How to look good naked

On March 04 2010 08:48 meeple wrote:
One of the problems I face is that although I’m fit enough, I’ve always been rather slim (scrawny) and self-concious. I much prefer working out at home and really at the moment is the only comfortable way to work out.Unfortunately, I’m obviously getting less than ideal results, or rather. none if any. I know I just should man up and get to the gym. especially since its free at university, but until I do, is there any suggestions that you have for working out at home? I have a set of weights but no bench press yet. I’ve just been doing pull ups, sit ups, and working with the dumbells.

And yes I have seen all the extra exercises using dumbells, and I will add them into when I work out. but I just any extra tips to get the most out of it.

I used to work out alot in highschool, stopped but have started again. Im also pretty skinny (5 11′ and 150 lbs) but whenever i start working out I see results REALLY fast.

I have 2 45 lb dumbells and that is all i need.

This is all upper body because i dont have leg equipment and I have a job where I stand up for 12 hours at a time + walking miles on campus and such.

This workout Is what i do when i am trying to get back into weight lifting. You cant just jump right into this type of thing because if you do too extreme of a workout you will hurt yourself.

Take it slow and get a bench!

You curl as much as you bench and row?

yea lol im pretty sure I can go up in weight for benching but i dont have any weights!!

How to look good naked.

About me:
I have a pretty long background in sports and lifting weights. I started out with playing soccer when I was 7 years old and played for 5 years. I was both a field player and goalie.Later on I started playing tennis when I was in high school and played for about 3 years. I was also an tennis instructor for kids, something I loved doing.

I have also played badminton, squash, table tennis etc. Basically I love sweating and challenging myself. When I was in high school I also started to lift some weights at home, nothing fancy but I followed this weight lifting program my dad had lying around and did alot of biceps curls and sit-ups (lol). Since then I have been lifting weights pretty much the whole time and I’ve also been
running alot. I have never been that big but I know quite alot about weight lifting and so does many people in the TL fitness thread. I’ve done 10 k running at 44:21 and 5 k at 20:31 if anyone is interested. That’s enough about me, let’s get started!

Basically people work out for four different reasons:

* Athletes
* Looking good naked
* Rehab
* General health (often links to looking good too)

I will not be covering workouts specifically designed for athletes, and I won’t go into rehab either since my knowledge lacks in that area. This blog entry will be rewarding for people who want to look good naked AND want to be healthy. So why work out for these reasons? Well some things are obvious. You’re a guy, you want to attract girls (or guys) and want to have an physical «edge». Although women say that they don’t care that much about a guys body, it’s still a big turn on for many women to have a boyfriend who takes care of himself. Also, having a good looking body conveys that you’re a disciplined and ambitious person more than just being sexy.

Another extremely important reason to work out is obviously to be healthy. Alot of you guys aren’t that old yet, but we will all get older and realize the importance of having a body that helps you lead a good life. Also, you will be much better off in daily life in general if you have a strong body. Weigh lifting and cardio does alot for your body. It gives you a strong heart, «burns off» stress hormones like cortisol and norepinephrine and makes you calmer and less stressed.

How to work out?

Basically I will present you with three different ways of lifting weights that are very commonly used. If you’re a beginner you should start at the first one and use it a couple of months to get a better understanding of the exercises mentioned and prevent injury. The second and third schemes are for more experienced weight lifters and can be swithched every couple months for the best effect. I will also go into running specifically later on. First of I need to say that it’s essential to have good form when lifting weights. This prevents injury and makes you stronger. Leave your ego at the door to the gym. Seriously.

Here comes the first workout:

FULL BODY WORKOUT:

Monday: Full body weights workout

Tuesday: Cardio here OR.

Wednesday: Full body weights workout

Friday: Full body weights workout

You will need alot of rest at the beginning and you will be quite sore from the workouts. Remember that you gain muscle when you rest and eat, not when you actually work out. This workout routine consists of a workout for your entire body 3 times a week. The idea behind this is that it’s beneficial to stimulate (use) your muscles several times a week with a lower set-load each time, instead of doing one muscle group only once a week and blasting out 12-15 sets.

Someone who would only want to put on muscle would usually lift weights 3 times/week and rest the days in between (ie no cardio). This maximizes muscle gain but obviously at the expense of general health. Cardio is so important for many reasons; it lowers stress hormones in your brain and releases endorphins, which will make you feel very good. Also, running or doing some other kind of normal/intense cardio will burn more fat from your abdominal area and make the composure of your body better, more «athletic looking» because of the reduced belly fat. This is of course if you have a negative calorie balance.

One very basic thing you must understand is that you gain weight if you eat more calories than you use during a day and loose weight if you use up more calories than you eat.

This is so basic stuff, and yet extremely important, because many people don’t seem to understand this connection. So if you want to add some muscle, eat more calories and also account for the cardio, thus making your calorie count higher. ie eat more. If you wanna cut, eat less calories but not that much less.

The routines I described above is for putting on muscle slowly while keeping a fit body. I’m not one of those people who want to bulk up and become fat and then cut for months. I’d rather stay pretty fit all the time and do slow bodily changes.

How many sets/reps?

For gaining strength: 1-7 reps
Muscle gains: 8-11/12 reps
Endurance training: 12-15 reps

A good idea is to vary the amout of reps you do for different exercises. Also do more sets when you do a low amout of reps, ie 4-5×6. When you do many reps, 2×15 is enough. For medium range, go with 3-4×8-10 reps. Experiment with it. Remember, variation is the key to success. Some people like to do heavy low-rep workouts (5×5 etc) for a couple of weeks and then switch to like 4×8 for a couple of weeks and then doing 2×15 for a week and then starting over from the top again.

Now onto exercises. They are also explained very well in the link with gif:s included. Search for the exercises i’ve written down there.

Chest:
Dumbbell bench press
Bench press
Dips
Flies

Shoulders:
Military press
Dumbbell shoulder press
Dumbbell lateral raise

Triceps:
Triceps pulldown with cable

Back:
Deadlift
Barbell bent-over standing row
Sitting row with cable
Chin-up/pull-up
Reverse flies

Abs:
Sit-ups/twisted sit-ups
Any abs machine.
There are lots of exercises for abs. Search around the exercise bank on the site.

Legs:
Squats.
So many leg exercises as well, look on the site.

When you do a full body workout, choose one basic exercise for each mucle group; chest, shoulders, back, abs, maybe 2 for legs. And if you have time/energy do arms too. Thing is that your arms get quite alot of exercise from only doing these basic exercises for your bigger muscle groups, so you don’t really need to train them separately every workout.

So an example of a full body workout would be:

Dumbbell/barbell benchpress 3×8
Deadlift/bent-over barbell row 5×5/3×8
Military press/dumbbell shoulder press 3×8
Abs exercise of choice 3×8
Squats 3×8/5×5 and mix it up between workouts with different
leg exercises.

The point is that you could go dumbbell benchpress in the monday workout, barbell benchpress at the wednesday workout and dumbbells again Friday. That’s why I put some different exercises above. Yeah you get the picture, ask me if you don’t understand something I wrote above.

