the underground

workout manual
Exercise and Fat Loss in the Real World

brett klika
brettklika.com

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“Being busy does not always mean real
work. The object of all work is production
or accomplishment and to either of these
ends there must be forethought, system,
planning, intelligence, and honest purpose,
as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is
not doing.”
Thomas A. Edison
 To request permission for reproduction or to
inquire about exercise and lifestyle coaching
or speaking engagements, contact:

Brett Klika
email: Brett@fitnessquest10.com
website: www.brettklika.com

© 2011 by I.M. Wellness

All rights reserved. No portion of this manual may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic
or mechanical—including fax, photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system—without the written
permission of the author, except as granted under the following conditions:

• The purchaser may photocopy pages for personal use.

• A reviewer may quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a blog, magazine, or newspaper,
with written approval from the author prior to publishing.

Disclaimer
The intention of the information in this book is to provide up- to- date methods in regards to burning fat during exercise. It is
not intended as a medical manual. It is recommended you seek medical advice prior to beginning any exercise program. The
information in this book is designed as a supplement to, not a replacement for, any currently prescribed nutrition or exercise
program. Performing an exercise program carries a degree of inherent risk. Always perform exercises at an appropriate level of
intensity for your experience and ability level. Stop the program and seek medical advice if you have any abnormal or negative
physical symptoms associated with exercise.

Any mention of other websites or companies are for informational purposes. These are not endorsements by the author, nor
are they endorsements of this program by the outside entity.

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 acknowledgements
First and foremost, I would like to thank my parents for raising me to understand what real
health and wellness is. Their constant support and encouragement fuels my daily efforts to
INSPIRE MILLIONS. I would like to thank my mentor, Todd Durkin, for showing me everyday what
a commitment to true greatness is and helping me open door after door to pursue my dreams.
To the entire staff at Fitness Quest 10, I say thank you for daily inspiration and positivity. These
are the most educated, committed colleagues anyone could ever hope for.

Thank you to my clients who make me excited to get out of bed and do what I love to do every
day. These men, women, and children inspire me daily through their commitment and effort.
I want to say thank you to Sean Croxton for involving me in this project. Sean has helped educate,
motivate, and inspire thousands. It’s an honor to be included in a project like The Dark Side of
Fat Loss.

I want to say thanks to Evelyne Lambrecht for editing, serving as a model, and everything else she
has done for Sean and I in the production of this book.

My sincere appreciation goes out to the Anderson family who serve as my “technical brain” for
my AV work and always deliver an awesome product.

Finally, I want to thank my wife and soul mate, Lisa Klika, for her understanding, patience, and caring
in everything I do. My life has been exponentially better every day since we met 12 years ago.

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 about the author
Brett Klika
Director of Athletics at Todd Durkins Fitness Quest 10

Brett Klika is a personal trainer, international speaker, educator,

author, and motivator on topics in sports performance, fitness,
and behavior change. He obtained a B.S. in Exercise Science
from Oregon State University and is a Certified Strength and
Conditioning Specialist through the National Strength and
Conditioning Association. In his 14-year career, Brett has had
the opportunity to work with Olympic Athletes at the Olympic
Training Center in San Diego in addition to thousands of youth,
collegiate, and high-profile professional athletes. He is currently
the director of athletic programs and personal training at Todd
Durkin’s Fitness Quest 10 in San Diego. These programs see over
500 youth, collegiate and professional athletes every year, in
addition to thousands of personal training clients.

Brett presents internationally in the fitness industry and is a speaker for Johnson & Johnson’s
Corporate Athlete® program. He has been featured in a variety of publications, including the Wall
Street Journal for his work with youth, adults, and athletes. He is a contributing author for the
National Academy of Sports Medicine’s personal training and sports performance textbooks and
has created over 15 educational DVDs on topics in fitness and wellness. Brett has been a sports
performance consultant for Under Armour, Virgin Active, and The Gatorade Performance Center
online forum. He also consults remotely with clients and trainers around the world through
his website, www.brettklika.com. The IDEA Health and Fitness Association named Brett a top 3
finalist for the 2011 International Personal Trainer of the Year award.

Aside from working with athletes, Brett has an active client list of over 100 executives, moms, dads,
and everyday people that he coaches weekly on how to achieve a balance of health, wellness, and
performance in their lives. He is known for his creative, energetic, and often humorous approach
to presenting complex information in a way that is easily understood and applied. Whether you
are a child, a busy adult, or a high profile professional athlete, Brett believes that optimizing your
life is a process of achieving full engagement in your mind, body, and soul. He is committed to
helping others create the life they yearn to live through education and facilitating action.

Brett lives with his wife Lisa in San Diego, California with their dog Molly. Brett can be reached for
questions and comments at brett@fitnessquest10.com.

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 table of contents
Welcome to the Tribe 7

A New Physical Machine is Built 12

with the Right Mental Machinery

The “BEST” Exercise Program for YOU 17

Growing Muscle to Shrink Fat 20

How Presence of Muscle and Absence of Fat 25

Makes Us Look (Fact-Over-Fiction)

Building a Better House Requires 29

Better Building Materials

The REAL Fat Burning Zone to Shrink Fat 34

Putting all the Good Stuff Together 38

The Underground Workout Manual 12-Week Metabolic 46

Resistance Training Program and Videos

Your Underground Workout Journal 86

The Underground Workout 12-Week High Intensity 104

Cardiovascular Interval Training (HICIT) program
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 introduction
Welcome to the Tribe!

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I’ve been there, trying in vain to lose body fat, jogging mile after mile, putting in hour after hour
at the gym, and eating dry chicken breast after dry chicken breast. There was a time when I
would scour the magazine racks for the “Get Ripped Today!!” articles. Even though I would do
everything the pro bodybuilders, models, movie stars, and supplement companies told me to,
I’d end up spending a lot of time, energy, and money, but never got the results I was promised.

My approach to losing fat changed daily based on the latest and greatest hot trend that worked
for someone else’s unique physiology. I had an advanced college education and years of
experience in the industry, yet I couldn’t get over my own flawed perceptions of how creating a
“presence of muscle and absence of fat” worked.

Despite training hard and eating well, my body fat hit 17%. This was devastating to someone
who considered himself a fitness role model. I vowed to do something. I made the decision to
trust and follow a fat loss approach with cardiovascular and resistance training based not only
on sound scientific research, but on what many respected colleagues like Todd Durkin, Alwyn
Cosgrove and Mike Boyle had used with thousands of clients to get success. From a nutritional
perspective, Sean Croxton advised me to modify the “egg whites, oatmeal, and chicken breast”
diet I had been on for the past 8 years and start eating a balanced diet consisting of real, whole
foods. Implementing these modifications, my bodyfat went from 17% to 9% over the course of
a year. I lost about 10 pounds of fat and 3 waist sizes. The most alarming result was that I was
spending much less time in the gym. I had actually cut my workout time from 8 hours per week
to about 5 while still getting stronger in the weight room and faster on the field.

After being my own guinea pig, I started to implement this approach with my clients. I’ll be
totally honest with you, I am an admitted workaholic. For about 10 years I have maintained an
active client list of about 100 parents, professionals, and pro athletes over the course of 40-50
training sessions per week. And that doesn’t even include the large groups and teams I have
also worked with on a regular basis. I love my job! The time I have spent doing what I love to do
has rendered me over 15,000 hours with my human “guinea pigs” to test and perfect a program
that has proven to work again and again.

The results have been dramatic. Men, women, and professional athletes have been astounded
as to how effective a program can be in minimal time. No more all-protein diets, hours on the
elliptical, and 7 days a week at the gym. Just real food and real training for real fat loss. In The
Underground Workout Manual: Exercise and Fat Loss in the Real World, I will share with you
the very same approach that has helped hundreds break through plateaus and reach their fat
loss goals.

Are you getting what you want out of your exercise and nutrition program? If so,
congratulations! Keep it up for the rest of your life. If things change, this book will be here for
you. If you’re part of the frustrated masses who can’t seem to get rid of fat and get the body
they want no matter how hard they try, the program in this book is for you.
Fat has served us well for thousands of years to keep us alive. Now we have too much of it,

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and it doesn’t want to leave. The fact is that EVERYONE has a beautiful, muscular shape, and,
yes, a 6-PACK! The problem is that excess fat wraps our beautiful human form in an amorphous
blanket so it’s either hard or impossible to see. Additionally, too much body fat negatively
affects our health in many ways. We are often willing to try ANYTHING to get rid of it. The
American weight loss industry and media know this, so they offer us just that, ANYTHING! This
results in a sea of confusing and misleading information, gimmicks, gadgets, and gurus that
send us on a circular mission back to where we started, fat and frustrated.

It’s time to examine the truth about changing our body. This goes well beyond “weight loss”. It
transcends our psychologically, emotionally-influenced, and ever-changing opinion of our body.
The program outlined in this book is a lifestyle, not a quick-fix. It is a commitment to creating a
body that is an efficient physical, mental, and emotional machine, always looking for ways to
progress, always looking for ways to get better.

An efficient machine maximizes the ratio of active, essential working parts to the less essential
parts that have little function and take up space. For your physical, mental, and emotional
being, that means maximizing knowledge, motivation, lean muscle, and intensity while
minimizing excuses, mis-education, flawed perception, and consequently, fat!

The process described above requires a focus on qualitative as opposed to quantitative

measures. It’s not how much you do; it’s what you do and how well you do it. If you’re
frustrated with the results of your current work in regards to losing fat, you’ve probably focused
primarily on quantity and forgot about quality. It’s easy to do. Focusing on quality is much more
discerning. It requires much more physical, mental, and emotional focus and effort. It requires
planning, action, and proper execution.

Without the above approach to your exercise program, you may find yourself in slightly better
shape—and certainly better health—than someone who doesn’t exercise at all. But I’ll venture
to guess that that’s not good enough for you. You want an effective and efficient return on
your investment of time, energy, motivation, and sweat! My program is designed to help you
do just that. I am not paid by any sponsors to tell you anything. I have no agenda other than
culminating proven research and tens of thousands of hours of experience to get you results.
When you get results, you become my sponsor!

This exercise program is designed to get you real results with minimal time and equipment
when combined with maximal effort. No gym necessary. You can do this program at home, in
the park, or even in your hotel room. Don’t get me wrong, I love the gym. The gym is great as
it provides many options for the fat loss journey. In my opinion, even the biggest gym skeptic
eventually grows to appreciate the amount of options the gym offers for progression. However,
getting to, paying for, and enjoying the gym environment leaves too many opportunities to
make excuses in regards to beginning, or sustaining, a program.

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Man flourished physically for thousands of years without the gym and its sacred equipment.
Moving like humans were supposed to move and eating like humans were supposed
to eat created the physique that served as a muse to poets, sculptors, and artists for
centuries.

In the following pages, I’m going to try to help clear up the misconceptions about resistance
training, cardiovascular training, and nutrition for fat loss that have left you confused and
frustrated. We’ll examine common questions I hear almost every day from real people looking
for real fat loss.

Questions like:
• What’s the BEST program for fat loss?
• Doesn’t resistance training bulk you up?
• Do high reps with light weight give you “tone”?
• What’s the best cardiovascular “fat-burning zone?”
• How do you get a six pack?
• What role does nutrition play in losing fat?

The real world answers to these questions may challenge some of your current notions in
regards to losing fat. If you want to learn more, I have included research resources on the topics
discussed in this manual, in addition to other valuable readings.

Finally, I have created a 12-week workout plan incorporating specially designed resistance and
cardiovascular training to help you shed fat and get the results you’ve been striving for. This
plan includes everything you need—including videos, pictures, and tips—to ensure that you are
performing each movement with maximum quality and flawless technique. After your first 12
weeks, you will have an opportunity to continue updating your program through
www.brettklika.com.

You’re going to sweat, grunt, and maybe curse the program at times. At no time, however, do I
want you to view hard work as a novelty. You are human! Human beings are meant to challenge
themselves physically! By moving the way humans are supposed to move, you’ll look like
humans are supposed to look!

There is no “one-size-fits-all” program. Through extensive research, industry collaboration,

and tons of successful application, this program is “this-size-fits-most”. As I said before, if
you are currently doing a program that you enjoy and consistently see results with,
that’s terrific. Keep it up for the rest of your life. If you need other suggestions, I’m here
for you. However, if you’re already happy with what you’re doing, you’re probably not buying
this book. Nearly every research and experience-derived truth I express here can be refuted by
human anomalies that have experienced success some other way. Again, everyone has unique
genetics, physiology, structure, and view of success. Find what gives you success and do it every

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day, even if it isn’t this program.

