NOTE: Today is your first day of the 5 POUNDS in 5 Days Plan. We are going to be focusing on ‘Movement Mastery’ today, to ensure you are performing each of your five exercises properly. Here’s a bit more detail on each:

1. Free Squats

   • Stand with your feet hip-width apart or slightly wider. (toe out slightly on both sides, in case you have tight hip rotators, but be sure to be even.)
   • Sit down and back, keeping your weight in your heels.
   • On the way up, stand by pressing through your heels and squeezing your cheeks together and forward.

   There are 3 arm positions to choose from: arms at your sides, across your chest, or fingertips at ears with arms wide out.

   Important Form Warnings: Please be careful not to cross your knees over your toes while squatting down, avoid bending forward at the waist as much as possible. Also, do your best to avoid arching your back by holding in your abs on the way down.

2. Hand/Forearm Switches on Knees

   • Assume a push-up position on your knees, such that your body remains in a diagonal position when you place your knees on the ground. Place your hands directly under your shoulders, keeping your shoulders down and back, and core tight, such that I could not twist you at your waist/pelvis.
   • Shift your weight onto your left arm, as you lift your right hand and move into a plank position on your right forearm. Repeat, while shifting your weight onto your right forearm this time, and moving from your left hand to forearm. You will now be in a forearm plank position on your knees.
   • Repeat in the opposite order, now moving from your left forearm to your left hand, and the same with your right side.
   • Your next rep will begin in reverse, moving to your left forearm first, and so on.

   Important Form Warnings: Please be careful not to ‘box out’ while assuming a push up position, by avoiding sticking your butt into the air. Maintain a tight core, to avoid bending or arching your back. Also, a lot of people tend to hunch their shoulders, and this is a result of their hands being too far in front of them. Remember to keep them directly underneath your shoulders, and from your point of view, this might look like in line with your nipples. As you shift from hand to forearm, always center your weight over your other side before switching, to avoid falling or losing your balance. As you improve your skill level and coordination, you can increase speed, rather than the other way around.

3. Reverse Spider Lunges

   • Stand tall with your feet together or slightly apart.
   • Take a large step backwards with your right leg, keeping your weight in your left heel, and your left knee behind your toes. As you step back, make sure to step out at the same time, in order to keep your balance.
   • As you land with your right foot, allow both knees to bend, using your right (back) foot for balance, and your left leg to do all the work. While bending, twist your trunk, so that your right elbow makes it past your left knee. Time it such that you fully twist as you make it to the bottom of your lunge.
   • Stand through your left heel by squeezing your left glute (cheek) and standing tall. Unwind as you stand.
   • Repeat on the opposite side and alternate.

   Important Form Warnings: Please be careful not to place your weight into your back knee, as this can add a lot of pressure to your patellar tendon. Almost all, if not 100%, of the work should be done with your front leg/glute during your lunge. (Whenever lunging, make sure your front knee never crosses past your front toes.)

   Also, be sure to step wide enough to keep your balance, rather than keeping your feet close together; this isn’t about balance, and I wouldn’t want you to get injured. While twisting your trunk, you’ll naturally lose your balance a bit at first, and that’s part of the process. Be sure to go slow enough so you can correct for it, or ask someone to spot you, or stand close to a wall or railing for recovery. Another important point during the twisting motion is not to round your trunk/spine, as we want you to train with a strong and sturdy core.

4. Shoulder Stabilization Sequence (middle trap, lower trap, modified rows — alternate)

   Stand in an athletic stance, such that your feet are about 1.5x hip width apart, toes slightly outward, and trunk bent-over halfway at the hips. Imagine you’re about to take a hit, or someone is going to bump into you, and you wouldn’t want to lose your balance.

   Middle Trap:

   • Place your arms all the way out to your sides, at a 90 degree angle, and turn your palms upwards towards the ceiling/sky. You should feel the tops of your shoulders relaxed, with your shoulder blades slightly squeezed together. This is your starting and ending position.
   • Allow your shoulder blades to spread apart at the same time as your arms move towards the ground.
   • As a bird flaps it wings, you are moving up and down, slowly squeezing together and relaxing your shoulder blades, while avoiding tension in your upper traps/shoulders.

