Ah… it’s nearing that time of year again. Out go the sweat pants and jumpers, in come the shorts and tank tops. Beach season, pool parties and barbeques. Yep, summer’s nearly underway.

Over the past three months, I’ve been busy filming a short film. (Unrelated subject matter). Without going into too much detail, It consumed virtually all my time. There’s a lot of work that goes into it, especially when you’re the writer, director, director of photography (camera and lighting) and editor all rolled in one, and on a tight schedule.

Much as it pains me to type this… training just wasn’t top priority. Unfortunately it had to take a backseat.

Many will shudder at the thought of reducing their training frequency and volume, fearing the loss of their gains.

A drop frequency and volume, alone won’t necessarily result in massive drops and losses, providing adequate stimulus and intensity is maintained.

I was literally training 1-2 (that’s 2 hours a week) times a week hitting heavy, basic movements. My primary objective as always, to progressively increase strength. And you can still get stronger while training only 1-2 times a week.

Since I regularly adhere to a 3 day a week lifting regime, it wasn’t mentally problematic.

As we’re all aware, nutrition is the other part of the equation. I used the same strategy I implemented during my time in Spain at the end of 2014. I was busy traveling, sightseeing and exploring and also rarely saw the inside of a gym.

I was pretty active on a daily basis. I’d actually kick each day off with varying degrees of calisthenics movements and due to the nature of my trip, I ended up walking places an awful lot. (I even found a nice steep hill and set of steps to run up and down like a maniac).

Now, I’ve been implementing some form of intermittent fasting daily over the last 4 years. So I’m pretty accustomed to going without food for stretches of time. So this made staying lean more manageable.

My approach is as follows:

Meal 1: 1-3pm

Protein, fats & greens (Small meal)

Example: Chicken breast & broccoli w/ coconut oil

Meal 2: 5-7pm

Protein, fats & greens (moderate meal)

Example: Salmon, green beans & salad w/ ½ avocado

Meal 3: 10-11pm

Protein, carbs & fats (Largest meal)

Example: Turkey & potatoes + (optional Sweet treat)

I didn’t always adhere to the schedule allotted above and I didn’t always eat 3 meals. I rotated the food choices frequently in accordance with personal preference and availability.

The one thing I did consistently was eat in a manner that enabled me to maintain sufficient nutrient uptake and simply tweaked and adjusted meals based on feeling and look. If I felt really light, I’d eat a little more, usually in the form of carbs. If I felt stuffed and uncomfortable, I’d cut back and reduce the total food volume. The idea is to find what works for your body.

The most important consideration when dieting to maintain or trim down is identifying a satisfying way to eat. Hunger is the bane of fat loss, because most don’t have the ability to tolerate it. If you fill up on foods that satisfy you and keep you tied over, that’ll alleviate the unpleasantness that usually accompanies hunger. (Why make things unnecessarily hard on yourself?).

Now, diet is specific. It varies from individual to individual. You can’t take one approach and deem it appropriate for everybody.

Nothing was or is set in stone. The arrangement and layout is merely a sample, to demonstrate the manner of eating I used. (In fact I’m still eating this way today, because I enjoy it and it works for me).

The key is to experiment with different foods and ways of eating to find what works for your unique structure, metabolism and biochemistry.

That’s the art and science behind it. What works for you won’t necessarily work for me and vice versa.

This eating arrangement affords itself well to fat loss, due to the simple fact that it’s not heavily packed, calorically speaking. In fact it’s damn light.

But that’s not the point.

The real takeaway from the above is:

1) Whole foods take priority.

Real, solid, nutrient dense foods should comprise the bulk of you’re diet. Sure you can eat as much processed crap as you want and still “lose weight” if you’re eating below your body’s requirements. However, I’m willing to bet you want to preserve your health so you can keep on rocking the good life. If the majority of your nutrition comes from whole foods, you’ll be supplying your body with all the necessary macro and micronutrients, which in turn enable it to function and perform optimally.

I’m not against eating a little junk now and then, but junk tends to be less filling than nutritionally complete foods. As a result of this when the hunger demon strikes, you’re more likely to cave in and gobble all those goodies, setting yourself up for a perpetual nightmare. By all means have your cake and eat it, just be selective and mindful when you do it.

