BFL: Can anyone tell me about it?

[candice]

I've seen some of the success stories in Energy magazine, and it looks like you can get a lot done in 12 weeks! Do they prescribe a certain diet? Fitness regimen? If anyone here has done it, what type of results did you get, and how hard or easy was it to follow?

thanks!
Candice

 

[sixx788]

Candice,
I am currently doing Body For Life right now. I love it. You should pick up the book. Everything is broke down very easily. It has a list of foods to eat from. Protein, Carbs and Vegetables. You pick a Carb and Protein from the plan and that is considered a meal. Add a vegetable to 2 of your meals in a day. You eat 6 meals a day. You can use a protein shake to subsitute a meal if you wish. I think its a great book for beginners.

The exercise plan is...

Day 1 Upper body training with weights
Day 2 Cardio
Day 3 Lower body training with weights
Day 4 Cardio
Day 5 Upper body training with weights
Day 6 Cardio
Day 7 Rest...Cheat day

Day 1 Lower Body training with weights
Day 2 Cardio
Day 3 Upper body training with weights
Day 4 Cardio
Day 5 Lower Body training with weights
Day 6 Cardio
Day 7 Rest...Cheat day

Repeat

That is the basics of it. But the food is very important to any diet if you want results. The way that he teaches you how to lift weights is good too. It teaches you how to fatigue your muscle so that it will grow. When I lifted weights before, I had no idea that there was a technique to it. I was just lifting weights and going through the motions. Now I know what I am doing and what I am looking for when lifting.

Kelly

 

[naughtoj]

Candice..
Really, Body For Life is no different than how you should live everyday. It is a lifestyle, not a diet. Bill Phillips is very sensible in what he writes and nothing about the program is hard to follow except for the lower calorie intake. But, this is how we should all try to eat everyday, maybe incorporating a tad more fat for maintenance. I don't agree with the cardio plan..as it takes more cardio to strengthen the heart than to lose a few pounds, but it is a good program anyway...I am a cardio junkie!!!!

 

[trevor]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON May-03-02 AT 05:21AM (Est)[/font][p]The thing about the bfl program is that it's all about intensity and eliminates "empty" minutes just slogging along. I am doing a modified version of the bfl weight program, 2-3 20 mins. high intensity cardio sessions per week and my 1 hour spin on Sundays. I rotate cardio equipment constantly and also incorporate Cathe's IMAX and Bodymax when I need a break from spin class for the sake of my mental health! lol! Or some form of outdoor activity...mountain biking, hill running, whatever. My weight program is like the bfl except I actually flip flop 2 workouts each for the upper and lower body such that I NEVER get the same workout twice in a row for any body part. I gotta tell ya.....the high intensity weight thing really shreds you if you do it right and keep your fat at 20-25% of total caloric intake.(For me personally!) I am doing more cardio mins. total and at higher intensity than bfl recommends but if I cut it to what they want you to do I think I'd be fine. It's all I can do to keep my body weight where I want it as I am doing it now!! (185 lbs on 6ft frame)
Based on my experience the secret to this exercise stuff is to keep challenging yourself and contantly change things up so that your heart and muscles never get "used" to a certain workout pattern. You have to train your body to people able to withstand varied intense physical stresses placed on it when you workout. Not train it to just get used to a particular routine or weekly ritual. How well your heart and muscles deal with(recover from) these varied stresses placed on them is a truer measure of how fit you are IMHO. Some may disagree but it works for me. Just my opinion.
I will say this......most people who come to the gym where I go and just slog along doing the same mindless workouts all the time("today is wed. I gotta trudge thru my wed. jog for an hour on the treadmill") never seem to improve physically and basically just look the same forever.
Anyway I have gotten wordy again! Hope I didnt bore anyone with my rambling! lol!
By the way if anyone wants my excel files of my bfl weight workouts you are more than welcome!
In short I recommend bfl, or some personalized version based on it like I am doing. Alot of people seem to be unable to shake the perception that you need tons of cardio to be working hard. It simply isnt true. People forget that intense weightlifting strengthens the heart also and that is where bfl is able to recommend lesser cardio....it is being made up at least somewhat by the very intense weight schedule.
I have borrowed the book and can scan anything anyone wants to see in it. Lemme know.
Trevor :-jumpy

 

[sixx788]

Oops, forgot to mention the cardio thing. The book says to do High Intenstive Interval training. Which basically is doing cardio on say a treadmill for 20 minutes. Start slow and increase your speed/incline each minute for like 5 minutes then bring it back down and repeat. I personally don't do this either. I HATE doing cardio on machines. I love aerobics for cardio. So I simply just do an aerobic tape on my cardio days. I even add extra cardio on weight days or on the free day. I do the high intensity interval training on a day that I am tired or pressed for time. I modify the program to fit into my lifestyle, so that it works for me. But its a good book to get the basics from.

Kelly