Lazy Lifter Basic Program

The Lazy Lifter's Workout

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This e-book is not intended as a substitute for the medical advice of physicians. The reader should regularly consult a physician in matters relating to his/her health and particularly with respect to any symptoms that may require diagnosis or medical attention.

2018 - www.TheLazyLifter.com - www.TheLazyLifter.com - All Rights Reserved

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Contents Introduction .............................................................................................................................................. 4 Why Only 3 Days Per Week? .................................................................................................................. 6 The Lazy Lifter’s Workout Routine ....................................................................................................... 7 “Where’s My Cardio?!” Putting Cardio Into Perspective ............................................................... 10 How To Set Up Your Nutrition Plan Based On Your Goals ........................................................... 12 15 Tips To Get The Most Out Of This Workout Program: ............................................................. 16 Final Word ................................................................................................................................................ 18 Additional Resources: ............................................................................................................................ 19 Frequently Asked Questions ............................................................................................................... 20

2018 - www.TheLazyLifter.com - All Rights Reserved

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Introduction First, I want to say THANK YOU for subscribing and downloading this FREE ebook, The Lazy Lifter Basic Program. I’m moved by the messages I received from people who are enthusiastic about their new knowledge on how to get sexier, lose fat, and build the body of their dreams by applying the principles and methods taught on my blog and the Minimalist Fitness program. I’m 100% certain that you can make the same transformations too, and to make sure that you get there, I created this FREE report. This ebook that you’re reading now consists of a 3-month long workout program that not only got me from skinny to beefy and from fat to fit again, but a whole lot of people as well!

(Click here to view other people's transformations) I’d say that if you can stick to doing this plan for 2-3 months straight, you’ll see great progress and you’ll be in it for life! And that’s what I want for you—I want fitness to become an essential part of your lifestyle and focus on it long-term, not a short-lived ones. These workouts will show you the way. They’re fun, challenging, relatively short, and most importantly, they deliver results.


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So, are you ready to build the physique of your dreams? Great. Let’s get started!

- Cho


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Why only 3 days per week? Apart from having a fun life outside the gym, what I've found out with a 3-day weekly training program is that it allows for optimal muscle recovery and Central Nervous System(CNS) recovery. When we do a workout, we're not only stressing the muscle groups that we're training, but the whole system, especially the CNS. Our CNS is the one that gets the most beating when pushing through a tough rep of a given set. This is the fatigue feeling that you feel the day after your grueling workout session. So what will happen when you train many days in a row? Worst case scenario is you may hamper the recovery process -- both the muscles and the CNS -- and will delay the adaptation of the muscle tissues. Sure it might not be that bad a couple of days straight without rest (if your recovery allows it), but as you progress through your workout, the increasing demands of the progressively increasing intensity of the workouts will take a toll on your recovery ability, and soon you will find yourself hitting a plateau more frequently. So rather than worrying about the low workout frequency/volume of this workout routine, what you should be concerned about is the application of the most important principle in any workout program -- the principle of progressive overload. This principle states that in order for a muscle to grow in strength and size, the human body must be forced to adapt to a tension that is above and beyond what it has previously experienced. And what other way would you measure your progression aside from increasing either reps or weight? Remember, if you're not getting stronger, you won't get bigger. And the optimal frequency for balancing life + fun in and out of the gym is 3 days a week. It allows ample time for recovery and growth. If you're training hard enough and you're noticing strength gains each workout, then there would be no reason for you to do gazillion of sets each workout. Now, of course, there are exceptions to this rule and so many factors are involved that I will further discuss in the future. If you want to learn more about working out 3 days per week, check this article that I wrote. So without further ado, here is my personal workout program that I've been doing for years now. I suggest you all try this out for 3 months as it is written. Don't make judgments, assumptions, and conclusions until you've gone through the whole 3 months of doing it.


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The Lazy Lifter’s Workout Routine Workout A:

Bench press - 4 sets of 6-10 reps

Workout B:

Deadlift/Squats(alternate each workout) 4 sets of 4-6 reps

Military press - 3 sets of 6-10 reps Lat pulldown(underhand grip) or weighted Dips or Close Grip Bench Press or Triceps pull-ups or chin-ups- 3 sets of 6-10 reps pushdown - 3 sets of 8-12 reps Barbell row - 3 sets of 6-10 reps Abs(superset two exercises) - 3 supersets of 15-20 reps Dumbbell curl - 3 sets of 8-10 reps Calves(pick any) - 3 sets of 15-20 reps Rest period between sets = 2-3 minutes except for Abs and Calves which is 1 minute.

