How to Transform Your Body into a Warrior – GentlemanBlue – The Blueprint of the Complete and Total Man

I know we live in a time where we as men don’t have time to do much of anything but try to make money to support our families and our lifestyles. Many of us work long hours or waste valuable time sitting on the couch watching TV or playing video games. We are sabotaging ourselves from being the best we can be. Most people don’t realize that one of the most important asset that you have is your health. What is the point of working your whole life to save up for retirement and you realize that you managed to save and invest enough money to retire; however you are so broken down because you didn’t take care of yourself that you can’t even enjoy your retirement. Therefore, we as men at an early age should start thinking about our health. Just think if you developed yourself to have the body of a warrior you would be more confident, have a better sex life, be stronger, increased self-esteem, look and feel younger to name a few. There are three major components to develop your body into the physical specimen that you could become and they are:

Develop your philosophy to know why you need to transform your body
Change your eating habits to eat a certain way
Developing a consistent workout routine

Develop your philosophy to know why you need to transform your body
Basically you need to get your mindset together and make it a priority of developing a healthy lifestyle. You need to look in the mirror and decide what it will take to get into shape. Also you must visualize how you want to look. I am a firm believer of visualization, whereby you have to see yourself as the person you want to become. If you are a former athlete you may have an idea of what to do. If not I advise you to do some preliminary research by looking at websites such as bodybuilding.com, which is a good website that explains various workout routines based on your experience level and various clean eating diet plans, or if you have the means get a personal trainer. Once you get a clear understanding of your goals and objectives set a specific time each day. I personally like working out early in the morning before I go to the office because the gym is less crowded and there are not any obstacles to prevent you from working out. This will be a slow process to develop the body that you want. Remember it took you years to get into the condition that you are currently in and it will take years to get back into shape, so don’t take any short cuts, such as using drugs. Our objective is not only to have a body like a warrior but most of all to be healthy. I read this book when I was a kid and it stuck with me. The author told this story about this 12 year kid named Anthony who was a sickly looking fragile kid who had severe asthma. One day Anthony went on a field trip with his school to a museum and once inside they saw various historic exhibits; however there was one exhibit that Anthony was fascinated by and that was the Greek Olympic Athletes Exhibit. Anthony was so amazed by the size of the athletes’ muscles. These strong muscular athletes made such an impression upon Anthony that he talked his mother into buying him a 110 pounds barbell and dumbbell weight set. Anthony started working out religiously and learned as much as possible, by reading and talking to individuals who were avid weight lifters that would assist him in developing the body that he wanted. As time went on Anthony joined a gym where a lot of bodybuilders and power lifters worked out and he continued to learn about developing his body. Then one day when Anthony was in his early twenties he was sitting in the park next to a statue eating his lunch and some school aged kids walked by and saw Anthony sitting next to the Greek statue and one of the kids said “Wow his muscles are bigger than that statue!” Anthony looked up at the statue and realized that he was bigger than the statue. He didn’t think about it before because it did not happen overnight. It was a gradual process so don’t be too quick to meet your goals and objectives too fast it will take years to master.

Change your Eating Habits to eat a certain way (Eat clean)
Your diet is a key component to developing a healthy body. The type of food that you consume will definitely provide you with that lean muscle mass. The thing to remember is stay away from sugar and processed foods. Try to eat more green vegetables and organic foods. I noticed that most grocery stores are designed whereby everything on the outside perimeter of the store is good for you and the aisle located in the center of the store are processed foods. Also make sure that you read the labels to check the sugar, sodium, saturated fats and cholesterol levels. Try to plan your meals a head of time and eat approximately five to six small meals a day. The reason for eating so many times a day and planning your meals ahead of time is so that you are never hungry and it prevents you from snacking on chips, candy bars and fast foods. Make sure your main meals consist of lean protein, green vegetables and complex carbohydrates, and substitute your sweet tooth with fruit. Read this article from Bodybuilding.com that explains the nutritional science behind what to eat if you want to develop muscle mass or to lean up http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/built-by-science-nutrition.html.

Developing a consistent workout routine
I am a firm believer that a man needs to lift weights to gain strength, power and muscle mass. He needs to do some type of cardio and aerobic exercises to increase his endurance, strengthen his heart and to assist in obtaining lean muscle mass. And not let us under estimate the core (abdominals and lower back). The man needs to develop his core so that he can have good posture, better athletic performance and good health.

Remember in order to have a consistent workout routine you must make it a habit just like you get up in the morning and you brush your teeth you must condition yourself to do at least 3 days a week of some type of physical activity; however in this article we are talking about transforming your body into a warrior. So to start, I advise someone who is new to exercising or estrange to exercising to first consult with a physician and second to get a personal trainer. If you cannot afford a personal trainer I advise you to just go up to someone in the gym who looks like you want to look and ask them what they did to get where they are; also I would do some research on bodybuilders and fitness models via YouTube and the internet to see what they have done to get where they are. With that said, here are some routines that you can use as a baseline and you can alter them according to your schedule and areas of improvement.

