The 5 Part Summer Shape-Up Strategy

Set the transformational table: Everybody wants to look good when the summer arrives. The problem is no one thinks ahead – if you want to look good in July and August you need to get started in April. As any competitive bodybuilder will tell you, it takes two to three months to mount a serious, productive, result producing, transformational effort. An effective training and eating plan designed to transform the human body needs to be set into a timeframe. Basically you work backwards from the final finished product, the transformed physique, to where you are at presently. For example if your goal is to shed 20 pounds of fat and add 5 pounds of muscle before beach season, start 12 weeks ahead of time. Each week move closer to the goal.

Assuming you weigh 200 pounds, you would need to drop bodyweight at the rate of two pounds a week for twelve straight weeks. Wait a minute – I hear you say, two pounds a week for twelve straight weeks equates to a 24 pound weight loss. Right you are – but don’t forget about the ‘muscle add back.’ If you lose 24 pounds of fat and simultaneously gain 5 pounds of muscle, the bathroom scale will deceptively indicate that you have ‘only’ lost 19 pounds: factually you will have lost 24 pounds of ugly body fat, added back 5 pounds of muscle to ‘net’ a 19 pound weight reduction as registered by the bathroom scale. How is this accomplished? Five characteristicsdefine the “Parrillo Summer Shape-up Strategy.” 

1.  Weight Training

For summer shape-up, the recommended Parrillo approach towards weight training stresses more: more sets, more reps, more exercises and more training sessions. The pace of the summer weight workout is accelerated. The increased pace allows us to perform more sets per session. Don’t make the usual mistake of drastically dropping the training poundage as this causes hard earned muscle tissue to disappear. Increase the reps and make sure to make the all important mind/muscle connection. Jam more exercises into each workout. Optimally train 5-6 times weekly. In the wintertime seek to handle maximal poundage; the heaviest weights of the year are handled while the bodybuilder is at his highest annual bodyweight. The wintertime is the ideal time for mass building. Summer is the ideal time for getting absolutely ripped. To that end, summer weight training sessions need be longer and performed more often. Most Parrillo trainees seeking to get shredded will attack each muscle twice a week, using different exercises for the same body part. If on the first leg training session of the week you perform back squats, leg extensions and hack squats, in the second weekly leg session you could perform leg presses, front squats and sissy squats. The Parrillo shape-up-by-summer strategy stresses variety. It is not unusual for a hardcore Parrillo weight trainer to perform three or four separate exercises for each body part in each session. The muscle is pumped maximally and repeatedly, attacked from a wide variety of angles. Use a full range-of-motion on each and every exercise. Weight training sessions should last 45 to 75 minutes or longer, depending upon the strength of the trainee. It takes longer for a strong athlete to work up to a top set than it takes for a beginner. After an intense weight training session always consume a Parrillo 50/50 Plus^™ shake to take advantage of a ‘window of opportunity’ that opens at the conclusion of an intense weight training session. A post-workout ‘smart bomb’ feeds battered muscles and shortens the length of time needed to recover from one session to the next.   

2. Parrillo Fascial Stretching

An integral part of the Parrillo weight training strategy is the inclusion of fascial stretching. Facial stretching is inserted into the actual weight training workout. This revolutionary stretching procedure is designed to loosen muscle fascia, the sausage-like sheathing that surrounds and defines a muscle. Fascia lies just below the skin. The Parrillo fascia stretching procedure goes as follows: pump and expand the target muscle using a weight training exercise; after completing the set, the traineeimmediately stretches the fascia of the target muscle using a specific stretch. To complete the three-part procedure, the pumped and stretched muscle is then flexed hard and flexed repeatedly. This three-part procedure; pump, stretch, flex, is repeated on every set of every exercise in every session. Over time, repeated stretching of the fascia makes the sheathing more pliable, thereby allowing for easier muscle growth. Where tight and constrictive fascia impedes muscle growth, a loose fascia makes muscle expansion far easier.  In addition, those that include fascia stretching into their weight training regimen on a regular basis improve their flexibility. John Parrillo has devised a comprehensive series of fascial stretches that allows every muscle to be intensely stretched. FxStretch is a patented Parrillo devise that allows trainees to ‘self-administer’ every conceivable fascia stretch. Bodybuilders that consistently use fascia stretching are able to reset Nature’s genetic limitations. Certain individuals are born with naturally tight and thick fascia. Tight, constrictive fascia (as thick as canvas) can be loosened through the repeated use of intense stretching. Nature’s genetic limits can be reset. Fascia stretching is always followed by intense flexing of the target muscle. By flexing the muscle hard and repeatedly immediately after pumping and stretching, muscle is forced outward against the now-loosened fascia. This three-part procedure, pump, stretch and flex are one of the cornerstone philosophies of the Parrillo shape-up by summer  
strategy.         