Now do this full body workout 3 times a week for starters and mix in cardio on off days, one day a week in the beginning. Try to keep the weekend off for rest, you will need it. If you wanna gain weight, eat more calories. If you wanna loose weight, eat less calories. Lifting weights is beneficial for both things.

HALF BODY WORKOUT:
The next kind of workout you can do is the half body workout, where you work you upper body 2 days a week and your lower body 2 days a week. You do exercises for your abs and deadlifts on the lower day workout. This is the workout routine I’m currently doing and it’s working very well. The idea behind this form of workout is that you get to up the set load each time you work out but aren’t limited to working out your muscle groups one time per week. So where the full body workout has you make 3-5 sets 3 times a week, this will have you do more sets but 2 days/week instead. Remember, it’s all about mixing it up. So start by doing the first workout routine for a couple of months, even up to 6 months or longer if you’re a total newb at weight lifting and then consider switching to this workout routine instead.

The workout routine looks like this:

Monday: Upper body

Tuesday: Lower body + cardio

Thursday: Upper body

Friday: Lower body

Now, onto the exercises. You will use the same exercises I mentioned above but instead use 2 exercises for the bigger muscle groups like your back, chest, legs. Also you will have more room to prioritize the muscle groups that you feel are lagging behind the others. It will look something like this for an upper body workout:

Bench press 4×4-6/dips/dumbbell press + optional other exercise

Chin-up/lats + Sitting row with a cable/optional exercise 3×10

Military press 3×10

Biceps curl 3×10

Triceps pulldown with cable

Now, like I said earlier go look at the exercise list for additional exercises that don’t look too hard to do and read the description carefully. There’s also ALOT of workout vids on youtube where you can see how an exercise should be done. If you want to work less chest and more shoulders, take away one optional exercise for chest (but stick with the basic bench press/dumbbell press) and add one more exercise for your shoulders, like dumbbell lateral raise. The same goes for back, arms and triceps. But remember to prioritize your bigger muscle groups.

An example of a lower body workout would be:

Deadlift
Squats
Abs (sit-ups, machine, core-work)
Calfes
Thighs

All these exercises can be found in the exercise list. I don’t exercise legs as much as my upper body, mainly because I find big bulky legs kind of fugly tbh If you’re an athlete who uses his/her legs alot, by all means work out your legs alot! With the added cardio on leg days the legs get quite the good workout anyways.

The third workout routine is:

THE SPLIT:
Now, this is a workout routine for more experienced weight lifters since it requires quite alot of knowledge about how to maximize the results of the exercises performed, since you’ll only work out one muscle group once per week. Many people start doing splits right away which is kind of silly if you’re a beginner because you won’t get strong very fast doing this. Besides the injury rate is probably higher because you are busting out exercises for one or a couple muscle groups each time you work out. So, the difference between this workout routine and the other ones is that the set load is the biggest in this one BUT you only workout each muscle group once per week. It’s probably the workout routine most people are familiar with.

A classic split looks something like this:

Monday: Chest, shoulders, triceps

Wednesday: Back, biceps

Friday: Legs, abs.

You can work out abs more than once per week but mix it up with core exercises like the planche. (Google for core exercises)

Here you will be doing somewhere from 7 to 15 sets per muscle group (depending on how big the muscle group is) each week and it’s a good idea to mix up the sets/reps for different exercises for each muscle group.

So for Monday you could do:

Bench press 5×5/4×6
Incline dumbbell press 3×10
Flies 3×10

Military press 5×8
Dumbbell lateral raise 3×10

Triceps cable pulldown 4×8
Triceps with barbell over your head 3×10

You can do as many exercises as you want for the different muscle groups but arms don’t really need more than 10 sets, IMO. You will find all the exercises you can possibly do in the link I posted above. Stick to the basic ones, that looks easy to do. Most aren’t that hard to pull off but some can be tricky to master.

That’s it for the workout routines. So, start with the full body workout routine if you’re a total beginner and do it for at least 3 months before you move on to the other ones. If you have lifted weights before, by all means choose whichever you like and experiment with them.

CARDIO:
I will keep this one quite short, and will mainly talk about running for the purpose of this blog. Also, I’ve recently had problems with my back so instead of running I’ve been using a crosstrainer with pretty damn good results. I will talk more about that.

In the beginning, run easily for 15-30 minutes if you can. Preferrably get a pair of decent running shoes and google for proper ways of running. If you can run longer, run 3-5 k when you do cardio. This is beginners advice only. If you have been running before or are in good shape, do preferrably sprints or HIIT. HIIT (High intensity interval training) is an awesome way to get in shape fast and loose body fat. What you do is warm up first with some light jogging and then run like 30 seconds very fast, then go slow/walk for 1-2 minutes and then run fast for 30
seconds again.

Do this as fast and as many times that feels comfortable, never try to do something you feel you can’t. Try to run faster and longer each time but never go over like 40 seconds, because in that case you aren’t running fast enough. HIIT is all about the difference in pace and the fast sprints make it more of an anaerobic (weight lifting) exercise than actual cardio. Shorts bouts of action, and rest, just like doing a strenous weight lifting exercise.

Because I’ve had back problems recently and haven’t been able to run well I’ve started doing HIIT on a crosstrainer just to experiment and it works great (provided the crosstrainer can be set to high enough resistance). I basically warm up for 5 minutes then go to almost the higest resistance setting on the crosstrainer and kick ass for 30-60 seconds, then go very slowly on low resistance for a minute, and then fast again. I do this 10 times, and I’m friggin exhausted tbh.

Another way to do cardio is «fartlek», which is a fun (and tough) thing to incorporate into your running routine. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fartlek

Right then. Above you have three different, great workout routines and instructions on cardio. In my upcoming blog (that I’m currently writing I will go more into nutrition).

Looking good naked part 2: NUTRITION

Alright! Previously I talked about weight lifting and cardio conditioning and explained three different workout routines and the exercises involved. Here I will talk more about the things that are as important as working out is, if you want to look good. This will mainly be about nutrition, ie what to eat in order to maximize muscle growth and minimize body fat basically. All health plans should have similar goals. No one needs to be too bulky, unless you’re a powerlifter or compete in bodybuilding or something, but a strong, healthy body with a decent amount of muscle will make you look friggin awesome naked.

Symmetry is way more important than how much you can bench, when it comes to your looks. When you see those ripped hollywood actors on the movie screen, more often than not they basically have very good definition, which with good lighting, makes your body look super awesome. Some put on alot of weight for roles too of course, but symmetry and definition makes for a hotter body in general than a big, bulky one with uneven muscle development. IMO.