It should be obvious, but I will say it anyway: before you begin an exercise program, make sure
to talk to your doctor. Be sure to consult with a doctor who understands real health, not a
pharmaceutical puppet who knows nothing about real exercise and nutrition. If a doctor ever
tells you to stop moving or exercising for any reason, get a second opinion. Very few things are
more dangerous or damaging to a human than being terminally idle.

The implications of moving every day go well beyond burning fat. If you don’t move it, you will
lose it. If a movement hurts, don’t do it. Modify it to suit your needs or replace it with another.
Movement is essential for every joint in your body. If one or more joints are painful to the point
of interfering with movement, it is paramount you do whatever it takes to get those joints
moving again. Consult well-known, reputable health care professionals.

Have fun! Enjoy your journey. Eating and moving like humans are supposed to is something
that everyone can do, but only some will. It makes you part of a very unique tribe that is
above the “fray” of bad information and constant frustration. Our tribe doesn’t accept excuses
from themselves or anyone else. We are physically, mentally, and emotionally educated and
successful. We are an inspiration by perspiration.

Are you in?

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 a new physical machine
01
is built with the right
mental machinery

“Get Your Mind Right!!!”

Todd Durkin

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To transform your body into a fat-burning machine, you have to start with the right “mental
machinery”. To be successful in the “battle with the bulge”, you must accept certain truths
about losing fat:

truth #1: You are going to have to change what you are doing if you aren’t
seeing the results you want.

If you are wanting to head north on a southbound train, you have two options:
1. Get off the train and get on another one going in the direction you want to go.
2. Decide you are cool with the idea of heading south and stay on the train.

Your exercise program can work the same way in regards to getting the results you want.

If you are looking to change your body, you must change your behavior or change
your expectations.

Nearly all exercise is terrific. If you are currently exercising, you are ahead of the curve. Even
with a program that isn’t optimal, you are decreasing your odds of disease and increasing your
quality of life. If you want more than that, however, you have to DO MORE than that. If what
you’re doing doesn’t get you the results you want, find something smarter, better, and more
effective. That means getting out of your comfort zone and possibly challenging all of your
preconceived notions and conventions about losing fat and changing your body.

Realize that for most of us, our body essentially scoffs at the notion of getting rid of fat and
retaining muscle for aesthetic purposes, or looking good. The human body is hell-bent on
survival. Having extremely low body fat doesn’t have much to do with survival.

Fat serves as stored calories for when we can’t access food. While this isn’t a problem for many
of us now, it was for thousands of years. Famines spared the heartiest, not the “hottest”.
If we didn’t retain fat as humans, we would have been gone as a species many years ago. If you
want to convince your body to get rid of what it perceives as a lifeline, you’re going to have to
outsmart it and, to a certain degree, bully it. It’s time for a surprise attack!

For a program to work, you have to believe in it and let that belief drive your actions.
Psychology trumps physiology every time. If you doubt what you are doing and constantly resist
change, you’ll end up right back where you started.

truth #2: Proper, real nutrition is the foundation of a program to lose fat and
get the body you want for life.

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Changing your nutrition is one of the biggest challenges you will face. If you have no plans to do
this, put down this book and continue your frustration. You can’t out-work a bad diet. You
can’t out-work a bad diet. YOU CAN’T OUTWORK A BAD DIET!!!!

No, that wasn’t a typo. Just the honest truth.

I will only briefly touch on nutrition in this book. For a tremendous resource on how nutrition
and other lifestyle habits affect your health and quality of life, I recommend Sean Croxton’s The
Dark Side of Fat Loss available at www.darksideoffatloss.com.

truth #3: You are a human. Humans are designed to move—a lot—at a very
high intensity—sometimes for long durations.

Our not-so-distant ancestors chopped down trees, lifted logs, plowed fields, and moved an
estimated eight miles a day. Nearly everything in their lives required physical output.

If I hear another recreational exerciser talk about “overtraining” again, I’m going to take away
their “toning” shoes and balance bracelets, and put them in time-out. Americans are an
inactive population in which a minority of people sometimes exercise. When they exercise,
they operate at a near pedestrian intensity. This doesn’t merit 48 hours of “recovery time,” aka
being idle some more.

If you want to change your body, you need to move at an intensity beyond your comfort zone nearly
every day. A couple times a week, you should have what I call an “OB” moment in your exercise
program. These are bouts in your program that make you say “Oh Bleep! This is challenging!”

Having variety in your routine will help prevent burnout and injury while making the program
fun. If some part of your body is overly sore or injured, find another part of your body to work.
If you’re feeling burned out with what you are doing, do something else! When humans move,
they thrive. When they don’t, they suffer and die. Move it or lose it!

This program is designed for quite a bit of variety while still focusing on your goal to burn
maximal fat in minimal time.

Truth #4: To decrease body fat, you need to increase muscle mass.
Let’s take a logical look at the necessity of increasing your amount of muscle to burn fat. Think
about all the different tissue we have in our body: muscle, fat, connective tissue, bone, skin,
etc. Which is responsible for the most energy usage? Which can you significantly increase
through training? Skin? No! The answer is muscle! When you hear about burning calories and
fat, muscle is the primary responsible party. If you have more muscle, you use more energy and
burn more fat. Even when you’re sitting around doing nothing!

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The above phenomenon of lean muscle and fat works similar to a car engine and fuel. Let
me ask you, which engine uses more fuel, a 4 -cylinder or a V-8? Let’s say that the amount of
muscle you have in your body is like a little 4-cylinder engine. When you work out, you want
to burn fuel (fat) but with a little engine, how much fuel can you actually burn? Let’s say you
increase the size of that engine, closer to a V-8. Remember, that doesn’t necessarily mean your
body gets bigger, it just means you have more muscle for your body size. Now when you work
out, you burn a lot more fuel (fat) due to the increased size of your lean muscle engine. You
even burn more fuel while “idling” (resting). The fuel (fat) in your “storage tank” (butt, hips,
gut, thighs, etc.) gets used quickly by the bigger engine. Soon it uses up the excess fat and a
majority of what is left is muscle. Muscle is far more dense that fat, so you look leaner! You’ll
have a big, fuel- hungry V-8 engine in a sleek sports-car body.

With the above information, you can see why you can’t significantly decrease fat and change
your body long-term by aerobic exercise alone. I hate to break it you, but if you’re looking
to significantly change your body by doing nothing but aerobic training (you know who
you are!), you’re wasting your time! As illustrated above, you need to build a bigger engine
to burn more fuel. Aerobic exercise only burns fuel through the engine you already have. Over
time, that engine can get even smaller with age.

In order to create change in your body, you need to increase the size of your lean muscle mass
engine. The best way to do this is through resistance training. This is any type of training that
provides some sort of resistance to movement. It could incorporate bodyweight, dumbbells,
barbells, medicine balls, or anything else that provides a challenging but manageable
resistance. As long as the load provides you with a safe progressive challenge and you do it
consistently, it’s resistance training.

If you want to change your body but have doubts in regards to getting serious about resistance
training, consider the following. How many people do you know that love serious resistance
training and hate their body? Most shirtless or bathing suit Facebook pictures are not adorned
with the caption “I hate resistance training”. There’s a reason gyms have wall-to-wall mirrors!

Unfortunately, when some people hear “increase muscle” the first thing that comes to mind
is bulking up and looking like a bodybuilder. To them, I say this: Do you have any idea how
involved and unnatural it is to look like a competitive bodybuilder? Their bodies don’t just look
like that because they lift weights 2 or 3 times per week. Trust me, you are not going to look
like a bodybuilder unless you:

a. Look like a bodybuilder naturally

b. Take large amounts of legal and/or illegal anabolic supplements
c. Follow a serious resistance training program using weights well north of your bodyweight
four to seven days per week
d. Follow a strict, five-to-seven high-protein meals per day diet
e. Want to become a bodybuilder and do all of the above

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Unless you match the above profile, it is a very slow process to create even minor changes
in the amount of muscle you have. I’ve overheard clients talk about how they “started lifting
weights last week and gained three pounds of muscle so their jeans don’t fit”. Wow! If that
were true, I would be the most sought-after trainer in the world for athletes and bodybuilders.
Three pounds of muscle after doing two sixty-minute sub-maximal workouts in a week with
no illegal drugs? I would literally have pro athletes, gym rats, and bodybuilders camping on my
doorstep to retain my services. Unfortunately, three pounds of muscle in a week is impossible
under normal human circumstances.

If humans put on metabolically active tissue so quickly and easily, we would have died off as a
species many years ago. Remember, muscle uses energy, fat can provide energy. If lifting logs
and rocks every day put pounds of muscle onto our ancestors every week, they would have
created so much muscle and burned so much fat that they would require HUGE caloric intakes
to provide adequate energy for survival. With that much metabolically active tissue requiring
constant energy intake, they would have been wiped out by the first sign of hunger or famine.

Daily and weekly weight swings are due to water retention and excretion. After exercise,
muscle can swell as it repairs for a couple of days. That may make your jeans a little more snug.
Unless you are going through puberty, muscle usually creeps on at a pound or two per month,
even with the most serious workout, nutrition, and supplementation programs. Each pound of
muscle can help you burn many pounds of fat. This results in a net decrease in bodyweight and
a net increase in sexiness!!

If you resist the notion of increasing your lean muscle mass in order to burn more calories and
fat, or you still envision a 250-pound bodybuilder every time I say “ increase lean muscle mass”,
you are not ready for change. I wish I could be of more help, but as Yoda once said to Luke
Skywalker, “Ready, you are not.”

In this book and accompanying exercise program I’m going to review the facts and truths about
losing fat and give you practical, real world solutions. The truths I’ll lay out are like the laws of
gravity. Whether you chose to believe them or not, these truths exist. Once you understand
how it all works, it helps focus your energy with sniper-like intention.

If you accept and embrace the truths outlined above, you now have the mental machinery to
build a better physical machine. When you’re busy, tired, frustrated, or having a “woe is me”
moment, use these truths to guide you on your mission! Don’t be distracted by the bright
lights and scantily clad spokesmodels whose knowledge of fat loss is confined to the large print
sounded out for them on the teleprompter (I’m Ron Burgundy?).

As thousands of entities compete for your exercise dollars, you can’t allow the facts and truths
about fat loss to be replaced with gadgets, gimmicks, and human anomalies. Your mission is
success.

Failure is not an option. LET’S GO!

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 02
the “best” exercise
program for YOU

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Choosing a workout plan these days seems akin to choosing a religion. Zealots of different
exercise philosophies go to great lengths to not only justify their program, but to discredit
others. Unfortunately, this often has more to do with increasing profit margins than decreasing
waistlines. The truth is, there is no such thing as the “ultimate” program for everyone.
As every human has unique motivations, abilities, physiologies, and other factors that
differentiate them from others, an ideal exercise program for an individual has a degree of
subjectivity. While there are “truths” about exercise and fat loss, how they are most effectively
applied to each individual may differ.

The ideal exercise program combines objective truths adapted subjectively for an individual. In
order for a program to be “ideal” for you, it must be:

enjoyable and accessible

If you don’t have the facilities or equipment for a program, or you just don’t like it, you’re
not going to stick with it. As I’ve said before, psychology trumps physiology every time. Find
something challenging that you enjoy and do it frequently!

progressive
If you can’t progressively increase the challenge to your body long-term, you will stop seeing
results. If you do the same “hard” thing every day with no way to monitor progression, why
would your body continue to adapt? Exercise is like a door-to-door salesman constantly
knocking on a muscle’s door.

Exercise: “Hello Mr. Muscle, I have 10 bodyweight push-ups to help you grow.”
Muscle: “I already have those. No, thanks.”
Exercise: “But do you have them with a 20-pound weight vest?”
Muscle: “Cool! I’ll take them! Let me kick out some dead-beat fat so I can make some room!”

For a program to be effective long-term, it must constantly allow for opportunities to increase
the challenge to your body. This may mean more challenging exercises, adding external load
(weight), changing the tempo or repetitions, or any other way to “sell” a new stimulus to the
muscle.

safe and balanced

If your program is injurious, you’ll get hurt and won’t be able to exercise. I have seen programs
that are acutely injurious where progression is done too quickly or activities poorly suited to
the individual are prescribed. I have also seen programs where the negative effects occur over a
longer period of time. These programs often do not follow any physiological, biomechanical, or
anatomical organization. They just offer random “hard stuff” for people to do. In the short term
this is generally OK. However, when you present your body with extreme demands over
and over again with no rhyme or reason, sooner or later it will break down.

