Taken From u/Red-Curious’ original Post: Where 100 level posts have been more about theory, 200 level stuff I'm hoping to focus on being practical "how to" stuff. From a Christian perspective, the biggest issue with male sexuality is pornography or sinful lust, so I wanted to cover that first. The next things I think many Christians struggle with are sloth and gluttony. So, although there may be more fun posts down the line, let's hit the big ones right off the bat. If you're interested in writing a "how-to" on something for this 200-Level series, let me know. I'd appreciate having lots of guest writers here :) As previously noted, taking care of your body is essential and should be motivated by your internal desire to do right by God with what He's given you. So, how do we do this?


Biblical Context A few things up-front: Proverbs 24:5 says, "A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might." Why? Because wise people know how important it is to be strong and given the pros v. cons, you'd have to be pretty dumb to choose to be weak when strength is an option. Similarly, even for women, Proverbs 31 describes a desirable woman saying, "She dresses herself with strength and makes her arms strong." In all of this, though, remember the lesson of 1 Timothy 4:8 - "For while bodily training is of some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise for the present life and also for the life to come."


LIFTING New Content: Gentlemen, I wanted to write a lifting & diet 2.0 post to elaborate on the previous points as well as offer some insight I’ve picked up in my 7 years of training seriously. (Notice I said training, not “working out” -- I believe you must approach the gym the same way you would seriously train for anything, be it a test or war)

Credentials: 6' 200 ~13% bf (visible six pack and shade of obliques unflexed | solid definition when flexed – curr. shredding) Bench: 325, Deadlift: 545, OHP: 205, Squat: 335

We will get to programming shortly, but there are really only two types of weight training: (1) strength training (<6 reps, heavy weight) and (2) hypertrophy training (8+ reps, moderate weight). Now, men SHOULD be strong, and I actually program around improving my strength most of the year, but strength training is biologically less effective at increasing the size of your muscle cells (hypertrophy = aesthetics). With that in mind, you need an adequate strength base to effectively train for hypertrophy (repping the bar on bench for sets of 8 is not going to make you grow very much) so it is always important to master the big 5 lifts (SQUAT, BENCH, DEADLIFT, OHP, ROW) and continue improving your strength base, especially in the beginning. The name of the game for growth is something called progressive overload – continually increasing the demand placed on your body over time, guaranteeing muscle and strength gains. There are three factors that affect progressive overload: (1) Intensity (weight / effort), (2) Volume (reps x sets), and (3) Frequency (how often you can train a body part). Without getting too granular, here are a few ways one can progressively overload a muscle:

  • add more weight
  • do more reps do more sets train more often *reduce rest. Adding more weight, reps, or sets is something all level lifters can do to progressively overload and a perfect segue into beginner programming.

Beginner Programming It’s in the sidebar for a reason: StrongLifts 5x5. I don’t say this because I love it, but because it is very effective at acclimating the body and mind to progressive overload, moving heavy weight, and the ample resources for the program available online. There is not much to add here besides telling you not to skimp on accessories (Chin-ups, Dips, etc. – pick compound exercises) and weighted ab work – you’re only in the gym 3x per week, make the most of it. We’ll get to it below but incorporate cardio – your heart is a muscle too.

Briefly, SL 5x5 is a 3 days per week workout centered on 5 core movements: the barbell bench, barbell squat, barbell row (pendlay row is my suggestion), barbell overhead press, and barbell deadlift (conventional). You alternate workouts (A B A B…), completing 5 working sets of 5 reps (1x5 for deadlifts), increasing the weight by 5 lbs in the session following a successful 5x5 reps. Colloquially known as “newbie gains”, it’s advised you continue following this training regiment until you reach a plateau and are no longer increasing weight at a consistent level. Don’t start out too close to your 5 RM if you are just beginning to lift – you must acclimate your body to squatting and heavy compounds three days per week. Finally, I am a fan of some assistance work with the program. Setting a goal like 50 bodyweight pull-ups or dips in as few sets as possible after you complete your 5x5s will give you some additional volume and attack muscle groups from different angles. (Note: keep sets low on assistance movements, and opt for easy to complete exercises… I’d stay away from direct arm work) The webpage and internet are full of resources to help you get started here and there is a downloadable app in the App Store.

Intermediate/Advanced Programming I’ve experimented with a couple of these and bounce around between them over the course of a year. I don’t suggest changing splits more than once every 2ish months or you really never get a chance to become comfortable in a given movement or rep range. To that end, I think these are all effective in their own right coupled with the right programming outside of lifting days. I’m not going to plagiarize, so I will summarize the programs and then point you to appropriate links for more detail. I can’t stress enough how a thirst for knowledge about how the body and training work will help you grow in the gym more efficiently.

3 Days/Week Hypertrophy Specific Training (HST) – HST takes a very scientific approach to programming and is literally (mathematically) centered on progressive overload. At a high level, you work out in 6-8 week cycles, cut up into 2-week blocks. Each week you work out 3 times per week, alternating full body routines (i.e. A B A B A B) increasing weight each week, and decreasing the rep range every 2 weeks (i.e. 2 weeks @ 15 reps, 2 weeks at 10 reps, etc.). There is an extremely thorough eBook, active forums on the webpage, and a downloadable spreadsheet you can use to track. I feel great when I run this and like to do it in the summer when I am more active outside the gym – I supplement the 3 days with cardio (LISS/HIIT), sports (bball, boxing, etc.), random ClassPass classes, or I’ll go in one day and do a barbell complex for “cardio”.

