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Complete Fitness Guide

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This is my personal fitness guide and is not meant for pro bodybuilders or Olympic-level athletes. This is a guide for a common man by a common man. This is a collection of info I gather over a period of time to improve my fitness. I want to make this for myself for reference and for others.

This guide focuses on health, strength, endurance, flexibility, power, agility, fitness, healthy eating and injury prevention and not on how to get aesthetics like an underwear model, gulping litres of protein shakes, six-packs and how to become a douchebag. So following it provides you with a long-term result and not a quick result. The entire guide is centred around nutrition, inducement or exercise, hormones and rest or recovery. You need all four to get the desired result and stay fit.

Avoiding Injury

The first priority in any training regime is to avoid injury because the purpose of fitness is to be able to stay fit and not stay in ICU for treating an injury.

  1. Before Exercise
    • Consume quick energy-release light snacks like dates and bananas and never ultra quick energy-release sugary things which will cause insulin release which can crash your energy during a workout
    • Beetroot juice is the best natural pre-workout drink as it produces nitric oxides and Vasco dilators. It boosts blood flow, insulin sensitivity, and energy in mitochondria. Nitric oxide is a Nobel prize-winning gas.
    • Bhramari Pranayama also increases nitric oxides by up to 15 times.
    • Espresso without sugar will give you added boost in your metabolic rate.
    • Do Stretching and gradually move to warm up.
  2. During Exercise – Catabolic state where cell tissues are broken down
    • Poor Form will cause Injury so learn them properly before starting
    • Lack of active warm-up before a heavy workout will cause injury
    • Lack of warm-down after a heavy workout will cause injury
    • Keep yourself hydrated with homemade electrolytes else you may get cramps.
    • Don’t go for explosive training because even if your muscles can do it, your tendons will fail. This is the reason for pain in the joints
    • Incorporate a variety of exercises for each body part as variety decreases the chance of injury. Give sufficient rest for each body part to recover.
    • During exercise, the glycogen reserve would have been depleted and therefore you can consume natural sugars like warm water with honey to help you swim through the workout. This will not spike your insulin as you are already deficient in energy.
  3. After Workout – Anabolic state where you actually build broken down cells during a workout
    • Immediate recovery rituals
      • Shower
        • Never rush to shower immediately after a workout but wait until sweating stops and your heartbeat comes back to normal
        • A hot water bath can increase the blood flow and can increase the inflammation in the joints, muscles …etc so prefer a cold shower. But if the workout is of low intensity then hot water can help increase recovery.
      • Ice Pack
        • A proper ice pack can enhance recovery after a workout as it reduces blood flow and hence the inflammation
        • Avoid warm pack in the injured area before 48 hrs of injury as it may increase blood flow and hence increase inflammation
      • Foam rolling the injured part will also enhance recovery
    • Nutrients
      • Replenish body immediately with water + protein + pink salt / black salt + Carbs
      • Protein can come from milk and eggs. Carbs can come from fruit and millet.
    • Sleep – You need 8-12 hours of sleep depending on the individual.
      • Sleep is better than steroids because it is the most anabolic state a body can be in.
      • If wake up energetic and alert then you are you had a good sleep.
      • If you are sleepy after you wake up then you need more sleep.
      • If you are not sleepy but just tired after waking up then you need quality sleep
        • Sleep quality can be increased by lowering the room temperature.
        • Keeping bedroom clean and non-cluttered
        • A high-quality mattress of your choice – you spend 1/3rd of your life in bed
        • Avoiding heavy meals
        • Reduce screen time
        • Melatonin is the sleeping hormone which can be recharged by removing artificial lights as much as possible and spending in sunlight as much as possible. Even diffused light through windows will work.
  4. General Tips
    • Workout without complete recovery will cause injury
    • Massage will help in recovery but don’t work out for a day or two after a massage and don’t massage immediately after a workout as massage increases blood circulation and increase inflammation
    • Contrast treatment – Warm and ice treatment one after the other can also help in reducing inflammation but not everyone will respond positively
    • All the guidelines are general guidelines some may respond to a particular treatment and others don’t. So listen to your body first and then stick to a plan

