The Badass Body Diet: The Breakthrough Diet and Workout for a Tight Booty, Sexy Abs, and Lean Legs (33 page)

Floor Wipers: 10 repetitions

Bench Dips: 20 repetitions

Lunges: One, hold lunge in the lunge position for 45 seconds. If you have to adjust, the time stops and restarts when you start your lunge again.

Timed sequence: Set a timer for 10 minutes and perform the following round as many times as you can before it goes off.

Hamstring Rollouts: 5 repetitions

Pike Push-ups: 10 repetitions

Sit-ups: 20 repetitions

Timed sequence: Set a timer for 5 minutes and perform the following round as many times as you can before it goes off. Rest 2 minutes between each round.

Jumping Lunges: 5 repetitions on each side

Squats: 10 repetitions

V-ups: 5 repetitions

The following Monday, repeat the Badass Baseline routine to see if you can beat the number of repetitions at which you started. Perform one round of this routine:

Jumping Jacks: 75 repetitions

Sit-ups: 40 repetitions

Squats: 30 repetitions

Push-ups: 20 repetitions

Burpees: 10 repetitions

Jumping Jacks: 75 repetitions

LEVEL 3: ROYAL BADASS

Perform one round of this routine.

Jumping Lunges: 30 repetitions

Sit-ups: 40 repetitions

Squats: 30 repetitions

Sexy Back Push-ups: 20 repetitions

Jumping Lunges: 30 repetitions

Perform five rounds of this routine.

Step-ups: 20 repetitions

Bench Dips: 15 repetitions

Double-under Jump Rope: 50 repetitions

Perform five rounds of this routine.

Single-Leg Lunges: 10 repetitions on each leg

Inchworms: 7 repetitions

V-ups: 10 repetitions

Jump Squats: 20 repetitions

Perform four rounds of this routine.

Set a timer for 16 minutes and try to do all four rounds before it goes off.

Sexy Back Push-ups: 10 repetitions

Jumping Lunges: 16 repetitions on each leg

Sit-ups: 30 repetitions

Jumping Jacks: 30 repetitions

Timed sequence: Set a timer for 12 minutes and perform the following round as many times as you can before it goes off.

Mountain Climbers: 20 repetitions

Hamstring Rollouts: 7 repetitions

Pike Push-ups: 5 repetitions

Perform seven rounds of the following routine.

Floor Wipers: 5 repetitions

Clapping Push-ups: 7 repetitions

Jump Squats: 10 repetitions

Timed sequence: Set a timer for 10 minutes and perform the following round as many times as you can before it goes off.

Burpees: 5 repetitions

Jumping Lunges: 10 repetitions

Jumping Squats: 15 repetitions

Perform three rounds of this routine. Rest one minute between each round.

Round 1:

V-ups: 30 repetitions

Left Single-Leg Squat: 25 repetitions

Right Single-Leg Squat: 25 repetitions

Round 2:

V-ups: 25 repetitions

Left Single-Leg Squat: 20 repetitions

Right Single-Leg Squat: 20 repetitions

Round 3:

V-ups: 20 repetitions

Left Single-Leg Squat: 15 repetitions

Right Single-Leg Squat: 15 repetitions

Perform seven rounds of this routine.

Sky Humpers: 10 repetitions

Bench Dips: 15 repetitions

Bicycle: 30 repetitions

Perform five rounds of this routine. Rest 30 seconds between each round.

Floor Wipers: 10 repetitions

Bench Dips: 20 repetitions

Lunges: One, hold lunge in the lunge position for 60 seconds. If you have to adjust, the time stops and restarts when you start your lunge again.

Timed sequence: Set a timer for 12 minutes and perform the following round as many times as you can before it goes off.

Hamstring Rollouts: 5 repetitions

Sexy Back Push-ups: 7 repetitions

Sit-ups: 20 repetitions

Timed sequence: Set a timer for 5 minutes and perform the following round as many times as you can before it goes off. Rest 1 minute between each round.

Jumping Lunges: 6 repetitions on each leg

Jump Squats: 10 repetitions

V-ups: 5 repetitions

The following Monday, repeat the Badass Baseline routine to see if you can beat the number of repetitions at which you started. Perform one round of this routine:

Jumping Jacks: 75 repetitions

Sit-ups: 40 repetitions

Squats: 30 repetitions

Push-ups: 20 repetitions

Burpees: 10 repetitions

Jumping Jacks: 75 repetitions

I can just hear you huffing and puffing right now! Remember, though, exercise this intense and fast moving makes you feel good, and when you feel good, you look good. So start imagining how great your booty (and your whole body) is going to look in jeans, shorts, a bikini, and more after you consistently follow the Badass Workout.

Supplements for Success

I TAKE SUPPLEMENTS TO
make sure my body is getting all the right nutrients—and to get energized for training and competition.

