The Body Sculpting Bible for Women (13 page)

A modified superset for dumbbell rows and push-ups in which you perform 4 sets of each exercise will look like the following:

You will be resting 2 minutes plus the amount of time that it takes you to perform the other exercise, so you actually are resting a given muscle between 2.5 and 3 minutes. Using this technique of pairing exercises in a modified superset fashion not only saves time and keeps the body warm, it also allows for faster recovery of the nervous system between sets. This allows you to lift heavier weights than if you just stay idle for 2-3 minutes waiting to recover. An additional benefit of this technique is that it saves time and limits rest to a maximum of 90 seconds between sets.

Supersets:
A superset is a combination of exercises performed right after each other with no rest in between. There are two ways to implement a superset. The first way is to do two exercises for the same muscle group at once (like dumbbell curls immediately followed by concentration curls). The drawback to this technique is that you will not be as strong as you usually are on the second exercise. The second and best way to superset is by pairing exercises of opposing muscle groups (antagonists) or different muscle movements such as back and chest, thighs and hamstrings, biceps and triceps, shoulders and calves, upper abs and lower abs. When pairing antagonistic exercises, there is no drop of strength whatsoever. As a matter of fact, sometimes your strength increases because the blood in the opposite muscle group helps you perform an exercise. For instance, if you superset dumbbell curls with triceps extensions, the blood in the biceps helps you do more weight during the triceps extensions. Because of this, we will only perform supersets where opposing muscle groups or opposing muscle movement exercises are paired. Supersetting not only allows you to do more work in a shorter period of time but it also increases endurance, creates an incredible pump (especially when you pair antagonistic exercises), and helps burn fat by elevating the heart rate to the fat burning zone (which also gives you cardiovascular effects). Also, because of the stress created by this technique, growth hormone levels go through the roof. Remember that this hormone is responsible for fat loss and enhanced muscle tone.

Giant Sets:
Giant Sets are four exercises done one after the other with no rest between sets. Again, there are two ways to implement this. You can either use four exercises for the same muscle group or perform two pairs of opposing muscle group exercises. For the purposes of this book whenever we do Giant Sets, we will perform two pairs of opposing or different muscle group exercises with no rest (the exception is in abdominal work in which we will alternate between lower abs and upper abs).

A Giant Set for biceps and triceps in which you perform four sets of each exercise looks like this:

Giant Sets provide you with more of the same benefits that supersets offer. This is the most intense and powerful technique that we will use in our 14-Day Body Sculpting Workout. We need to be cautious when using Giant Sets since they are considered an extremely intense exercise protocol. Although the human body is capable of handling great intensity and stress, you should never push it to the edge. The Giant Sets protocol is a very powerful and results oriented training method, but should be used sparingly. With that said, the Giant Sets protocol will only be used for about two weeks. Have you ever heard the saying that “too much of a good medicine is bad?” This certainly applies to Giant Sets. This is really strong medicine in the fight against fat. Use it for more than two weeks and your body will no longer be able to recover; the nervous system will get burned out and will reach a state of overtraining (where your body can no longer recover from the workouts).

FAQ:

There is a lot to remember as far as reps, sets, rest times, as well as proper form. Can’t I just stick to an easy routine?

ANSWER:

If you want to make radical and long-lasting changes to your body, you need to stick to the entire program and all of its details. No one said this was going to be easy. Once you get the hang of it, we promise that it will become second nature to you! All of the little details will help to make this program the most effective and powerful routine available.

Now that we have discussed the three techniques that are the basis of the 14-Day Body Sculpting Workout, let’s see what the routines look like.

HOW DOES THE 14-DAY BODY SCULPTING WORKOUT WORK?

The 14-Day Body Sculpting Workout is based on your body’s physiology. From a physiological standpoint, it usually takes your body 14 days to get used to a new practice, whether that practice is a diet, a new exercise program or just getting up earlier in the morning. Getting used to a new practice, such as waking up early to exercise, is a great thing. However, getting used to an exercise program is not as great. Why? Once your body gets used to it, it will stop responding and your results (i.e. fat loss and increased muscle tone) will come to a screeching halt. That is the reason why most people who go to the gym experience great results initially, but later see and feel themselves going nowhere. The key to experiencing continued results is variation. However, it cannot be haphazard variation. You must have a planned scheme that will guarantee continual results; a scheme such as the one the 14-Day Body Sculpting Workout offers.

