10 Tips To Shape Up For Summer

For more than 15 years I dedicated my life to competitive bodybuilding. I grew up in Algeria, moved to London, lived in Australia and finally made my way to California. I’ve literally been around the world in my quest for fitness excellence. During that time I learned and developed countless ways to accelerate progress and maximize time and energy expended during workouts. But it was only in the past 5 years, after I retired from competitive bodybuilding, that I made a concerted effort to apply all my knowledge and experimentation to help everyone achieve their goals in the fastest possible time.

Even when I was competing I was known for my abs and having a sleek physique, not a bulky unappealing body. So now, I maintain a lean, muscular and functionally athletic form year round. Getting in shape and, more importantly, controlling how your body responds involves 3 basic areas: diet, exercise, and attitude. Of course you have to make some minor adjustments to your food consumption to properly fuel your body. Obviously, you must also exercise. But a forgotten area is to believe that your efforts will bring about the desired results, no matter what your personal starting point and ultimate goals are.

If you follow these 10 tips, you’ll be on your way to the best shape of your life by summer…and the positive momentum you’ll develop along the way will help you continue to improve long after your suntan has faded.

1. Cardio sessions 5 days a week-In order to shape up, it’s crucial to burn fat. The only way to get lean is to do some form of cardio activity for 30-45 minutes. Stationary bike, treadmill, stepper…any equipment is fine as long as you do it. Running outdoors, fast walking, swimming, basketball…the key is to do some form of cardio activity where you elevate your heart rate. For best fat burning results, do your cardio sessions first thing in the morning (on an empty stomach).

2. Weight training 3 days a week-For periods of 8-12 weeks, I recommend training the entire body in one session. Typical routines split body parts into different days, but to get in shape for summer, the goal is to simultaneously develop lean muscularity and burn fat. This type of training routine accomplishes both objectives. Select 1 exercise for each body part and perform 2 sets. The recommended sequence is: quads, hamstrings, chest, back, delts, biceps, triceps, calves, and abs. But you can adjust the order to suit your preference. The first set should be 20 reps, followed by another set with increased weight for 12-15 reps. Keep rest periods between sets to 60-90 seconds or less. You will find this type of workout not only increases muscle definition, but also serves as an adjunct to your normal cardio routines.

3. Briefer, but more intense workouts-Weight training workouts are not an opportunity to socialize and relax. The goal is to get in and out of the gym in 45 minutes or less. The intensity is certainly affected by the speed of the training session, but also by the choice of exercises. For example, it’s a lot more taxing to do 2 sets of squats for quads, as opposed to 2 sets of leg extensions. As your fitness level improves, choose exercises that are more challenging. You will only get out of this routine what you put into it. Going through the motions is not the objective. Make your time and energy count and you’ll reap rewards.

4. Smaller, more frequent meal-Ideally, your body works best when daily food consumption is split into 5 meals, as opposed to the traditional 3. But in reality, that’s simply not feasible for most people. Still it’s important to not eat too much at any single feeding and to not allow more than 6 hours to pass between meals. Eating more frequently speeds the metabolism which enhances fat loss. Including whey protein drinks when time is limited can substitute for 1-2 meals a day, as long as 3 real food meals are still eaten.

5. Decrease caloric intake-To get lean, of course it’s necessary to cut back on total calories, but it’s not simply going into starvation/deprivation mode. It’s not so much how great the caloric deficit as it is the types of foods you eat. The best starchy carbs are Yams, oatmeal and brown rice. The best fibrous carbs are Broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, cabbage and spinach. The best forms of protein are egg whites, turkey, chicken, fish, lean steak, and pure whey protein. Eating these types of food, as opposed to processed, fast-food/junk food will automatically decrease overall caloric intake.

6. Adequate protein intake-When training hard it’s critical that you provide your body with enough protein to combat muscle breakdown and to increase muscle growth and strength increases. Whether you want 20-inch arms, or simply a beach body you need to try and consume about 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight.

7. Training partner for accountability and competition-Find someone who you can train with, who is committed with similar goals. Working together usually forces you to show up, even when you don’t always have the greatest motivation. Make it fun. Never forget, you are “working” out. But if you don’t find a way to make it fun, it’s easy to get discouraged and lose interest.

8. Increase water consumption significantly-Unless you are drinking at least 64 oz of water every day, you are not drinking enough. Other drinks are not substitutes for water. Aim for 64-128 oz of water every day to not only hydrate your body, but to increase endurance, strength, muscle fullness and speed your metabolism. Do not underestimate the importance of water consumption.

9. While I’m not a huge advocate of supplements, I believe that BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) and glutamine are vital for enhancing recovery when you are training consistently hard. Recuperating quickly translates into faster results because your body is constantly increasing its ability to handle increased physical intensity.

10. Positive focus during your workouts-believe that you will change your body for the better while you are training and let that carry over to your entire outlook, not just on fitness, but in everything you do.

All of these tips, and more, are part of the Jamcore Training System I’ve developed and perfected over many years of trial and error experimentation with myself and hundreds of successful clients. Start by learning the system by visiting the video workout section ,there you will find the beginner JamCore and Intermediate routines . As we evolve , I will introduce you to more advanced routines ... Peace Jamo