Pete Fraser Fitness and Esquire, Amateur to Athlete in 10 weeks

Amateur to athlete in 10 weeks – weekly update – week 4

Amateur to athlete in 10 weeks – weekly update – week 4

Will Hersey, our “game” editor from Esquire magazine continues his epic 10 week health and fitness turnaround guided by the Pete Fraser Fitness sports scientist trainers.

Continue reading to find out how Will is performing and for training and nutrition updates…

How`s Will finding the nutrition:

“Got through my first trip to the pub for a friend’s birthday, ordering grilled fish and veg and drinking 2 large bottles of sparkling water. Was hard with everyone getting drunk and ordering burgers. But managed it. Actually don’t crave ‘crap’ food like that. Still getting hungry but just want to eat more good stuff rather than rubbish. Must be a good sign!”

We say: Will is starting to settle into the nutrition plan and finding it easier as his metabolism begins to adapt to the calorie intake. His body is starting to consume the available stored fat – slimming him down – this is complimented by the early phase muscle hypertrophy (muscle growth) and exercise calories consumed. As Will moves further into the plan good habit formation is becoming easier and the will to resist poor quality foods also becomes less of a chore.

How`s Will finding the exercise:

“It’s been 3 weeks but progress-wise it feels longer. And intensity has definitely shifted – still aching from my legs session on Friday – and it’s three days later! Also feel that I’m making progress in terms of technique for resistance exercises which itself feels like a breakthrough.”

We say: The Pete Fraser Fitness team are training Will at a higher intensity, both aerobically and with resistance. The exercises are becoming not just more intense but more complex. Will has now improved his heavy lifting technique and we’re ready to start pushing some good resistances in the next phase. This is the last week of our physical prep phase and the higher intensity work really begins: we’re bringing on interval training and heavier resistance sessions from next week!

Will’s first physiological stat check will be at the end of the 1st mesocycle: 1 weeks time

View the current training and nutrition guides on the PDF’s at the bottom of the page.

Updates. 

NUTRITION If you are following our fitness plan you are still in a depletion phase where calorific intake is low. Your body is well into a physiological adaptation to restructure its energy needs consuming its energy mostly from stored fat. “Quality” calories are available from the nutrition plan in the form of complex carbohydrates, protein and unsaturated fats. Refined/added sugar and saturated fat have largely been omitted and the body is being forced to “correct” its metabolism. Lethargy and sugar cravings should now have leveled out and your metabolism should be regulating itself more efficiently.  Your body should now be consuming stored fat calories and muscular tone should start to become noticeable. Don’t worry, you will be consuming enough protein, quality carbs and micronutrients to repair and maintain your body. 

” Lethargy and sugar cravings should now have leveled out and your metabolism should be regulating itself more efficiently.  Your body should now be consuming stored fat calories”

EXERCISE  We are coming to the end of the prep phase where the CV and the musculoskeletal  systems are becoming adapted for the challenges to come. Be sure to maintain the correct levels of resistance during weights sessions and heart rate level during CV work to exercise effectively. It’s nearly time to increase resistance levels and training intensities to reap the rewards of all the hard work.  

Changes:

  • We’re pushing up to 75 – 85% of 1 rep max load on resistance sessions
  • Resistances are now increasing 
  • We’re doubling the distances of the aerobic sessions to increase the endurance benefits and expend more calories. BTW: humans DO NOT BURN CALORIES – we’re not petrol engines! – read more…humans are not petrol engines!
  • The distances on both weekday aerobic sessions has doubled. HR training zones have also increased to 75 – 80% of HR max.

Now let’s revise the plan – Amateur to athlete – read on….

Week 4 – Nutrition – essentials

What does this nutritional plan do for you?

“The nutritional plan is designed to support the requirements for the programme including: fat loss, muscular hypertrophy, energy needs and micronutrient provision. As a rule, the aim is to omit refined and processed foods and drinks as much as possible. To form a healthy eating pattern and provide correct quality and quantity of nutrients.”

Strike out:

  • Alcohol, sugary drinks, fruit juice
  • Sweets, cakes, biscuits, chocolate, sugar, cream and full fat products
  • White/refined: bread, pasta and rice

Keep in:

  • Carbs: brown/unrefined: bread, oats, rice, rice and oat cakes
  • Copious amounts of vegetables and salad
  • Protein: chicken, turkey, tuna, white fish, eggs, tofu, quinoa, couscous, lentils, beans
  • Water, lots of water, up to 3 ltrs a day and good quality coffee and tea if you must
  • 2/3 portions of fruit per day
  • Small amounts of nuts and dried fruit

Tips:

  • Split the ‘keep in’ section into 3 small meals and 2 snacks per day. Carbs + protein at each meal except dinner where we omit carbs
  • Reduce carbs after approx. 15:00 hrs and omit them for dinner (“we didn’t say no carbs”)
  • Exercise on an empty stomach (except 1/4 banana 15 mins before training)

 

Week 4 – Exercise – essentials: Preparatory phase – 4 week phase to ready the body for the hard work to come.

What does this preparatory exercise phase do for you?

“The first phase strengthens the muscular system, especially core muscles ready for resistance and complexity increases in phase 2. The C.V. system is prepared by maintaining correct heart rate levels during training to familiarize cardiac and muscular physiology.”

Pete Fraser Amateur to Athlete Week1

 

 

 

  • This week double distances on both weekday aerobic sessions and increase HR to 75 -80% HRmax

C.V.:  cycle 10 miles or run 5 miles @ 75 – 80% heart rate max (HR max).

(Use a heart rate monitor to guide exercise intensity. Train between 75 – 80% of HR max (HOW TO WORK OUT HEART RATE TRAINING ZONES: work out HR max: 220 – age, then calculate desired HR % training zone)

Resistance:
Mon and Fri:  upper body emphasis: 5 exercises, rep range 10 – 20.
Wed: lower body emphasis: 6 exercises, rep range 6 – 16.
Each session starts with 10 min easy warm-up, mobility stretches and finishes with core.

  • This week push-up your resistance levels to 75 – 85% of 1 rep max level
  • Increase resistances as shown in the plan

Active rest: easy pace activity for 45 – 60 mins, jog, cycle, stretch, yoga, swim

Click on the image below to view the programme training cycles 

Pete Fraser Fitness Amateur to Athlete Part 2

Find out about the programme here Amateur to Athlete