18
A program that is safe over the long-term addresses movement from a balanced perspective.
The body is capable of moving in many ways. These different movement patterns work
together to mobilize and stabilize joints; keeping them working correctly and effectively. For
example, your chest, shoulders, and triceps, in addition to some other smaller muscles, are
involved with “pushing” activities. When you do “pushing” activities like push-ups, these
muscles are activated to create the movement. The “pulling” muscles of your back, like the
rhomboids, lats, and other smaller muscles, stabilize and help control the pushing movements.
If you do a program with a lot of pushes and either very few or no pulls at all, the pushing
muscles get significantly stronger than the pulling muscles.

An imbalanced program creates an imbalance of strength, stability, and mobility around a

joint. This eventually results in injury and/or a decrease in performance. There are two primary
ways to mess your body up. One is to not do anything at all, the other is to do one thing over
and over again. The relationship between opposing muscle groups mentioned above is true
all throughout the body. For a program to be safe and balanced long-term, it is necessary to
address these relationships through training.

adaptable
A program must allow for additions and subtractions as your body and life change. New
information and modalities are always becoming available, so a program must be designed so
that these can be implemented when appropriate and effective. There is no “one way” to train
for the rest of your life. The most successful program allows for variation over time.

effective for YOU

What works for one doesn’t work for another for many reasons. While established research
gives us powerful implications as to what works, the best program for you is one that gives you
the results you want injury-free and without detriment. Constantly assess if you are getting
what you want out of an exercise program. If you do a program correctly and don’t get the
results you want, it’s not an effective program for you. Try something else.

When you combine all of the above elements into a program for fat loss, THAT is going to be
the best program for you to get the results you want. I have gone to painstaking lengths in The
Underground Workout Manual to include all of the elements of an ideal program to make it
effective for YOU.

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 03
growing muscle
to shrink fat

20
If you have read this far, you have accepted the notion that in order to burn more fat, you need
to increase your amount of lean muscle. In this chapter, we’ll look at how you can make this
happen.

For muscle tissue to grow you need:

• Proper nutrition (to be discussed in Chapter 5)

• A growth stimulus (resistance training)
• Optimal natural testosterone levels

If you don’t have all of the above, it’s difficult to grow muscle. As you now know, if you can’t
grow muscle, it’s hard to shrink fat.

your muscle growth stimulus

Resistance training is the primary training modality for muscle growth. Muscle tissue growth
is stimulated by two factors from a resistance training standpoint: training intensity and
training volume.

Training intensity is a measure of how much absolute effort you are contributing to an
exercise. Contrary to popular belief, it is not a measure of how loud your training music is
or how many times you yell “Feel the burn!!” during a training session. When results are
the desired outcome, true training intensity is measured based on percentages of an all-out
effort to failure.

We all have our absolute maximums for weight, reps, speed, etc. These are our personal
“records”. We can’t train at record speed and strength all the time because we would
eventually get overly fatigued or injured. Training intensity is a measure of how close we get to
these personal records on a daily basis. Most safe, effective training is done between 70-90%
of our maximal effort. For a true measure of intensity, record your maximums for a particular
exercise (weight, repetitions, speed, etc). The closer you get to those numbers in training, the
higher the intensity you are training at.

For beginners using bodyweight, the maximal number of repetitions performed is an adequate
number to assess intensity. In general however, the absolute overload to the body (weight
or speed) is a more accurate assessment. This is based on a single best performance (i.e.
most weight lifted for 1-3 repetitions, fastest speed in a certain distance, or maximal heart
rate attained). For example, if I can bench press 200 pounds for 2 reps, my daily training
intensity is going to be based on 70-90% of 200 pounds. It works the same way for speed and
cardiovascular training. To determine your maximums for strength, speed, and cardiovascular
fitness, I recommend meeting with a certified fitness professional.

21
Your training volume is a measure of how much total work you are doing. Volume is the
product of training weight multiplied by sets multiplied by reps. For example, if you lift 50
pounds for 3 sets of 10, your overall training volume for that exercise is 1500 pounds. Your
overall training volume is a significant factor in increasing your amount of lean muscle.

In general, when you increase the intensity of an exercise by adding weight or making it more
difficult, the number of repetitions you can do decreases (heavier weight, lower reps). To
maintain adequate training volume for muscle growth with heavier weight and lower reps, you
would need to increase the number of sets you do. If you decrease the intensity of an exercise
by decreasing the amount of weight or making it easier, you will need to add more repetitions
(light weight, high reps), and possibly more sets in order to improve training volume.

When it comes to “heavy” or “light” training weight, it is important to note that these are
relative terms. In order to create a change in your body, the weight should always feel “heavy”
regardless of the amount of repetitions you are performing, unless you are injured, rehabbing,
or just getting familiar with a program. In terms of training language, true “heavy” weight is
weight you can only do about 1 to 5-6 repetitions of before failure. “Light” weight is weight you
can only do 7-15 repetitions of before failure.

When you train with low repetition (heavy) weight, you’re sending a big signal to your brain to
recruit efficient nerve pathways and improve the contractility of muscle fibers to overcome the
load of the weight and movement you are doing. When you continually send this message to
the brain, the nerve pathways and muscle fibers get better at doing what they need to do to
overcome the load. The result is that you get stronger.

When you train with high repetition (light) weight, your body and brain are repeatedly
required to recruit nerve pathways, improve muscle contractility, and provide energy for
the more sustained bout of activity. This creates a significant metabolic disturbance (aka:
system overload) that elicits a physiological and hormonal response (see “testosterone”
below). Muscle is then convinced to adapt and grow in order to accommodate these repeated
demands. To reiterate, however, high repetition weight should still feel like a million
pounds after about 10 reps!

You should always follow impeccable technique and be able to control the movement you are
doing. That being said, if you want to change your body significantly, you need to find ways to
make each exercise extremely challenging. This is true regardless of what type of training
program you follow: bodyweight, dumbbells, barbells, kettle bells, or…the program in this book!

Both high repetition and low repetition training have a role in helping increase muscle and
decrease fat. For lean muscle to continue to grow and for fat to continue to shrink, even your
high-rep training weight should continually increase. This requires that you get stronger. When
you first start training, you will continue to get stronger almost every training session. You’ll

22
notice that the number of repetitions and the amount of weight you can do steadily increases
easily for a while. You reach a point, however, when these increases in strength are harder to
come by. In order to give your muscle a new stimulus, you may need to decrease the amount of
reps you do and increase the load for a period of time.

For example, if I can do 15 bodyweight push-ups, I need to find some way to make those
push-ups harder in order to continually improve my body. I may wear a weight vest, put a
weight plate on my back, put my feet on a bench, or do all three! Doing push-ups with these
challenges is far more difficult than just bodyweight, so I’ll be able to do fewer repetitions. My
brain and muscles, however, will learn how to be more efficient to move the heavier load. The
next time I go back to do bodyweight push-ups, I can probably do more than 15. Consequently,
my training volume goes up.

The body responds to the above collaboration of high-and low-rep training by rewarding
me with more lean muscle mass and less fat, assuming I have an appropriate hormone
(testosterone) and nutrition (real food) profile.

testosterone
The amount of natural testosterone available is a significant factor that determines the rate and
magnitude of muscle growth. Testosterone is one of the most important hormones that signal
your muscles to grow. When you give your body a significant training stimulus, testosterone
and other muscle-growing hormones are released. The rate and magnitude of this response is
dependent on your individual chemistry. This release of testosterone is absolutely necessary to
increase your amount of muscle and decrease your amount of fat.

People have varying natural levels of testosterone depending on their gender, family genetics,
stress levels, recovery levels, sleep patterns, nutrition, training program, and a variety of other
factors. Generally, women have well less than a third the amount of testosterone that men do.
Due to their significantly higher levels of testosterone, men build and retain significantly more
muscle than women. That is why it is easier for men to burn fat and stay leaner than women.

The predominant female hormone is estrogen, which loves to retain fat in order to fuel and
protect what I like to call “the baby franchise”. At any age, women must work harder on their
nutrition, as well as resistance and cardiovascular training than men to grow muscle and
shrink fat.

There are individual differences amongst men and women when it comes to their individual
amounts of natural testosterone. Even for most men, it can be very difficult to
significantly increase their amount of lean muscle mass. Both women and men on the
higher side of the testosterone scale will increase muscle and decrease fat more easily and
more quickly than their low-end counterparts. In either case, increasing lean muscle mass is a
relatively slow process.

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The above statement is extremely important to understand. Many women and men fear that
resistance training is going to “bulk them up”. If you are by nature extremely muscular and
strong, you probably have higher than normal testosterone and your body will grow a relatively
large amount of muscle quickly in response to training. People, particularly women, with higher
than normal testosterone are very rare. Research shows that an extremely low percentage
of women have higher than normal testosterone levels. Ironically, a very high percentage of
women are afraid of accumulating too much muscle. Men are guilty of the same faulty thought
process as a small percentage have testosterone levels considered higher than normal. If you
don’t have higher than normal testosterone, you are going to accumulate muscle at a slow,
steady, and relatively limited rate.

After the age of 30, men and women both start to experience decreases in testosterone. At 40,
testosterone significantly decreases. That means it becomes harder to hold onto muscle and
get rid of fat. Effort and commitment to training and nutrition must be increased to see the
results you want.

Whether you have high or low levels of testosterone, muscle does have limits for natural
growth, especially significant growth. Even with high testosterone levels, it’s not
like you just keep accumulating muscle mass until you are stomping through the
streets of Tokyo, knocking over buildings and breathing fire. Unless you are doing
something unnatural to your body with supplementation, radical diet and exercise, or surgical
augmentation, your muscle growth is sort of like blowing up a beach ball. When you blow up
a beach ball, it has a pre-determined size. You can keep adding air to maximize that size, but
it can only get so big, unless you augment it in some unnatural way. Your natural propensity
to increase your amount of muscle is largely affected by your genetics. Your goal should be to
maximize the amount of lean muscle you naturally have to build a better fat burning machine.

Provide your body with an adequate training stimulus through varied intensities and volumes
while following the core principles of adequate nutrition, rest, and stress management outlined
in Sean Croxton’s The Dark Side of Fat Loss. This helps create a favorable testosterone profile
for you to grow muscle and shrink fat. Consult with your physician to determine your individual
testosterone levels. Whether you are a man or a woman, embracing these truths is an essential
part of winning the “battle with the bulge”.

If you still think that resistance training bulks everyone up, don’t go further in this program. You
are not accepting the truth, and it’s going to get harder from here.

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 04
how presence of muscle
and absence of fat
makes us look
(fact-over-fiction)

25
Ripped, toned, shredded, jacked, or shaped. These are all gender-appropriate terms for the
same thing: the presence of muscle and absence of fat. For the purposes of this chapter, I’m
going to refer to these adjectives as “RTSJS”. When people can see our muscle, we become
RTSJS. Muscle has a natural, defined shape; fat doesn’t. Muscle is much more pleasing to
look at. Consequently, there are not many amorphous blobs of Jello celebrated at art museums.

There are many common fallacies as to how we can augment how our muscles look. Many
claim that certain methodologies can change the length or actual structure of a muscle to make
it look a certain way. Special weight, reps, and movements can allegedly change our God-given
muscle structure to look like our favorite genetically gifted movie star that is the child of two
other genetically gifted movie stars.

The real world truth is that muscles are relatively dumb. They can only do a few things. They
can contract, relax, grow in cross sectional area, and shrink in cross- sectional area. They cannot
take on a completely different shape or length. If we could change the natural shape and length
of a muscle, why stop at “long and lean?” If I want my biceps to look like lightning bolts, should
I do curls in a zigzag pattern?

To understand how creating a lean physique works, you have to understand how muscle
works and grows. Muscles are attached to bones via tendons at very specific, anatomically
designed attachment points, usually above and below, or on either side of a joint. There is an
anchor point attachment and an insertion attachment. When a muscle contracts, it pulls the
insertion attachment towards the anchor point. Take your bicep, for example. It has its anchor
attachment up in the shoulder complex. Its insertion attachment is below the elbow on the
underside of the forearm area. Extend your arm and look at the palm of your hand. Now, flex
your bicep. Notice how when your bicep shortens, it pulls your hand towards your face. The
insertion point is being pulled towards the anchor. This is how every muscle in your body works.

