VPS 31H Manual Final

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Disclaimer:

31 Fat Loss Hacksis published by Vertex Performance Systems. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of thisbook may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopies or scanned

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holder except brief quotations included in article critiques or reviews. To request permission, pleasecontact Vertex Performance Systems at PO Box 1539, Elizabethtown, KY, 42702 or via email at support@

vertexperformancesystems.com.

The text, layout and designs presented in this manual, as well as the manual in its entirety, are protected

by the copyright laws of the United States (17 U.S.C. 101 et seq.) and similar laws in other countries.Scanning, uploading, and/or distributing this manual, or any designs or photographs contained herein,

in whole or part (whether re-drawn, re- photographed, or otherwise altered) via the Internet, CD, DVD,

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by law. The copyright owner and publisher of this manual appreciate your honesty and integrity andask that you do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted material. Be sure to purchase (or

download) only authorized material. Not all exercise programs are suitable for everyone.

Check with your doctor before beginning any fitness program to avoid/reduce the risk of injury.Perform these exercises at your own risk. Vertex Performance Systems will not be responsible or liable for

any injury sustained as a result of using any fitness program presented in this document.


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It all started when...

I would be the worst client in the world. Seriously, I

am always looking for the fastest way to get results,

and I am one of the most impatient individuals you

may ever meet. However, that gives me a uniqueedge when it comes to fat loss programming and

transformations.

You see, I have helped hundreds of people get the

bodies they have always wanted, and it has always

been my goal to do it faster than anyone else.

If other gyms were running 12-week transformation

programs, I was running 6-week programs; 28 dayswas too long, so I created 21-day programs; and

finally, I even worked to create a 7-day program

that got people great results.

Now, truth be told, not all of these

programs got long-lasting results.

Sure, some of it was easy because

we all know that when you get a

beginner, losing weight fast is simple:A few changes here and there to

their training and nutrition will likely

produce big results.

So, I also worked to help get people

in photo-shoot shape. I took them

to the fittest they have ever been so

that when all the lights and cameras

were on them, they looked amazing.

Throughout the last 8 years, I have

been tweaking, changing, and manipulating small

aspects of my clients nutrition, training, and

lifestyles to help them get lean, athletic, and fit.

Today, I wanted to share with you 31 of these tipsand tricks that I have learned.

First, let me tell you a bit about how I got into thismyself.

In 2006, I was 335lbs. A BIG 335lbs! As I finished

up college as a collegiate shot putter and discusthrower at Indiana University, I had worked hard

to get as strong as possible. I also worked hard atdrinking a lot of beer and eating junk food. I just

so happen to be one of those guys who has no

trouble putting on size. Check it out


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On a wonderful day in June as I was about to

have my left knee cleaned up and a torn meniscus

repaired, I stepped on the scale to see 335lbs pop

up. I honestly had no idea that I was that heavy. It

was embarrassing.

At that very moment, I decided that I wasnt going

to be a fat thrower anymore, and I was going to

start losing some weight. Little did I know that it

would turn into my passion and I would eventually

step in front of the camera and put myself in a

position to win a worldwide transformation contest

several years later.

Throughout my own journey, I have been a

human guinea pig. I test everything out on myself

before trying it with clients. I have tried just about

everything under the sun to see how it works,

how it makes me feel, and if it gets the results it

promises. Workouts, nutrition, supplementsif it is

legal, I have probably tried it.

Here are 31 of the things I have learned to speed u

the transformation process that you can use with

your clients right now!


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T R A I N I N GH A C K S


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Training Hacks

These arent going to be gimmicky, circus acts

that you can use with your clients but rather real-

world programming hacks that you can startimplementing right away to get your clients better

results.

So get ready to take some notes, and get excited

to start implementing a few of these for maximumeffect right away!

1. On the last set of their prime movements,

have your clients train to a set that is 1 rep shy

of failure. This type of training forces clientsto get out of their comfort zones and push

themselves to the limit, which will help them

impose a much higher metabolic demand on

their system than typical straight sets.

2. Work up to a rep max on your big lifts and then

perform back off sets with 10-20% decrease

in loading to encourage a higher intensity

workout. This can be a challenging strategy to

figure out with some clients, but it also ensurethat the client is working at the highest level

possible, and it will increase total workload

and volume of the workouts. This also forces

the clients body to retain muscle mass, which

helps keep caloric expenditure high.

