1
Be a Fucking Adult! 4
Goals 6
Daily Routine 7
Morning Routine 8
Sleep 10
Recovery 11
Food Guidelines 12
Food | What To Buy? 13
Meal Timing 14
Hydration 15
Training | Warmup 17
Training | Tracking 18
Training | Progressive Overload 19
Training | Weight 20
Training | Weight and Ego 21
Training | Reps 22
Training | Reps In Reserve 23
Training | Reps and Ego 25
Training | Range of Motion 26
Training | Time Under Tension 27
Common Mistakes 28
Intensity 30
Rep Speed 32
Inconsistency 33
Diet 34
Cardio > Strength Training? 35
Can You Do Me a Favor? 36
Get In Touch! 37
2
IF YOU’RE SERIOUS ABOUT
GETTING INTO THE BEST SHAPE
OF YOUR LIFE, I HIGHLY
RECOMMEND READING
THROUGH THIS ENTIRE
TRAINING GUIDE.
THE GUIDELINES OUTLINED
HERE ARE NECESSARY AND
HIGHLY BENEFICIAL FOR YOU
AND YOUR GOALS.
3
BE A FUCKING ADULT!
Before we get into the details of this training guide let’s start off with the
most important thing that will separate you from 90% of people today.
Learn to Be a Fucking Adult!
If you want to change your body - or any other part of your life - you are
going to have to change parts of yourself.
There is nothing more frustrating than someone who bitches about how
fat they are but when it comes time to do work, even the smallest
amount, they keep complaining! What?! Did you think weight was going
to magically fall off?
There’s a million ways to achieve your goal. Intermittent fasting, strength
training, calorie counting, meal prepping, one meal a day, keto, carnivore,
vegetarian, whatever. But all of these are going to require you to do some
work.
When you’re done with this guide you will have to sit down and think
about you and your life. What do you want out of it? What are your goals?
What are you willing to do? What is your new schedule going to look like?
If you’re going to meal prep when are you going to do it? If you’re going to
start cooking more meals at home, when will you buy groceries? When
will you cook? When are you going to workout? Are you going to wake up
earlier or do it after work? If you do it after work, what are you going to
sacrifice to make time for it? Less Netflix? Less gaming? No more happy
hours with work?
See what I mean? These are all excuses and obstacles that are going to
get in your way. They get in everyone’s way. You either find a way to
adjust to make time for the new habits you want to add into your life or
you keep doing what you’re doing and throw out lines like, “I wish I had
the time!” when someone else manages to get it done.
4
“Often people keep their goals fuzzy
because one of the problems with
specifying your goals is you specify
your failures.”
-Jordan Peterson
5
GOALS
Buy a log book or download the Strong app to track your training. Without
tracking what you do in the gym you can’t track whether you’re making
progress.
Set long term and short term goals. This will help you stay consistent
and give you a purpose. Motivation lasts about as long as an avocado
stays ripe.
Be ambitious with your long-term goals. Do you want to lose 25lbs in a
year? Do you want to run your first 5k? Maybe you want to squat 1.5-2x
your bodyweight.
Set a long-term goal and make your short-term goals stepping stones on
your way to that long-term goal. The big goal, broken up into smaller
checkpoints.
6
DAILY ROUTINE
To be successful, create a routine for yourself and stick to it. Be as
detailed as you need to be with this - it’s better to be too detailed than not
detailed enough. You need to put in the work for the results you want.
When are you going to workout? When are you going to do cardio? When
are you going to bed at night? What time are you waking up? How many
meals are you eating a day? When are you eating your meals? Are you
cooking your own meals? Are you doing meal prep?
Get all of this figured out. The more you have written down now the less
thinking you’ll have to do later.
Here’s a few routines to get you started.
This should go without saying but do what you can and want to do. I don’t
know what your schedule is like. In your shoes, I might have to give some
of this stuff up. But this is what I have found is beneficial for me and it’s
all valuable enough to me to keep in my schedule for the time being.
7
MORNING ROUTINE
Wake yourself up with contrast showers or a cold shower. You can watch
a YouTube video I made about this and why I’ve been doing it for over 7
years.
Hydrate with water first thing in the morning.
Avoid using your phone for the first 30-60 minutes of your day. You’ll be
more productive.
Get outside! Expose yourself to sunlight (Vitamin D3) at some point
during the morning. The earlier the better - this will help with your
circadian rhythm.
Train! Unless you have a good reason to workout at another time of the
day, do it in the morning to get it out of the way. Excuses are more likely
to get in your way the longer you wait.
8
“Life without design is erratic.”