As you now know, when the above process is done repeatedly under a progressive load, the
body fortifies the involved muscle with more tissue and more efficient coordination. Fortifying
the muscle with more tissue means the muscle becomes more prominent. Assuming that fat
around the muscle is simultaneously decreasing, the muscle and its natural shape become
the prominent external feature on the individual. This makes people say “Wow (insert gender
appropriate name here)! You look (insert gender appropriate adjective for presence of muscle,
absence of fat here)!” RTSJS is literally taking the muscle formation that you naturally have and
making it more prominent than the fat that surrounds it, whether you are a man or a woman.

As I said before, muscle has a shape, fat doesn’t. It’s not your butt that’s “saggy,” it’s the fat that
surrounds it. Your butt muscles are shaped like butt muscles, but are not dense and prominent
enough. Since fat and skin don’t have a defined shape and density, when they are the most
prominent feature on a particular body part, that body part “sags”. Make your butt muscles
more prominent by shrinking the undefined, shapeless tissue that sags under gravity (fat) and

26
building the dense, shapely, well-defined tissue that resists gravity (muscle). This works for
every area of your body. To learn HOW to do this, read on.

I often hear “How do I get (insert gender appropriate model, movie star, or first lady)’s
arms?” If you want the shape of your particular body part to look like the shape of someone
else’s body part, first increase the prominence of your God-given muscle while decreasing the
prominence of fat through resistance training, nutrition, and properly executed cardiovascular
training. If that doesn’t work, you can either:

1. Keep attempting to increase your naturally-shaped muscle size and decrease your
amount of fat until the desired look is achieved.

OR

2. Get a flux-capacitor-fueled DeLorean up to 88 miles per hour to travel back in time to

when your mom and dad met and try to get one of them to select a different mate
with the shape of muscle that you want. There are no guarantees, but this may slightly
increase your odds of getting the muscle shape you want.

If you think that you can change the natural shape of a muscle outside of making it bigger
or smaller, please explain to me how this would work. It is attached at either end to a
fixed point on a bone and all the muscle fibers work together to make the muscle contract
and relax. It’s not like only one part of a muscle will work when it’s under load. The whole
thing either contracts or relaxes so the whole thing adapts over time to grow or shrink. If
you doubt me, spend some time in a cadaver lab where you can see the human muscular
structure and how it works.

While a well-designed, intensive exercise and nutrition lifestyle can make your muscle
show more than your fat, you still can’t “spot reduce”. Spot reducing is the flawed notion
that working a specific body part makes fat decrease in that particular area. We all have
beautifully shaped striated muscles under our skin. Yes, that includes beautiful six-
pack abs! If our abdominal muscles weren’t corrugated, we would have trouble bending over
to tie our shoes! We may not see these muscles because of the layer of fat over them. Fat
actually congregates to this area as protection for the internal organs.

Fat melts in response to our metabolism, not local work. When we create a metabolic
disturbance, fat is mobilized for energy. This fat usually comes from an area our body has
determined does not need as much fat for protection or other survival means. This is different
for everyone. Attempting to “spot reduce” fat by doing exercises like crunches does very little
to create the metabolic disturbance necessary to illicit a hormonal response to build muscle or
burn fat. The muscle may grow, but very little will happen to the fat.

27
I have known people to brag about their 15-minute daily “abs and arms” routines with nothing
to show for it. Of course, they couldn’t tell me what they’d eaten in the last 24 hours or any
details about their resistance training or cardiovascular program other than that “they do
weights and cardio for 45 minutes”. Giving more attention to their nutrition and training
intensity would actually contribute more to creating the desired look of RTSJS abs. Six-pack
abs are 95% kitchen, 5% gym.

I’m not saying exercises like crunches are bad. You should do some abdominal and other spot-
specific exercises to stay strong and make sure these muscles are robust enough to be defined
when the fat disappears. Focusing on large muscle movements like squats, lunges, push-ups,
and pull-ups creates a much greater metabolic response. This builds more muscle and burns
more fat. Use the extra time you would have spent doing your “abs and arms” routine to cook
and eat great nutrition while working on your resistance training and cardiovascular program.

The moral of the story is when you can see more of your God-given natural muscle than fat, it
looks good. If you want the “RTSJS” look, do things that increase muscle and decrease fat (like
this program!) Progressive resistance training gives muscle the stimulus to become stronger
and more prominent. In a later chapter we will talk about how high intensity cardiovascular
interval training (HICIT) is the most effective, efficient way to acutely burn fat. The more muscle
you get from resistance training, the more fat you can burn during cardiovascular training. The
less junk you put in your system from bad nutrition, the less extra fat you have to deal with in
the first place!!

We’re getting closer. It’s almost time to train!

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 05
building a better
house requires better
building materials

29
When it comes to growing muscle and shrinking fat, your nutrition is going to be one of the
most significant underlying factors in determining your success.

If you want to build a strong, beautiful house, you need adequate amounts of high quality
material as well as builders that are motivated, effective, and efficient. If you don’t have an
adequate amount of material, the builders can’t build. If you have too much, the leftovers
create a huge, unsightly pile. If you use crappy material, the builders will try to build with it, but
since it doesn’t fit the scope of the project, it gets thrown onto the unsightly pile. In addition,
if you give the builders a bunch of material they don’t recognize, they don’t know what to do
with it. Pretty soon, they get frustrated, go on strike, and the whole operation shuts down.
Materials are delivered, but they just go straight onto the big, amorphous pile.

Adequate amounts of real, quality food provide the metabolic fuel and material for building
muscle and shrinking fat. When you don’t take in enough food, you don’t have material to
build. Take in too much food, the unused material is stored on the unwanted fat “pile”. When
you eat processed food with unrecognizable additives, it detracts from the amount and quality
of building materials on hand. This confuses and frustrates the builders, otherwise known as
your metabolism.

As I have mentioned before, your body is hell-bent on survival. We were a near-starving

population for thousands of years prior to our recent gluttonous food consumption. When
you don’t get enough quality calories, your body recognizes, “Uh-oh, there must be a food
shortage. Let’s start breaking down muscle because it’s a calorie-hog. We need to store some
fat in case this famine lasts.”

As muscle is broken down, the rate at which you use energy (metabolism) is decreased. Muscle
is what makes your metabolism have to work, so less muscle equals less metabolism. Under
these conditions, you rapidly lose muscle and accumulate fat. That is why “going on a diet”
is never successful long term. This is not an opinion. It is a RULE. If you lose muscle, you
slow your metabolism, period. If you want to be RTSJS for life, diet is a noun, not a verb.

The problem of eating too many calories is relatively new to the human condition. We now
have the ability to eat way more than our metabolism can handle. Furthermore, what we eat
has decreased in quality over the years due to the over-processing of our food supply. We take
in way more energy than we can use, and a good portion of what we take in isn’t even good
energy in the first place! The volume overflows our metabolism and is stored as fat. The low
food quality can create a major dysfunction in our metabolism resulting in illness, disease, and
an overall decreased quality of life for millions.

30
Imagine if one of our ancient ancestors saw the amount and type of food we have access to on
a daily basis.

“So here’s how it works Mr. Caveman. First we put the pastrami on top of the burger,
then we put it between two miniature loaves of bread with oil and egg sauce. Then we
fry up a couple of potatoes. We add a bunch of other stuff to make it taste and look
good too. I’m not sure what it is, but what the heck, no one’s ever eaten anything that
killed them, right? That’s what we call “lunch”. Then I sit at this desk and look up old
high school girlfriends on Facebook until it’s time to stuff my face again. That’s what we
call ‘working’.”

Imagine if our ancient ancestors constantly ate large amounts of mystery food and
chemicals, then sat until it was time to eat that stuff again? Would we be here today?
Guess what, WE will be someone’s ancient ancestors. Hopefully!

One of the reasons we eat too much is that we like to create hunger by not eating frequently.
When we are hungry, food tastes better. Would you eat a snack two hours before going to a
nice steak restaurant? Probably not. When we are hungry, we turn into voracious beasts that
are hell-bent on devouring everything in sight. Our body actually signals us to do this. For
years, hunger equaled a survival risk. As food was hard to come by, when you were hungry and
found food, you were motivated to eat as much as possible. It worked for ancient hunters and
gatherers, not so much for more modern day “point and clickers”.

In American culture, we love to overeat at dinner. It is sort of a reward for our day of work.
The problem with this is that we stuff our faces and then head straight to bed without using
any energy. Where do you think those dinner calories are going to be used? Creating energy
for your dreams about showing up naked to a chemistry class you forgot you were supposed
to be attending? I have found that when I get my clients to consume a relatively high protein
snack 2-3 hours before dinner, they don’t over-eat and they don’t get hungry late at night. Give
it a try! You’ll be amazed by your natural resistance to doing this. You have learned to be very
hungry for dinner, and consequently, eat more than you need.

Another reason we over-eat is the amount of literally addictive chemicals that are added to food
to make us eat them. Let me ask you, why do you eat Doritos? Do they fill you up? Do they give
you energy? What do they taste like? Can you identify anything aside from “intense salt?”

Big food companies need to sell their product. If we eat more, they sell more. If they can come
up with a way to make us eat more of their product, it’s very good for business. Additionally,
the more we get addicted to the chemical taste, the less they have to worry about the actual
quality of the ingredients they use. Sort of interesting how a couple of years ago they found
documents on collaborative research between Kraft Foods and Phillips Morris cigarette
company on taste and addiction.

31
We become addicted to these strong tastes and pretty soon, chemical- free food is bland to us.
Our taste buds prefer the processed version. This motivates us to seek foods that are intense
in superficial taste and low in nutritional quality. The intense taste makes us eat more than
we need. On top of that, the metabolism gets so confused with all the extra chemicals that it
has no idea what to do with them. This overindulgence and metabolic confusion results in an
increase in stored fat.

Expect the same quality from your food as you would your wine. Taste it. To a connoisseur,
merely having a glass of wine is a thirty-step process from selection to swallow, followed by
a well-informed conversation about where the wine was from, who bottled it, and similar
intricacies of the product and experience. What if we ate food like this? What if you really took
time to taste your next meal? What would this do to the quality of food you purchased? You
think you’d still be shaking the upturned Pringles can over your mouth like a momma bird to
her chicks, trying to get out the last of the chip-dust?

To help my clients around the world get RTSJS for life, I have them follow my 5,4,3,2,1 rule of
nutrition for fat loss:

5 Meals a day. Eat throughout the course of the day!

4 Pints (at least) of water. Drink water frequently.

3 No more than 3-5 hours between meals. Don’t “starve” then “gorge”.

2 Ingredients or less in the food you eat. I’m not talking about 5-vegetable salads. I’m
talking about lab-created additives for flavor, visual appeal, texture, etc. If your almonds
have salt, that’s OK. Anything more than that, you’re eating more chemicals than food.

1 Processed food per day is OK. “1” represents not so much an exact number, but more of
an approach to minimize the amount of processed food we eat. It is difficult to get this
completely out of our diet because of the convenience we command with our lifestyles.
When you do eat it, pay attention to how it makes you feel. After you clean things up, you
may not even want it!

The 5,4,3,2,1 rule gives you some basic, easy to follow guidelines to fuel your body for fat
loss success.

When we eat real, unprocessed food frequently we don’t create physiological and behavioral
responses to hunger. What is real food? This is food that was around 10,000 years ago. Your

32
great-grandmother cooked with it. It didn’t take years of experiments on rats to determine it
was “generally regarded as safe” for humans. There are no tricks up an organic carrot’s sleeve
to get us to eat more. You’re probably not going to mindlessly eat three homemade, free-range,
organic roasted chickens while watching TV, especially if you ate a couple of hours ago.

Real food is full of the protein, carbohydrates, and fats we need, in addition to essential
vitamins and minerals. When we get all of the above, our metabolism is not worried about
famine. It responds to the demands we put on it by not only providing us with adequate
energy, but providing everything we need to build and repair. Muscle is created, fat is used for
energy, repeat.

A diet consisting of real food like the one mentioned above is the only approach I have seen
long-term success with my clients in regards to controlling their body weight and body fat. Fads
come and go, but real food is here to stay!

33
 06
the REAL fat burning
zone to shrink fat

34
As you know by now, progressive resistance training facilitates muscle growth, which creates
a bigger engine to use fuel. When you perform the right type of cardiovascular training,
you put that bigger engine into high gear to use calories and burn fat.