4 Days / Week The GZCL Method: Made famous by powerlifter Cody Lefever, is an excellent method centered on the Big 4. Each day you start with a Tier 1 movement (Squat, Bench, OHP, Deadlift) and are moving heavy weight close to your max in low rep ranges (1-5), you move on to Tier 2 programming, another compound at submaximal weight, before wrapping up with Tier 3 Isolation type movements. Again, there is an extremely active subreddit associated with the GZCL method and his blog is filled with nuggets of information. Check out the link if even to understand the methodology - I think it has applicability in all programming. One way to run this would be MT, W:off, ThF, SaSu:off – where you use the off days as you see fit (cardio).

5 Days / Week Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training (PHAT): This one, made famous by competitive bodybuilder/powerlifter Layne Norton, incorporates two heavy power days (Upper Power, Lower Power) focused on improving strength with 3 hypertrophy days split across body parts (Back+Shoulders, Legs, Chest+Arms) where the goal is mind-muscle connection and growth. This is a common training method and more information and variations can be found on the internet. Ways I’ve split this up: SuM, T: off, WTF (lol), Sa: off

Generic Training Structure In general, most training splits (including the 2 listed above) follow one of two principles: alternating upper and lower body days, or cycles of push-pull-legs over the course of a week. (i.e. Upper-Lower-off-Upper-Lower-off-off, Upper-Lower-Upper-Lower-Upper-Lower-off, Push-Pull-Legs-off-Push-Pull-Legs, Push-Pull-Legs-off-Push-Pull-off, where the second pull day is deadlifts) They also follow a rule of thumb that you start your workout heavy, with compound movements working your way through sets of multiple compounds into isolation movements and machine work. Also note that the 7 day week is an arbitrary measure, so if u go PPL-off-PPL-off, and your second “Push A” lands on a Tuesday, it doesn’t matter. Consistency matters. Your Push muscles: Pectorals, Lateral/Anterior Delts, Triceps Your Pull muscles: your entire back and rear delts. Notice how much larger your pull muscles are than your push (proportionally) – this should indicate the importance of emphasizing copious pulling work into any of your routines and taking back and rear delt work very seriously to avoid posture and spinal problems. To that end, girls love a big back. Upper/Lower can be split into Vertical Push/Pull, Quad Dominant, Horizontal Push/Pull, Ham Dominant or something to that effect. This should give you the flexibility to design your own training program predicated on progressive overload, remembering that this is a marathon not a sprint. 275x8 vs 275x6 IS improvement.

Abs I wish I had $1 for every time I was told compound movements work the abs enough. This is just plain not true – abs are made in the kitchen but defined in the gym so they (like calves) should be trained like the rest of your body. I’ve found that the easiest way to consistently train abs aggressively is to do it FIRST THING in the gym – waiting until after my session always resulted in half-assed effort due to low energy levels and no results. Using the same principle of progressive overload, I do 4-5 sets of weighted abs (crunch or leg raise movement – be cognizant that your abs are doing the work not your hips) before I begin mobility work or warmup sets on my first exercise. On cardio days I’ll work in an ab circuit or do high-rep weightless abs with no rest (crunches, Russian twists, etc. – the P90x type). Trust me when I say there is nothing worse than cutting to sub-10% and realizing that you just have tiny abs. The internet is a wealth of knowledge for lifting information and exercise ideas – obviously check your sources, but if you have a question I almost guarantee typing it into google will yield the answer you are looking for. To that end, realize that 99.9% of “celebrity” fitness personas are on steroids; virtually anyone who is paid to look good is on some type of PED. I say this so you don’t waste your time or money on “Get Ripped Quick” programs and because for naturals, it’s proven that muscles are most effective when stimulated every 48-72 hours, hence the programming suggestions all recommending a min. of 2x per week of each body part. Form is more important than anything, leave your ego at the door and grow. Finally, don’t spend more than 90 min in the gym – be intense.