I will divide this article into four different main areas. First off I will talk about general nutrition guidelines, then vitamins, minerals and fish oil. Third I will talk about weight lifting/conditioning supplements, and finally I will talk about rest and sleep. What I write here doesn’t apply for people who work out solely, but will boost anyones general health and well-being. This is especially true for vitamins/minerals/omega-3. Proper nutrition is again very important in order to build a healthy body and lead a healthy life. Proper nutrition makes your brain work better, improves memory, makes you able to relax naturally etc. Alot of people today have a pretty damn shitty daily intake of food. In Sweden anyways, kids drink more coca-cola and eat more candy than eat real food. Energy drinks like red bull and the likes are also insanely popular. This kind of diet won’t do you ANY good if you want to get stronger and healthier, whatsoever. Without further ado, I’ll jump right into the first part:

GENERAL NUTRITION
All the food we eat consists of three main organic compounds; carbohydrates, fat and protein. I won’t get into the biochemical side of it too much since honestly I lack knowledge about those things. But then again it’s not important at all for the goal we are trying to attain here. Also, the point of this blog entry is to make working out and nutrition easy to understand for anyone.

Carbs
So, basically carbohydrates (from here on known as «carbs») is sugar that affects our blood sugar and insulin response with different speed. I need to mention something called GI or glycemic index here, which is a very fast and easy to to describe how «fast» a form of carbs is. The higher the GI value (somewhere from about 10-130) the higher your insulin levels and blood sugar will be but the faster your blood sugar will drop as well. So if you chug a energy drink containing lots of sugar with a very high GI value, you will first get very energized when the blood sugar rushes into your bloodstream and brain but after a short while your blood sugar will sink like a stone in water and it will take quite a long time to get it back up to normal levels. Also carbs with high GI value in combination with the hormone insulin, readily store energy as body fat. This is why the combination of high GI carbs with fat, makes for obesity pretty quickly unless you’re working out alot.

The drop of blood sugar that occurs after the initial raise after consuming fast carbs, also makes us cranky, annoyed and we get the munchies because the body wants to raise the blood sugar to it’s normal levels. There is especially much to write about carbs because of the different trends in regards to weight loss. There is LCHF (Low carb high fat), and the people who argue for a high carb intake. To keep it short, for this purpose keep your carb intake relatively low, because this promotes a slimmer body in general in conjunction with a higher fat & protein intake. So look to eat around 100-200 grams of carbs/day. Preferrably eat fast carbs after your workouts. Eat alot of veggies (broccoli, tomato, cucumber, salad etc) which are a good source of slow carbs. Other good sources of carbs are quinoa and nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashew etc). Eat pasta and rice mainly after your workout, within 0-2 hours in order to store the energy as muscle glycogen.

The daily sources of carb I use are: Porridge, quinoa, occasionally fast carbs straight after your workout, almonds and veggies.

Fat
I won’t go as much into fat as I did with carbs, because there isn’t that much to say in regards to this article. Fat is needed for hormones, and for alot of bodily functions in general. There has been alot of discussion regarding fat and basically the conclusion is that fat does NOT make you fat. This is something scientists uses to believe but this isn’t the case anymore. Fat contains alot of energy and if you consume more energy than you burn you will gain body weight. However fat doesn’t make you fat otherwise. Some diets like LCHF promote a big fat intake. I think it’s very interesting and beneficial for weight lifters. Personally I eat something like 100-200 g fat/day. It’s not THAT imporant, unless you’re on a strict diet. As long as you cut down on carbs, fat isn’t an issue unless you eat horrible amounts.

Good sources of fat: Avocados, nuts, fat milk, cheese, mayonnaise. Basically any fat is good unless you eat too much of it. Like I mentioned, the health issues with fat have been largely exaggerated.

Protein
Now this is the big one for weight lifters especially. Protein is the building block of muscle and a decent daily intake of protein will make your body grow pretty fast. There is ALOT of discussion about how much protein daily that is the optimal amount to eat lol. Let me just say that my guidelines aren’t a universal truth, BUT they are supported by science and less by the bulky guy at your local gym who SWEARS that you need at least 500 grams of protein daily. Science says that somewhere from 1.2-2.0 grams of protein per KILOGRAM of bodyweight (about 1 gr/protein per lbs of body weight) is beneficial for weight lifters. I would say around 2 grams/per kg is optimal. The weight lifting used in science isn’t always as intense as IRL and there are many parameters that can affect the need for protein. Without thinking about it too much 2 grams/kg protein daily is considered the optimal amount in many weight lifting communities. Some bodybuilders tend to exaggerate the need for protein, and like I said there is no scientific basis for eating huge amounts of protein. Really, there isn’t.

Good sources of protein: Meat, chicken, fish (salmon etc), seafood (shrimps, crab etc), milk, tuna. There are others but these are the main ones I use and most people use daily.

VITAMINS, MINERALS AND FISH OIL
These small substances that our body requires aren’t always on peoples agenda. Alot of people just pick up whatever when they are shopping groceries and end up with a few boxes of micro-wave food and hot dogs or whatever. The nutritional value in these kinds of products that are processed usually sucks big time. Besides the microwave heating lowers the nutritional value of any food being heated. Many people aren’t even remotely interested in the nutritional aspects of food and maybe don’t even know what they put in their mouths or what a carbohydrate is.

Anyways here I will list a couple of important things about vitamins & minerals:

1. Get a multivitamin
Yeah, maybe you eat perfectly each and every day but most people don’t, and especially people who work out alot need more vitamins than people who don’t. It’s a cheap and foolproof way to cover up your basic nutritional needs and the v&m will help your body make the most of your workouts. Multivitamins differ ALOT but most known ones are good, so I won’t make any specific suggestions.

2. Try to eat dark leafed veggies daily (broccoli, spinache etc) and fruits every now and then

3. Get an omega-3 supplement unless you eat alot of salmon and mackerel etc.

The stuff above is highly recommended. Below I will mention some optional vitamin/mineral supplements that you can get.

Magnesium/Zink/B6 (ZMA): Helps your nervous system repair itself, promotes sleep (magnesium) and rest and mental well-being. These three compounds are synergists and boost each others effect. A rise in testosterone has been theorized but no good evidence is available. Either get the v&m separately and combine them yourself, or get the ZMA supplement.

B-vitamins/B-complex. Very important group of vitamins that helps your body convert food into energy, takes care of your skin, neurologic functioning, affects mood and stress levels positively etc. These vitamins are water soluble and therefore you need to replenish them often. I usually take a b-complex in the morning and anecdotally I feel calm, composed and focused. This supplement especially I feel more people would definately benefit from.

Vitamin D: Unless you live in a very warm and sunny place (in Sweden it’s dark for like 6 months/year. ) vitamin D is essential because you mainly get it from the sun. After recent research, vitamin D’s importance has been highlighted. Many people have way too low levels of Vitamin D, with alot of bad effects such as depression etc. We need sufficient levels of vitamin D if we aren’t exposed to the sun daily, and I recommend a supplement for this.

WEIGHT LIFTING SUPPLEMENTS
First of all, you really don’t *need* any supplements when weight lifting, if your food covers it. But it’s pretty handy to have a protein drink with you to the gym instead of opening a can of tuna and eat it after your training session. There are ALOT (!) of different supplements, and that’s an understatement. It’s a huge market and I neither have time nor the energy to talk about all the supplements. Also I don’t even know 90% of them from first hand experience. I will discuss the supplements I have used myself and that I recommend. I won’t talk you into getting any expensive, and rather useless «performance boosters». Heck, I’m a student myself and want to be able to afford the supplements on my student loan.