From a cardiovascular exercise standpoint, your body adapts similarly to resistance training.
Intensity (heart rate, speed) and volume (distance, duration) of work are important variables
in burning fat and creating body change. There is a lot of confusing information about the
cardiovascular exercise intensity that is optimal for losing the most fat.

For a long time, the recommended “Fat Burning Zone” was a magical land where the goal was
to maintain a relatively low to moderate heart rate for an extended period of time. Because
this protocol actually suggested people work out at an easier intensity, it was embraced by the
masses. The idea was that if you work out at a high heart rate for a relatively short amount
of time, you will preferentially burn carbohydrates. When you keep your heart rate low for a
longer duration, you preferentially burn fat and spare carbohydrate. There is some truth to this,
but there is more to the cardiovascular training and fat- burning story.

There is a difference between “using” fat and “losing” fat. When you exercise at low to
moderate intensity for a long period of time, your body shifts to using fat as its primary energy
source. The problem is that you don’t use much of it. Your body dispenses a pinch here and a
pinch there. Your metabolism gets really efficient at these low intensities and you’ll actually use
even less fat over time if you don’t continually modify your training protocol.

The above phenomenon is like driving a car in town versus on the freeway. In town, you use a
lot of fuel because you’re constantly stopping and starting. There are varying demands for fuel
under these conditions. On the freeway, you maintain a consistent demand for a small amount
of fuel. If you are trying to seriously impact your amount of body fat, you want to use a lot of
fuel. You don’t necessarily want your body to go into super efficiency “freeway” mode every
time you train unless you’re a competitive long-distance runner. But that’s another story.

Research has found that high-intensity, relatively short-duration cardiovascular intervals are
more efficient when it comes to burning fat. This type of cardiovascular training has you
performing relatively short bouts (usually about 30 seconds to 3 minutes) of high- intensity
exercise. This could be anything that significantly increases your heart rate. This short bout is
followed by a period of low intensity or rest, for varying time intervals. The higher your heart
rate or speed, the longer the rest period. The heart rate never completely recovers to pre-
exercise levels during the rest periods.

High-intensity cardiovascular interval training (HICIT) burns more total calories and
fat than lower intensity sustained bouts of activity in about half the time!
In addition, the high-intensity work seems to spike the metabolism for a period of time after
the workout. This means you are still burning fat and calories even after you’ve stopped

35
exercising. I have witnessed the benefits and effectiveness of this type of exercise both with
myself and with my clients.

With the above being said, there is a role for varying your exercise intensity from moderate to
high. If the only thing you do is HICIT, over time, you create a sort of “fat burning paradox”. As
I explained earlier, high-intensity work does favor the use of carbohydrates. The rate of energy
expenditure and the affect this work has on your metabolism after exercise ends up utilizing a
good amount of fat as well. If you never do any sort of sustained activity, however, your body
doesn’t really learn how to utilize fat effectively. Additionally, similar to resistance training,
if you never vary your program, your body adapts, even to high intensity! Your body hates
surprises, so it constantly tries to find consistent patterns so it can go into “cruise” mode. Self
preservation is the body’s #1 goal, so “cruise” mode means burning less calories and sparing
fat. I know, it sucks.

When you have training days with varying progressive intensities from moderate to extremely
high, your body doesn’t get a chance to go into cruise mode. A day of sustained low- to
moderate-intensity work teaches the body to utilize oxygen and fat in addition to helping
facilitate recovery. A couple of high-intensity days teach the body to use carbohydrates to
create an intensity that burns more fat in a given time frame. Making one of those days an
extremely high-intensity day teaches the body to tolerate a higher work rate so you can
continue to improve over time. This is the day that you will require the most rest between sets.
These varying-intensity training days work together to create long term, progressive change in
your ability to lose fat through exercise.

The cardiovascular program outlined in this book and accompanying exercise manual has two
different high-intensity interval days and one “recovery” lower-intensity day. This day exists to
help the recovery process by getting oxygen to the muscles as well as offering a break in the
program’s “next level” intensity.

High-intensity intervals can be integrated into resistance training as well. This type of training
is called metabolic resistance training (MRT). With MRT, you pair resistance training exercises
together with little to no rest in between them. Since the body functions best as a unit, you
utilize whole-body, large muscle group exercises that integrate mobilization, stabilization,
balance, power, and strength. When you use dynamic movements with large muscle groups for
extended periods of time with short rest periods between exercises, you create quite a bit of
metabolic disturbance.

Research has found that MRT aids in stimulating hormones like testosterone that aid in building
muscle and burning fat. Additionally, with the large muscle movements and short rest periods,
the heart rate is substantially elevated during the entire workout. This creates the demands for
energy and fat utilization of a cardiovascular training program with the increase in lean muscle
mass of a resistance training program. With MRT, you combine the benefits of building more
lean muscle and acutely burning calories and fat.

36
Similar to HICIT, if the only way you ever resistance train is with MRT, it becomes difficult to
continue to see results long-term. If you never change your exercises, reps, weight, rest time,
etc., it will be difficult to progress over time. It can turn into “I’m just going to get this done”,
with little thought to increasing the challenge to your body. Remember, if you hit your body
with the same stimulus over and over, it goes into cruise mode. As I outlined in chapter 3, you
will want to include periods in your training where you increase your amount of rest, decrease
your repetitions, and significantly increase your training loads. For long-term results,
barbells, dumbbells, and kettlebells may be in your future.

The exercise program in this manual is a 12-week MRT and HICIT boot-camp to help kick-start
your fat burning engine. Upon completing your initial 12-week program, take the opportunity
to take it to the next level and access more training programs through www.brettklika.com
that progress past this initial phase of extreme metabolic disturbance. Being RTSJS for life
means always finding ways to progress, always finding ways to get better.

37
 07
putting all the
good stuff together

38
Now that you are more educated on how to cater your exercise program to burn fat and get the
body you want, it’s time to take your new knowledge and motivation for a spin. This chapter
outlines what you need to know about your 12-week MRT and HICIT training program to do
it safely, effectively, and efficiently. As I have said before, in order to be effective for YOU, this
program must abide by the following rules:

rule #1: enjoyable and accessible

This program is designed to be done anywhere, so it is accessible for everyone. You will need
the following equipment:

1. Resistance cords (3 cords, low, medium, and high resistance recommended)

2. Resistance Cord Door Anchor
3. Stopwatch
4. Your body

All of the exercises are designed to get you up and moving. Humans weren’t designed to sit on
machines. It feels good to move like a human is supposed to. All 36 workouts in your program
are unique to prevent the body and brain from going into cruise mode. These workouts are
progressive in total workout time and intensity. Workouts in week 1-3 begin at about 20
minutes and progress to about 40 minutes by Week 10.

Rule #2: progressive
The MRT program in this manual is designed to increase the level of challenge in 3-week cycles.

In weeks 1-3, you distribute the work throughout your entire body each day. Exercise times are
split between upper and lower body. Since you won’t be introducing much load as you learn
the exercises, the rest intervals are relatively low. This is to improve your overall conditioning
and “prime the fat-burning pump”.

In weeks 4-6, you will begin doing multiple exercises for a particular body part or movement
on a single training day. This will aid in increasing muscle due to an increase in training volume
for a particular group of muscles. You will also observe longer work intervals accompanied by
slightly longer rest intervals to account for progression in your exercises.

In weeks 7-9, work intervals are increased once again and you will perform multiple sets for
multiple body parts or movements on a single training day. By week 7, it is expected that you
are implementing the progressions suggested on the demo video for each exercise, assuming
you can do the exercise properly.

In weeks 10-12, 4 sets are prescribed instead of 3. Additionally, the overall metabolic demand is
increased as you do two “meta-spike” high-intensity exercises per training day. By weeks 10-12,
you are truly training at the “next level” for burning fat and getting the body you want.

39
Here are three extremely versatile pieces of equipment I recommend to stock your home gym
to ensure you have what you need to continually progress in your program:

1. Weight Vest
2. Selectorized Dumbbells OR Standard Dumbbells
3. TRX

I like these pieces because of their versatility and space efficiency. You can use this equipment
to add challenge to nearly every exercise in this program. They are definitely worth the
investment. Despite the technology I have access to, about 90% of my work with clients—from
the Joes to the Pros—is done with this equipment.

The HICIT program progresses each week based on where you are able to start the program.
Your work intensity (speed and heart rate), interval time, and number of interval repetitions all
vary and progress over the course of 12 weeks. I have included some suggested progressions
based on your initial performance. As you will see on your HICIT chart, just enter your interval
intensity (speed) for the first day and I give you some goals for subsequent weeks’ intensities.
These are only suggestions. You can progress how ever you feel comfortable, but having a goal
gives you something to work for. You will experience two HICIT days and one lower intensity,
sustained effort day per week.

rule #3: safe and balanced

It’s important that you warm up before you work out. This will allow you to work at a “next
level” intensity without the risk of injury. I have included 3 different options for a pre-workout
dynamic warm-up, as well as 3 different options for a post-workout cool-down. These are
important parts of the program, so don’t ignore them!

Take things at your own pace initially and see how your body adapts to the program. If
something is too hard, try an easier movement and work your way up. If you initially need more
rest, take it. As long as you are always making strides forward, it is OK to start the program a
little slower than I have prescribed. As goes without saying, you should always consult a doctor
prior to beginning an exercise program.

An optimal body for fat burning is the product of strengthening every muscle and movement.
This is not only to create muscle to burn fat, but to prevent injury. As I’ve said before, there
are two ways to screw your body up. Don’t do anything, or do only one thing. To make sure
you incorporate all the movement patterns in your body, it’s important to know that your
muscles and joints are capable of moving in one or more of three planes: The sagittal, frontal,
and transverse.

40
Here is a description of what each movement pattern entails:

Sagittal Plane: Flexion and extension

The sagittal plane is like a plate of glass that separates your body into equal side by side halves.
What exercises could you do that move along that plate of glass? Push-ups, pull-ups, squats,
curls, sit-ups, lunges, running, biking, etc. Notice how all movement is in one direction? Most
common weight room and cardiovascular exercises are in the sagittal plane. The demands of
sports and life take place in all three planes, however. If you want to optimize your body, you
have to work all three planes.

Frontal Plane: Abduction and adduction

The frontal plane is like a plate of glass that separates your body into equal front and back
halves. What exercises could you do that move along that plate of glass? Jumping jacks, lateral
shuffles, lateral lunges, lateral raises, etc. The muscles involved with creating movement in the
frontal plane support and stabilize movement in the sagittal plane.

Transverse Plane: Rotation and horizontal abduction and adduction

The transverse plane is like a plate of glass that separates your body into equal upper and lower
halves. What exercises could you do along that plate of glass? Trunk rotation, upright chest
flies, and upright reverse flies, in addition to other rotational upper and lower body exercises.

The Underground Workout Manual utilizes exercises that not only burn maximal fat in minimal
time, but incorporate movements in all 3 planes, in all ranges of motion of a joint. This way, you
can stay lean, mean, and facilitate muscle balance and posture to keep you pain-free.

The exercises used in this program are classified under the different movements associated
with muscles in addition to the plane they move in. Exercises are placed together throughout
the training days and weeks to facilitate whole-body mobility and balance. These exercise
classifications are included in the written workout with Your Underground Workout Journal.

Pushes (Sagittal Plane):

Pushing activities activate the chest, shoulders, and triceps while balancing the pulling muscles
and movements.

Pulls (Sagittal Plane):

Pulling activities activate the lats, rhomboids, traps, and biceps. They also balance pushing
muscles and movements.

Rotation (Transverse Plane):

Your hips, lumbar spine, shoulders, thoracic spine, and abdominal muscles play a role in
rotation. Part of that role is to create rotation. The other part is to prevent rotation. Optimal
function depends on a balance of being able to create rotation when you want to, as well as
prevent or decelerate it when you don’t want it.

41
Lower Body (Sagittal Plane):
Lower body exercises work the quads, glutes, hamstrings, and other muscles involved with
the hips. The exercises in this program balance movements of the quads (hip flexion and knee
extension), with movements of the glutes and hamstrings (hip extension and knee flexion).
Lower body exercises are very effective for increasing the heart rate and metabolism, in
addition to shocking the body to increase muscle and decrease fat.

Frontal Plane (Frontal Plane):

Frontal Plane work in this program is done primarily with the lower body, utilizing the hip
adductors and abductors. The upper body works in the frontal plane as well, but those
movements aren’t very metabolically significant. There are a few of these in the “finisher”
series.