Routine 1: Build Lean Muscle Mass (Do for 8 weeks)

Day 1 – Chest / Abs / Cardio

Incline Barbell Bench Press: 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 (alternate between Flat Bench every other week)
Barbell Bench Press: 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 6 and 4 (alternate between Inclines every other week)
Dumbbell Bench Press: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Dumbbell Flies: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Dumbbell Pullovers: 4 sets of 10, 10, 8 and 8 (alternate between decline bench press every other week)
Do Cable Cross Overs: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Decline Crunch: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Elbow to Knee: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Side Bridge: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Do 20 – 30 minutes either running, treadmill, elliptical or stair climber

Day 2 – Back / Calves

Pull-ups: 4 sets to failure
One Arm Dumbbell Row: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Deadlifts: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Barbell Bent-over Rows: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
T-Bar Rows: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Pulldowns: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Seated Rows: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Hyperextensions: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Seated Calve Raises: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Standing Calve Raises 3 – 4 sets to failure

Day 3 – Shoulders / Abs/Cardio

Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Barbell Military Press: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Seated Dumbbell Military Press: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Barbell Shrugs: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Front Dumbbell Raises: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Reverse Flies: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
One-Arm Cable Side Lateral Raises: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Do Cable Cross Overs: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Decline Crunch: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Elbow to Knee: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Side Bridge: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Do 20 – 30 minutes either running, treadmill, elliptical or stair climber

Day 4 – Arms/ Calves

French Press and Close-grip Bench Press (Superset): 4 sets of 12, 10, 10 and 10
Triceps Cable Extension (straight bar): 4 sets of 12, 10, 10 and 10
Triceps Cable Extension (V-bar): 4 sets of 12, 10, 10 and 10
Triceps Cable Extension (Rope): 4 sets of 12, 10, 10 and 10
Dips: 4 sets of 12, 10, 10 and 10
Front Dumbbell Raises: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Straight Bar Curls : 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Dumbbell Curls: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Hammer Curls: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Preacher Curls: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Seated Calve Raises: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Standing Calve Raises 3 – 4 sets to failure

Day 5 – Legs

Leg Extensions: 4 sets of 12, 12, 10 and 10
Squats: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Leg Press: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Lunges: 4 sets of 10 steps per leg
Leg Extensions: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Hamstrings Lying Leg Curl: 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 8 and 8
Romanian Deadlift: 5 sets of 12, 10, 8, 8 and 8
Single Leg Hamstring Curl: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Leg Press (feet high and wide): 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8

Day 6 – Abs/Calves/Cardio

Work on Weak Areas
Do Cable Cross Overs: 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 8
Decline Crunch: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Elbow to Knee: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Side Bridge: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Seated Calve Raises: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Standing Calve Raises 3 – 4 sets to failure
Do 20 – 30 minutes either running, treadmill, elliptical or stair climber

Day 7– Rest

Routine 2: Goal to Lean up and get cut (Do for 3 weeks) after completing Routine 1

Day 1 – Full Body Workout

Squats: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Straight Leg Deadlifts: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Barbell Bench Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Dumbbell Flies: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Barbell Bent-over Rows: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Wide-grip pull-ups: 3 – 4 sets to Failure
Seated Barbell Military Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Straight Bar Pull-downs: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Straight Bar Curls: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6

Day 2 – Cardio, Calves and Abs

Do 30 – 40 minutes either running, treadmill, elliptical or stair climber
Seated Calve Raises: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Standing Calve Raises 3 – 4 sets to failure
Decline Crunch: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Elbow to Knee: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Side Bridge: 3 – 4 sets to failure

Day 3 – Full Body Workout

Front Squats: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Laying Leg Curls: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Incline Barbell Bench Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Dumbbell Bench Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Deadlifts: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Wide-grip pull-ups: 3 – 4 sets to Failure
Dumbbell Seated Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Dumbbell Front Raises: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Dips: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Dumbbell Curls: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6

Day 4 – Cardio, Calves and Abs

Do 30 minutes of HIIT either running or treadmill
Standing Calve Raises: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Donkey Calve Raises 3 – 4 sets to failure
Planks: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Leg Raises: 3 – 4 sets to failure
Plate or Ball Twist: 3 – 4 sets to failure

Day 5 – Full Body Workout

Leg Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Seated Leg Curls: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Decline Barbell Bench Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Laying Dumbbell Pull-overs: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
T-bar: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Wide-grip pull-ups: 3 – 4 sets to Failure
Standing Military Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Reverse Flies: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Close-grip Flat Bench Press: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6
Hammer Curls: 3 – 4 sets of 12, 10, 8 and 6

Remember in order for you to transform your body you will have to have discipline, be consistent, stay focused, hit it hard and eat clean. The truth will be revealed by your results, so let’s get it done!