Abs(superset two exercises) - 3 supersets of 15-20 reps Calves(pick any) - 3 sets of 15-20 reps Rest period between sets = 2-3 minutes except for Abs and Calves which is 1 minute. You can go 3-5 minutes for Deadlifts and Squats

Alternate these 2 workouts over the week. Let's say your workout schedule is MWF:

Week 1 Monday = Workout A Wednesday = Workout B Friday = Workout A

Week 2 Monday = Workout B Wednesday = Workout A Friday = Workout B


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Week 3 Monday = Workout A Wednesday = Workout B Friday = Workout A

And so on.. After doing this for a full 6 weeks and you've added strength on every workout, you can now add a couple of exercises/sets to each workout routine. Your new workout routine will now look like this:

Workout A:

Bench press - 4 sets of 6-10 reps Incline DB bench press - 3 sets of 8-12 reps

Workout B:

Deadlift/Squats(alternate each workout) 4 sets of 4-6 reps Wide grip lat pulldown or pull-ups or chinups - 4 sets of 6-10 reps

Military press - 3 sets of 6-10 reps Barbell row - 4 sets of 6-8 reps Dips or Close grip Bench press or Triceps pushdown - 3 sets of 8-12 reps DB lateral - 3 sets of 10-15 reps

Dumbbell curl - 3 sets of 8-10 reps Abs(superset three exercises) - 3 supersets of 15-20 reps

Abs(superset three exercises) - 3 supersets of 15-20 reps

Calves(pick any) - 3 sets of 15-20 reps

Calves(pick any) - 3 sets of 15-20 reps

Follow the same rest period between sets

Follow the same rest period between sets


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*The only ab exercises I did in this program were:    

Hanging Oblique Crunch Weighted situps with plates behind head Ab wheel rollout Hanging leg raises with dumbbell


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“Where’s my cardio?!” Putting Cardio into Perspective After seeing the workout routine that involves lifting weights, I know you some of you are asking now… “Where the hell is my cardio?! How can I lose weight without that?!” Relax. Whether you choose to do cardio or not, it’s really up to you. But I’m telling you now, it is not a requirement for weight loss. You see, many people do cardio exercises without really knowing why and how it helps us with our fitness goals. They do it because they see a lot of people do it. This causes a lot of wasted time, effort, and resources that should’ve been used in strengthening and building muscles. Remember? Building muscle will make it easier for you to lose fat, and you can abandon cardio if you don’t want it. But how can I lose weight without doing cardio? Simple. By monitoring your caloric intake and eating less, which I will be teaching you later on. And what’s the purpose of doing cardio then? I was told I must do it! Shouldn’t I? First, before deciding whether to do cardio or not, it’s important to know first what your goal is. Is it to burn more calories? To condition your heart? What is it exactly? To help you with that, let me clarify a few things regarding cardio: -

Cardio doesn’t burn fat. It burns calories. It’s the caloric deficit (Nutrition Section of this ebook) that makes you lose weight, not cardio itself. This means that cardio is just a tool to help you lessen your calorie intake. If you can create a caloric deficit with the help of cardio, then it serves its purpose well.

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Cardio isn’t the one who will give you muscle definition or tone your body parts. Again, it’s the caloric deficit.

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Cardio is good for your heart and overall health, but that doesn’t automatically mean you will lose weight when you do cardio.

Knowing the statements above will give you a hint that doing cardio isn’t necessary to lose weight. You can if you want, but it’s not necessary. In fact, most of the women I am teaching prefer not to do any cardio exercises even when their goal is to lose weight, and they do. Once you learn how to track calories and macros (which you will learn later on), you will realize that the role of cardio in the weight loss game is very little.


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Let me give you an example: One cup of rice is around 200 calories, and for you to burn 200 calories, you have to jog for around 15-20 minutes at a moderate-intense pace. That’s only a cup of rice, viands are not included. Add a lot more rice and other stuff and you’ll get to 600-800 calories, which will require you to jog for more than an hour just to reach a point of breakeven — where gain and loss will not happen. What if you just limit your food intake and avoid eating those 600-800 calories? Would you still need to do any cardio? The answer is no. You can do cardio of course, but you won’t be needing it to lose more weight because you’ve already taken care of that through your food intake. This is why I rarely do any cardio sessions, except for a recreational jog or basketball, or maybe a 5-10-minute treadmill warm up. That’s it.

Cardio suggestions: If your goal is to lose fat and want an extra boost, then I would recommend doing cardio two-three times a week on your off days. If you’re a skinny gal or someone who’s trying to gain weight, then I would recommend staying away from it, unless you know what you are doing. And if you’re an average gal who just wants to get fit and improve her heart health, then two-three times a week would also be enough.

