I received a question about Tom Venuto’s Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle program a few weeks ago, and I thought I’d share my response with you here. I’ve been recommending Tom’s work for awhile, and in my opinion, anyone who is even remotely interested in fat loss should devour everything he puts out there. And that’s more true now than ever.
QUESTION:
Hi John – I ALWAYS enjoy your reviews. Whenever I’m investigating something new, I check your site out to see if you’ve reviewed it!
We’ve corresponded a time or two in the past – but I’m sure you communicate with thousands of folks.
Briefly, here’s me: 44 – 235 pounds – been training with Kettlebells, Clubbells, TACFIT Commando, Gold Medal Bodies, etc. since 2004, when I weighed 312 pounds… Currently on a TACFIT Commando run – looking to conquer 9 cycles (3 missions) – trying to lose the last 40-50 pounds, that I’m guessing needs to come off for me to be officially “lean.”
 SO – I see you heartily recommending Venuto’s material. I have a couple of questions for you:
1) Does he require that one follows his exercise regimen? It would be impossible to get me away from my beloved TACFIT.
2) Is there REALLY any new info, or is it just a revamp of the cyclical ketogenic diet?
3) I’m currently in the middle of a Whole30 (30 day “Paleo” thing) – should I look into this Venuto cat when I’m done?
Yes, I think that the term “Paleo” is baloney – you’re only TRULY Paleo if you’re eating carrion – I’m just using it as a template for healthy eating.
Thanks!
Johnny
Continue reading Q+A about Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle
Do you remember the One Ring from the Lord of the Rings? It was the “one ring to rule them all” that Frodo carried all the way from the Shire into the depths of Mordor, etc. etc. Yeah, it was kindof a big deal – in the books and the movies, believe it or not. In case you’re not familiar, this one ring basically determined the outcome in an epic struggle of good versus evil with the annihilation of the human race in the balance. Oh, and there were other cute woodland creatures, too.
Alas, this post is not about the adventures of hobbits, goblins, or even ridiculously good-looking elves, but rather about the One Exercise to rule them all. Like the one ring, the One Exercise is kindof a big deal. And it’s the one exercise that I would argue is not only the best of the best, but the best of the bestest – for so many reasons it would take entire volumes to explain it. And if you’re not doing this one exercise in your program… *deep breath through the nostrils* … more on that later.
 I have to hand it to ya. Hula hooping was a very good guess, but incorrect!
A Complete Bodyweight Workout Program to Help You Burn Fat, Build Muscle, and Get Stronger In Less Than One Month (Zero Equipment Required)
If you want to build a foundation of total body strength by strengthening your legs, core, and upper body musculature, burn some fat to lean out, reveal your abs, and enhance the muscle definition, AND if you want a do-it-yourself, braindead-simple training program that was created specifically for reducing bodyfat and building lean muscle, then you’ve come to the right place. Below, you’ll find a complete bodyweight workout program that you can use to accomplish these goals – at home or at the gym.
So, I’ll make you a deal: I’ll provide the complete program and let you use it for free IF you’ll follow the instructions below AND if you’ll tell me about your success four weeks from now. Deal? Deal.
How I got in Shape for the First Time in my Life using Bodyweight Exercises
Most people don’t know this about me, but I wasn’t always a fit guy. Actually, I was a pretty chubby kid from time to time growing up. Although, I was fortunate that my parents signed me up for sports and supported me in that area, which helped to balance my otherwise sedentary lifestyle. You see, besides playing sports, I also liked playing video games, which isn’t exactly the most physically active thing you can do. Combine that with school and you have a fairly inactive off-season, if you know what I mean. I had my off-season fun (video games), and my in-season training (sports). So, every new sports season would come around, and I’d have to fight really hard to get back in shape – not all that unlike the predicament a yo-yo dieter faces. But all that changed one day in my parents poorly-lit, dusty basement. It was in that basement where my love of physical training was born and forged – deep in the night.
You see, my father bought me a book called The Marine Corps 3X Fitness Program, and that little book sparked a flame that quickly turned into an obsession. So, what usually happened was after I could barely keep my eyes open to keep playing on my computer, I would head down to the basement to workout before bed and I started doing pullups, pushups, and situps like a madman – usually around 11pm. I just got obsessed with improving my performance. I did bodyweight exercises, and eventually got a weight set, too. Yeah, those plastic ones with a bench that was so shaky that I was sure it would collapse eventually – pinning me helplessly beneath the massive weights (note: I may be exaggerating about the actual poundage slightly). But my roots were in bodyweight training, and I’m a bit lucky in that regard.