2) Eating modest earlier & larger later in the day

This ties in, and works well alongside fasting. I often break the fast with a lighter meal, gradually increasing the calorie intake as the day wages on.

During late evening or night I switch gears and consume the bulk of my calories. I prefer eating this way. It helps keep me satisfied and aids sleep at night. From a hormonal standpoint it makes sense. Eating carbs releases serotonin (feel good factor) in the brain, which in turn helps you wind down. From an anecdotal perspective, this method helps me stay on track and avoid over eating. I notice when I eat carb dense meals earlier in the day, I tend to get hungry much sooner than intended.

3) Intermittent fasting is just a tool

Fasting isn’t magic. It’s an effective way of eating, that when correctly implemented should allow you greater liberty in dropping fat & building muscle. It should free up your time and day. People make the mistake of getting too caught up with the little details, like sticking to an eating window. If they happen to go over that window by a few minutes or couldn’t eat at a specified time they freak out and stress over it.  That completely defeats the purpose. You don’t have to be so damn rigid about eating all your food in some arbitrary 8hr window.

These days I don’t cling rigidly to an “eating window.” I just like pushing my first meal further into the day and allowing roughly 3.5 – 4hrs gaps in-between for digestion. The main thing is to eat appropriately for your goals. Always keep your goals in mind.

The info presented here is merely in place to act as an example. It’s my method and it works for me.

I’ve come to realise training and eating are unique processes, and therefore needs be taken on an individual basis. Sure, you can learn the basic principles, but self-experimentation and implementation is what it really boils down to.

EXPERIMENT, IMPLEMENT & ENJOY…FIND WHAT WORKS FOR YOU!!

Nutrition nowadays is one of the most highly debated and controversial subjects out there. Some people tend to identify with a particular “diet” or way of eating to the point that it becomes a religion/ideology of its own.

I don’t think extremes are healthy. (Especially in the mental sense). They cause unnecessary tension and are the reason for many pointless arguments.

I’ve tried numerous diets, tinkered with different macro/micronutrient ratios, played with, and cycled calorie intake, all of which finally enabled me to uncover and create the nutrition protocol that has served me well.

Personally, I don’t diet in the conventional sense.

Dieting, or at least most people’s connotation of the word conjures feelings of negativity and misery.

Screw starving yourself to death in an attempt to look great. The truth is you don’t need to be extremely restrictive with your food intake.

Creating a modest 400-500 calorie deficit daily is your best bet when the goal is to lose body fat, as opposed to dropping down to 1000 calories a day.

That said, just because I don’t “diet” in the conventional sense of the word, that doesn’t mean I don’t monitor the food that goes down the hatch. I do. However, I just don’t see what I do as dieting.

While there’s a great deal of variation in regards to meal set-up, frequency, calorie breakdown etc. The basic principle remains fairly consistent.

On the simplest level, if you want to look great, experience amazing energy, vibrancy and health, whole, natural, minimally processed foods should make up the bulk of your nutrition plan.

Eating like a warrior involves eating predominately from the land itself. Eating minimally if not completely unprocessed foods the majority of the time.

That means lean proteins, vegetables and whole fruits should be staples in your diet, with starches like rice and potatoes added in to supply glucose to fuel demanding activities such as intense training.

These are staples in my “diet” and the way I eat 90% of the time. The other 10% I allow myself room to fit in some “junk” foods. Although by sticking to the outline listed above, I pretty much steer clear of any cravings.

I find these foods are typically more filling than the processed garbage that is so prevalent in todays society.

This is the basis of “warrior nutrition.”

Eating in this manner combined with an intermittent fasting set up and the right training protocol will cause your body to lean out and develop warrior proportion and strength.

This is just a basic, general template.

The following are my go to food choices. I don’t buy them all at the same time (particularly the protein sources). I just rotate them when I want to spice things up and add some diversity to it.

It’s pretty simple and basic, but damn does it get the job done and I feel great eating this way.