Protein powder (whey): Very convenient. 20-30 grams of protein per serving, take whenever you like to add to your daily protein intake. You can get it very cheap too (cheaper than protein sources in food). This is the most common supplement anyone that works out uses, by FAR. It’s no magic drink though, just cheap and very good protein in the shape of powder.

Gainers: (Optional). I would say: Don’t bother. A gainer is a mix of protein and carbs, designed especially to drink right after a workout session. Recent studies have indicated though that just protein after a workout is as effective as protein + carbs. I only get a gainer supplement when I find one dirt cheap in an internet store.

Creatine: Very popular supplement as well. One of the best supplements there is actually. Our muscle contains creatine, and this supplement merely adds more creatine into your muscle usually by binding water. This supplement will make you do a couple more reps, add on some weight on that barbell bar and generally feel stronger. There is alot of scientific studies to back up the effect of creatine as well. You can search Pubmed if you like to see.

Besides these supplements there are, like I mentioned, a million different supplements. There are separate amino acids, amino acid compounds; BCAA, EAA, carb drinks etc. But the ones I mentioned above are the most important ones. Fact is, most people I know only use protein powder or protein + creatine. They are both cheap and effective supplements with no known dangers.

Disclaimer: IF YOU HAVE BAD KIDNEYS, DON’T TAKE CREATINE OR EAT EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF PROTEIN. Just to get that out there, don’t worry.

REST & SLEEP
Sleep and rest is essential when you work out. Lifting weights doesn’t make your muscles bigger, it breaks them down so that they can be built up even stronger when you eat and rest. A small nap during the daytime also boosts your anabolic hormones btw *hint*. Don’t compromise your sleep too much as it’s super important in order to get good effects from your workouts. Try to get the 8 hours of sleep if possible, otherwise 7 is ok too. Not less preferrably. Of course you can sleep 6,5 hours during the night and nap for an hour during daytime. But a good nights sleep is really underrated for bodily and mental well-being. Your body needs the rest in order to promote muscle gains from your weight lifting sessions.

If you have trouble sleeping, try this advice:

1. Limit caffeine intake. Preferrably stop it completely

2. Try to have your bedroom silent, cool and dark. Don’t watch TV or do homework in bed.

3. Try ZMA for sleep. Many people get very good results. (or magnesium only)

4. Cut down on sugar, fructose syrup, candy, soda etc. Stimulants don’t make you sleepy

WHAT I EAT DURING A TYPICAL DAY:
You don’t need to calculate calories excessively, just watch what I eat and try to eat the same amount of different stuff. I could go more into the calorie aspect of nutrition but I feel that it would be too hard to explain and people would get discouraged to calculate that stuff, so do this: If you want to gain weight, eat more. If you want to loose weight, eat less. BUT try to calculate your daily protein intake at least and have it be around 1 gr/lbs bodyweight or 2 gr/kg bodyweight.

Breakfast: 100 gr oat meal as porridge. A sandwich with shrimp + avokado + mayo

After workout: Protein shake

Meal 3: 50-200 (in this example it’s after workout so 200 gr, otherwise 50-100) gr pasta/rice/quinoa (carbs) with any source of protein (fish, meat etc) + veggies (broccoli, spinache etc). This the basic composition of any larger meal; some form of animal/bird/fish meat, carbs + veggies

Meal 4: Protein shake (or a can of tuna or chicken or fish etc)

Meal 5: Can of tuna mixed in mayo (awesome protein + fat and no carbs meal). You could mix any source of protein in mayo ;D It doesn’t really matter other than your taste preferences.

Meal 6: Almonds (or cashews, or walnuts etc)

Something like this. If I’m very active during the day and work out hard I add more carbs, ie more porridge or more pasta/quinoa/rice OR more fat in the form of mayo, a fat sauce, or more nuts. These three are all high in calories and a good way to eat more calories. You can eat these meals whenever you like and in any order you like. It’s not THAT important how many times you eat or when you eat, your daily calorie intake will still be the same. For the sake of your blood sugar levels eating many times during the day is good though.

Finally, do yourself a favor and start educating yourself about the food you eat. Look how many calories it contains, how much protein/carb/fat. Soon you will be able to calculate in your head how many calories there is in the food you eat and thus know how many calories you will need to eat during the day, depending on your goals; weight gain or weight loss.

Good luck! And ask if you have any questions.

Btw, this is probably full of typing errors and stuff and I will correct it when I find them.

How To Look Good Naked And Live A Long Time.

Suppose you want to live as long as possible. Suppose you also want to look as good as possible doing it.

Suppose you want to maximize your hormone balance, your drive, your fertility, your strength, your power and your cardiovascular capacity.

Suppose you want to step back, investigate every shred of exercise science research, and inject only the most highly effective and proven strategies into your life – even if it’s not for the primary sake of preparing for masochistic sufferfests like triathlons, marathons, obstacle races or other feats of physical endurance – but rather simply because you want to maximize longevity and look good naked.

Whether it’s total food intake, exercise, sunlight, protein, or work habits, we often think we need to do way much more than we actually need to do to get the results we want. But why crank out those extra reps or put in those extra few hours if you don’t actually need to? After all, failing to heed the minimum effective dose can often cost you money, time, and mental real estate.

Sure: if you want to do an Ironman triathlon or a multi-hour obstacle race or be competitive at the Crossfit games you certainly need to put in some extra hours and do some more athletic, sport-specific training, but as I’ve written about before, all that extra volume isn’t necessarily good for you, and it certainly isn’t necessary for being as fit as humanly possible while simultaneously maximizing your lifespan.

So what would an exercise program look like if you do just want to look good naked and live longer? What would things look like if you decided that being the first person to the finish line of a triathlon wasn’t as important to you as looking and feeling like a million bucks for as long as possible? While I touched on this in a recent podcast entitled “The Best Workout To Look Good Naked“, I decided it would be a good idea to pen a strategy for you. So let’s take a look. And get ready to take some serious notes.

What Is The Minimum Effective Dose Of Exercise For Longevity?

I’m on a constant quest to figure out the sweet spot of exercise for you, especially when it comes to discovering the ultimate balance between health, performance, and longevity.

I’ve written many articles on this topic before, including:

Earlier this year, The New York Times published an article entitled “The Right Dose of Exercise for a Longer Life.” The article discusses the results of two new studies that investigated how much exercise you need to actually get longevity benefits. Before jumping into the results of these studies, it’s important to note that rather than being controlled or randomized studies, this research relied on people’s memory recall of their exercise habits. What this means is that similar to diet studies that rely upon memory recall of meals, this data can be prone to human error, but can still give us important clues.

In the first study, it was found that people who did not exercise at all were at the highest risk of early death. Those who exercised a little (not meeting the current American Heart Association guidelines of 150 minutes per week but at least doing something), lowered their risk of premature death by 20%. Those who met the current exercise guidelines of 150 minutes per week of moderate exercise enjoyed greater longevity benefits and 31% less risk of dying compared with those who never exercised.