Nutrition

  • Hydration before, during and after the workout with a homemade electrolyte drink i.e water + lemon + honey. Beetroot juice as a pre-workout will boost performance.
  • Carbs
    • Complex carbs 2 hours before a workout like millet
    • Simple carbs 40minutes before a workout like banana
    • Body stores energy as glucose in blood and glycogen in the liver and muscles which is to be recharged before and after a workout with both complex carbs
    • Complex Carb-loading with sufficient protein helps in endurance exercise
    • Carbs help increase testosterone
  • Protein
    • Too much protein reduces testosterone and affects kidneys and ends as expensive urine. Don’t fall for steroid-induced affiliate marketers posing as fitness experts and selling you protein powders.
    • A moderate protein of 1 gram per kg of body weight is more than sufficient.
    • Protein from a natural source is superior to factory-made
    • Despite my suggestions, if you need protein powders for whatever reason then go for unflavoured whey isolate or unflavoured Brown-rice isolate.
  • Fats
    • Healthy Fats like HDLs are the precursor to testosterone
    • So eat healthy fats like whole eggs, and milk and avoid unhealthy fats from fried foods
  • Other Micro Nutrients
    • Eat natural food as much as possible.
    • Eat foods that can be eaten raw as much as possible like nuts, fruits and vegetables.
    • Eggs and Fish are also great sources of lean protein. But go for only free-range eggs and wild-caught fish. They contain Omega 3 fatty acids which are essential for your heart, eyes, and testosterone production.
    • Meat can be consumed in moderation but ensure the meat is sourced from organic, grass-fed, cage-free, antibiotic-free sources. Avoid red meat like beef if you are predisposed to colon cancer.
    • Factory-farmed animals like broiler chickens are to be avoided.
    • Prefer goat over lamb because goat meat is superior in case of nutrient profile and low in cholesterol.
    • Organ meats are a great source of most micronutrients
    • Bone broth is an excellent source of recovery food and strengthens tendons and bones.

Supplements

  • Supplements are to be treated as supplements and not as meal replacements.
  • Supplements are synthetic products and thus don’t absorb easily into our body
  • The human body is the most sophisticated system in the world that can’t be manufactured even with any bleeding-edge technology. Thus human body feeds on the next sophisticated system in the world like plants, vegetables, fruits, honey and animal products. Even if you have all the ingredients of an Apple, even Apple can’t manufacture a real Apple
  • So synthetic foods are not an ideal food for humans. Don’t feed a diesel engine with vegetable oil even if the diesel engine can run.
  • Most of the multivitamins are just expensive urines due to low absorption
  • Excessive protein may help build muscles quicker but will definitely affect the kidney and liver also protein powder-powered muscles don’t last for long i.e you will lose them once you stop working out or stop taking them. Thus don’t get obsessed with thumb rules like 2 grams of protein per Kg of body weight. I personally think 1 to 1.6 grams per Kg of body weight a day is more than sufficient for a healthy lifestyle. If you don’t exercise you can even consume even lower than 1gram a day per Kg of bodyweight
  • Supplements are to be used only when you are deficient in certain nutrients.
  • Supplements are to be supplemented only for a limited period of time till your deficiency is addressed and not through the year.
  • Supplement Recommendation
    • For pre-workout
      • The best pre-workout that is as good as creatine without any side effects of creatine is any food that produces nitric oxide like beetroot juice, vegetable juices, pomegranate and citrus juices.
      • Also, do Bhramari Pranayama before a workout as it increases nitric oxide by 15 times.
      • And also load your blood with glucose from healthy carb sources like oranges and bananas.
      • Even then if you want a pre-workout recommendation, then go for creatine. Creatine does produce a quick result but only until you keep consuming them.
    • For protein
      • The best source of protein is nuts, millet, A2 Milk, fish protein, goat protein and egg protein. For supplements prefer protein isolate or brown rice isolate without any sucralose or other artificial sweeteners or flavours. There is nothing wrong with protein concentrate if you can digest lactose. Pea protein and Rice protein are also ok if you can get hold of one that is genuine.
        • For flavours – You can add your own essences like natural Vanilla, Cocoa powder or coffee powder – These are better than the synthetic version added in protein powders.
        • For sweetness, you can use cane sugar or palm sugar or stevia instead of white sugar or aspartame or sucralose. Compensate the excess calories in cane sugar with excess cardio. Sucralose may not contain any calories but are bad for your health.
    • For vitamins and minerals drink
      • Organ meat, Lemon honey water, tender Coconut, fruits, vegetables and whole free-range eggs. Yes, fruits and honey are high in calories but these are the food our human body is designed to consume. Again this is not a guide on how to attain 3% body weight or how to start a fitness channel like a steroid-induced fitness affiliate marketer on YouTube.
      • Still, if you want multivitamin tablets, then go for plant-based non-synthetic multivitamin tablets because the bioavailability of synthetic versions are close to nill, the reason why Doctors prescribe these with over a month dosage
      • Pharmaceutical-grade fish liver oil capsules like sea cod or seven seas. Don’t buy these from supplement companies even if they give triple strength for half the price.
  • Steroids, GH, and synthetic testosterones are not supplements period. Just because it is produced naturally in the body doesn’t mean you can take them. Even HCL is produced in the stomach, why don’t you drink HCL as it helps in digestion?
  • Creatine is a chemical even if it is found naturally in red meat. Even cyanide is present naturally in apple seeds, why don’t you buy and consume cyanide?