Proteins

• Chicken (breast, thighs and drumsticks)
• Lamb (mince and chops)
• Eggs (Whole)
• Tuna
• Salmon
• Venison
• Turkey
• Cottage cheese

Carbohydrates

• Rice (white)
• Yams
• Sweet potato (White as well as red varieties)
• White potato (Jersey royals, new potatoes and russet potatoes)
• Vegetables (Mainly green beans, broccoli, carrots, spinach and kale)
• Fruit (Primarily berries, pears and bananas)

Note: Although I’ve included vegetables under carbs, they only contain trace amounts that are insignificant and not worth the hassle counting.

Fats

• Butter
• Olive oil
• Avocado
• Coconut oil
• Cashews, walnuts, pecans (small handful)

 That’s pretty much the bulk of my diet. I do add certain spices and condiments to add and enhance flavor, but this is the key component.

It looks fairly limited, because it is. I like sticking to foods that enable me to stick to my diet.

Occasionally I’ll fit in treats here and there because I believe in a balanced approach, but I never deviate from the backbone of my nutrition approach.

Now, I do include intermittent fasting as part of my nutrition strategy mainly because it frees up time (I don’t like to cook and clean all day). It also allows me to eat bigger meals as opposed to snaking on small meals throughout the day.

I use a leangains style approach to fasting. I fast for 16hrs a day and have an 8hr-eating window.

Though I’m more relaxed about the window. I don’t worry about going over it. Sometimes life gets in the way and I end up going past the eating window.

The important thing with intermittent fasting is not to get caught up with the eating window itself. You’ll still want to push your breakfast to later in the day, around about lunchtime. (Don’t be to damn rigid though. The whole point of fasting is to break away from nutritional dogma).

The number one priority is hitting your macronutrient and calorie intake. The eating window itself is secondary.

A typical day

1-1:30pm: Meal 1

4:30-5pm: Meal 2

8-9pm: Meal 3

Addressing psychological factors behind dieting

Most people lack the drive and conviction to stick to a nutrition plan. I don’t blame them.

When you’re told you have to give up certain foods for good, it just makes the whole process miserable which is exactly what you don’t want your experience to be like.

The whole purpose of your nutrition plan should be to help you reach your goal in the most enjoyable and rewarding way possible.

1) Stop deriving and associating happiness/pleasure with food.

Stop associating pleasure and happiness with food. Let go of your emotional connection and attachment to food. Food is fuel. It’s nourishment. Nothing more.

Most of the food related issues such as obesity and comfort eating all stem from associating food with pleasure and giving food power over your life.

If getting lean, dropping fat and developing dense muscle is your goal, all you need to do is eat enough to sustain yourself while progressively getting stronger in the gym. That’s really all there is to it.

Happiness and contentment has to come from you. Specifically being content and present. Accept the moment as it is and just roll with it.

2) Become a conscious eater.

When you sit down to eat, focus solely on the food you’re about to consume. Put the phone away, don’t stare at the tv or laptop, or read a book/magazine. Just concentrate on the food in front of you. These things are all distractions and the last thing you want to do is be distracted.

People that pay attention to their food and chew each morsel thoroughly, focusing on the flavor and texture tend to find it easier to not only eat less food overall, but also reach satiety quicker than those who are preoccupied with the aforementioned distractions. (This is purely an observation on my part. I’ve got no scientific studies to back it up. It’s my own anecdotal evidence).

3) Give yourself permission to include foods you like.

A bit of reverse psychology at work here. If you were told you could never have a certain food you liked again, for example chocolate. You probably wouldn’t be able to stick with your eating plan for very long. It’s damn frustrating and infuriating to be denied like that. Sooner or later you’d cave and eat a whole bunch of it.

It’s like telling someone not to press the red button, the individual will no doubt do it anyway to see what happens. The point is, people always want what they can’t have.

The simple way to avoid this predicament is to not put yourself in that position in the first place.

As long as you’re mindful of the quantity you’re consuming and it fits within your overall plan (macro and caloric breakdown) you can still lose body fat while including “bad foods.”

Funnily enough, when you allow yourself the choice to include “treats” into your nutrition plan, you’ll actually find yourself craving those foods less. It’s a weird feeling and something I’ve personally gone through.