   After completing one repetition of Middle Trap, please move onto Lower Trap:

   Lower Trap:

   • In the same position as middle trap, please assume your athletic stance, but this time adjusting so your arms are at your side.
   • In a ‘V’ formation, and thumbs upward, raise your arms up and diagonally out in front of you, while keeping your head in a straight position, aligned with the rest of your spine.
   • Avoid placing tension in your upper traps/shoulders while doing this exercise, by concentrating on tilting your shoulder blades ‘down and in’ as you raise your arms in front of you.
   • One repetition equals arms all the way out diagonally in front of you, until your shoulder blades are fully tipped back, and then returning to the hands at sides position.
   • After one repetition of lower trap, please move onto ‘Modified Rows:’

   Modified Rows:

   • In the same position as the above two exercises, with your lower body and trunk, we’ll be moving your arms in a different pattern.
   • Let your arms hang directly below you, and this time, “chicken wing out,” such that your elbows are now facing the ceiling/sky, and your palms are facing behind you. Again, avoid tension in your upper traps/shoulders, and keep a flat back/neck.
   • Move your arms upward, such that you would be elbowing someone above you with both elbows timed together. You should feel your shoulder blades coming together, as well as a muscle contraction in the back of your shoulder, where it meets your arm. (posterior deltoid)
   • Elbowing the ceiling/sky and returning to the starting position of arms hanging directly below you equals one repetition.

   When you complete one rep, move back to middle trap, and begin alternating through these three exercises.

   Important Form Warnings: Above all else, you’re most likely to tip your head back (chin in the air) and hunch your shoulders. Next, you may not time your arms together, from one side to the other. In other words, you might notice that your right arm always leads the movement, and you’re not perfectly symmetrical. This is important to correct. Finally, you might lose your core and need to remind yourself to squeeze your glutes or maintain a flat back and solid athletic stance.

5. Straight Arm Cross-Over Plank

   • Assume a push-up position, with hands under shoulders, feet close together, and neutral spine position.
   • Maintain a tight core, such that I could not twist you, at your pelvis/hips.
   • Draw your right foot and knee towards your left elbow (if possible, cross your right foot under your left side entirely and out in front towards your left elbow.)
   • Return to the starting position and repeat on the opposite side.

   Important Form Warnings: As with any plank, it’s easy to lose your core, or begin to arch your back or box out. Be careful to avoid doing this, by resting as needed, and resting entirely when you can no longer maintain your neutral spine position. Also, use caution to avoid hunching your shoulders, or increasing upper trap/shoulder pressure/tightness. This is most easily avoided by placing your hands further underneath your shoulders or body. As you twist/rotate your lower body, be sure to go slowly and avoid sudden movements or jerks, as this might be a new and fully loaded position on your spine. Work on mobility and symmetry from right to left before ever trying to push harder or further.

NOTE: Today is the second day of your 5 POUND Blueprint. We are going to be focusing on ‘nutrition’ today, to ensure you have enough energy to get through each workout and maximize its effect. Here’s a bit more detail on how the nutrition side of things work, and how it’s all linked back to the way you’re moving; by eating for energy, you simplify nutrition:

Eating for Energy means you are selecting foods to have the most energy possible. In other words, you are creating an association between ‘feeling’ and ‘food.’ This is a powerful diet strategy.

When it comes to ‘Eating for Energy,’ you’ll notice an immediate shift in the way you choose foods. Some of your ‘favorite’ foods no longer will tempt you on ‘eating for energy’ days. But, keep in mind that not ‘every’ day needs to be an eating for energy day. You can, and should, let go sometimes. This will help you maintain interest in eating well, as well as balance your fat-burning hormones.