Food should be the number one source of your nutrition, but I believe that the nutritional value of some foods has decreased, for a bunch of reasons. One is that we’re growing food in poor soils that lack nutrients due to overcultivation and misuse of fertilizer and pesticides. Another is that companies are boosting production of vegetables and fruit with fertilizers and chemical additives. Also, far too many of our foods are laced with preservatives, colorings, and other nasty stuff. Science backs me up on this; there have been numerous studies showing that these additives are harming our health, and that many of our foods no longer provide even the minimum nutrition we need on a daily basis to keep us strong and healthy. Case in point, a study published in the
New Phytologist
in 2009 pointed out that the diets of more than two-thirds of the world’s population lack many essential minerals, primarily iron, zinc, copper, calcium, magnesium, iodine, and selenium. One of the chief reasons cited by the study for these deficiencies is that our edible crops are grown in mineral-depleted soils.

Our bodies deserve a clean base to work from. If we’re loading our systems with chemicals and pollutants, we’re hindering the body’s ability to create and build healthy cells, including muscle cells. If our nutrition is bad, then our bodies don’t have the tools to replace the old cells with healthy new ones. But when our nutrition is good, the new cells are always healthier.

One way to help our cells function optimally is to take supplements in addition to eating clean, healthy food. I realize that supplementation is controversial. Some studies say they work; some studies say they don’t. In terms of the Badass plan, I’m often asked, “Will supplements give me a better booty or a more muscular body with less cellulite?” Honestly, I don’t know for sure, but I believe that some supplements work toward those ends.

You have to decide for yourself if supplements are right for you. Yes, I believe in supplements, but I’m not advocating that you follow my approach to supplementation. I’m simply providing some information that may help you decide. You have to do what you feel is right for you.

Here’s a list of my “don’t leave home without” supplements.

ZINC

I take extra zinc because it’s an important mineral for active people. In fact, zinc deficiencies are fairly common in athletes who train really hard, especially if they’re dieting, too. Exercisers and athletes need additional zinc daily to prevent shortfalls, because the body has no means of storing this mineral.

Zinc is involved in numerous aspects of metabolism. It’s required for the production and activity of more than 100 enzymes, and it’s involved in boosting immunity, helping the body build new proteins, healing wounds and injuries, and promoting cell division. Zinc is an essential nutritional building block of muscle-building testosterone too.

A short supply of zinc not only messes with testosterone and muscular development. It can also decelerate your metabolism by interfering with the production of thyroid hormones that help regulate metabolism, our bodies’ food-to-fuel process. A subpar metabolism makes it much harder to get rid of body fat, and much easier to put it on.

I read a 2003 study that looked at metabolism in men and women who followed a low-zinc diet initially and afterward started supplementing with zinc (about 25 milligrams a day). The low-zinc diet caused drops in metabolism, but about three weeks of zinc supplementation jacked it up again. In fact, the subjects’ metabolisms were so high that they started automatically burning around 300 extra calories a day.

I take 50 milligrams of chelated zinc in the morning to ensure myself against a metabolic slowdown. The chelated form of this mineral is very well absorbed by the body.

MAGNESIUM

Intense exercise can deplete your magnesium stores, and magnesium is another mineral involved in metabolism. It’s also key for muscle functioning. When you’re trying to tighten and tone your body and booty, you certainly don’t want a sluggish metabolism or problems moving your muscles.

Magnesium is involved in hundreds of other biochemical reactions in the body. Like zinc, it helps the body create new muscle. It assists in strengthening bone. And it’s a heart-friendly supplement because it helps regulate blood pressure.

More recently, magnesium has been proven to help with the problem of insulin resistance. This occurs in the body when cells become insensitive to insulin, which ushers blood sugar into muscle and brain cells for fuel and nourishment. With insulin resistance, sugar has nowhere to go, so it accumulates in the blood, wreaking all sorts of metabolic havoc. Some of that sugar heads to the liver, where it’s usually turned right into fat, which ends up padding your booty, abs, and the rest of your body. But with magnesium on the case, you have an indirect fat burner.

Magnesium also helps with a number of other issues:

Headaches and migraines.
Magnesium relieves muscle spasms and tension that lead to head and neck pain. It’s a great natural remedy for these annoying and often persistent problems.

Insomnia.
In addition to unkinking tense muscles, magnesium helps your body produce the sleep hormone melatonin—which means you will sleep better, night after night.

Constipation.
Magnesium eases this problem by pulling additional water into your colon and improving muscle function. The “end” result is that your poop train will run more frequently and on time. If you have other digestive issues (including irritable bowel syndrome or Crohn’s disease), magnesium supplements may help you.

I take 100 milligrams of chelated magnesium at night prior to bedtime.

BRANCHED CHAIN AMINO ACIDS (BCAAS)

I love this protein supplement, which typically comes in capsule form. It can’t be beat for improved recovery after workouts, reduction of muscle soreness, and greater energy during long workouts. Plus, it just may be a fat burner. Read on!

For background, BCAAs are a family of three amino acids (pieces of protein) that includes leucine, isoleucine, and valine. Structurally, each BCAA has a shape that resembles a tree branch, which is why these aminos are named “branched-chain.” The BCAAs are all essential amino acids, meaning you have to get them from the food you eat. Cells use them to create protein, including muscle protein.