Special Mobility Exercise (Various Planes):

Special mobility exercises or “SME’s” are designed to increase muscle balance and mobility
around particularly weak areas in most peoples’ structure. Although these exercises are not
that metabolically significant, they are very important to improve structure, posture and
prevent injury long-term.

Meta-Spike (Various Planes):

These exercises are designed to work multiple muscles, possibly in multiple planes
concurrently, to significantly increase the heart rate. Meta-spike exercises are often athletically
based and reintroduce you to moving like a human is supposed to move!

Finishers (Various Planes):

You will notice there are not many spot-specific exercises like sit-ups, crunches, curls, calf raises,
triceps dips, etc. in the heart of this program. These are not bad exercises; they just don’t
create much metabolic disturbance. Think about it. Which takes more energy, a squat jump
or a crunch? These are often the movements and muscles that people love to work however.
In order to increase these exercises’ role in building muscle and burning fat, I’ve paired them
together at the end of the workout. They are designed to be done in circuits at a rapid pace.
This way you get to work your “beach” muscles while stoking your metabolism for fat loss.

As you can see, this program is more than just a bunch of “hard” exercise done at maximal
intensity. The exercises used are carefully selected to maximize fat burning, muscle building,
mobility, strength, and whole body muscle balance, in minimal time.

rule #4: adaptable

The program outlined in this book is for 12 weeks: 3 MRT days per week with 2 HICIT days and 1
recovery day included. After you have completed the program, a variety of different options for
continuation will be offered at www.brettklika.com with progressive programming, equipment,
and intensity! This allows you to constantly modify your program based on the time and

42
equipment you have available, in addition to your workout preferences. I have included ways to
adapt this program to further accommodate your individual needs. For details, refer to chapter 9,
“Your Underground Workout Journal” under Program Exercise Options and Substitutions.

rule # 5: effective for YOU

As I mentioned, there is no “one-size-fits-all” program when it comes to changing your body.
The program outlined in this manual has helped me and hundreds of my clients over the last 10
years get results. If you follow this program for 60 days and are not satisfied, you can receive a
full refund. Again, this program is for YOU to get results.

I have gone to painstaking lengths to see to it that this program is designed for YOU to increase
muscle, decrease fat, and get the body you have always wanted. It is my hope and intention
that you find it engaging, effective, and fun like so many of my clients around the world! After
all, you’re a human. MOVING LIKE HUMANS ARE SUPPOSED TO MOVE MAKES YOU LOOK AND
FEEL GREAT!

You are now armed with a plan to make your body a better fat-burning machine. Take the
real world knowledge you have attained from reading this book and apply it to your daily
efforts in training and nutrition. You can now rise above the mountains of misinformation and
limiting beliefs that have brought so much frustration over the years. Don’t accept excuses
from yourself or anyone else. Use your new knowledge and outlook to always look for ways
to progress and get better. You are now an inspiration by perspiration. Welcome to the tribe.
SPREAD THE TRUTH! When you can educate, motivate, and inspire others, you can have
an impact on not only your own health, but in our health as a nation.

Let’s Go!!!

43
the underground workout
manual references and
recommended resources
the underground workout manual references and
recommended
resources

1. Brown, H, Wilmore, J. The effects of maximal resistance training on the strength and body composition of women
athletes. Medicine and Science in Sports 1974;6(3) 174-177.

2. Cosgrove, R. The Female Body Breakthrough. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2010.

3. Durkin, T. The Impact Body Plan. Emmaus, PA: Rodale, 2010.

4. Gibala, M, Little, J, van Essen, M, et al. Short Term Sprint Interval Versus Traditional Endurance Training: Similar Initial
Adaptations in Human Skeletal Muscle and Exercise Performance. Journal of Physiology Sept 2006; 575(3): 901-911.

5. Holm, L, Reitelseder, S, Pedersen, T, et al. Changes in muscle size and MHC composition in response to resistance
exercise with heavy and light loading intensity. Journal of Applied Physiology 2008; 105 (3) 1454-1462.

6. Idoate, F, Ibanez, J, Gorostiaga, E, et al. Weight-loss diet alone or combined with resistance training induces different
regional visceral fat changes in obese women. International Journal of Obesity 2011; 35: 700-713.

7. Jakicic, J, Clark, K, Coleman, E, et al. Appropriate intervention strategies for weight loss and prevention of weight regain
for adults. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2001; 33: 2145-2156.

8. Kosek, D, Kim, J, Cross, J. Efficacy of 3 days/wk resistance training on myofiber hypertrophy and myogenic mechanisms
in young vs. older adults. Journal of Applied Physiology 2006;101(2) 531-544.

9. Kraemer, W, Hakkinen, K, Newton, R, et al. Effects of heavy resistance training on hormonal response patterns in
younger vs. older men. Journal of Applied Physiology 1999; 87: 982-99.

10. Kraemer, W, Ratamess, N. Hormonal Responses and Adaptations to Resistance Exercise and Training. Sports Medicine
2005; 35(4): 339-361

11. Kraemer, W, Volek, J, Clark, K, et al. Influence of exercise training on physiological and performance changes with weight
loss in men. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 1999;31: 1320-1329.

12. Linnamo, V, Pakarinen, A, Komi, P, et al. Acute hormonal responses to submaximal and maximal heavy resistance and
explosive exercises in men and women. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research 2005;19(3): 566-571.

13. Melov S, Tarnopolsky MA, Beckman K, Felkey K, Hubbard A (2007) Resistance Exercise Reverses Aging in Human Skeletal
Muscle. PLoS ONE 2(5): e465. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0000465.

14. Moore, D, Burd, N. Exercise intensity matters for both young and old muscles. Journal of Physiology; 587: 511-512.

15. Peterson, M, Sen, A, Gordon, P. Influence of resistance exercise on lean body mass in aging adults: a meta analysis.
Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise; e-pub ahead of print June 2011.

16. Saris, W. The role of exercise in teh dietary treatment of obesity. International Journal of Obesity 1993;17: 17-21.
17. Tabata I, Nishimura K, Kouzaki M, et al. Effects of moderate-intensity endurance and high-intensity intermittent training
on anaerobic capacity and VO2max. Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 1996; 28(10): 1327030.

18. Talanian, J, Gollowy, S, Heigenhauser, G, et al. Two weeks of high-intensity aerobic interval training increases the
capacity for fat oxidation during exercise in women. Journal of Applied Physiology 2007; 102: 1439-1447.

19. Trapp, E, Chisholm, D, Freund, J, et al. The effects of high-intensity intermittent exercise training on fat loss and fasting
insulin levels of young women. International Journal of Obesity 2008; 32: 684-691.
 08
your underground workout
12-week metabolic resistance
training (MRT) program

46
It’s time to combine your new knowledge with a time-tested exercise program and a great deal
of sweat. The following pages explain how to use your 12-week Underground Workout Manual
to get results.

You have 3 MRT days per week for 12 weeks. It is recommended that you do these
workouts every other day. Perform you HICIT days in between MRT days.

The sets and rests are timed, so you will need to set a stop watch to denote workout times. If
you do not have access to a stopwatch, here are some rough time-repetition conversions:

20 seconds: about 10-12 reps for most exercises

30 seconds: about 12-15 reps for most exercises
40 seconds: about 15-20 reps for most exercises

Again, the program is designed to follow timed intervals, but if you do not have access to a
timing device, these repetition ranges will suffice. It is expected that you do each exercise at a
controlled pace. Meta-spike exercises are done at an accelerated pace, but never at the cost of
technique or body control.

set-up
First, you will want to find a safe, appropriate area for your MRT work. Take a brief look at
your workout either in the MRT Workout and Exercise Video section, or in your Underground
Workout Journal, and make sure you have everything needed. Since this program uses minimal
equipment, you won’t need much. You’ll want to make sure to have something you can hook
your resistance cord to. A firm, stationary object such as a bench, lamppost, or door handle can
suffice. Your resistance cord door anchor allows you to hook your cord to any door jam. Once
you’ve found your workout spot, crank some tunes! Get ready to work!

the MRT workout and exercise videos

The MRT workout with accompanying screen shots and video is designed to offer you proper
technique and progression suggestions. To access the accompanying videos for a workout day,
click on any of the screen shots for that day. It will take you to a password protected page. Enter
your username and password you received at purchase. You are then taken to an interactive
video version of that workout day. Click on any video to see a demonstration of that exercise.

If you wish to access videos on other workout days, click on “return to member dashboard” at
the top left of the page. This takes you to a page where you can access all workout videos for all
weeks and days. Just click on the workout day you want to review. There is also a separate page
for all dynamic warm-ups and cool-downs. You should only have to enter your password once
on any given workout day.

After you are familiar with all of the exercises and no longer need video assistance, you can

47
refer to the screen shots on the workout pages for quick reminders. Your Underground Workout
Journal has a condensed, written form of the program as well.

The training cycle you are in is found at the lower right corner of the workout pages. There are
four 3-week cycles in this program. Every workout begins with a warm-up and ends with a cool-
down. Even though a specific warm-up and cool-down is prescribed for each day, any warm-up
and any cool-down can be used. The pertinent information for that day’s workout is found at
the top right corner of the workout, video, and journal pages.

The workout videos can be accessed on your mobile device as well. At purchase, you will be
sent a link that can be pasted into your mobile device browser that allows you to log into the
video site. This allows you to access the videos anywhere!

Below is a discussion of the different components outlined in the upper right hand
corner of each MRT workout day.

Sets each Tri-Set:

The exercises are grouped in 3’s. These are called “Tri-Sets”. They are aligned horizontally
across the page. You perform each exercise for the prescribed amount of “work” time, then
rest for the prescribed amount of “rest” time. After you finish an exercise and rest, you go to
the next exercise in that Tri-Set. Once you have finished all 3, that is one set for the Tri-Set. The
information at the top right of the page tells you how many sets of the Tri-Set you do.

Work:
The amount of time each exercise is done for is “work”. This number denotes the amount
of time you will be performing each exercise before you rest. For exercises that require
movement on one side of the body such as 1-arm, 1-leg, or rotational exercises, you
perform each side for the denoted amount of time with no rest in between.

Rest between exercises:

After you perform each exercise, there is a denoted amount of rest time. If you feel the rest
time is too long, increase the challenge of the exercise! Create the need to rest! Add resistance
or perform a more challenging version of the exercise. Remember, for 2-side exercises such
as 1-arm, 1-leg, and rotations, there is NO REST between the two sides.

Rest between Tri-Sets:

After you complete each set of 3 exercises, there is a denoted amount of rest time, often
slightly longer than the rest between exercises. This is so you can get water, etc. This is also the
amount of rest time between two different Tri-Sets (i.e. transitioning from Tri-Set 1 to Tri-Set 2).

48
Finishers:
The “Finisher” circuits are circuits of 3 exercises performed with NO REST between sets. These
exercises often follow a different rep or time scheme than the rest of the workout. The number
denoted here will tell you how many reps or how much time is necessary for each exercise.

The workout progresses every 3 weeks, so the work, rest, sets, etc. change every 3 weeks.