Example Deadlift Ramp Up 8RMWarm Up

8 reps @ 135lbs

8 reps @ 185lbs

6 reps @ 225lbs4 reps @ 245lbs

3 reps @ 255 lbsMax Effort Set

8RM @ 275lbsPerform 2 Back Off sets8 reps @ 250-255lbs


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3. Increase the amount of steady-state training

your beginner clients are doing. They are likelynot able to perform at the intensity needed to

get a metabolic effect from training, so they

will need a higher caloric output for enhanced

results. Too often, we try to get our beginner

clients to perform at the level our moreadvanced clients do and sacrifice the benefits

of a solid foundation of work capacity. This

additional time spent developing a foundation

will result in positive changes both immediately

and in the future.

4. Instead of programming your workouts with set

rest periods and sticking to them throughout

the entire training cycle, progress your clients

by reducing the rest period by 5-10 secondseach week. This small but effective change

in rest will allow the client to do more work

in less time, which will result in the body

composition changes that the client desires.

Improving the density of the workout will keepthe clients training efficient and effective.

5. Instead of progressing clients with onlyweight increases, increase the number of sets

performed each week to increase volume.

You have to think in terms of volume while

designing your client programs: If the client

does 3 sets of 8 reps in week one at 100lbs,they lifted 100lbs 24 times, which is a total

volume of 2400lbs. Adding 5lbs the next week

increases that to 2520lbs (105x24) but adding

a set (4 sets of 8 reps) will produce 3200lbs of

volume, which is a much higher workload.

6. Change the order of your movements in

the program. If you always program big

movements first, try moving them to the latterpart of the workout. At first, performance

will suffer due to accumulated fatigue, but

ultimately, an inefficiency in the training will

have a positive effect. **Caution: If clients

perform deadlifts, squats, or other high-skillexercises such as cleans while fatigued, they

should be closely coached with their loads

monitored.

7. Once every 3-4 weeks, have a gut check

workout where you challenge your clients and

push them way out of their comfort zone. I am

not talking about making them puke their guts

out or giving them rhabdo, but you can makethem extremely uncomfortable with high-rep

challenges or sled distance challenges.

Training Week Volume (Sets x Reps)

Week 1 45s RestWeek 2 40s Rest

Week 3 35s Rest

Week 4 30s Rest

Training Week Volume (Sets x Reps)

Week 1 2x8

Week 2 3x8

Week 3 4x8

Week 4 2x8 (Deload)


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Example Gut Check WorkoutProwler/Sled Quarter MilePush, pull, or drag the sled or prowler any way

you want for a quarter mile. A Quarter Mile is

11 trips down and back a 20-yard course or 11

total trips on a 40-yard course. This is a great

workout for groups or in a gym because youcan time each individual and set up a record

board.

8. Change up the training style of your clients.

If you are performing lots of metabolic work,

implement more strength and vice versa. Thebody will adapt, and it may need a change of

pace to continue to produce results. Thereare several variables to change in a workout/

training program; however, if your clients

are not strong, they may need to focus on a

strength-building phase, and if they are in poor

condition, they may need more conditioning

to help them get the results they want. A

highly conditioned client who is weak willnot be able to produce the force needed

to get great results (think about a car with a

200-horsepower engine versus a car with a

300-horsepower engine), and a strong client

who does not have a conditioning base will nobe able to perform the volume needed to get

the desired results.

9. Use undulating periodization to ensure your

clients arent adapting to a specific protocolor training stimulus. Rotate 4x8, 2x15 and

8x3 (sets x reps) schemes over two different

workouts so that it looks like this: Workout A

4x8, Workout B 2x15, Workout A 8x3, Workout

B 4x8, etc. This will allow you to keep the samexercises programmed for clients and allow

them to improve their form without adapting t

the volume and intensity alone.

10. Complexes and combination movements

programmed either early in the workout, asfinishers, or on off days can produce incredible

metabolic demands and increase the power

endurance a client needs to encourage fat

loss. Not only do these types of movement

combinations require the entire body to workas a unit, but they also produce an incredible

metabolic demand. Build work capacity,

strength, and power with these moves to get

clients faster results.

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3

Week 1 Workout A4x8

Workout B

2x15

Workout A

8x3

Week 2 Workout B

4x8

Workout A

2x15

Workout B

8x3Repeat for 4-8 Weeks


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N U T R I T I O NH A C K S


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Nutrition Hacks

1. Macronutrient tracking works, but it sucks.

No doubt about it, if you are stuck with

your weight loss, having clients track

macronutrients for a few days or even two

weeks will help you get a grip on how to helpthem. Most of the time, the tracking alone gets

them to start losing weight again. It is funny

how people tend to pay closer attention to

what they put in their mouth when they have

to write it down!