-Seneca
9
SLEEP
Sleep is essential for recovery and overall health: hormone health, brain
function, training performance, appetite, libido, etc.
You know how our generation (I’m 32) looks at our parent’s generation in
horror when everyone smoked cigarettes and doctors even
recommended smoking? Our kids will do the same thing but with how we
glorify pulling all-nighters rather than prioritizing sleep.
Follow these tips to ensure you’re getting proper rest.
Reduce screen time 30-60 minutes before bed.
Avoid liquid intake 1 hour before bed. The older you get the more
important this is to avoid waking up in the middle of the night.
Avoid stimulants (nicotine/coffee) in the evenings. Cut your intake
entirely around 4-5pm, ideally around 1-2pm.
Reduce your room temperature at night and keep your room as dark as
possible. This promotes higher quality sleep.
10
RECOVERY
Manage stress. Practice mindfulness. I would recommend The Daily
Stoic on YouTube to get started. The Daily Stoic book is also worth a
read if you want to get your mindset right - one short lesson every day for
a year.
Stretch after you train. This helps blood flow, helps you stay mobile, and
helps your gains.
Sauna. If you have one available, consider 20-30 minutes in a sauna 2-3
times per week.
Of course, sleep. If you aren’t sleeping well you aren’t recovering well.
This affects your health and the results of your training so rest and
recover!
11
FOOD GUIDELINES
This is far from comprehensive but I want to cover a few quick wins and
common mistakes that are made when it comes to food.
Flavorless food breeds failure.
Do not subject yourself to plain chicken breast and broccoli. Use
seasonings with low sugar (check the label). Use different methods to
see what works best for you - crock pot, grill, fry, air fryer, etc.
Cook using cooking spray like extra virgin olive oil spray. It will help you
avoid adding excess calories to your meals.
Use sauces with caution. Look for reduced sugar or no sugar varieties
unless you’re bulking.
Salt your food! Salt will help you avoid cramping during training, restore
minerals you lose when you sweat, and will help promote blood flow to
and through your muscles. Salt is your friend!
12
FOOD | WHAT TO BUY?
A deep dive into nutrition is out of scope for this training guide but here’s
a few simple tips. Follow this and it will be hard to mess up.
Shop on the edges of the grocery store. Do this and you’ll mostly be
buying meat, dairy, and produce. A good rule of thumb is to have most of
your food in your kitchen rather than your pantry.
Prioritize protein. Make all of your meals protein dominant. Choose
leaner protein sources unless you know what you’re doing or you’re doing
something like keto.
Don’t be scared of carbs but don’t go crazy either. I used to be low carb
so I’ve been on both sides of this fence. Nowadays I keep my carb intake
higher on days I train - prioritizing most of my carbs before and
immediately after I train. I still eat carbs on days I don’t train, just not as
much.
Fat is necessary for your body and hormonal health. My go-to sources
are avocado, eggs, fattier fish, and oils like olive oil and coconut oil.
Regarding fat, be careful with nuts. There’s nothing wrong with them but
they’re calorically dense and very easy to overeat.
Avoid drinking your calories. Switch to diet soda. If you’re going to drink
juice or smoothies the majority of it should be vegetables, not fruit.
Avoid drinking protein shakes unless you’re doing it to hit a macro goal.
There’s nothing inherently “healthy” about a protein shake. If you insist on
drinking a protein shake, I hope you know what you’re doing. If you don’t
and you’re not happy with your weight, cut it out of your diet or drink it in
place of a meal.
13
MEAL TIMING
Digestion results in a lot of blood flow to your gut and training during this
process is not ideal. For that reason, when you eat around training
matters.
On days you train, eat at least one hour before training and roughly 1 hour
after training. Try to keep these meals the same to avoid any issues with
digestion and to remove any guesswork from changes in your
performance during training. All other meals can be worked into your
schedule as you wish.
Eat and chew your food slowly, especially when you’re focused on weight
loss. Use chopsticks if you need help eating slower.
After you eat, go for a 10-20 minute walk. It’s good for your digestion,
appetite, and energy levels.
Eat when you are relaxed - low stress to avoid overeating and low heart
rate to avoid overlap with your training.
14
HYDRATION
You should be drinking water regularly throughout the day for both health
and performance. In general, I aim to hit at least 3-4L of water a day. Buy
a big water bottle (not plastic), keep this around as you work, and aim for
filling the bottle 3-4x a day. This is the bottle I use and I love it.
In addition to water, the occasional drink heavy in sodium and potassium
is worth drinking as well. You can go with something like Liquid IV,
Biolyte, or ElectroLit.