For the first two weeks you will use modified compound supersets. During this period, the body gets stronger as rest periods are abundant and repetitions are at a higher range (12-15). Working out this way allows the nervous system to recover and the body to increase its strength. In addition, the high repetitions allow the body to start building more capillaries (necessary for the delivery of nutrients to the muscle cell) and prepare the joints for the heavier weights to come.

On weeks three and four you will start using supersets, a more intense technique that creates higher demands on the central nervous system, along with heavier weights and fewer reps (10-12) with a slightly higher number of sets. The increased volume and the shock to the body created by the increased stress of the weight training routine causes an increased output of growth hormone (which greatly enhances fat loss and muscle tone), and an increased metabolism.

When your body starts adapting to this routine, you further increase the intensity by increasing the number of sets again, using heavier weights (8-10 reps) and giant sets. Once again the body is shocked, growth hormone output goes through the roof and the metabolism is jolted. The routine is so intense that if you were to maintain it for more than 2 weeks you would enter a state of overtraining.

FAQ:

Why 14 days?

ANSWER:

We found that our 14-day periodization program worked because its duration wasn’t too long (so you wouldn’t get bored) and it wasn’t too short (so you wouldn’t be constantly changing programs). It was “just right”. The program has helped literally hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world make and keep amazing changes to their bodies.

When your body has reached a level that gets fairly close to overtraining, you will give your body a chance to recover for the next couple of weeks by going back to week 1 where you use fewer sets, higher reps and have ample amounts of time to recover in between sets by using the modified compound superset technique. Are you going backwards? Not at all! With this program you are always moving forward. Even though you are going back to a less stressful type of training with less volume, you will notice that you will now be stronger on the same exercises. You will be able to use greater weight for the 12-15 repetition range for the following reason: In order for the body to prevent itself from going into overtraining during the two weeks of high volume and giant sets, it naturally built up its nervous system energies to the highest level possible as an emergency measure. Now that you have backed off on the stress, you’ll have all of this extra energy the body will utilize to get even stronger. That is how your strength will increase. Then after two weeks of modified compound supersets, once again you’ll begin to increase the stress on the body by continuing this results-producing cycle.

Why is it necessary to get strong and why should you lift heavier weights? Because building up your strength through progressive resistance training is the key to increased muscle tone and accelerated fat loss. Remember, if your strength stays the same, then your body will look the same and you might as well consider yourself moving backwards.

Don’t worry about looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger either; remember, a woman’s body does not produce enough testosterone, the male hormone responsible for creating “mucho” amounts of muscle. Yes, you will still build beautifully lean and toned muscle tissue along with that cellulite-free look that you want, but the female hormone estrogen will make sure to maintain the femininity you desire.

BEST TIME TO WORK OUT

We recommend you work out in the morning as soon as you wake up. Drink 16 ounces of cold water before you start the workout and an additional 30 to 60 ounces during the activity. This is essential to prevent dehydration. We recommend working out first thing in the morning on an empty stomach because you will burn 300% more body fat this way. In the morning your body doesn’t have any carbohydrates to burn. In the absence of carbohydrates, your body goes straight to the fat stores (triglycerides) in order to get the energy necessary to do the work. Another good reason to work out in the morning is the fact that at this time growth hormone levels are at their highest levels. Working out in the morning will allow you to expedite the fat loss process for dramatic results. However, we do understand that certain obstacles such as work constraints and other situations might not permit everybody to train in the morning. In this case, do your cardio or weight training three hours after any meal (If your last meal was at 3:00 pm, then your exercise session should be at 6:00 pm).

If you follow the Advanced 14-Day Body Sculpting Workout you will be doing cardio and abs first thing in the morning and weight training at some other time during the day. However, if this is impossible due to your schedule, then perform abs before the weight
training workout and cardio right after the weight-training workout is completed.
(Note: If you do decide to work out in the morning, please make sure that you properly warm-up and stretch. This will not only ensure that you are wide awake but will also prevent injuries and potential accidents.)

WORKOUT CLOTHING

When you go to the gym, you should be wearing comfortable clothes that allow your body to move freely without constraints. Therefore, rigid clothes like jeans are definitely out of the question. You also need to choose clothes based on the climate you live in and environmental conditions. You should wear extra layers of clothing if your environment is cold helping to keep your body temperature on the warm side and prevent possible injuries. Also wear nice comfortable cross training shoes along with a thick absorbent pair of socks. Never train in your bare feet or with sandals as you could seriously injure your feet if you ever dropped a weight on them.