2. Intermittent fasting works for men but not as

well for women. IF can work for women, but

I have found that women do best with larger

gaps of time between consistent meals. Soinstead of having them eat 6 small meals a

day, you can have them eat 3 larger meals with

larger amounts of time between those meals.

You get a similar effect to having men fast for12-16 hours. .

3. Load your carbohydrate intake later in the day.

Your body will store these carbs as glycogen,

which might lead to a slight increase in weightthe next morning, but it will lead to longer term

fat loss. A majority of your starchy carbs should

be consumed in your dinner. This also allows

you to get higher quality of sleep in most case

due to the hormonal response of spiking yourinsulin later in the day.

4. Carb cycling is not as complicated as most

people make it out to be and can be used asan effective means of getting a client to drop

fat without changing much else. On strength

training days, eat higher carbohydrates, and on

non-training or metabolic-conditioning-only

days, stick to green veggies only and avoidstarchy carbs, especially if you arent tracking.

Example High-Carb DayMeal 1: 2 whole eggs, cup egg whites, 1 handful of spinach, and cup oatmealMeal 2: 1 chicken breast, any green veggies, 1 med sweet potato, 1 thumb of butter

Meal 3: 1 palm-sized serving or about 1/3 lbs of lean beef, cup white rice, 10-20 stalks of asparagusOptional snack if needed: 1 scoop vanilla protein, 1 cup blueberries, cup cottage cheese, 1 tbsp peanut or almondbutter. Add ice and water to mix to desired thickness to create a smoothie

Example Low-Carb DayMeal 1: Omelet with 3 whole eggs, 1oz turkey breast, tomato, spinach, and small amount of 2%/reduced fat cheeseMeal 2: 1 palm-sized serving or about 4oz of salmon, large spinach or romaine salad with lots of veggies, olive oiland vinegar dressingMeal 3: 6-8oz of lean red meat (sirloin, filet, strip), roasted broccoli and cauliflower drizzled in olive oilOptional snack as needed: 2 scoops of chocolate protein, 2 Tbsp of almond or peanut butter mixed with a small

amount of water to create a protein pudding.


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5. Pink Himalayan Sea Salt might lower cortisol

if taken first thing in the morning. Duringperiods of high stress, a small amount 1/8-

1/2 tsp. taken with a large glass of water first

thing upon waking will help lower cortisol and

kick start some fat burning. Cortisol has been

shown to promote fat storage, so reducingthis hormone during periods of high stress is

beneficial to many people and makes burning

fat easier.

6. Dietary fat isnt bad, but it certainly can holdpeople back from losing weight. I like to keep

fat around 20-25% of total calories, pushing

as high as 35% in some individuals. This takes

some experimentation to dial in for each

individual, but when you get it right, you caneat more carbs and still lose weight, which

means performance in the gym increases

and progress comes much faster. Fat isnt the

enemy, but you certainly cant consume it with

reckless abandon.

7. Re-feeds work if done right. Reduce calories

throughout the week to somewhere between

10-12x bodyweight in pounds. You can alsorestrict carbohydrates to between 75-100g/

day during the week. On one weekend day,

you can do a re-feed day and aim to triple

your food intake. Most of this should come

from carbs if possible, and fat should be keptto a minimum. This will keep the hormones

functioning well while allowing people to get

the feel of a cheat day.

8. Flexible dieting takes work (you have to track

macros), and other means of dieting are a bit

simpler but dont allow you the freedom to

enjoy some of your favorite foods. Find the one

that works for the individuals own personality

and sets them up for success. Dont tie yourself

down to one dogmatic approach to dieting.Moderation is the key to most individual long-

term success. You cant be healthy and perform

at a high level by eating all your calories fromPop Tarts and cookies, but you also dont have

to eliminate entire food groups to get results.

9. BCAA supplementation to replace pre-, peri-

, and post-workout recovery methods that

typically are recommended has produced grea

results for my clients. Supplement with 10gof BCAA pre- and peri-workout instead of a

regular recovery drink or meal. This will reducethe overall caloric load without reducing

recovery.

10. Caffeine supplementation prior to training,

especially for morning or mid-day training

sessions, can boost the clients workouts.

Starting with a cup of coffee or two is effective(aim for 100mg of caffeine); for those who

are more stimulant-experienced, you mayneed a more aggressive supplement. If you

want to stay away from stimulants, try Onnits

ShroomTech Sport, as it has produced goodresults for me and my clients to whom I have

recommended it for pre-workout energy

boosts.