How to do it: ◉

No more than 30-40 minutes of steady-state, low intensity cardio two-three times a week on your off days. Fasted or not, it’s up to you. Or

◉

Or if conditioning and stamina is your worry, do a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) for 20-30 minutes max, two-three times a week on your off days. Take note, HIIT affects recovery so beware.

When choosing between the two, I'd go for steady state, low intensity cardio. I’d only recommend HIIT for those athletes who need conditioning work.


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How to Set Up Your Nutrition Plan Based on Your Goals Do you want to lose weight or gain weight? Answering this question is simple and straightforward, but really the big question is — how? This is what this section is about. The workout routine above will do the job, but it’s only 50% of the equation. Focusing on it alone will only get you so far, and that is why I made this simple nutrition guide so you can maximize results in this 3-month journey of yours. Aren’t you excited about that? Let’s get started. First, we need to determine our TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). This is our individual metabolism taking into account our lifestyle. It is important to determine this number because this will serve as our baseline for our caloric intake. Simply put, our TDEE is our maintenance level of calories. To calculate the TDEE, we need to know our BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) first using a well-known formula that I will show below.

How to Calculate Your BMR (Harris-Benedict Formula) To do this using a calculator, I would recommend using this link. To do this manually, use this calculation: Men (kg): BMR = 88 + (13.4 x weight in kilos) + (4.8 x height in cm) – (5.7 x age in years) Men (lbs:) BMR = 88 + (6.1 x weight in lbs) + (12.2 x height in inches) – (5.7 x age in years)


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Using myself an example: I’m 5’10” (177.8cm), and I weigh 75kg (165lbs) To calculate my BMR using the above formula, I will use the (kg) method. BMR = 88 + (13.4 x 75[my weight in kg]) + (4.8 x 177.8[my height in cm]) - (5.7 x 27[my age])

First, we need to solve the equations inside the parenthesis first. So, it will look like this: 88 + (13.4 x 75) + (4.8 x 177.8) - (5.7 x 27) 88 + (1,005) + 853.44 - 153.9 1,093 + 853.44 - 153. 9 BMR = 1,792.54

My BMR is 1,792.54 (You can just round it off to 1792).

Calculating The TDEE Once you know your BMR, you can calculate your TDEE by multiplying the BMR to the activity multipliers below: (Take note, you don’t have to be 100% precise with the calculations. Just do your best estimate and we’ll adjust along the way) •

by 1.2 if you exercise 0 to 1 day per week,

•

by 1.375 if you exercise 2 to 3 times per week, or

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by 1.5 if you exercise vigorously for 6 or more hours per week.

Using myself as an example, I would choose 1.375 multiplier because I only train three days a week, plus my work (freelancing and writing) requires me to sit in front of a laptop all day.


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To get my TDEE: BMR x 1.375 = TDEE 1,792.54 x 1.375 = 2,464.74 My TDEE is 2,464.74, or I can just round it off to 2500. From the calculations above, we now have our approximate TDEE. TDEE is the same as our maintenance level of calories — the amount of calories you can take without losing or gaining weight. Let’s say you’ve calculated a TDEE of 2500, if you eat 2500 calories each day for the rest of your life, your weight will stay the same. It’s important to know that these calculations are not 100% accurate, but most likely to be our best guess, and that’s good enough.

Setting Goals: Lose Fat Or Build Muscle? Now that we know our baseline/maintenance calories, we can now determine how much we should eat to lose and gain weight.

If the goal is losing weight (Aim for a 1-1.5 pound loss per week) - TDEE minus 500 calories - In my case, that will be 2000 calories per day (because my TDEE is 2500 and I deduct 500 calories) - For the next 2 weeks, I will eat 2000 calories per day and monitor my weight. If my weight didn’t change after a week or two, I will deduct 200 calories more and run it for 1-2 weeks again until I lose weight. - I will continue eating the same calories until I stop losing weight, then deduct 200 calories again then run it for 1-2 weeks. - Rinse and repeat until desired weight is achieved. Important: Losing over 2 pounds of weight a week is too much, and most likely you’re losing muscle tissue as well.

If the goal is gaining weight (Aim for a 0.5 - 1 pound gain per week) - TDEE plus 200-300 calories - In my case, that will be 2700-2800 calories per day (because my TDEE is 2500 and I added 200-300 calories)


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- For the next 2 weeks, I will eat 2700 calories per day and monitor my weight. If my weight didn’t change after a week or two, I will add 200 calories more and run it for 1-2 weeks again until I gain weight. - I will continue eating the same calories until I stop gaining weight, then add 200 calories again then run it for 1-2 weeks. - Rinse and repeat until desired weight is achieved. Important: Gaining over 1 pound of weight a week is too much, and most likely you’re gaining a lot of fat tissue as well. So, how do we track our calories? Download the app called MyFitnessPal and familiarize yourself with it.


