Review
of "Body of F.I.R.E."
eBook By Chad Waterbury
Body of F.I.R.E. by
Chad Waterbury is an all about transforming your
body FAST through performance-oriented training.
So if you're looking
to change your body composition for the better and
FAST, this program is a good bet for you.
Now for the review...
F.I.R.E. is an acronym
for Chad's philosophy when it comes to fat-loss
training.
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F
- Full Body
In this program, every workout
you do is going to work every major part of your body,
the goal of which is to increase the metabolic cost of
each training session. In terms of fat loss, the idea
is to demand more of your body by working more of it each
time.
This is an excellent strategy.
If you think about it, working the biceps and triceps
and calves...not a whole lot of metabolic stimulation
there as compared to the big muscles of the legs, back
and chest. By training athletically with total-body training
(you'll rarely see athletes doing bodypart split training),
you'll develop the more athletic-looking physique and
reap the performance benefits.
I - Intense
According to Chad (and it's
something we TOTALLY agree on) "A workout must be
challenging to ramp up the metabolic cost. The simplest
way to do it is by performing all exercises as fast as
possible. In the early 1990s slow tempo training
gained traction because people thought it was safer, and
it allowed people to really feel their muscles burn.
Neither is true. Athletes have the best bodies because
they never train slowly. They need speed and performance.
Research shows that exercising fast will burn more calories."
And intense training is
what you'll get with the exercise portion of the FIRE
program. It's challenging stuff...lots of bodyweight training
along with free weight (no machines).
R.E. - Resistance Exercise
In order to best lose fat,
you have to keep and BUILD strength. Your fast-twitch
muscles fibers are the real energy powerhouses in your
body and you HAVE to focus on them in order to burn fat
efficiently. A program that simply burns calories isn't
going to give you optimal results.
By increasing strength,
you'll be able to lift more weight and being able to lift
heavier weights increases the metabolic cost of every
set you do.
Second, boosting strength
will carry back over to your explosive lifting allowing
you to move the weights even faster, which also increases
metabolic cost.
This is right on the money.
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So that's Chad's fat-loss
philosophy. It's right in line with what I preach...performance
is the major goal but it invariably results in dramatically
improved body composition (a.k.a. fat loss!).
One other thing I like about
this program is AMAP (which stands for As Many As Possible).
It refers to how many reps you'll be doing in each set.
Basically, you pick an appopriate load then do as many
reps as posisble with it! No set ranges...just try to
get your best performance out of every set you do.
THE PROGRAM
So given the basis of this
book, does the training program bear out the FIRE principles?
Absolutely. The training
is very nicely laid out and well-put-together. The training
sessions are clearly scheduled for you so you'll know
exactly what to do every step of the way through the program.
You'll find detailed pictures
and descriptions of all the exercises in a separate exercise
manual. And these are very good exercises in terms of
metabolic cost...rows, kettlebell presses, bodyweight
movements, etc. The prep/mobility section is really nice
to see as well (this is stuff that prepares your body
for the training to come - important for injury prevention
and optimal performance).
Chad also takes you through
the progression of the program, increasing workload as
your performance levels increase. Not a lot of programs
take this into account but Chad has really integrated
it well right into the program itself.
Nutrition:
Another thing I like about
this program is the simple approach to eating. The idea
is to not count calories (which never really works anyway)
but to select foods that are naturally low-calorie with
high nutrient density. The caloric deficit tends to take
care of itself that way.
When it comes to supplementation,
Chad's approach is very minimalist, too. Protein, fish
oil, BCAA's, and a few other select items. All quality
stuff. It's the training and the eating that drives your
results...not the supplements, which is very much in line
with my philosophy.
Weaknesses:
This program doesn't have
a lot of weaknesses, to be honest. The program itself
is quite sound and very effective, by the look of it.
The only things that might have been useful to add in
would have been videos of the exercises being and possibly
a more holisitic overview chart of how everything in the
program fits together.
But that's more of a personal
preference and not anything that should stop you from
picking up this program.
Conclusion:
Overall, this program is
very well done and from a practical perspective, something
you'll be able to perform no matter how busy you are.
It's performance-oriented and based on sound training
and eating techniques. Definitely worth the price.
To read more about
"Body of F.I.R.E." and
grab your copy, click here now
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