Nowadays, sticking to my nutrition protocol isn’t difficult. I don’t deal with cravings or binges and I attribute these three simple, yet powerful pointers to helping me on that front.

Well, that about wraps up this article. There’s still more to cover on the nutrition front. Namely breaking down macronutrient and caloric intake. We’ll cover that in part 3. Subscribe now. You don’t want to miss out.

If you want to learn more, pick up a copy of WARRIOR 101. Everything is clearly detailed and broken down for you. You’re covered on both training and nutrition.

The warrior build is a lean, defined, proportionate look packed with strength and versatility.

Bruce Lee, Rain (ninja assassin) and Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden character from Fight Club all reflect the warrior build to some degree.

The simplest, most effective means of building this physique is through progressively getting stronger whilst remaining lean and trim.

For many, that means stripping of body fat whilst preserving/building lean muscle tissue, through the combination of diet and heavy, progressive strength training. (It doesn’t get any simpler than that fellas).

Focus on boosting your strength and power to weight ratio. Every single pound on your body should have a reason to be there.

Breaking down the warrior physique

The Warrior physique is a lean, dense and proportionate build that prioritises strength and density over “puffy mass.” Every pound on your body has to earn its place, and pay rent in a manner of speaking.

The warrior build prioritises compact, solid, hard muscle, with incredible levels of leanness and definition.

The actual size of the muscles themselves may not be that impressive by bodybuilding standards, but they’ll be hard, cut and dense. The muscles will look like they’re literally carved from marble.

It’s the combination of a very low body fat and heavy strength training that produces this result.

An average amount of muscle mass, with exceptional definition brings about a much more impressive look, than a puffy, swollen, bloated looking physique.

Besides, training for dense muscle will have a lasting effect. Your muscle will look hard virtually all the time. Whereas, simply relying on higher rep, pump and fatigue training will only boost sarcoplasm (fluid) within the muscles, leading to a temporary swelling of the muscles.

This ultimately makes the muscles look bigger, but unfortunately it doesn’t last.

Anyway, moving on. Lets get to the meat and potatoes of this post.

The Essentials: The main movements of the “Warrior Routine”

• Weighted Chin-ups/pull-ups
• Weighted Dips
• Barbell Curls
• Incline Bench press
• Overhead Press

These are the exercises that will make up the bread and butter of your routine. Give them your undivided attention.

Pour your sweat and guts into them and you’ll carve out an impressively lean, dense and proportionate physique.

Increasing strength on these exercises alone will carry over and yield incredible results in terms of helping build and maintain an impressive physique.

Note: If you already have reasonably large thighs, you can drop or reduce emphasis on moves like squats and deadlifts.

Additional exercises/ contributing lifts

These are movements that complement the main lifts. They round out the routine and help fully develop the physique.

Chest: Incline Dumbbell Press

Deltoids (Shoulders): Lateral Raises and Face Pulls or Bent Over Flyes.

Back: Bent Over Rows

Legs: Squats, Deadlifts and Standing Calf Raises

Biceps: Seated Incline Hammer curls

Abs: Hanging Leg Raises and Planks.

Workout Overview

The overall volume and frequency is low. You’ll perform three workouts a week, each comprised of no more than 5 exercises per session.

Your primary objective is to improve strength on the on the main movements, which incidentally happen to be the one’s with (RPT) next to them.

Why low volume?

As mentioned earlier, higher volume, pump style training is not conductive to long term strength and dense muscle gains. (It’s worth repeating).

Put it this way, if you perform extensive volume and exercises per workout, you’ll end up stalling your strength gains and even regress.

It’s pretty well established that to make continual progress in the muscle gains department you need to get stronger over time.

Doing too many exercises will sap your strength during training and subsequently you’ll find your energy, focus and ability to lift heavy will waiver with the latter exercises. (Also increasing the likelihood of sustaining an injury as fatigue takes it’s toll).

Well that’s enough chatter. I’ve kept you waiting long enough. So hear it is folks….

The Warrior Routine

Note: Perform 2 warm up sets on first exercise of each muscle group. On RPT sets rest 2-3 minutes between sets to allow for optimal strength gains.