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15 tips to get the most out of this workout program: 1. Remember the most important principle — progressive overload. If you’re increasing strength each and every workout, you WILL grow. So strive to get better each and every workout by adding reps or weight.

Example:

2. Log every workout. Record the weight, sets, reps, and the rest between sets. Example: Bench press - 100lbs - 6, 6, 5(reps) - 2 mins rest Do this on every exercise.

3. Pick a weight heavy enough to complete the rep ranges. If you can go over 10 reps for bench press, you need to increase the weight. Let's say last workout you did 6 reps on the Bench Press, your goal next workout is to increase the reps, and do 7 or 8 reps. You should be able to reach 10 reps first for all the prescribed sets before adding weight to the bar.


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4. When you're adding weight, better go slow than get disappointed. Usually a 5lb increase on the main lifts should be enough, and sometimes, it might be too much. Don't worry, just keep the new weight and get stronger on that.

5. Learn how to do the exercises properly. YouTube is your friend. 6. Don’t skip Squats and Deadlift for God’s sake. Doing them increases your mass overall. Don’t want that?

7. Don't try to add sets and exercises until you've completed the full 6 weeks without hitting a plateau.

8. More is not always better. Adding exercises will just take a toll on your recovery and will slow down your progress.

9. For the abs and calves, just pick 2 exercises and alternate them each workout. Record them as well. 10. Learn how to track your calories using MyFitnessPal. Not doing so will keep your wheels spinning and you will have a hard time achieving your goal. 11. Keep your protein high. It should be around or close to 1g per pound of your body weight.

12. Faster weight gain will give you a lot of fat gain as well. Faster weight loss will risk muscle loss. Better go slow on both or you will shortchange yourself . 13. On your off days, you can do your cardio sessions or play your favorite sports. 14. Don't worry about adding size too soon. Most often, strength gains precede size gains. As long as you're getting stronger, size will surely follow. 15. Take a BEFORE photo before starting this program. You will thank yourself later.


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Final Word Did you find this book helpful? I hope you did! While there are many other things you can learn about building muscle and losing fat, you now know the fundamentals of it. I am confident that if you follow everything that is written here, you will be pleasantly surprised with how your body reacts positively in just a couple of months. That’s a guarantee. With that said, I’m leaving you here with this 3-month challenge that I know can truly change your life. You’re going to prove that you can build your physique as you please, and you’ll be proud to see a muscular, shredded body staring back at you in the mirror. This represents not just physical attractiveness, but unshakeable commitment and dedication. So, will you take this challenge head on? Will I be hearing from you after 3 months with your awesome progress and better yet, your transformation photos? I am looking forward to the day you get to that moment, because as a coach, that’s what will make me the most proud and happy. -Cho

P.S As you work toward your goals, you’ll probably have questions along the way. I’d like to be able to help you with these so just leave a message on my Facebook page if you have one!

www.facebook.com/thelazyliftter I don’t charge for the help, of course, and I answer question s from readers every day. You can also send your progress and transformation photos of yours there! P.P.S If you haven’t already, would you mind taking a moment to leave a review of this ebook on my Facebook page? It doesn’t have to be long, and I’d really appreciate it!

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW THIS EBOOK ON FACEBOOK


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Additional Resources: Why training less can give you more - http://www.thelazylifter.com/minimalist-approachto-fitness/

Drink alcohol and make gains? Check this out - http://www.thelazylifter.com/guide-todrinking-alcohol/

How to use black coffee to supercharge fat loss - http://www.thelazylifter.com/the-onedrink-you-need-to-help-you-lose-weight/

Intermittent fasting: My secret to enjoying food while losing weight http://www.thelazylifter.com/ramp-up-fat-loss-using-intermittent-fasting/

Not losing or gaining weight? It’s all about calories! - http://www.thelazylifter.com/mostimportant-aspect-of-dieting/

Popular workout myths that you should know - http://www.thelazylifter.com/9-mostpopular-workout-myths/ Popular nutrition lies that you should know - http://www.thelazylifter.com/10-biggestnutrition-lies/

All my other articles here — www.thelazylifter.com


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Frequently Asked Questions What’s the difference between this workout program and the ____ workout program? The difference is the approach, obviously. I don’t teach people bodybuilding, 5-6 days a week style of training. I also don’t teach much about hard work, deprivation, sacrifice, and restriction. I value having fun, training smart, and blending fitness into your lifestyle. If you want to train 5-6 days a week, if you want to eat chicken breast and broccoli for straight months, and if you want to deprive yourself of alcohol and partying, then this program might not be for you.