3. Cardiovascular Training

In many ways, aerobics are the key to getting in shape for summer. In a nutshell, the closer you get to summer the more cardio you need to do. It is recommended that aerobics be done first thing in the morning. Performing intense cardio before breakfast takes advantage of a low glycogen state we all experience upon arising. If an intense cardio session is performed while the body is low on glycogen – the body’s preferred fuel – the body will, in the absence of glycogen, use its second favored fuel source: stored body fat. Parrillo trainee’s intent on leaning out in the shortest possible amount of time will perform a second cardio session later in the day; ideally after the last meal of the day. As longtime readers of the Parrillo Performance Press know, John Parrillo stresses that aerobic exercise needs to be intense: mild cardio does not produce the desired results. Modern politically-correct personal trainers stress the importance of staying in the mythical ‘fat burning zone.’ Scientifically flawed, the fat burning zone myth stresses the trainee should work slow and steady and by doing so will burn off a greater percentage of body fat. Bogus, based on skewered logic, the sheer number of calories burned while staying in the fat burning zone, using the recommended snails-pace, is infinitesimal and hardly worth the effort. This approach is not nearly as effective as intense cardio when it comes to burning fat. John Parrillo says to go as hard as possible; go as fast as possible; go for as long as possible; sweat by the bucketful; breathe hard and extend and expand the limits of endurance. Doing so causes the metabolism to skyrocket and burns calories at an astoundingly fast rate. If done diligently, intense cardio reconfigures the working muscle: mitochondria density is increased and creates a muscle super efficient at utilizing fat as fuel. To shape up fast, hit cardio hard. For maximum results perform cardio twice a day.  

4. Nutrition

The Parrillo shape-up-by-summer strategy is based on a specific nutritional approach. The first order of business is to create a multiple-meal daily eating schedule. The second order of business is to clean up the food selections. The classical “Parrillo Meal” consists of a portion of lean protein, a portion of fibrous carbohydrate and a portion of starchy carbs. This particular combination is pure Parrillo genius: lean protein provides muscles with the amino acid content needed to promote muscle healing and growth. Fibrous carbohydrates are critical: fiber carbs include asparagus, broccoli, carrots, celery, mushrooms, bell peppers, spinach, squash, green beans, cauliflower, cucumber, lettuce, tomatoes and zucchini. Fiber consumption not only dampens the insulin response associated with eating starch, fibrous carbs also help clean the human intestines; bodybuilders that eat a lot of lean protein need to eat a lot of fiber to prevent poisonous bile buildup often associated with massive protein consumption. The third component of the classical Parrillo meal is starchy carbohydrates. Starch carbs include potatoes, oatmeal, sweet potatoes, yams, brown rice, corn and beans. Combine these three food types in every food meal. Every muscle-building/fat-burning base is covered. In order to lean out maximally by summer, consume five to six Parrillo Meals each and every day. Prepare meals ahead of time and pack foods in Tupperware containers that can be transported to work or school. Try and eat every 2-3 waking hours. Parrillo meals elevate the metabolism and create a physiological phenomenon known as thermogenesis. When protein/fiber/starch is eaten together they cause the metabolism to “gear up” in order to digest these foods. The Parrillo meal provides the body the nutrients needed to recover from savage workouts and to speed up the recovery process. Consumption of a Parrillo Meal allows the trainee to eat more food yet still shed body fat. Eat the right foods at the right time in the right combination and get shredded.    