But the greatest amount of exercise benefits came for those who tripled the recommended level of exercise and exercised moderately (mostly by walking) for 450 minutes per week (a little more than an hour per day). These people were 39% less likely to die prematurely than people who never exercised.

What’s even more interesting is that after 450 minutes per week, the longevity benefits of exercise plateaued, but they never significantly declined. Even people engaging in 10 times or more the recommended exercise dose gained about the same reduction in mortality risk as people who simply met the 150 minute per week guidelines. They didn’t get any healthier, but also (contrary to what many believe) they also did not increase their risk of dying young.

The other new study reported in the Times reached a similar conclusion, but this study focused more on exercise intensity, and stands in stark contrast to other studies that have suggested frequent, strenuous exercise might contribute to early mortality. In this study, it was found that meeting the exercise guidelines significantly reduced the risk of early death, even if that exercise was moderate in intensity (such as walking). No surprises there.

But for those who engaged in occasional vigorous and high intensity exercise, there was actually a significant additional reduction in mortality. Those who spent up to 30% of their weekly exercise time in vigorous, intense activities were 9% less likely to die prematurely than people who exercised for the same amount of time but only moderately. People who spent more than 30% of their exercise time doing strenuous workouts actually gained an extra 13% reduction in early mortality, compared with people who never broke through the same intensity barrier. Even among the few people in the study who were found to be completing the largest amounts of intense exercise, there was no increase in risk of death.

At this point, you may be wondering what qualifies as moderate and what qualifies as vigorous.

Moderate intensity aerobic exercise is when you’re working hard enough to raise your heart rate and break into a sweat. Think of it this way: you’re working at a moderate intensity if you’re able to talk but unable to sing the words to a song during the activity.

Vigorous intensity aerobic exercise is when you’re breathing hard and fast, your muscles are burning, and your heart rate has increased significantly. If you’re working at this level, you won’t be able to say more than a few words without pausing for a breath.

So what’s the ultimate takeaway message from these two studies?

Researcher Klaus Gebel, who led the second study, put it like this:

“…try to reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week and have around 20 to 30 minutes of that be vigorous activity…”

Gebel also notes that a larger dose of exercise, for those who are so inclined, does not seem to be unsafe.

How To Look Good Naked

OK, so it’s clear from the data above that you need at least about 21 minutes per day of structured exercise if you want to live a long time, and that is of course with the understanding that you’re not spending the rest of the day sedentary or sitting (a subject I tackle in detail in my “Biohacking The Hazards of Sitting” infographic here).

But it’s one thing to live a long time, and it’s entirely another thing to actually look as good as possible doing it.

Frankly, no matter what looking good naked means to you, you’re going to need a bit more structured advice than a blanket recommendation to “…try to reach at least 150 minutes of physical activity per week and have around 20 to 30 minutes of that be vigorous activity…”, right?

When it comes to having a body with adequately low body fat to be cut and ripped but adequately high body fat to optimize hormones and fertility, high enough muscle mass to be strong and look good, but low enough muscle mass to where you’re not a short-lived, cancer-prone bodybuilder, and enough cardiovascular fitness to be venous and vibrant, but not so much cardiovascular fitness that you’re overtrained from excessive volume, you need the minimum effective dose of…

…cardiovascular fitness, muscle endurance, strength, mitochondrial density, metabolic efficiency and stamina.

You check those boxes, and you’re going to hit every basic component of fitness and look really damn good doing it.

Ben Greenfield’s “Look-Good-Naked & Longevity” Program

So, now let’s delve into exactly what a structured exercise program would look like if your goal is to check all of those boxes to achieve the ideal combination of fitness, longevity, and a nice body.

I first began to think about how such a program would look when I read an article on my friend Mark Sisson’s website about “5 Ways to Get the Most Bang for Your Workout Buck.” Read more here. In the article, Mark describes the minimum effective doses of exercise necessary for maintaining cardiovascular fitness, improving muscular endurance and aerobic capacity, improving overall physical fitness, increasing metabolic health, and controlling blood sugar. My only beef with the article is that not much attention is given to strength and maintenance of muscle mass, two critical components of longevity. But nonetheless, the research cited in the article is quite solid, and definitely influences the recommendations I’m about to give you.

Ultimately, to be fit, live a long time, and look good naked, you need:

1: Maintenance of cardiovascular fitness.

Definition: Cardiovascular fitness is simply defined as the maximum amount of oxygen you can utilize, also known as your VO2 max.

How to do it: based on the results of the research study “High-intensity interval training every second week maintains VO2max in soccer players during off-season.“, the minimum effective dose for cardiovascular fitness maintenance is five 4-minute high intensity rounds at 87-97% of your maximum heart rate, with approximately 4 minutes (full recovery) after each round to allow you to recover sufficiently.

Summary: For the minimum effective dose of cardiovascular fitness perform five 4 minute hard efforts with full recoveries once every two weeks. Got it? OK, let’s move on.

2: Maximum muscle endurance and aerobic capacity.

Definition: The amount of work your muscles can endure and the amount of time you can “go to battle” keeping your force output high.

How to do it: For improving muscle endurance while simultaneously increased aerobic capacity, nothing beats Tabata sets. In this study, four times a week for four weeks, participants performed one single four-minute Tabata protocol (that’s 20 seconds all-out exercise, followed by 10 seconds full rest) with a single exercise. In this case, exercise choices included burpees, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, or squat thrusts, but for Tabatas, you could also use things such as running, treadmill, indoor or outdoor cycling, rowing, kettlebell swings, etc. Compared to four steady-state 30 minute treadmill exercise protocols per week in the control group, the Tabata group (which, if you do the math, was performing just 16 total minutes of exercise per week) saw massive gains in both aerobic capacity and muscle endurance, and there’s plenty more Tabata research to go around.

Summary: In most studies, 2-4 Tabata sessions per week are used. My recommendation is to target two Tabata sessions per week, especially if you’re doing everything else included in this article.

3: Maintenance of ideal ratios of strength and muscle mass.

Definition: The maximum amount of strength you can muster in one tightly-packed group of muscle fibers – in other words: hard, wiry strength. Paul Jaminet at the Perfect Health Diet recently wrote an excellent article outlining why this is a better approach compared to purely trying to pack on as much muscle fiber as possible.

How to do it: Sure, you can get strong and muscular doing Crossfit-esque workouts that require maximum deadlifts in two minutes or ungodly amounts of snatch reps or bodybuilding workouts that have you doing bicep curls until you’re bleeding out the eyeballs, but none of that is sustainable when it comes to maximizing longevity. Remember, you want to be able to do maintain strength and muscle when you’re 20, 40, 60 and 80 years old. For this, I recommend simply two workouts per week:

1) a super-slow lifting protocol exactly as described by Doug McGuff in his book “Body By Science” – specifically 12-20 minutes of just a few choice multi-joint exercises with extremely slow, controlled lifting (30-60 seconds per rep) and relatively high weights;

2) a high intensity body weight circuit program exactly as described in this study, in which a pair of researchers designed a 7 minute workout to maintain strength and muscle in as little time as possible. Each exercise below is simply to be performed for 30 seconds with 10 seconds of rest in between exercises.