Workout A : Chest / Triceps / Deltoids

 Incline Bench Press 3 x 5,8,10 (RPT)

Incline DB Press 2 x 6-8

Overhead Press 3 x 5,8,10 (RPT)

Lateral Raises 3 x 5-8

Dips 2 x 5-8

Notes on this workout: I like to emphasize heavy lateral raises. Most people perform them in the 8-12 rep range. I find that going slightly lower, working with 5/6 reps helps build density and caps the delts off nicely. Play around with it and see what works for you.

Workout B : Back / Biceps / Rear Deltoids

Weighted Chins/Pull-ups 3 x 5,8,10 (RPT)

Barbell Rows 3 x 5-8

Barbell Curls 3 x 5,8,10 (RPT)

Face Pulls w/rope attachment or Bent Over Flyes 3 x 8-12

Seated Incline Hammer Curls 3 x 8-12

Workout C: Legs / Abs (Optional)

Squats 3 x 5

Sumo Deadlifts 3 x 5

Standing Calf raises 3 x 4,6,12 (RPT)

Hanging leg raises 4 x 8-12

Plank hold 3 x 90 secs

Notes on this workout: You’ll notice I use RPT on calf raises. I’ve found that getting stronger in the 4-6 rep range with calves tends to yield better overall development. Calves are one of those areas that are stubborn as hell when it comes to growing. Be prepared to work them hard.

Means of progression

The aim of the game is to make some form of progress from workout to workout. Each training session you should be lifting heavier weight on the main lifts than your previous session.

 I always aim to add anywhere from 2.5 – 5lbs to the bar each session. Constant progress, no matter how small is still progress and it adds up in the long run.

At the end of a 4-week period you could add 15- 20lbs to your lifts. (Damn fine progress). If you track your poundage, you’ll be able to see the progress you’re making and that’ll only help keep you motivated. (It’s a thing of Beauty).

What and why RPT?

If you’ve been lifting for a while, you probably have already come across RPT. This style of training has been increasing in popularity. Especially in strength circles.

RPT stands for Reverse Pyramid Training. It’s simply a way of training that involves beginning your session with your heaviest set first, while you’re fresh and full of energy.

Regular pyramid training involves building up to and ending with your heaviest set. With RPT you reverse the order.

The biggest benefit of training in this way is, that by starting with your heaviest set first (minus 1-2 warm up sets), you’ll find you’re stronger and lifting heavy won’t be as much of a struggle as it would if you were to lift heavy later on, as you become fatigued.

How long should I stick to this routine?

Thought you’d never ask.

I usually find it best to stick with a program for at least 8-12 weeks. Forget all that “muscle confusion” bullshit. Your body needs a chance to actually get used to the movements and improve at them before you switch up and do something else.

If you constantly program hop in search of “the next best thing”, you’ll never get the full benefits from the routine.

My thinking when it comes to training is to “milk” all the benefits and results that a program has to offer me. When progress comes to a halt, I’ll switch things up.

The problem is people change programs and exercises way too soon.

What about Cardio?

As leanness is a prerequisite for the warrior physique, most people will find they need cardio to help them reach and maintain a low body fat percentage. For cardio I usually go for walks with my dog on a daily basis, which covers low intensity cardio

On rest days or days when I’m not hitting the iron I’ll hit some sprints for a little high intensity cardio and to keep my anaerobic system in good condition. (Never know when you’ll have to out run an army of zombies).

You can play sports, hike, swim etc. Do whatever the hell you like, as long as it’s something you enjoy and doesn’t interfere with your strength training.

You don’t need to go cardio crazy. Just 15-20 mins of high intensity work 1-2 times a week on rest days will suffice. For low intensity cardio 30-45mins is fine.

To sum up:

• Hit the iron 3 days a week
• Focus on progressive overload on main moves
• Do some cardio and abs on rest days
• Be patient and enjoy the process.

In part two we’ll delve into eating for the warrior physique. Don’t miss out. Subscribe now.

If you liked the article and found it informative and want a fully structured program and nutrition guide that breaks everything down and goes into more detail when it comes to building the warrior physique, head over and grab a copy of WARRIOR 101.