15
If you want to level up in calisthenics you
should check out my YouTube channel -
Cinnabar Calisthenics!
Just click the logo below to check it out!
16
TRAINING | WARMUP
Warming up is a necessary part of your training. Do it to warm up your
muscles, get your blood flowing to your muscles, and to prevent injuries
and cramps.
At the same time, warming up is the part of training most people
overthink. Don’t overcomplicate this.
I like to start with some easy cardio like a short inclined walk on a
treadmill. 15-20 minutes.
After this, I warm up by doing easier variations of whatever exercises I
plan on doing that day. If I’m squatting, I’ll do bodyweight squats. If I’m
doing a chest press, I’ll do bodyweight push-ups. If I’m doing overhead
presses, I’ll do overhead presses with light weight. Do what you need to
do to get the muscles you plan on using warm.
If your warmup lasts 30-45 minutes and you feel like you’ve done real
work during your warmup, you’re doing too much.
17
TRAINING | TRACKING
If you’re serious about training you need a way to track your progress -
the amount of weight you’re lifting, how many sets and reps you do, and
even your bodyweight if that applies to you.
This can be as simple as a notebook and pen or you can use an app. I
use the Strong app which is available for free on both iOS and Android.
Here’s what you should be tracking:
1. Weight: How much did you lift in your last session? If you want to
grow, this number needs to go up over time.
2. Reps: Set a rep range goal, something like 6-12 reps. When you
reach the end range of your goal, add more weight and start over at
the bottom of your rep range.
3. Sets: How many sets of each exercise are you doing? Track it.
4. Exercise Order: Track the order you do your exercises. If you do
pull-ups first one day and do 2 sets of 10 reps but you do it last
another day and you only do 2 sets of 6 reps, now you know why.
Exercise order matters.
5. Equipment Settings: The conditions of your training matters - what
machines you use, the seat height setting, etc. Like a science
experiment you want as many constants in your training as
possible so that when you measure progress, you’re making an
apples to apples comparison.
18
TRAINING | PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD
Growing in the gym comes down to making progress in some
measurable way. If you were trying to run a 5 minute mile, you would
logically aim to get just a little bit faster each time you ran, right?
The same concept applies to strength training and the term that’s
commonly used for that is progressive overload. To keep it simple, it’s
the process of continually increasing the demand put onto your muscles.
Over time, you literally make your workouts harder. Fun, right?!
Like the running example earlier, aiming to run just a little bit faster each
session, the most obvious way to do this is by increasing the amount of
weight you lift. If you squat 100lbs on one day, you could squat 105lbs
the next week, 110lbs the week after that, and so on.
But that’s not the only way to apply progressive overload.
• Increasing weight
• Increasing reps
• Increasing sets
• Increasing time under tension
• Increasing frequency
All of these will yield results via progressive overload but some are more
realistic and sustainable than others. Frequency can work, lifting twice a
week rather than once a week but eventually you’re training so often your
body doesn’t get any time to rest and recover.
The most common ways you’ll be applying progressive overload is
through increasing weight and reps.
If there’s one lesson you take away from this guide, let it be progressive
overload. I see guys in the gym all the time who always show up, always
train, but never get the “that dude goes to the gym” look. They’re going
through the motions. They show up, they do the lifts, but they aren’t
progressing in any measurable way.
This isn’t unique to the gym either. You see it with other skills like playing
a musical instrument. Some people get good but then they plateau. But
other people get good, they keep finding ways to improve, and they
become amazing.
19
TRAINING | WEIGHT
This is the easiest and most measurable way to progress in the gym
through progressive overload.
Don’t fall into the trap of assuming your weight increases need to be
large increases. By large I mean 10+ lbs.
If you’re lifting with free weights make use of fractional weight plates -
the small 2.5lb plates that you never see anybody using.
For some exercises like a leg press this may not be necessary, bigger
jumps in weight work just fine, but for other exercises like bicep curls or
lateral raises the 2.5lb increases are necessary. Sometimes you may
even need smaller weights but those are hard to come by.
20
TRAINING | WEIGHT AND EGO
If you’re training at a gym you’re going to feel like eyes are on you.
Because of this you may feel pressured to lift as much weight as you
can.
Don’t let your ego get the best of you. Don’t use a heavier weight than you
should be using just because you don’t want to look weak to strangers.
How much weight you use on an exercise isn’t always an indicator of
how hard a set is.
For example, nearly every guy at my gym uses more weight than I do on a
leg press. Sometimes it’s literally double or more than what I use. But I
guarantee you my set sucks 10x more than theirs.