Summary: do two strength workouts per week – one with slow controlled heavy lifting and one with high intensity, light, body weight-esque movements.

4. Maximum mitochondrial density.

Definition: Mitochondria are the power plants of your cells, mitochondrial biogenesis is the creation of new mitochondria, and mitochondrial density is simply having as many mitochondria packed into your muscles as possible so that you can utilize more fat and more glucose.

How to do it: In this study, a workout consisting of four 30-second all-out cycling sprints significantly activated mitochondrial biogenesis in the skeletal muscle of human subjects. In another study, three sets of five 4-second treadmill sprints with 20 seconds of rest in between each sprint, performed three times per week did the same thing. One other study showed four to six 30 second bouts of all-out sprint cycling with four minutes of rest done three times a week also improved important components of mitochondrial health. As you can see, when it comes to maximizing mitochondrial density, it all comes down to short, intense sprints.

Summary: The Tabata sets I already mentioned will likely cover most of your mitochondrial bases, but if you have just a bit more time to spare, then either after your strength workouts or your stamina workouts, perform a few brief sets of very intense sprints (e.g. five 4-30 second sprints). Yes, you read that right: these sprints can be as short as 4 seconds. Consider this to be the icing on the cake, and squeeze it in where it’s convenient. Alternatively, you could just mark one spot on your calendar once every week or two to perform four to six 30 second bouts of all-out sprint cycling with four minutes of rest between each bout.

5. Optimized fat burning, metabolic efficiency and blood sugar control.

Definition: maximizing the body’s ability to generate ketones and burn fatty acids as a primary source of fuel, while avoiding frequent fluctuations in blood sugar.

How to do it: I have a very comprehensive podcast on simple steps to turning yourself into a fat burning machine, and it basically comes down to this: 1) do one short, aerobic workout as many mornings as possible a week, preferably in an overnight fasted state; 2) avoid frequent snacking; 3) save all your carb intake for the end of the day and up until that point eat high amounts of healthy fats with moderate amounts of proteins; 4) stay mildly physically active all day long (e.g. standing workstation, jumping jack breaks, etc.). and 5) stay anti-fragile by exposing your body to frequent fluctuations in cold and hot temperatures.

Summary: As you can see, this step is more lifestyle based. Start off each day, before eating, with 10-30 minutes of very light activity (yoga, walking the dog, doing yard chores, etc.), take at least one cold shower each day, visit the sauna at least once per week, avoid non-nutrient dense carbohydrates, and be as active as possible all day long. One research study shows that you can even get excellent blood glucose controlling results with something as simple as a 15 minute walk after your main meal of the day.

6. Stamina (optional, but highly recommended).

Definition: the ability to move at low-to-moderate intensities for 90+ minutes (it’s at about the 90 minute mark when your glycogen levels become depleted and you must significantly begin to rely upon fat as a fuel).

How to do it: Stamina isn’t really entirely necessary for looking good naked or living a long a time, but I personally like to know that if necessary I could hunt down an animal, ride my bicycle nearby city, hike over a mountain range, or survive for a significant amount of time in a zombie apocalypse. Contrary to popular belief held among marathoners and triathletes, this does not require a 2-3 hour death march every weekend. The human body, as I talk about in by book “Beyond Training“, is actually quite good at going for long periods of time, and only requires brief dips and forays into stamina. So I recommend that one to two times per month, you go do something long, like a backpack hike, a big bike ride, a Bikram yoga session, or anything else that combines low-to-moderate physical activity intensities, endurance, and mental focus.

Summary: Again, unless you’re signed up for something like an obstacle race, a bicycling century, a triathlon or a marathon, this last step isn’t really necessary, but should you want to add the stamina feather to your cap, just get out and do something that takes 90+ minutes at least once per month. If you really want to challenge yourself, you could even make that session something like “The Hardest Workout In The World“, a Spartan race, or any other crazy fitness adventure from rafting to rock climbing. The rest of your innate physical endurance will easily be built by simply ensuring you keep your butt out a chair all day long.

Summary & A Done-For-You Approach

So that’s it. Once you put it all together, it’s actually not too daunting:

That’s it.

When you do the math, you’re really not spending any more than 30-60 minutes per day on getting fit, looking good naked and living a long time. And in my opinion, that’s definitely do-able.

Like I mentioned, what I’ve described above is not designed to turn you into a super-athlete. It’s designed to give you an amazing body and a long lifespan.

A couple more things…

Next, if you’re a complete geek and you want to quantitatively track this stuff, then you may want to check out the Greenfield Longevity Panels. Working closely with WellnessFX, America’s top laboratory for concierge blood testing and online access to all your blood testing results, I developed the most complete blood testing package that money can buy. There is one package specifically designed for men, and one for women. This is by far the most comprehensive blood testing package that exists, and I created it for the health enthusiast, biohacker and anti-aging individual who wants access to the same type of executive health panel and screening that would normally cost tens of thousands of dollars at a longevity institute. Virtually all hormones and all biomarkers are covered in this panel. Yeah, it’s still spendy, but if you want to test everything you can test, then this one is worth doing at least once in your lifetime, and I personally do it once per year.

In the meantime, you’re now equipped with everything you need to know to look good naked and live longer. I suggest you either use my pre-written program or sit down with your own calendar and map each of these sessions into your weekly routine.

Do you have questions, comments or feedback about how to live longer, how to look good naked, the minimal effective dose of exercise, or anything else I’ve discussed in this article? Leave your thoughts below.

10 Health Protocols that Will Help You Look Better Naked

Health protocols can help you to feel better, look better, improve your health, lengthen your lifespan, and experience a higher quality of daily living.

Fortunately, life continues to provide you with ample opportunities to experiment with health protocols.

What becomes challenging for many of us is that we get so busy with the minutia of day-to-day existence – and overwhelmed with healthy-living information – that we rarely get around to changing our lifestyle habits in any significant or lasting way.

The solution is, to begin with the end in mind. Decide who you want to be, how you want to feel, and what you want your body to look like.

Work backward from your goal.

Experiment with tiny self-care protocols – keeping the ones that have the most positive impact and offer the least amount of disruption to your daily life.

I’ve compiled a concise list of health protocols that can hopefully help you in this new leg of your journey toward improved self-care. I’ve included two motivational videos below to help you get started.

Simple Protocols that Have Maximum Impact on Physical Appearance and Overall Health

The result of implementing these health protocols is that your physical energy will increase as your body composition improves, until – finally – you will begin to notice that your physique is looking better, even without clothes.

1. Engage the Principles of Manifestation

The question is not whether you will continue to age. You will, hopefully. The question is: will you age successfully?

You can give yourself the tools you need to position yourself to feel better as you get older, enhancing the quality and length of your own life.

2. Among the Best Protocols: Eat Fewer Grains

Eating too many grains can devastate your youthful appearance.