Can I use this workout program if I want to lose weight? Yes. People have used this program to lose over 20 pounds without doing any cardio. I also used the same workout routine to lose around 10-20lbs of fat. Check this link to see people’s transformations Losing weight is all about calories, which we have tackled above. You can also heck my article on that.

How do I get rid of my belly fat? I’m doing hundreds of situps and nothing’s happen ing. Sad news is that you can’t spot reduce a specific body part by doing specific exercises. The only way to get rid of those fat on your *insert body part* is to lose fat overall. Or liposuction.

Is eating too much protein bad for me? Is whey protein bad? No. The claim “high protein diets are bad for the kidneys” is a myth. See this article and my article. If you’re still not sure, just search “high protein diets kidney myth” on Google.

Can I substitute dumbbells for other barbell exercises? Yes.


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Can I substitute other exercise that targets the same muscle group? Yes. But I didn’t pick these exercises at random. They are the time-tested, all-around, most effective exercises for over a century now. If for any reason you still want to substitute them, feel free to pick one on this list:

Chest: Flat Dumbbell Press Incline Bench Press Hammer Strength Chest Press

Shoulder: Dumbbell Shoulder Press Arnold Press Barbell Upright Row

Back: Sumo Deadlift (substitute for deadlift) 1 Arm Dumbbell Row Machine Row

Triceps: Skull Crushers Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extension

Biceps: Barbell Curl Alternating Dumbbell Curl


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Legs: Front Squats Pistol Squats Stepping Lunges

Abs and Calves: Pick any

Important: Pick an exercise and stick to it for at least 2 months. Remember, progressive resistance is the key to muscle growth, not exercise variety.

How long should I workout? As long as needed. Finish your workout and go home.

What supplements should I take? I’d recommend protein powders so you can hit your protein target for the day much easily. Other than that, there’s only a few that are helpful.

Ever since I started doing your workout routine, my muscles have gotten smaller and they’ve shrunk. Why is that? That’s because my workout program doesn’t focus on muscle pumps. It is low in volume and low in frequency. One possibility you may be experiencing is the decrease of lactate acid buildup inside the muscles that you usually get from high volume, high frequency training. Maybe you were doing a lot of pump training before so you feel like your muscles are getting big, but blood is just trapped inside them. By focusing on lower rep ranges, my workout program builds muscle mass by actually increasing the muscle fiber density(myofibril hypertrophy) and you can be assured that this kind of muscle growth should last even if you don’t workout for a while.


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Your workout program is not working for me. Why is that? First, what do you mean by not working for you? Aren’t you gaining strength? Aren’t you progressing week by week? Few questions to ask yourself if this happens: Are you following the exact program outlined in this guide? Did you add extra exercises or sets? Do you log your workouts? Are you eating at least 1g of protein per pound of bodyweight? Are you making the necessary effort to increase your strength via weight, reps, or both? If you’re trying to lose weight, are you sure you’re doing it slowly and you’re not drastically reducing your total calories? If you’re bulking, are you getting 200-300 calories above your maintenance? These are the questions you may want to ask yourself if you notice that the program is not working for you. Because I’m telling you, there’s no way it’s not going to work for you if you do everything right.

Can I workout for more than 3 days? Yes, of course. You can do whatever you want. It will be just difficult for me to troubleshoot anything in case you experience some issues. I designed this program for a reason, not just for the sake of spending less time in the gym and more time to party. Do what is written strictly for a couple of months before changing anything.

Can I skip Deadlift and Squats? No. Squats and deadlift are crucial exercises for building strength and size. They do not only increase leg and back size, but your overall muscle frame. Doing them triggers the body’s anabolic response which will create an environment for faster fat loss and muscle growth. Don’t skip them.

I see that your blog recommends IF to those who want to lose weight, but can’t do IF due to my schedule, is it a requirement? No. IF is just an eating strategy to let you eat a lot more in a single meal. Don’t force yourself to do it if you can’t.


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The most important thing you can learn from IF is that you don’t have to follow any schedule when it comes to eating. You just eat whenever you want to eat, so long as you meet your calories and macros for that day.

If you have more questions, please join this private Facebook Group. I will be having some Q and A sessions before this year ends. See you there!

For more fitness and nutrition tips, visit www.thelazylifter.com If you have additional questions, feel free to contact me on any of my social media accounts below:

Like me on Facebook Follow me on Twitter Follow me on Instagram Subscribe to me on YouTube


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Lazy Lifter Basic Program

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