Why? Even though I’m using less weight, my goal is to make the weight
feel as heavy as possible. I do slow reps with full control throughout the
entire range of motion. This is much different than letting gravity do a
bulk of the work and leveraging momentum by bouncing the weight at
the bottom of your reps.
It’s not just about moving the weight from Point A to Point B. It’s about
controlling the weight from Point A to Point B.
Do this correctly and you need a lot less weight than you think you do.
21
TRAINING | REPS
When it comes to training, this is the question I get more than any other
question: “How many reps should I do?”
The rep range where growth happens is in the 6-20 rep range. That
seems like a big range and probably leaves you feeling even more
confused than before you asked the question.
Go into the gym with a plan - set rep range goals for each exercise you’re
doing. It’s okay to have each set of a given exercise with different rep
ranges.
So if I were doing seated leg curls my first set might be 100lbs for 15-20
reps and my second set might be 145lbs for 8-12 reps. Over time, I’ll aim
to increase these reps from the bottom end of the rep range to the top
end. Once I hit that goal, then I increase the weight and reset to the
bottom end of my rep range.
To summarize, pick a weight with an exercise you can do for 6 reps. Set a
rep range goal of 6-10. Each time you do this exercise, aim to add one
more rep until you hit 10. Once you do, increase the weight and start
back at 6 reps.
22
TRAINING | REPS IN RESERVE
“Pick a weight with an exercise you can do for 6 reps.”
One more important detail to touch on here is how that 6 reps should
feel. It should be a challenging 6 reps with whatever weight you choose.
When you’re done with those 6 reps ask yourself how many more reps
you could do. If you could do 10 more, either the weight is too low or the
rep range is off. If your answer is 1 or 2 more reps, you’ve found a good
starting point.
This is what’s known as “reps in reserve” and is how I prefer to measure
my training in the gym. When you finish a set you want to have 1 or 2,
sometimes 0, reps in reserve. If you have too many reps left in the tank
you aren’t pushing yourself. This makes an already difficult goal, building
muscle, that much more difficult.
Embrace the suck. It’s temporary.
23
EMBRACE
THE
SUCK
24
TRAINING | REPS AND EGO
Similar to weights, don’t let your ego get the best of you when you’re
counting your reps. It’s much better to do 8 high quality reps than 16
okay ones. The number might look nice on paper but if it isn’t helping you
grow, what’s the point?
If you’re pushing yourself during a set - by using a sufficient weight with a
sufficient number of reps with good form - your muscles are going to
grow. It doesn’t matter that it’s “only 7 reps” while everyone else you see
is doing 10+.
Focus on you and focus on being better than the version of you that
walked into the gym last week.
25
TRAINING | RANGE OF MOTION
To get the most out of your training, ensure you are using a full range of
motion for the exercises you are doing. Look up a few videos on YouTube
if you’re not sure.
When you do an exercise you are literally stretching that muscle with the
help of a weight. Let’s use a squat as an example.
When you’re standing straight with your butt squeezed tight, your glutes
are contracted and tight. As you lower down into a squat, the glute
muscles begin to stretch. The further down you go into the squat the
more these muscles are stretched.
The bigger a stretch you can give these muscles through a greater range
of motion, the more progress you’re going to see in the form of muscle
growth.
This applies to whatever exercise it is that you’re doing - squats, pull-ups,
bench press, shoulder press, whatever.
26
TRAINING | TIME UNDER TENSION
I briefly touched on this in the Weight and Ego section but time under
tension, or tempo, is one of the variables you can use to your advantage
for progressive overload.
If you focus on time under tension you’re going to increase the amount of
tension in your muscle and improve your mind-muscle connection. This
means you’re better utilizing the muscle or muscles you intend to use
during a set and over time, this is going to lead to more growth.
To sum it up quickly: control the eccentric, pause briefly, and power
through the concentric.
Here’s a few examples to illustrate (just in case concentric vs. eccentric
is still a little confusing) but the concept applies to every exercise.
When you’re doing a squat, control the eccentric (the portion where
you’re lowering down to the ground), pause briefly at the bottom, and
power through the concentric (squatting back up to a standing position).
Contract your legs at the top!
When you’re doing a leg press, control the weight as the foot plate moves
down towards you, pause briefly at the bottom, and power through as you
push the weights away from you. Contract your legs at the top!
When you’re doing a chest press, control the weight as your hands move
towards your chest, pause briefly at the bottom, and power through as
you push your hands away from you. Contract your chest at the top!
27
COMMON MISTAKES
Before we wrap up I want to address some common mistakes I see in
the gym and with my clients.
If you’re making these mistakes, it’s okay. Don’t beat yourself up over it.