Too busy to read the rest of this article now? Pin it for later.

I do eat grains (white rice) once in a great while (especially when I’ve been exercising frequently and at high intensity), but I choose those grains carefully.

Eating grains in a healthy way often means having the right grains and pre-soaking overnight, rinsing in the morning, and adding new, freshwater before cooking.

This pre-soaking process can reduce toxic proteins in the form of enzyme-blockers and lectins, deactivate phytic acid (which blocks the absorption of minerals including copper, magnesium, and zinc), neutralize tannins (which are gut irritants), initiate the breakdown of cellulose (which otherwise is not digestible), and overall decrease the likelihood of an autoimmune response. This is the reason, on rare occasions I have rice, I have white rice instead of brown. I use a high-pressure cooker (Instantpot) to prepare my white rice.

Autoimmune disease impacts one out of five people in the US and is no joke. It’s wise for people over the age of 50, especially, to decrease their daily intake of dietary irritants that can – over time – begin to create autoimmune flare-ups.

Make certain that your carb-meals also have healthy fats and protein included. This will help to make the carbohydrates more energy-sustaining and slow down the sugar-conversion process inside the body.

Blood-sugar spikes cause that “crash-and-burn feeling” and are to be avoided (check with your doctor before making any significant changes to your diet).

An exception to this is for athletes. In that case, an all-carb snack might help shuttle nutrients into thirsty muscles – but only directly after a particularly intense workout.

Reducing your intake of flour and poorly prepared grains is among the ultimate health protocols that can produce big, positive results and help you to look better naked.

3. Walk Yourself to Improved Wellness

4. Among the Best Protocols: Eat More Vegetables

One of the key action steps that most people must take in order to lose belly fat and improve health, is to consume more servings of vegetables each week. Kale is among the most effective vegetables for this purpose.

I invite you to try different ways of including more kale into your recipes until you’re consuming it an average of three times a week or possibly more.

Kale is a nutritious, fiber-filled leafy green vegetable that is ranked highest in antioxidants in a Human Nutrition Research Center study.

VegParadise.com reports that medical researchers believe the whole family of cruciferous vegetables helps to prevent cancer. The cruciferous family includes kale.

Studies have shown that eating foods in this vegetable family also speeds the liver’s ability to process ingested toxins, providing the body with antioxidants – such as lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-carotene, and vitamin C – that can significantly reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration and lymphoma.

Kale is listed at WebMD as one of five foods that can boost your health, asking viewers “what if you could make a conscious effort to add five healthy foods to your plate and make an improvement in your longevity?”

The key, according to researchers, is to outsmart your body, which as you age is busy half-forming (or damaging) your cells, rather than creating healthy new cells resistant to cancer, rapid aging, and other ills: “cells are damaged by free radicals [which can lead] to bad cell behavior such as cancer.”

If you think you don’t like kale, I encourage you to experiment with preparing it in different ways until you a find way that you can enjoy it, because kale can contribute to your vitality. I assure you, there are ways to eat kale that actually taste fantastic.

Sauté Kale with Free Range Ground Turkey

After you wash and dry your kale leaves, toss them into your food processor and give it a couple of spins. Then add those kale pieces into your sauté pan with some nearly cooked organic free-range dark ground turkey meat.

Add Italian spices, white pepper, sea salt, and more chopped vegetables – such as yellow bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms – and a bit of marinara sauce and finish cooking.

Before you start, you might want to add a half-teaspoon of avocado oil to your sauté pan to add a bit of healthy fat and flavor to the meat (and so it doesn’t stick to the pan). This is all done on low-to-medium heat (ground turkey and vegetables cook easily, so it’s important not to overcook).

Make Homemade Kale Chips

I know, I know – kale chips don’t sound like a snack you would enjoy. But here’s the thing: you probably would enjoy it. Even kids can eat this snack:

Add Kale to Your Smoothies

One of the easiest ways to eat kale more is by including it as an ingredient in your blended smoothies.

A freshly prepared green smoothie can infuse your body with nutrients. All you need is a high-quality blender and a sense of adventure.

It’s hugely satisfying to know that you’re the creator of your own health-boosting smoothie. The right ingredients will help your green smoothie to taste great while giving your body strength and infusing your day with energy.

The Smartest Smoothies Have the Best Ingredients

It’s tempting to toss as many sugary fruits as possible into your blender, but leafy greens are a key to improved nutrition and often the quickest way toward improved health.

2 principles of green smoothies that are important to understand:

You might have to make a few so-so smoothies in the beginning while you get the hang of it, but the advantage to experimenting with your own recipe is that you really learn – it teaches you to think about smoothies in terms of protein, fat, and complex carbohydrates because you want to find ingredients you like for each of those three nutritional categories (“macros”).

First, you start with a liquid base. Here are some possible options:

Next, you need to add some healthy fat. Here are examples of fat choices:

Then, you want to add some extra protein. Here are some options:

And now, the fun part: fruits and vegetables. Here are just some examples:

Include Superfoods in Your Smoothie Recipe

Next, you want to add extra flavors or superfoods. This is the “polish” to your smoothie (a superfood is a food that is so nutritious and beneficial for the human body that it stands out from most other foods). Some favorite flavors of mine include:

Most superfoods are unusually high in antioxidants, and many also have nutrients that are not as easily found in other plant foods, such as Fulvic Acid (shilajit), B-12 (maca), selenium (Brazil nuts), and free amino acids and enzymes (bee pollen).

Some superfoods are so potent, in fact, that it’s a good idea to cycle them. One of my favorite cycles is “8-weeks on, 4-weeks off.”

For example, maca is a superfood that some people believe can kickstart a sluggish endocrine system. I like maca, but I don’t want my body to become dependent on it, so I usually have it daily for about 8 weeks, and then I take a month off (a little bit of maca root powder in a smoothie also enhances the flavor).

Only you can know for certain what foods your body responds to positively.

Each superfood has a different impact on each body. Listen closely to how your body feels after you try a superfood for the first time, and ask your medical doctor and nutritionist for their guidance.

For example, there have been periods of time when my body likes bee pollen, but there have been other periods of time when it hasn’t responded well to it – so I try to pay close attention and listen to what your body says.

You don’t need to buy every superfood available on the planet – just begin with a few and see if your body responds positively.

Finally, the last ingredient is good, old-fashioned ice to ensure a chilled beverage and smooth texture.

Whatever ingredients you choose, make sure to keep it nutrient-rich with as many dark leafy greens as you can handle (though in the beginning, that might be a very small amount), and add that extra plant protein powder to rejuvenate your body on workout days.

In the beginning, you’ll want to emphasize fruits. Later, as you become more skilled in your smoothie-making, your taste buds will evolve, and then you’ll want to try adding more vegetables than fruits (in other words, you’ll be ready for a smoothie that is less sweet).

My smoothies these days are mostly vegetables and almost no fruit – usually just a bit of fresh lime juice or cucumber.