Isometric Training

  • Muscle Contraction Exercises without the full range of motion – that is held in any position for 6 seconds like staying in pull up position or dips
  • Yielding Isometric Exercises – Hold a weight until giving out
  • Explosive Isometric – Push the wall suddenly or Push each other hands suddenly
  • It will only strengthen you and not build muscles
  • Overcoming Isometric Exercises – Moving something that doesn’t budge like pushing against the wall – to be done in only 6 seconds and max 3 sets
    • Bruce Lee uses it
    • People with superhuman strength use it
    • It enables the body to recruit more muscle fibre than other people. An average person can only recruit 20-50% of muscles
    • Use it before starting other exercises as it is very tiresome

Tendon Training

  • Constantly working physically can strengthen tendons – Children don’t get tendon injuries because they constantly run here and there
  • Myostatin inhibitors or deficiency will also cause tendon Injury
  • High Frequency, High Volume and low weight Workout like pump workout increases blood flow to tendons
  • Prefer higher volume and lighter weight program
  • Rock Climbers have thicker tendons and leopards have longer tendons that give them explosive power.
  • Slow eccentrics(elongation) can also help i.e lift heavy and slowly bring it down or pull up and slowly come down – Use only Lightweight
  • Lift heavy partials

Calisthenics

To be Updated

Weight Training

Weight and strength training helps in building muscles, losing fat and increasing overall body strength. The result of weight training can have varied results.

  • You can be fat yet strong like most strongman competitors Eddie Hall and Brain Shaw
  • You can be lean and muscular without many muscles yet be strong – Many Olympic female weightlifters
  • You can be hugely muscular like most pro-body builders. But their strength is not proportional to their muscle size. The training regime is to build size and not strength
  • Finally, you can have a combination of all these three – Most amateurs try this and succeed as well – Many Olympic Weight Lifters, Wrestlers, Sprinters….etc

There are many ways of training when it comes to weight training. They are

  • Bro Split – One Muscle group once a week – Max intensity and min frequency
  • Full Body Every Day – Max frequency and min intensity
  • Upper and Lower Split – Somewhere in between

Every way has its own pros and cons but a common recommendation is to try all and stick to one that suits you well.

There are also many styles in weight training based on the set goals.

  • For size – Low rep high weight – 8 – 12 Rep Range
  • For endurance – High Reps Low weight – 24+ Reps
  • For Strength – Very low rep and Very High Weight – 6 – 8 Reps

Nevertheless, I will list the workout names below

Triceps

  • Standing overhead Bar triceps extension
  • Standing overhead Single and double-hand dumble tricep extension
  • Pully press and Overhead
  • Bench Dips
  • Tricep pushups or Diamond Pushups

Biceps

  • Only heavyweight will give results because of type 2 muscles in the biceps
  • Chinups
  • Concentration curl
  • Standing Barbell Curl – front and reverse grip
  • Standing Single and double dumble Curl
  • Standing single and double Hammer Curl

Chest

  • Flat bench press and dumble press
  • Inclined bench press and inclined dumble press
  • Steep inclined and dumble
  • Butterfly Machine
  • Fly with dumbles
  • Pullover – is advanced so needs some practice

Back

  • Pull-ups
  • Chin-ups
  • Deadlift
  • Lat pull down front and back
  • Seated Cable Rowing
  • Bent-Over Barbell Row – hand like pull up
  • Chest supported Dumbbell or Barbell row
  • Bent Over Dumble rowing
  • Closed-hand lat pulldown
  • Scapular pull-up – back activation

Shoulders

  • Barbell Overhead shoulder Press – front and back
  • Dumble Overhead Should press with rotation
  • Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raise
  • Seated Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raise
  • Alternating dumbbell front rise
  • Seated and bent front up
  • Dumbbell Lateral Raise
  • Standing Barbell Shrugs

Leg – Quads and Hamstring + Calf

  • Squats
  • Weighted squat
  • Machine front and back
  • Walking lunges with weight
  • Calf raises – Two legs and Individual legs

Weight Training Specific natural Supplement Stack

  • Testofen® Fenugreek Extract (Trigonella foenum-graecum; 50% fenusides, 50% Saponins)
  • Avena Sativa Extract (Oat Straw 100:1)
  • Tongkat Ali Extract (Eurycoma Longifolia Jack 100:1)
  • Maca Root (6% Extract)
  • Bulgarian Pro-Tribulus™ Terrestris Extract (90% Sapongenins + 40% protodioscin)
  • Stinging Nettle (95% Extract) (Urtica Dioica)
  • L-Arginine
  • Zinc + Copper

Disclaimer – These are based on random scientific studies conducted on a small sample size. So neither the efficacy nor safety is tested by me. So I leave it to the wisdom of the reader.