Just like learning how to draw or learning a new language, mistakes are
going to happen. It’s natural.
Learn from them, make the necessary changes, and keep practicing.
28
“Dude, suckin’ at something is the
first step to being sorta good at
something.”
-Jake the Dog
29
INTENSITY
Did you know the majority of Americans believe they’re smarter than the
average American? Someone has to be wrong, right?
This same phenomenon applies in the gym. Everyone is willing to admit
some people out there aren’t training hard enough but they sure as hell
don’t think they are the ones guilty of not pushing themselves!
I’m always leaving the gym wondering, “Did I have more to give in that
session?” I’m always doubting myself, always wondering if a professional
could have gotten another rep or two out of my body if they had full
control.
If you aren’t seeing the progress you want to see, take a minute to focus
on your intensity. Are you really pushing yourself as hard as you can? Are
you accurately measuring your reps in reserve?
Approach your training with 100% focus.
30
“I always say to myself right before
a tough set in the gym, ‘Ain't nothin'
to it, but to do it.’”
-Ronnie Coleman
31
REP SPEED
This was already discussed earlier when I touched on time under tension
and tempo but it’s worth addressing again because it’s such a common
mistake.
Do not blast through each of your reps. Focus on controlling the weight
and making it feel as heavy as possible. Take your time!
If this style of training is new to you, don’t be surprised if you have to
decrease the amount of weight you’re using. More time under tension is
going to make the sets feel harder and as a result you’ll have to use less
weight. But I guarantee you the pump is going to be better.
32
INCONSISTENCY
If you want to get good at anything in life you need to be consistent.
Professional athletes don’t become pros by playing basketball for a few
months, taking a few months off, and getting back into it. It’s a part of
their life.
If you want to look like someone who works out, training has to be a part
of your lifestyle.
There’s always people who are in the gym for a few months, then they’re
out, then they’re back in. It’s a repeating cycle.
Guess what? They never have the physique you’d pay money for!
If you want results, stay consistent and stay patient. If you haven’t done
that, you do not get to complain about a lack of results.
33
DIET
When people are going for the shredded look that will turn heads at the
beach, they spend entirely too much time focused on their training when
they should be focused on their diet.
But maybe you aren’t going for shredded. Maybe you just want to lose
some stubborn belly fat. The same thing applies. You need to get your
diet under control.
You can't out train a bad diet.
It kills me when people are consistent in the gym, even if they aren’t all
that intense, but they never get their diet under control. With just a few
months of focus on diet, they would look 10x better.
Stop rewarding yourself with treats every time you finish a workout. Stop
making cheat meals or cheat weekends a habit. They’re okay every now
and then but do not become a Weekday Dieter.
Stop binge drinking every weekend with friends.
If that’s the lifestyle you want to live, go for it. But if you’re scratching
your head every Monday morning wondering why you aren’t seeing abs in
the mirror, your diet is probably the reason why.
34
CARDIO > STRENGTH TRAINING?
This mistake usually applies to women more than it does to men but
don’t fall into the trap of doing endless hours of cardio to get lean and
toned.
Cardio is essential for optimal health. Way too many guys avoid doing
cardio and it should be a part of their training plan.
But if you’re prioritizing cardio to get a nice, aesthetic physique, spend
more of your time strength training. It’s more bang for your buck and the
muscle growth is what’s going to give you that defined physique you’re
going for.
Not lifting weights because you're scared of getting too big is like saying
you want to learn to play basketball but you don't want to be LeBron
James.
I promise you’re not accidentally going to become a professional
bodybuilder.
35
CAN YOU DO ME A FAVOR?
Thank you so much for downloading and reading this book. I really hope
you enjoyed it!
If you wouldn’t mind helping me out in return for this free book, I have
just one request!
Leave a Rating
Within your Gumroad Library you should be able to select this book to
leave a rating. Please consider leaving an honest rating. It helps me
determine how valuable my content is and it also helps spread the word
about this book. All you have to do is click the stars - no review
necessary.
36
GET IN TOUCH!
1-on-1 Personal Training
If you want to take your health and fitness to the next level, I offer 1-on-1
coaching to help you with your fitness and diet needs. Book a spot with
me on Calendly and we'll discuss your goals to create a fool proof plan.
Check out my website to learn more about what I have to offer.
INSTAGRAM
Follow me on Instagram if you want more information about diet, fitness,
and healthy living.
Cinnabar Calisthenics YouTube
If you want more content in video form I have a YouTube channel. On that
channel you’ll find in-depth calisthenics tutorials, follow along workout
videos, workout vlogs to show you how I train, and anything else I find
worth talking about related to health and wellness.
37