49
the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 1, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm Cord Press Wall Squats Cobras

tri-SET 2

2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Rotations Shuffle and Jump
final 4

Lateral Slider Lunge Finisher Circuit A

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 1, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row Skater Plyos Push-Up and Rotate

tri-SET 2

Cord Boxing Cord Ups-Chops Cord X’s

final 4

Finisher Circuit B Squat Jumps

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 1, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

Bulgarian Lunge Cord Lunge and Hold Horizontal Cord Splitters

tri-SET 2

Agilities Lizards Plank Alternate Reaches

final 4

Finisher Circuit C Shuffles

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 2, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

Roll-Ups Vertical Cord Splitters Floor Roll-Overs

tri-SET 2

Step Lunge Holds 1-Arm Cord Presses Shuffles

final 4

Finisher Circuit D 1-Leg Reaches

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 2, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs Elevated Step-Ups Push-Up and Rotate

tri-SET 2

2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row Lateral Cord Walks Kung Fu’s
final 4

Shuffle and Jump Finisher Circuit E

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 2, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

Wall Slides 1-Leg Push-Ups Skater Plyos

tri-SET 2

Horizontal Cord Rotations Cord Boxing 1-Leg Cord RDL

final 4

1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row Finisher Circuit C

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 3, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

Jump Lunges Cobras Push-Up and Pike

tri-SET 2

Cord Boxing Cord Up-Chops 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns

final 4

Kung-Fu’s Finisher Circuit A

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 3, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

Agility Skater Plyos Cord X’s

tri-SET 2

Box Touches 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row 1-Arm Cord Press

final 4

Finisher Circuit B Cord Lunge and Hold

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining WEEK 3, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

warm-up

Work: 20 seconds upper body

30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each
tri-SET 1

Push-Up and Rotate Cheetahs Floor Roll-Overs

tri-SET 2

1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row Lateral Slider Lunge Plank Alternate Reaches
final 4

Finisher Circuit C Bulgarian Lunge

cool-down

cycle 1

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 4, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm Cord Presses Cheetahs 1-Leg Lunges

tri-SET 2

Lizards Horizontal Cord Splitters Shuffles

final 4

Cobras Finisher Circuit D

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 4, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

Wall Squats Floor Roll-Overs Vertical Cord Splitters

tri-SET 2

Push-Up and Rotate Jump Lunges Cord X’s

final 4

Finisher Circuit E Footwork

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 4, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row Surfers 1-Arm Cord Press

tri-SET 2

Skater Plyos 1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row Diagonal Cord Punchouts
final 4

Finisher Circuit C Horizontal Cord Rotations

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 5, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

1-Leg Push-Ups Shuffles 2-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns

tri-SET 2

Bulgarian Lunges 2-Arm Cord Military Plank Alternate Reaches

final 4

Finisher Circuit A Cord Up-Chops

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 5, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

Push-Up and Pike 1-Leg Reaches Step Lunge Holds

tri-SET 2

1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns Cord Lunge and Hold 1-Leg Cord RDL
final 4

Kung Fu’s Finisher Circuit B

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 5, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

Box Touches 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Rows Lateral Cord Walks

tri-SET 2

1-Leg Push-Ups Agility Horizontal Cord Splitters

final 4

Cord Boxing Finisher Circuit C

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 6, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm Cord Presses Wall Slides Footwork

tri-SET 2

Floor Roll-Overs Vertical Cord Splitters Lizards

final 4

Surfers Finisher Circuit D

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 6, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

Cord Skiers 2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row Squat Jumps

tri-SET 2

Skater Plyos Cobras Push-Up and Rotate

final 4

Finisher Circuit E 1-Leg Cord RDL

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 6, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each
tri-SET 1

Lateral Slider Lunge 1-Arm Cord Press 1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row
tri-SET 2

Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs Roll-Ups Elevated Step-Ups

final 4

Finisher Circuit C 2-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns

cool-down

cycle 2

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 7, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Cord Military Cord Skiers 1-Leg Lunges

tri-SET 2

1-Leg Push-Ups 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns Wall Squats

final 4

Cord X’s Finisher Circuit A

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 7, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Shuffles Roll-Ups 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

tri-SET 2

Horizontal Cord Rotations Vertical Cord Splitters Plank Alternate Reaches

final 4

Finisher Circuit B Shuffle and Jump

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 7, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Floor Roll-Overs Cord Boxing Push-Up and Rotate

tri-SET 2

Jump Lunges 1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row Cord Up-Chops

final 4

Finisher Circuit C Kung Fu’s

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 8, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

1-Arm Cord Press Cheetahs Bulgarian Lunges

tri-SET 2

Push-Up and Rotate 2-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns 1-Leg Reaches

final 4

Step Lunge Holds Finisher Circuit A

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 8, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Skater Plyos Footwork Horizontal Cord Splitters

tri-SET 2

Cord Up-Chops 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns Lateral Cord Walks

final 4

Finisher Circuit E Surfers

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 8, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs Surfers Lizards

tri-SET 2

Box Touches 1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row Cord Lunge and Hold
final 4

Finisher Circuit C Lateral Slider Lunge

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 9, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm Cord Press Shuffle and Jump Bulgarian Lunge

tri-SET 2

2-Arm Cord Military 1-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs Squat Jumps
final 4

Wall Slides Finisher Circuit A

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 9, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Shuffles Cord Boxing 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

tri-SET 2

Cord Lunge and Hold 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns Cobras

final 4

Finisher Circuit B Agility

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 9, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Horizontal Cord Rotations Cheetahs 1-Leg Push-Ups

tri-SET 2

1-Leg Cord RDL Horizontal Cord Splitters Floor Roll Overs

final 4

Finisher Circuit C Kung Fu’s

cool-down

cycle 3

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 10, DAY 1

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm Cord Press Agility Elevated Step-Ups

tri-SET 2

Lizards Cheetahs Vertical Cord Splitters

final 4

Horizontal Cord Rotations Finisher Circuit D

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 10, DAY 2

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row Footwork Skater Plyos

tri-SET 2

1-Leg Lunges Footwork Horizontal Cord Splitters

final 4

1-Arm Cord Press Finisher Circuit E

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 10, DAY 3

3 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Surfers Wall Squats Cobras

tri-SET 2

Push-Up and Rotate 1-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs Jump Lunges
final 4

Cord Skiers Finisher Circuit C

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 11, DAY 1

4 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

1-Leg Push-Ups Surfers Bulgarian Lunges

tri-SET 2

Cord Military Cord Skiers 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

final 4

Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs Finisher Circuit A

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 11, DAY 2

4 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Vertical Cord Splitters Cord Skiers Lateral Slider Lunge

tri-SET 2

Box Touches Roll-Ups 1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row

final 4

Push-Up and Pike Finisher Circuit B

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 11, DAY 3

4 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Surfers Squat Jumps Cord X’s

tri-SET 2

1-Leg Push-Ups 1-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs 1-Leg Cord RDL
final 4

Shuffle and Jump Finisher Circuit C

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 12, DAY 1

4 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

2-Arm Cord Press Footwork Elevated Step Ups

tri-SET 2

Lizards Surfers Horizontal Cord Splitters

final 4

Cord Lunge and Hold Finisher Circuit D

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 12, DAY 2

4 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

1-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs Cord Skiers Shuffles

tri-SET 2

1-Leg Lunges Roll-Ups 2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row

final 4

1-Leg Push-Ups Finisher Circuit E

cool-down

cycle 4

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the underground workout manual
M etabolic R esistance T raining
warm-up
WEEK 12, DAY 3

4 Sets Each Tri-Set

Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each
tri-SET 1

Shuffle and Jump Wall Squats Plank Alternate Reaches

tri-SET 2

Push-Up and Rotate 2-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs Jump Lunges
final 4

Cord Boxing Finisher Circuit C

cool-down

cycle 4

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 09
your underground
workout journal
Your Underground Workout Journal is a written form of your workout that allows you to:

1. View a condensed version of your workouts organized by week

2. Follow along your program without video assistance if you wish
3. Track progression
4. Make substitutions for exercises that don’t work for you

Below is a discussion of the different components of Your Underground Workout

Journal.

dynamic warm-ups, program exercise options and

substitutions, and cool-downs
Dynamic Warm-Ups:
These are written versions of the 3 different dynamic warm-ups in the program. Any dynamic
warm-up can be used with any workout. Follow the repetition guidelines. All workouts begin
with a dynamic warm-up.

Program Exercise Options and Substitutions:

Not every exercise in this program is going to be do-able for everyone due to a variety of
reasons. On the “ Exercise Options and Substitutions” page, you can see all of the exercises
involved in the program as well as their movement classification. You will see these exercises
and classifications listed on the daily workout logs. If a prescribed exercise is not appropriate
for you, you can refer to this page and select another exercise with the same movement
classification. For example, if you can’t do “push-up and rotate”, you can look under “pushes”
and substitute with “1-arm cord press”. Even though they are different exercises, you are still
working the same movement and muscles.

Cool-Downs:
These are written versions of the 3 different cool-downs in the program. Any cool-down
program can be used with any workout. Follow time guidelines for all stretches. All workouts
end with a cool-down.

The Underground Workout Journal Pages:

On each workout page, there are 3 workouts for 1 week. The workout cycle and week is at the
top left of the page. Pertinent workout information is at the top right of the page, similar to
the video pages. The workout day is denoted at the top right of each workout. The Tri-Sets are
aligned vertically.

Exercise Classifications:
These are the movement classification of each exercise. This information can be used to
create modifications or substitutions if needed.

87
 Max Reps:
This allows you to track the maximal number of repetitions performed in the given
workout time. As discussed in the text, this is a good measure of intensity for the
beginning of the program. Record your best effort achieved for the 3 or 4 sets for each
exercise. The intention is not for you to go as fast as possible. The intention is to monitor
your ability to do quality repetitions for the entire amount of time. If you are able to
speed through repetitions for the entire time, you need to increase the challenge of the
exercise. Refer to the workout videos for progression ideas.

Max Resistance:
This allows you to track your progression with the resistance applied to each exercise.
For example, if you are able to do a more advanced version of a particular exercise, or if
you are able to increase your amount of resistance by adding weight or increasing cord
tension, record it here. After you can do each exercise correctly, you should be adding
resistance!

For Finishers:
The Finisher circuit is noted for each workout day. To review the involved exercises, refer
to Program Exercise Options and Substitutions. Look under “Finishers”.

If you get stuck and forget any exercises in any part of the program, refer to the screen shots or
video pages.

88
the underground workout manual dynamic warm-ups

Dynamic Warm-Up 1 (2x’s through)

50 Pogo Hops
50 Pogo Hops w/ Twist
10 Jumping Jacks
10 Seal Jacks
8 Leg-Up Twists (4 each side)
20 Butterfly Stroke
10 Standing Rainbows (5 each side)
20 Frankensteins
10 Rotating Hip Flexors

Dynamic Warm-Up 2 (2x’s through)

20 In-place Skips
20 Monster Walks
20 Forward/Back Wall Swings (Each Leg)
20 Lateral Wall Swings (Each Leg)
10 Standing Can Openers
12 Step-Back Hip Flexor Reach
20 Straight Arm Push-Ups
12 Hip Raises

Dynamic Warm-Up 3 (2x’s through)

10 1-Leg Hip Raises (Each Leg)
20 Spidermans Each Leg
15 Flex T’s
15 Cobras
30 Mountain Climbers
8 1-Leg Balance Frankenstein
12 Split Stance Golf Swings
20 X-Jacks
the underground workout manual exercise options
and substitutions

Pushes Frontal Plane Finishers

1. 1-Leg Push-Ups 1. Lateral Slider Lunge Circuit A
2. Push Up and Rotate 2. Shuffles 1. Cord Curls
3. 1-arm Cord Press 3. Kung Fu’s 2. Cord Triceps
4. 2-arm Cord Press 4. Skater Plyos 3. Cord Flies
5. 2-arm Cord Military
6. Push-Up Pikes Rotation Circuit B
7. Lizards 1. Horizontal Cord 4. Bent Knee Raises
Rotations 5. Crunches
Pulls 2. Cord Up-Chops 6. Double Crunches
1. 2-Arm Horizontal 3. Cord Lunge and Hold
Cord Row 4. Floor Roll-Overs Circuit C
2. 1-Arm Horizontal 5. Diagonal Cord 7. Cord Lateral Raises
Cord Row Punch-Outs 8. Triceps Push-Ups
3. Horizontal Cord Splitters 9. Plank with Reach
4. Vertical Cord Splitters SME
5. 2-Arm High Horizontal 1. Cobras Circuit D
Cord Row 2. Cord X’s 10. Cross Body V-Ups
6. 1-Arm High Horizontal 3. Plank Alternate arm/leg 11. Cord Curls
Cord Row 4. Step Lunge Holds 12. Bent Knee Raises
7. 2-Arm Cord Lat 5. Lateral Cord Walks
Pull downs 6. Wall Slides Circuit E
8. 1-Arm Cord Lat 13. Cord Triceps
Pull downs MeTA-SPIKE 14. Crunches
1. Shuffle/Jump 15. Triceps Push-ups
Lower Body 2. Cord Boxing
1. 1-Leg Lunges 3. Agility Circuit F
2. Wall Squats 4. Cheetahs 16. Cord Flies
3. Jump Lunges 5. Footwork 17. Double Crunches
4. Bulgarian Lunges 6. Surfers 18. Cord lateral Raise
5. Box Touches 7. Cord Skiers
6. Squat Jumps 8. Roll-Ups
7. 1-Leg Reach
8. 1-Leg Cord RDL
9. Elevated Step Ups
the underground workout manual cool-downs
and flexibility

Stretch Circuit 1
Towel Stretches
Tennis Ball 60 seconds each foot
Seated Plantar /Calf 20-40 seconds each foot
Supine Hamstring 20-40 seconds each leg
Supine Lateral Hamstring 0-40 seconds each leg
Supine Adductor 20-40 seconds each leg
Side-Lying Hip Flexor 20-40 seconds each leg
Kneeling Rainbows 20-40 seconds each side
Floss the Scapula 20-40 seconds