Remember, improved health is a journey (not an on/off switch), and the best way to learn about green smoothies is by actually experimenting. Yes, you will make a few mistakes along the way, but that’s part of the adventure. Increasing your daily intake of vegetables can be among the most important health protocols.

5. Rate Your Passion

6. Check Your Own Eyes for Clues

7. Think Holistically

8. See Sugar as an Addiction

It is believed by many in the medical community that sugar feeds cancer cells. Dramatically reducing your own intake of sugar can be among the most important of health protocols.

9. Use Protocols to Develop Symmetry in Your Physique

The typical person in a first-world country spends more time driving, computing, texting, and sitting than they realize (if I asked you to estimate the amount of time you spend sedentary, you would dramatically underestimate the number of hours).

This eventually creates asymmetry in the body which – over time – creates a bleak situation of accelerated aging. I recommend pilates or yoga to become more symmetrical and physically fit. If you go to the gym, de-emphasize “nightclub muscles” (those muscles you see first when looking at yourself in a mirror – such as chest and arms) and emphasize instead those other muscles that you don’t see as readily when facing the mirror.

Keeping your joints supple as you grow older is among the most important of health protocols.

10. Build Your Wellness Team

Tips on Implementing New Protocols

Do you want to take your health to the next level?

What positive lifestyle habits – from the above list of health protocols – have you already implemented consistently into your lifestyle?

I hope you feel excited by the possibilities of what your own life can become.

My wish for you is that ten years from now you wake up in the morning feeling even better than you do today. In fact, imagine yourself waking up in the morning 10 years from now:

There is nothing wrong with wanting to look better naked. Most of us want to look as good on the outside as we feel on the inside. It makes us feel congruent, strong, and hopeful.

My weekly updates reveal methods to cut through the noise of the modern, complex landscape. The updates help you to better manage your time, energy, and nutrition so that you live more purposefully and with outrageously good health.

You can then utilize your new awareness into creating a life map – a map that will help you to navigate this next phase of your life so that your journey is passionate, joyful and rich with meaning and purpose. This next phase of your life can be your most fascinating yet.

The above ten health protocols can leave you feeling great on the inside – while also helping you to look better naked.

21 Answers that’ll help any Woman Look Good Naked

1. Is it better to lose weight first and then gain muscle?

It’s always best to lose weight first and gain muscle at the same time so you can look your very best naked but…

If you’re not happy with how fast you’re losing weight or gaining muscle then it’ll be best for you to focus on one thing at a time and either lose weight first or gain muscle only but since you’re a woman…

You probably don’t want to get BIG muscles so you can easily lose weight, tone up & build the sexier more firmer muscles at the same time with this perfect body plan for women but on the other hand…

Make sure you also take a look at…

2. What do you recommend for women to gain weight to achieve curves?

Please forgive me if I’m wrong and I’ll update my answer if I’m wrong but…

I’m assuming you want to gain weight/muscle in your hip & butt area so my quick answer to that is…You can go here for a bigger butt and that guide has various workout & diet plans you can use for a bigger butt.

3. What do you recommend for women to lose weight and maintain curves?

4. What exercises are good to develop the dip in the back?

To develop the dip in your back you simply need to…

5. What exercises are good to target the lower pouch?

The Simple Answer is… All of the ab exercises here & flat stomach exercises here will TARGET the lower pouch area and firm it up but…

To get rid of the lower pouch which is just stubborn belly fat…

6. The exercises that build the glutes, will they also build up the thighs?

7. Are donkey kicks the only way to build muscle on top of the glute?

Donkey kicks will not lead to permanent results since you’re using light weights and high reps

8. Is it possible to gain muscle on the hip to make it look curvier?

9. What kind of cardio and how many times a week is best to lose weight from your waist but keep your curves?

10. Do you recommend any supplements for weight gain and muscle growth?

You don’t exactly NEED any supplements for weight gain and muscle growth because you can look great naked just by eating these higher quality foods here

11. Do you recommend using creatine for muscle growth & maintain muscle?

if you Go here to see the 5 most important muscle building foods & supplements I recommend and then skip ahead to the 2 other Good but not crucial Muscle Building supplements…

You’ll see why taking creatine is not necessary for muscle growth.

12. Have you heard of Maca? If yes what do you think about its effects?

I’ve heard of maca and I’ve never used it and I’ve only researched maca very little but overall…

You can save your money on Maca and I really think you can get the body you want without Maca.

13. What do you think of products like Ensure Plus and Boost Plus?

Both are very good «meal replacement» products so as I said here when I talk about the best supplements…

Meal Replacements will help you lose weight and/or gain muscle if you don’t have time to prepare some meals because… Meal Replacements are powdered drink mixes that are quick & easy to make and have the perfect amounts of carbs, protein & fats to help you get the body you want.

14. What do you think of products like Dime Curves and BBB?

I think they are too good to be TRUE! and I did do a tiny bit of research on them before I gave my opinion but let me point of the facts…

You can get a firmer, rounder and sexy butt that will stay with you forever by going here and doing workouts for a curvier butt and…

Why would you want to take a pill that’ll make you hips more fatty which will result in a more saggier butt & give you more health problems over time?

15. What foods you recommend to promote muscle growth?

16. Is cardio the best way to lose back fat and rolls?

Going on a weight loss plan that includes a diet, cardio and/or intervals is the best way to lose any fat on your body

17. How much weight should I start off with?

You want to start off with enough weight that will allow YOU to do the recommend number of reps in perfect or near perfect form so for example…

Don’t use weights that are TOO HEAVY or TOO LIGHT because…

Those 2,3 & 5 lb. weights are TOO Light to start with unless…

Those 2,3 & 5-to-10 lb. weights are heavy enough to ONLY allow you to do the recommend number of reps.

You should also look at…

18. Is there one piece of equipment you would recommend those trying to build glute muscles at home, without going to the gym?

It’s no ONE piece I would recommend but here’s many at-home butt exercises you can do…

Click photos to see how to do the butt exercises

19. I would like to know what exercises are good for your butt and legs other that squats.

20. Do sweat belts work? If so can you recommend one?

The Quick Answer is… YES & NO? but…

21. Many of us are looking at models such as Kim Kardashian, Vida Guerra or Buffy for inspiration could you give a few bodies that would be achievable for slim ladies trying to get curves and ladies trying to lose weight and maintain their curves?

Any type of body you want to have is achievable and it’s only achievable IF YOU TRULY BELIVE it so remember your CBA’s…

23. What if one side is bigger than the other? What if one butt cheek, arm, leg or etc. is bigger than the other?

It’s normal to have one side that is a little bit bigger than the other that is NOT Noticeable by anyone else except for you WHEN you closely examine yourself so…

If nobody else recognizes the size difference then chances are you’re making too big of a deal out of nothing but If there is a noticeable size difference between 2 parts of your body then there’s 4 things you can do…

ALWAYS do the same amount of reps and use the same amount of weight with the stronger side (even though you may be able to do more) because this allows your weaker side to catch up.

24. When Can I Expect To See Results

Whenever you are trying to get more curves, tone or firm up you should always expect to see results (or changes) in your body every 2-to-4 weeks.