To simplify nutrition, and eating for energy, think about these five areas:

1. Hydration

   A balanced diet will only get you so far; good hydration increases cellular metabolism, or the speed your body functions, on a cellular level. This means you will boost immunity, improve digestion, recover more quickly from a workout, and lose weight more easily; all through proper hydration.

   Now, the #1 mistake people make with hydration is electrolyte balance. The simple answer for this is to get enough fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. Electrolytes are a fancy way of saying: calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium. By eating a bit of sea salt with each meal, about 13 inches of banana per day (for an average sized person,) some spinach, and an orange or two, you’ll be in great shape.

   The only struggle you might run into is sugar intake with fat loss. Although, you can strategically introduce supplements on days where you don’t want any sugar intake, and lose fat in cycles. Remember there are easier ways to lose fat than eating the ‘ultimate daily diet,’ but this doesn’t mean you should always eat in extremes. So, as with most topics related to health, consider the importance of ‘interval training’ your diet, fat loss, and any weight loss goal you have.

2. Sugar intake vs Carb intake

   It’s an interesting — and valuable — experiment to completely withdraw sugar for a day. Naturally, there’s no logical reason to withdraw veggies, so long as you’re not putting anything on them. With exception to raw and cooked (but plain) veggies, attempt to completely eliminate any sugar or carb from your diet. You’ll quickly find out about carbs you had never considered, like: pasta sauce, every condiment, most of every meal you eat, etc.

   The real challenge becomes keeping your caloric intake up. Learn, in one day, how to eat the same number of calories, but without any sugar or carb outside of vegetables, and feel and see the difference. It’s pretty unbelievable when you wake up and look in the mirror the next day.

   The funny thing is… if you handle it like I do, you’ll end up eating a decent amount of carbs, but in vegetables instead. It’s an interesting lesson, and really gives some insight to the argument of ‘low’ or ‘no’ carb vs simply eating vegetables.

3. Protein intake

   A lot of focus is on carb intake, but let’s pivot for a day and focus on protein, instead. In fact, let’s have you eat protein-only (provided you do not have any history of kidney stones, or gallstones, in which case it’s wise to check with your doctor.)

   What will you eat? Do you have anything left?

   I think the hardest part of eliminating carbs is finding enough foods that ‘cheat’ the idea of carbs and are still just as bad for you. Tomorrow, you’ll only be eating protein, which gets back to the ‘idea’ of ‘no carb.’ It’s a bit extreme, but you’ll begin to see menu options that weren’t on the radar show up and broaden your meal horizons.

   Part of eating to lose weight and eating for energy is learning which foods you love that accomplish the ‘goal’ of a certain eating behavior. It’s not about tricks, more so reasons why.

4. Snacks vs Mini-meals

   Day 4 is all about eating what ‘looks’ like a meal, but as a snack instead. By spreading your meals out, in smaller quantities, you’ll feel a balanced level of energy. This is a great lesson in portion control, while simultaneously in snacking. I don’t know who came up with the idea of replacing food — that we all understand is good for us in a meal — and giving us junk instead. It’s a bogus concept, and makes no sense at all.

   Snacking is eating a meal, but less. Learn this lesson in one day, and improve your nutrition forever.

5. Fiber vs “cleanse”

   The point of a cleanse is to ‘clean you out’ and ‘rest your digestive system.’ But, let’s think about this… Much like our hearts, our digestive system is made of muscle, and it’s function is to be able to contract throughout the day, every day. Our intestines perform an action called ‘peristalsis,’ which is a contractile movement that helps us move food through our digestive tracts.

   The main problem, intuitively, would be if the space to move food were to narrow. What happens if there is ‘build-up’ on intestinal walls?

   The space narrows, and the tube becomes less able to excrete food.

   Naturally, the answer in this scenario is to clean the walls. To me, ‘cleaning the walls’ equates to two things:

   • Improving hydration (to dilute and soften the half-digested food as much as possible)
   • Increasing fiber intake (as fiber has a ‘mechanical’ effect on intestines due to the way it shreds, but does not fully break down.)

