, horse training, or having sex that you can from long-distance cardio. In other words, they're just as deranged as the cardio lovers mentioned above.

The fact of the matter is, there are benefits from running that you can't get from anything else—such as getting better at running. While all the other types of exercises listed are good for fat loss, if properly used and programmed correctly, longer, slower bouts of cardio can be used not only to help with fat loss but also to support recovery and blood flow to enhance the efficacy of the program as a whole. And it's a hell of a lot better than sitting on your ass.

Short bursts of high-intensity exercise are fantastic. But they have limitations because
intensity
is a relative term that differs on an individual basis. Most trainers work with people who are in an untrained state. How much sense do you think it makes to take these people who haven't worked out and tell them to sprint as fast as they fucking can for thirty seconds—which, by the way, is longer than many Olympic sprinting races last?

In other words, while high-intensity interval prescriptions are great in theory, in practice they need to be applied strategically and cautiously. This extends beyond sprinting to include biking, stair climbing, hill running, and interval weight training.

Right off the bat, we see that moderate-intensity cardio has some benefit, if at the very least as a tool to progress to more intense exercise and modalities. Going beyond that, we still believe that there is a lot of merit to keeping your body in motion for long periods of time. Even if sprinting causes no injuries, your body will get good at running for short periods of time but not for long periods of time. And these limitations can show up in other areas of your life. You won't be able to play a game of flag football without getting hurt. Want to run a charity 5K? You can only run the first 300 yards.

That's why a balanced approach is the best approach, which is exactly what you'll find in the workout programs starting in chapter 8.

 

 

We love alcohol ads, and it's not because we love alcohol. Whether it's Dos Equis promoting the Most Interesting Man in the World or Patrón portraying a life with you as a baller, alcohol brands understand how to sell image without negative backlash. Those ads facilitate a world of partying and fun, which are elements of a lifestyle that people desire. No one actually thinks that drinking Dos Equis will make you savvy or that ordering Patrón will guarantee that beautiful women will throw themselves at you. You're smart enough to know that's not the case; and yet you don't criticize the alcohol as a crap product because of an unrealistic, sensational sell.

The ads you see for alcohol—or almost any other consumer good—are no different than what you'll find on supplement ads. The models in supplement ads don't look the way they do because they took that particular product. You know this, and yet the marketing techniques used to sell supplements oftentimes end up with the products condemned as useless.

Like anyone else who's been involved with the fitness and nutrition business for a decade or more, we've developed sort of a love/hate relationship with supplements—and supplement companies.

On the one hand, we love supplements (when they do what they claim), and without the convenience of protein drinks, meal replacements, vitamins, and the occasional protein bar, many people would struggle to reach their goals given all the demands and barriers that exist in busy lives. On the other hand, a lot of supplements are just flat-out crap. They're filled with only half of what the label says, and who knows what the other half is. And of course, many supplement companies have shady marketing tactics like Photoshopped before and after pics and other underhanded BS—and we're just not into that.

Having said all that, if chosen wisely and used correctly, supplements can make your program even more productive and can accelerate your progress. The companies we recommend are certified GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices). With this rating, you know for certain that you're getting exactly what the label says—and nothing it doesn't—every single time. You can find a GMP stamp on the front of the packaging or on the back next to the nutrition information. One thing is certain: it won't be hard to miss. Manufacturers that have a GMP certification want to boast about it because it's very valuable.

 

WHAT'S GMP AND WHY IS IT SO IMPORTANT?

There's a reason we make such a big deal about GMP, although most people who buy supplements have never heard of it. All supplements play in a very ambiguous space where they can't be strictly regulated by the FDA, which is why you find so many supplements making crazy claims and occasionally getting in big trouble because of ingredients that weren't on the label.

That is, unless they are GMP certified. This is how you know not only that a product is good but also that it's pure. By definition, certified GMP supplements take the hard road to getting the thumbs-up on quality.

 

“These regulations, which have the force of law, require that manufacturers, processors, and packagers of drugs, medical devices, some food, and blood take proactive steps to ensure that their products are safe, pure, and effective. GMP regulations require a quality approach to manufacturing, enabling companies to minimize or eliminate instances of contamination, mix-ups, and errors. This in turn, protects the consumer from purchasing a product which is not effective or even dangerous.”

—FDA

 

That's one of the biggest reasons we love these supplements and why having a GMP stamp on the products you use should help you sleep better at night.

Also, you won't find products from these companies in mass-market supplement stores—and with good reason: products found in those stores need to come in at a certain price point to hit the right demand mark. This means, effectively, that brands must water down their products to fit the mold and make profit through those stores. By avoiding those stores and selling
directly
to customers, though, they're able to keep costs down, and as a result, use the proper doses needed for the products to get you results, whether for muscle, strength, power, fat loss, energy, or vitality.

Your decision to take or skip supplements will not make or break your body—but they can be a difference maker. Although there are very few supplements that will actually help your body work more efficiently and provide that extra edge, they're the only ones you need.