5. Supplementation

There is an old biblical cliché that goes “Man cannot live by bread alone.” That could be modified for bodybuilders into, “Bodybuilders cannot live by regular food alone.” John Parrillo has been crystal clear, rational and practical about the role of supplements in bodybuilder-style nutrition: supplements are designed to supplement – not replace – the consumption of regular food. Supplements need to be potent, effective, nutritionally dense and used with great precision. Establish a hardcore weight training regimen and augment the weight training with lots of intense cardio. Institute a strict, regimented multiple-meal eating schedule that utilizes Parrillo Meals using foods preferentially partitioned into muscle construction. The final piece of the puzzle is to compliment sound eating and sound training with sound supplementation. Knowing that you should supplement does not necessarily mean you know how to supplement. John Parrillo has developed a veritable armada of nutritional supplements and each has a specific usage. To put a finer point on it: first, determine the goal; add mass? Get shredded? Then devise a supplement game plan that enhances that effort. Generally speaking, bodybuilders continually work towards one of two goals: either add maximum muscle during a “mass building” phase or, reduce body fat percentiles down into single digits during a “pre-competition” phase. Bodybuilders generally take 8-16 weeks and concentrate 100% of their efforts towards one direction or the other: either build maximum muscle mass or, alternatively concentrate 100% of the effort towards becoming as lean and fat-free as humanely possible. In the Parrillo Shape-up-by-Summer strategy, the individual uses the “get as lean as possible” approach. Here is a hypothetical daily eating and supplementation regimen… 

Meal I 6am: egg white omelet made with fiber veggies, oatmeal, CapTri^® 

Meal II 9am: Parrillo muffin^™, Optimized Whey Protein^™ shake  

Meal III 12 noon: chicken breast, green beans, brown rice, CapTri^® 

Meal IV 3pm: Energy Bar^™, Max Endurance^™ & Muscle Amino Formula^™ 

Meal V post-training: Parrillo 50/50 Plus^™, Parrillo Sport Nutrition bar^™ 

Meal VI 6pm: Halibut, salad, yams, CapTri^® 

Meal VII 9 pm: Parrillo All-Protein^™ shake, Liver Amino^™ tabs, Parrillo Cake^™ 

With each meal take the following Parrillo products: 2 capsules of Joint Formula^™, 1 Bio-C^™, 1 Natural E-Plus^™, 8 Liver Amino^™, 1 Mineral Electrolyte^™, 2 Ultimate Amino^™, 1 Essential Vitamin^™, 1 Muscle Amino^™. Make sure you take at least two Fish Oil DHA 800 EPA 200^™ daily.  

Pull the trigger and pull it now! If you are serious about looking great by August you need to get start in April. The Parrillo Shape-up-by Summer Strategy is simple to understand and deadly effective if instituted fully and completely… 

1. Weight train 5-6 times weekly for 40 to 60 minutes per session using a wide variety of exercises. Train a muscle twice a week. On every single exercise pump the muscle, stretch the muscle and flex the target muscle repeatedly.  

2. Perform intense cardio exercise six times a week. Make sure you sweat. Intense cardio melts body fat and builds additional mitochondria. Consider twice a day cardio: early morning is ideal and a second evening session will accelerate results. 

3. Institute a multiple-meal eating schedule built around the use of real food. Consume Parrillo Meals, one part lean protein, one part fibrous carbohydrate, one part starch carb 5-6 times daily. Multiple meals promote thermogenesis. 

4. Supplement with potent Parrillo supplements. The expert use of Parrillo supplements will promote muscular healing and growth. The expert use of Parrillo supplementation accelerates fat loss and ‘rounds out’ regular food meals. 

5. Get started now: pro bodybuilders and elite athletes take 8-16 weeks to whip themselves into top shape. So should you. Devise a 2-3 month plan and pull the trigger.  DO IT NOW! Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can start  
today.  

Pick up the phone and order potent Parrillo supplements: 1-800-344-3404.