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L I F E S T Y L EH A C K S


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Lifestyle Hacks

1. Sleep is one of the biggest factors when it

comes to fat lossand the hardest to control

as a fitness pro with your clients. Get themto start heading to bed just 5 minutes earlier

each week, and soon enough they will start to

accumulate more sleep and get better results.The best way to do this is by establishing a pre-

bed routine of reading fiction or somethingnon-stimulating, performing Self-Myofascial

Release or foam rolling 15-20 minutes prior to

bed, or mediation. This routine will start to cue

the body that it is time for sleep.

2. A short 10-20 minute walk first thing in the

morning can do wonders for stress relief andfocus for the day. My clients have had great

success with adding this into their routine. It

doesnt need to be cardio, just a leisurelypace. Being out in nature and starting your

day away from the stress of having to make it

go-time from the second your feet hit floor

get your day started off on the right foot. If you

check email or hit up social media first thing

in the morning, you only open yourself up tomore stress, which makes it tougher to lose fa

3. Work in intervals. If you have a client whoworks at a desk, have them set a timer for

either every 25 minutes or 50 minutes and thehave them get up to walk around the office or

at the very least stand for 5-10 minutes. The

increase in activity, while minimal, will add up

over time, and they will also feel better for it.

4. Weekends are tough when it comes to social

activities, so encourage clients to keepthemselves busy with active things with the

family or their friends to keep them fromhitting up the bars or overindulging. Replacing

these non-supportive activities with something

positive will result in success more often than

just subtracting activit ies.


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5. Goal setting is a huge part of a fat loss

program. Set short- and long-term goals withimages that the client can aim to achieve.

Using pictures is a great way to motivate

people because we tend to relate best to

images. Knowing what losing 10lbs or 20lbs

looks like to the client also helps you setappropriate goals. Start off by having them

describe in detail what losing the weight looks

and feels like to you, and then have them go

get a picture of what they think it looks like to

keep as motivation.

6. Have your clients use technology to help them

de-stress and get motivated. I have been using

the Brain Wave Appon my iPhone for months

to prepare for the workday on my morningwalks and calm myself down when I get

anxious. It may not seem like it does much, but

I swear it does the trick.

7. Try replacing old habits with new small

changes and connecting your triggers with

a new habit. For instance, if you are always

getting hungry or craving junk food at night

when you watch TV, the next time you goto watch TV and get the craving, replace

that craving with foam rolling. Foam roll for

5-10 minutes until the craving subsides, and

then you will start to replace that feeling of

boredom and cue to eat junk as a cue to foamroll.

8. Encourage the streak! Have your clients track

just one small thing each day and get them tobuild up a streak of consecutive days where

they accomplish their goal for the day. Bonus

points if you can make it positive instead of

negative.

9. Use interval goals. If you have a huge weightloss or fat loss goal, I have always found it

better to stay on track by setting up short-term

aggressive goals for clients as well. If you want

to lose 30lbs in 3 months, then setting the goa

for the first month at 12lbs buys you time later

on and also allows the client to focus on thetask at hand.

10. This seems a bit silly, but have your clients

write down a mantra or a positive affirmationstatement on a 3x5 index card that states

their goal as specifically as possible as if it has

already happened. They need to read this out

loud to themselves at least once every day,

and they can read it in times where they maybe tempted to skip a workout or cheat on their

nutrition plans. It helps reaffirm why they aredoing the things they are doing.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brain-wave-30-advanced-binaural/id307219387?mt=8https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brain-wave-30-advanced-binaural/id307219387?mt=8https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/brain-wave-30-advanced-binaural/id307219387?mt=8


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The MOST important hack of them all.Get your clients to buy in to what you are doing, have faith in the process, and understand that it might b

a bit of a struggle. Fat loss isnt always fun and exciting, but it sure is gratifying once you reach your goal!Have your clients verbally acknowledge that they believe the plan you laid out for them will work and tha

they are 100% positive they will see success with it. A huge part of success is believing in the plan you lay

out to get there!

That wraps up our 31 Fat Loss Hacks. I am confident that each one of these hacks will help you get at leas

one of your clients better results from their time in the gym with you.

If you want to keep the momentum going and continue finding new and exciting ways to deliverincredible results to your clients, make sure that you check out the blog at

www.vertexperformancesystems.com
http://www.vertexperformancesystems.com/http://www.vertexperformancesystems.com/

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