y Nick Nilsson
The program consists of 3 primary phases that lasts a total of 12 days. You then repeat this cycle 3 times for a grand total of 36 days. Then you have a 10 day recovery period where you'll take things easier and regain strength and give your body a bit of a break.
Let's get started:
The Nuts and Bolts of Phase 1:
Phase 1 is based on low-carb eating. Your body will be switching over to serious fat burning in the first day-and-a-half to two days. The training is Fat Loss Circuit Training (which I mentioned previously) and it will hasten the departure of carbs and water due to its demanding nature. It burns a lot of calories and will help get rid of carbs from your system FAST.
Being in a low-carb state is much more efficient for fat loss, though you don't want to stay in it too long (about 5 to 7 days is the most I recommend).
The third day is a complete rest day to help you recover from the first two days. You'll need the rest for the next two days (trust me).
On the fourth day, it's Lactic Acid Training. This type of training is designed to dramatically ramp up lactic acid production in your muscles and keep it there while training that specific bodypart. Why is this good? Well, the reduced pH in your body (more acidic) is an emergency situation and your body secretes G H in response (the full name of which I can't write here or this email will get filtered!). This hormone is not released as much when insulin is present in the blood, therefore we do this training on the 4th and 5th day of the low-carb eating, to be sure you have NO insulin floating around.
This maximizes the hormonal effect of the training. Lactic Acid Training also is not very damaging to the muscles - you start with one high-rep set (30+ reps), rest 20 seconds, then go again and try and hit as many reps as you can. Keep going for the prescribed number of sets.
This is followed by High-Intensity Intervals. The intervals are done on this day so as not to coincide with the thigh training of the next day. Lactic Acid Training for the thighs and interval training don't work as well when done on the same day because most cardio training uses the legs to a large degree. The legs will be too fatigued to push really hard on interval training.
You will be following a very basic supplementation program of multivitamins and protein powder during this phase. You can also include glutamine after workouts. Take NO creatine during this phase so that you save it for the transition to Phase 3 where you'll get the most bang for your buck with it.
The Nuts and Bolts of Phase 2:
Phase 2 uses 2 days of single-nutrient eating to shock your body.
The first day focuses entirely on protein. Since you've been eating low carb and teaching your body to preferentially burn fat for energy, by suddenly depriving it of a fat intake as well, it's forced to seek out the most convenient fat source: bodyfat.
The interval training done on this day will encourage your body to use plenty of bodyfat for energy. It's not going to be easy, working on only protein like this but it's VERY effective. We only do this for one day.
The second day is designed to create a desperate need for protein in your body by starving yourself of it for a day. When you go to Phase 3 and eat plenty of protein, your body will aggressively store protein in the form of muscle.
Since you will be staying away from protein, don't take any glutamine on this day. Glutamine is an amino acid, which is a component of protein. You will be getting plenty of it as you go into Phase 3.
We will not be doing any training on this day as we are looking to only deplete the body of free-circulating protein, not to excessively break down muscle tissue. Just that depletion will create the desperate need in your body for protein, similar to what your body experiences on a carb depletion from low-carb eating and reloading.
An all-fruit day is also very cleansing to the body, which is a perfect switch from a high-protein, high-meat product diet. Eat as much fruit as you want. Your body will just be busy absorbing the carbohydrates from the fruit. Be sure to drink plenty of water as well. This fruit day also tends to flush out much of the excess water from your body.
The Nuts and Bolts of Phase 3:
The first few days of Phase 3 are all about building muscle (what better way to reduce your % bodyfat by increasing your % muscle mass!). When you come directly off a low-carb diet, your body is desperate for carbs and very sensitive to them. Your body will absorb them (as well as other nutrients) very rapidly.
This is also where the zero-protein day comes into play. You have also created a desperate need for protein in your body with it.
By combining these two desperate needs and then feeding them, your body is capable of tremendously fast progress. This is when you will be performing "Muscle Rounds" - one of the most effective muscle-building training techniques I've ever come across.
During these first few days, you will loading up on nutrients such as protein, glutamine and creatine to maximize the effects of the previous two phases.
You will also be keeping your fat intake extremely low to maximize fat burning during this time.
The third day of the phase is a day off weights but has you doing high intensity interval training for your cardio. Doing this type of training on it's own day means you can really put a lot of effort into it.
The fourth day is geared towards higher-volume, higher-rep training using Supersets. This type of training is excellent for forcing a lot of nutrient-laden blood into the muscles. The Supersets will also create plenty of lactic acid, which is excellent for boosting Growth Hormone levels in the body. You will also be doing interval training on this day again.
The final day of this Phase is a complete day off. Your body will need a little rest before you go back into the low-carb diet and training of Phase 1 again. You may be tempted to do a little more work - resist this as your body will need the rest!
On this day, you get a planned "cheat" meal...by planning it into your program, you get the mental benefits of breaking the strictness and your metabolism gets a nice shot. This planned cheating is a VERY powerful concept, as is the whole nutrient-rotation found in the Surge program itself.
Then Repeat Two More Times...
This 12 day cycle makes for one round of the program. In the NEXT 2 rounds, you're going to be increasing the number of sets you do, gradually building up the training volume, which forces your body to work harder to keep up. This is a natural metabolism-increaser and it's PLANNED right into the program.
Think of how the engine of a car reacts as you hit the gas to climb a hill...as the hill gets steeper, you have to almost floor it just to keep moving. But when you keep it floored and come up and over the top and down the other side, you pick up speed FAST.
This is the core concept of the Surge training program - you ramp things up then back off and let your metabolism ROAR.
Strength/Recovery Phase:
The Strength/Recovery Phase is not for fat loss but to allow the body some time to recuperate from the extreme training volume you've been placing on it. It is the overcompensation phase after ramping up to overtraining on the first 3 Phases, i.e. the car coming over the top of the hill and coming down.
The focus here is on building or re-building strength. You will dramatically reduce your training volume and frequency for a short period and target your training to strength training (lower reps and longer rest periods).
This sudden reduction in volume and frequency, while your body is still cranking and trying to recover from the high volume, will result in another jump in results. If you lost any strength during the first 36 days of training, you will get it all back here (and probably more!)
The Sum of All Parts:
As you can see, the training and nutrition of each Phase builds onto the next one, making the whole greater than the sum of all parts. This synergistic effect of the various nutrient and training regimes will allow you to effectively build muscle and strength even while training to lose fat!
From Phase to Phase, training volume will increase in order to push your body a little further and a little harder. Building up to this higher volume slowly will allow you take advantage of the body's reaction to temporary overtraining, keeping your results moving quickly. You will NEVER hit a plateau with this program.
Your body has no choice but to adapt - it's built into the training program and it's built into the eating program with the rotation between low-carb, low-fat and single-nutrient eating.
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Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 18 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "Specialization Training," all available at http://fitness-ebooks.rxsportz.com.
He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.
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