   On the 5th day of your 5 Pounds in 5 Days Plan, we’ll boost fiber intake and see what you think. My suspicion is you’ll find out what so many of our clients have; improved digestion is less time digesting and more time energetic.

It’s a heck of a lot easier to focus on one of these areas per day, which is why we set things up the way we did below. That said, keep in mind the benefit of improving in each category over time. You’ll only make weight loss easier on yourself.

NOTE: Today is the third day of your 5 POUND Blueprint. We are going to be focusing on ‘positivity’ today, with the goal of creating a ‘memory of positivity’ to guide your attitude, energy level, and motivation forward throughout your weight loss and health journey.

By creating a memory of your successes — and taking time to reflect upon them — you’ll ingrain them in your mind and begin to shift the way you view yourself. Before you know it, everything will seem simple and fast; it’s all relative, anyway.

Your body can change rapidly, and small steps add up. The cumulative effect of positive decision-making surrounding your health is far more important than well-intended mistakes made along the way. Blatant disregard for health and proper nutrition, on the other hand, is the most dangerous of all.

The reason I’ve asked you to write down 3 things you’ve done right today is because I want you to realize you have done at least ‘something.’ This small step — no matter how small — can create momentum. Your momentum will create acceleration of results, which is the opposite of the phenomenon most people experience with weight loss: slow decline of results, with eventual plateau.

Your first step in improving the likelihood you accelerate your results is the reminder of positive steps you’ve taken so far, and creating a ‘good feeling’ surrounding positive health choices. If you ignore your momentum, and focus on the mistakes instead, you may very well ‘accelerate’ your results in the wrong direction…

NOTE: There is a specific way to add exercises together, adjust timing of work to rest intervals, and the energy system you prioritize. When you understand this, you can continuously advance and improve your results.

Take a look back at the last few days, and the one ahead. You’ll see that there’s a pattern being formed, where we introduce a movement, advance it in speed and intensity, and then increase the number of repetitions, a bit slower and less intensely.

This exact process teaches your body how to handle more work, at various loads, in about the same amount of time. In other words, it’s this process that avoids plateau, advances results, and accelerates the speed at which your results improve over time. Effectively, this process will help you improve upon the following, all at the same time:

• Speed
• Agility
• Muscle fiber type
• Energy systems training
• Muscular strength
• Muscular endurance
• Muscular power
• Caloric consumption through exercise (METs)
• Recovery speed
• Lactate threshold, or exercise tolerance
• Blood pressure and heart rate response
• Respiratory rate
• Blood sugar consumption and hormonal balancing through exercise

Sure, there’s a bit more to it, but this is the 80/20 rule of progression with exercise. How you choose the exercises, how long you do them for, and how you set up your work to rest intervals matters; but, the most important thing is that you add variety, and you progress in a systematic way.

The human body is complicated; exercising it does not have to be. Simply follow the instructions below, and learn a bit about the things that work. All you have to do is look in the mirror at the same time every day, and you’ll find out.

NOTE: According to our best estimates – based upon how many people became fully engaged with the 5 Pound Blueprint – we are calculating over 18,790 pounds lost in its first 5 days.

The truth of the matter is that many people lose more than five pounds, and some people might not lose anything; but, this is a fairly accurate and reasonably conservative guess, even with everything factored in. Over 18,790 pounds lost, in just 5 days… We couldn’t be more proud of you!

It’s time to begin your Reflection Journal, which will allow you to take 5-15 minutes, every single day, to acknowledge and congratulate yourself on the successes of your day. In the last five days, you took action; at the very least to figure out how to make fat loss and weight loss easier. This — and you — deserve acknowledgement.

Yet, something tells me more has happened… you’ve lost ‘at least’ five pounds, and you’re feeling your goals are closer and easier to achieve than you ever imagined. I also suspect you did this with less effort than ever before.

I’m ready to help you go the rest of the way, but I’m asking you do two things first:

1. Start your Reflection Journal and write your first entry.
2. Commit. Allow yourself to succeed by envisioning your success and committing to that outcome.