Why Bodyweight Training Rocks (in a nutshell)
Bodyweight training can be done by anyone, anywhere, and it works really really well. It’s especially good for building a foundation of strength in beginner and intermediate trainees and, done correctly, it teaches whole body integration of strength and conditioning. It can be used for a variety of training goals like fat loss, muscle building, strength and conditioning, and performance enhancement. Plus, it’s pretty cool to master your own bodyweight and build a high strength to weight ratio. And did I mention it works really really well?
Continue reading Replace 10 lbs of Fat with 10 lbs of Lean Muscle in 4 Weeks using this Simple Workout Program
 It’s no secret that losing weight, and more importantly, losing fat is tough business. There are many variables in play, and sometimes, it’s easy to get lost in all the confusion. Fortunately, the solutions usually aren’t that complicated, and oftentimes, it only takes one little tip for a light bulb to go off and get you back on track towards your goals.
So, just off the top of my head, here are 25 reasons why you might not be losing weight…
Keep in mind that although many of these may apply to you personally, there are probably a few that really undermine your progress more than the rest of them. So, while you’re reading through this list, make a mental note of the top two or three that are most likely to make a difference for you personally.
1) You eat too much. I’ll get this one out of the way in the beginning because it’s probably the most prevalent issue at hand. In a culture where practically any food you could ever want is available within minutes, it’s no surprise that we have an over-eating problem. The bottom line is that if you are eating more food (ie calories) than you’re burning on a daily and weekly basis, you will NOT lose weight. You must – and I repeat – you MUST have a calorie deficit to lose weight. So, if this could even possibly be an issue with you, then I’d start right here because nothing else will work until you achieve the calorie deficit – nothing. That’s right. And the rest of these tips are null and void if you don’t adhere to this one right here. Let that sink in for a minute.
2) You’re completely sedentary most or all of the time, and if you do exercise, it’s not hard enough or often enough. Pair up an over-abundance of food with historically unprecedented levels of inactivity and sedentary behavior, and you have a recipe for health disaster, and weight loss becomes exponentially more difficult. There is no direct (ie causal) link between exercise and fat loss that I’m aware of, but there are tons of indirect (ie correlative) reasons to prioritize physical activity if you want to lose not just weight, but fat – which leads me to my next point.
3) You focus too much on losing weight rather than losing fat. Outside of extreme ranges, total weight is not an indicator of health and fitness. Your body composition is a much better indicator, and too many people pursue weight loss rather than fat loss because they like the simplicity of using the scale to track progress. But the truth is that the best course of action is always to specifically target fat loss. It’s not just the most effective strategy; it’s also the healthiest one. And health is important for things like survival, quality of life, and longevity, just to name a few. But you probably don’t care about those things, right?
Continue reading 25 Reasons Why You’re STILL Not Losing Weight And What To Do About It
I’ve seen a recurring theme about exercise in some media outlets recently, both in mainstream and smaller sources. It’s the notion that exercise somehow makes you fatter, or similarly, that it won’t actually help you get thinner. If that wasn’t outrageous enough, I’ve even seen claims that exercise doesn’t improve fitness at all. Of course, it’s all complete nonsense, and in some cases, blatant lies. Humanity has known for a long, LONG time all about the various benefits of exercise. And if millennia of culture, tradition, and common sense isn’t convincing enough for you, then you can scour the research archives that have grown to a monstrous level over the past several decades. Of course, the overwhelming evidence is that exercise is extremely good for us, and for the most part, people have been doing it just fine all along.
 In fact, the many benefits of exercise are now extremely well-documented. It is an indisputable fact that exercise, or to be even more general – physical activity – is good for us and that it comes with a myriad of physical and mental benefits, among many other things. It is arguably the single best thing you could do to improve your health, fitness, body composition, and quality of life. Anyone who says otherwise, or even hints otherwise, should immediately be dismissed as someone who is misinformed, but more likely a complete quack who is not worth a moment of your attention. You see, it’s one thing to investigate an issue that may have some loopholes that we just haven’t figured out yet, and report on that. But it’s quite another to do that while also ignoring logic, reason, and the massive quantity of evidence in the research data that has already been compiled and verified in peer-reviewed journals. Yet, this seems to be happening more and more often, and not just from fringe groups either. Does TIME magazine ring a bell?
Continue reading A Direct Message To Those Who Proclaim That Exercise Makes You Fatter
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