Cardio There are two types of cardio: (1) Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) and (2) High-Intensity Interval Training. Your heart is a muscle, and as such, should be adequately trained. First and foremost, warm-up on lifting days should consist of 5-10 min of moderate intensity cardio on a bike, elliptical, or treadmill (if you really like running) to elevate your heart rate and body temperature. It’s proven that the risk of injury is greatly diminished by doing so and personally it’s meditative for me as I mentally prepare to lift. Beyond warming up, the two types of cardio have utility in their own ways. To be brief, I look at LISS as negative calories when I’m cutting, but also recognize the negative impact it has on my metabolism and propensity to be catabolic, so I limit how often I do it. (By this I mean I don’t run 5 miles per day, there is nothing wrong with running a few miles at a decent pace every now and then… it’s just not for me) I prefer to go bike riding through the city then boring machine cardio. If I do to machine cardio, I prefer the elliptical b/c it’s easy on my joints or going for a jog on the rolling hills setting (max inc. 5%) at about 6.0 speed on the treadmill – it’s incredible how much of an impact incline has on calories burned. Common bodybuilding methods are: incline treadmill walking, elliptical, and high resistance slow biking – the goal is to keep your HR between ~130-140. Conversely, HIIT is hyper-effective at burning fat and you are working in a much higher HR range. This is how you really get into good shape, but too much HIIT will wear you out so there is obviously a balance to be had. High Intensity Interval Training is exactly what it sounds like, short bursts of near-maximum intensity followed by medium bursts of low-intensity exercise. You can do this on a rower, sprints (I prefer a track but have used a treadmill), or bike. Common work/rest intervals are: 30s high/90s low, 20s high/60s low. I include non-interval high-intensity training in this category as well; things like Tabata, barbell complexes – where you put a light weight on the bar and do a series of movements at a prescribed rep range without dropping the bar and limited rest times, or track workouts all have the same effect on fat-burning. High-level, think marathoner vs. sprinter body and determine which is more aesthetic. Cardio is a must and mixing the two types into your regular regiment will make you feel and noticeably better.


Dieting Remember when I said all the fitness “celebs” are on steroids? Well even for them, diet is the single most important factor in their physique. If you want to look aesthetic you have to dial in your diet; when I first started working out I was taught that it’s 75% diet, 20% training, 5% your supplementation and that steroids do not change those ratios by more than 15%. The numbers are arbitrary, but I cannot stress enough how limited my results were until I consciously started watching what I put in my body. Again, there are a million diets out there, pick whatever works for you. I’ve tried keto but hated it because I’m a carb-fiend. I think IF works wonders when you’re cutting b/c it’s really hard to eat a lot of food when you’re only eating two big meals and a snack (and you learn to fast!). Carb cycling is a proven method for shedding weight but at the end of the day, the most important thing is Calories In v. Calories Out. Generally speaking here’s the framework: (1) calculate your TDEE – the # of calories your burn in a day to maintain your weight (either use an online calculator or track what you eat for a week and track your weight) and determine what your daily calorie goals are going to be (+/- 300-500 for bulking/cutting is a fair start) (2) set up a MyFitnessPal account and download the app so you can track every piece of food that goes into your mouth (3) Choose the appropriate macro selections (Base case: 1-1.2 g/lb protein, 50-60g fat, rest carbs) for your diet and set them as goals in MyFitnessPal (4) Buy a cheap food scale on amazon and weigh/measure what is going in your mouth. If you are having trouble gaining / losing weight or you suffer from wild swings in weight, I bet you will be astounded by your calorie intake over the course of a week. The MyFitnessPal app has a QR code tracker and a lot of foods from places you may eat out at. I stress the tracking of food because it will equip you to be able to eyeball meals and mentally track where you are at as a day progresses. I still weigh 80% of my food (all the carbs for sure) and keep a mental count of calories and eyeball protein going all day – this comes with time but is the required discipline it takes to lean out. As far as what types of foods to eat, I think there’s a ton out there on this. Never been a big fad diet person but I don’t eat a whole lot of bread because I get bloated from it. Carbs: I eat a lot of rice (white is fine, brown rice is actually harder to digest – classic), oats, and occasionally potatoes (sweet, white, red, nondiscriminatory). Veggies: veggies are carbs, but I don’t really count the green stuff. I eat tons of spinach, brussels sprouts, broccoli, green beans – normally buy frozen and steam. Incredible how much better I feel when I increase my vegetable intake.
Protein: Nondiscriminatory – I think beef has gotten a bad rap as of late but eat lean cuts marinated overnight, lot of crockpot chicken, ground turkey, occasional bison and salmon. Fruit: max. 1 or 2 servings per day– only your liver can convert fructose into glycogen and the amount it needs to become glycogen-full is pretty small. I like to use frozen berries (straw-, blue-), a scoop of protein, handful of spinach, a spoonful of Greek yogurt, and cup of milk/almond milk post-workout for a smoothie. Maybe have a banana but not a big fruit eater Fats: stay away from corn-based oils and trans-fat otherwise don’t think it’s too important. Avocados, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil (as a dressing, low smoke point means it loses nutritional value when heated above said temp), butter, nut butter, nuts, fatty-fish Learn to love meal prep. I love cooking, it’s a passion of mine, but learning to prep meals and fridge/freeze for the week is imperative to being successful here. Check out fitcrunch.life – great resource for meal planning/calorie counting/grocery list generation. There are recipes and subreddits all over with meal prep and healthy meal ideas – have fun with it, or better yet enlist your woman to help.


I was anything but brief, but I wanted to share as much information as I could with you all. I have a number of the programs I described customized to my liking in excel spreadsheets – I suggest you browse the appropriate pages, learn the methodology, and explore their templates but I am happy to share what I’ve got with anyone. Just send me a PM with email and what splits u are interested in and I will shoot them over to you. Any questions? Drop a line below. Godspeed.

TL;DR: Choose a plan and stick with it Do cardio Do Abs Progressively Overload your Lifts Track your macros Get Shredded