Stretch Circuit 2
Wall Stretches
Tennis Ball 60 seconds each foot
Supine Hamstring 40-60 seconds
Supine Adductor 40-60 seconds
Supine Glute 20-40 seconds each leg
Supine Cross and Reach 20-40 seconds each leg
Kneeling Wall Hip Flexor 20-40 seconds each leg
Standing Cross and Reach 20-40 seconds each side
Standing Chest Stretch 20-40 seconds each side
Calf 20-40 seconds each foot

Stretch Circuit 3
Floor Stretches
Cats and Cows 20-40 seconds
Wag the Tail 20-40 seconds
Child’s Pose 20-40 seconds each way
Pigeon Pose 20-40 seconds each leg
Can Openers 20-40 seconds each side
1-Leg Splits 20-40 seconds each side
1-Leg Reclined Hamstring 20-40 seconds each leg
the underground workout journal
cycle 1, week 1 3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 20 seconds upper body
30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 2-Arm Cord Press
Lower Body Wall Squats
SME Cobras

Tri-Set 2 Pull 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

Rotation Horizontal Cord Rotations
Meta-Spike Shuffle and Jump

Final 4 Frontal Plane Lateral Slider Lunge

Finisher Finisher Circuit A

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Pull 1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row
Frontal Plane Skater Plyos
Push Push-Up and Rotate

Tri-Set 2 Meta-Spike Cord Boxing

Rotation Cord Ups-Chops
SME Cord X’s

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit B

Lower Body Squat Jumps

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Lower Body Bulgarian Lunge
Rotation Cord Lunge and Hold
Pull Horizontal Cord Splitters

Tri-Set 2 Meta-Spike Agilities

Push Lizards
SME Plank Alternate Arm/Leg

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit C

Frontal Plane Shuffles
the underground workout journal
cycle 1, week 2 3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 20 seconds upper body
30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Meta-Spike Roll-Ups
Pull Vertical Cord Splitters
Rotation Floor Roll-Overs

Tri-Set 2 SME Step Lunge Holds

Push 1-Arm Cord Presses
Frontal Plane Shuffles

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit D

Lower Body 1-Leg Reaches

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Rotation Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs
Lower Body Elevated Step-Ups
Push Push-Up and Rotate

Tri-Set 2 Pull 2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row

SME Lateral Cord Walks
Frontal Plane Kung Fu’s

Final 4 Meta-Spike Shuffle and Jump

Finisher Finisher Circuit E

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 SME Wall Slides
Push 1-leg Push-Ups
Frontal Plane Skater Plyos

Tri-Set 2 Rotation Horizontal Cord Rotations

Meta-Spike Cord Boxing
Lower Body 1-Leg Cord RDL

Final 4 Pull 1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row

Finisher Finisher Circuit C
the underground workout journal
cycle 1, week 3 3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 20 seconds upper body
30 seconds lower body
20 seconds meta spike
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 15 reps each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Lower Body Jump Lunges
SME Cobras
Push Push-Up and Pike

Tri-Set 2 Meta-Spike Cord Boxing

Rotation Cord Up-Chops
Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns

Final 4 Frontal Plane Kung-Fu’s

Finisher Finisher Circuit A

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Meta-Spike Agility
Frontal Plane Skater Plyos
SME Cord X’s

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body Box Touches

Pull 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row
Push 1-Arm Cord Press

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit B

Rotation Cord Lunge and Hold

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push Push-Up and Rotate
Meta-Spike Cheetahs
Rotation Floor Roll-Overs

Tri-Set 2 Pull 1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

Frontal Plane Lateral Slider Lunge
SME Plank Alternate Arm/Leg

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit C

Lower Body Bulgarian Lunge
the underground workout journal
cycle 2, week 4
3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 2-Arm Cord Press
Meta-Spike Cheetahs
Lower Body 1-Leg Lunges

Tri-Set 2 Push Lizards

Pull Horizontal Cord Splitters
Frontal Plane Shuffles

Final 4 SME Cobras

Finisher Finisher Circuit D

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Lower Body Wall Squats
Rotation Floor Roll-Overs
Pull Vertical Cord Splitters

Tri-Set 2 Push Push-Up and Rotate

Lower Body Jump Lunges
SME Cord X’s

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit E

Meta-Spike Footwork

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Pull 2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row
Meta-Spike Surfers
Push 1-Arm Cord Presses

Tri-Set 2 Frontal Plane Skater Plyos

Pull 1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row
Rotation Diagonal Cord Punch-outs

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit C

Rotation Horizontal Cord Rotations
the underground workout journal
cycle 2, week 5
3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 1-Leg Push-Ups
Frontal Plane Shuffles
Pull 2-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body Bulgarian Lunges

Push 2-Arm Cord Military
SME Plank Alternate Arm/Leg

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit A

Rotation Cord Up-Chops

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push Push-Up and Pike
Lower Body 1-Leg Reaches
SME Step Lunge Holds

Tri-Set 2 Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns

Rotation Cord Lunge and Hold
Lower Body 1-Leg Cord RDL

Final 4 Frontal Plane Kung Fu’s

Finisher Finisher Circuit B

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Lower Body Box Touches
Pull 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Rows
SME Lateral Cord Walks

Tri-Set 2 Push 1-Leg Push-Ups

Meta-Spike Agility
Pull Horizontal Cord Splitters

Final 4 Meta-Spike Cord Boxing

Finisher Finisher Circuit C
the underground workout journal
cycle 2, week 6
3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 30 seconds
Rest between exercises: 20 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 reps each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 2-Arm Cord Press
SME Wall Slides
Meta-Spike Footwork

Tri-Set 2 Rotation Floor Roll-Overs

Pull Vertical Cord Splitters
Push Lizards

Final 4 Meta-Spike Surfers

Finisher Finisher Circuit D

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Meta-Spike Cord Skiers
Pull 2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row
Lower Body Squat Jumps

Tri-Set 2 Frontal Plane Skater Plyos

SME Cobras
Push Push-Up and Rotate

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit E

Lower Body 1-Leg Cord RDL

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Frontal Plane Lateral Slider Lunge
Push 1-Arm Cord Presses
Pull 1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row

Tri-Set 2 Rotation Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs

Meta-Spike Roll-Ups
Lower Body Elevated Step-Ups

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit C

Pull 2-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns
the underground workout journal
cycle 3, week 7
3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push Cord Military
Meta-Spike Cord Skiers
Lower Body 1-Leg Lunges

Tri-Set 2 Push 1-Leg Push-Ups

Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns
Lower Body Wall squats

Final 4 SME Cord X’s

Finisher Finisher Circuit A

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Frontal Plane Shuffles
Meta-Spike Roll-Ups
Pull 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

Tri-Set 2 Rotation Horizontal Cord Rotations

Pull Vertical Cord Splitters
SME Plank Alternate Arm/Leg

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit B

Meta-Spike Shuffle and Jump

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Rotation Floor Roll-Overs
Meta-Spike Cord Boxing
Push Push-Up and Rotate

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body Jump Lunges

Pull 1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row
Rotation Cord Up-Chops

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit C

Frontal Plane Kung Fu’s
the underground workout journal
cycle 3, week 8
3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 1-Arm Cord Press
Meta-Spike Cheetahs
Lower Body Bulgarian Lunges

Tri-Set 2 Push Push-Up and Rotate

Pull 2-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns
Lower Body 1-leg Reaches

Final 4 SME Step Lunge Holds

Finisher Finisher Circuit A

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Frontal Plane Skater Plyos
Meta-Spike Footwork
Pull Horizontal Cord Splitters

Tri-Set 2 Rotation Cord Up-Chops

Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns
SME Lateral Cord Walks

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit E

Meta-Spike Surfers

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Rotation Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs
Meta-Spike Surfers
Push Lizards

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body Box Touches

Pull 1-Arm Horizontal Cord Row
Rotation Cord Lunge and Hold

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit C

Frontal Plane Lateral Slider Lunge
the underground workout journal
cycle 3, week 9
3 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 40 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 2-Arm Cord Press
Meta-Spike Shuffle and Jump
Lower Body Bulgarian Lunge

Tri-Set 2 Push 2-Arm Cord Military

Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs
Lower Body Squat Jumps

Final 4 SME Wall Slides

Finisher Finisher Circuit A

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Frontal Plane Shuffles
Meta-Spike Cord Boxing
Pull 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

Tri-Set 2 Rotation Cord Lunge and Hold

Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns
SME Cobras

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit B

Meta-Spike Agility

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Rotation Horizontal Cord Rotations
Meta-Spike Cheetahs
Push 1-Leg Push-Ups

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body 1-Leg Cord RDL

Pull Horizontal Cord Splitters
Rotation Floor Roll Overs

Final 4 Finisher Finisher Circuit C

Frontal Plane Kung Fu’s
the underground workout journal
cycle 4, week 10
4 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 2-Arm Cord Press
Meta-Spike Agility
Lower Body Elevated Step-Ups

Tri-Set 2 Push Lizards

Meta-Spike Cheetahs
Pull Vertical Cord Splitters

Final 4 Rotation Horizontal Cord Rotations

Finisher Finisher Circuit D

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Pull 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row
Meta-Spike Footwork
Frontal Plane Skater Plyos

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body 1-Leg Lunges

Meta-Spike Footwork
Pull Horizontal Cord Splitters

Final 4 Push 1-Arm Cord Press

Finisher Finisher Circuit E

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Meta-Spike Surfers
Lower Body Wall Squats
SME Cobras

Tri-Set 2 Push Push-Up and Rotate

Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs
Lower Body Jump Lunges

Final 4 Meta-Spike Cord Skiers

Finisher Finisher Circuit C
the underground workout journal
cycle 4, week 11
4 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 1-Leg Push-Ups
Meta-Spike Surfers
Lower Body Bulgarian Lunges

Tri-Set 2 Push Cord Military

Meta-Spike Cord Skiers
Pull 2-Arm Horizontal Cord Row

Final 4 Rotation Diagonal Cord Punch-Outs

Finisher Finisher Circuit A

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Pull Vertical Cord Splitters
Meta-Spike Cord Skiers
Frontal Plane Lateral Slider Lunge

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body Box Touches

Meta-Spike Roll-Ups
Pull 1-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row

Final 4 Push Push-Up and Pike

Finisher Finisher Circuit B

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Meta-Spike Surfers
Lower Body Squat Jumps
SME Cord X’s

Tri-Set 2 Push 1-Leg Push-Ups

Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns
Lower Body 1-Leg Cord RDL

Final 4 Meta-Spike Shuffle and Jump

Finisher Finisher Circuit C
the underground workout journal
cycle 4, week 12
4 Sets Each Tri-Set
Work: 40 seconds
Rest between exercises: 30 seconds
Rest between Tri-Sets: 30 seconds
Finishers: 20 seconds each

Exercise Max
day 1 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Push 2-Arm Cord Press
Meta-Spike Footwork
Lower Body Elevated Step Ups

Tri-Set 2 Push Lizards

Meta-Spike Surfers
Pull Horizontal Cord Splitters

Final 4 Rotation Cord Lunge and Hold

Finisher Finisher Circuit D

Exercise Max
day 2 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Pull 1-Arm Cord Lat Pulldowns
Meta-Spike Cord Skiers
Frontal Plane Shuffles

Tri-Set 2 Lower Body 1-Leg Lunges

Meta-Spike Roll-Ups
Pull 2-Arm High Horizontal Cord Row

Final 4 Push 1-Leg Push-Ups

Finisher Finisher Circuit E

Exercise Max
day 3 Exercise Max Reps
Classification Resistance
Tri-Set 1 Meta-Spike Shuffle and Jump
Lower Body Wall Squats
SME Plank Alternate Arm/Leg

Tri-Set 2 Push Push-Up and Rotate

Pull 2-Arm Cord Lat Pull Downs
Lower Body Jump Lunges

Final 4 Meta-Spike Cord Boxing

Finisher Finisher Circuit C
 10
the underground workout
12-week high intensity
cardiovascular interval
training (HICIT) program
You have 2 HICIT days and 1 recovery day per week for 12 weeks. It is recommended you do
these workouts on your non- MRT days. You can choose any activity that elevates your heart
rate for the suggested amount of time as your HICIT activity. Running, biking, swimming,
climbing, etc. are all great choices. It is very helpful to be able to gauge speed, distance, and
heart rate. Treadmills and stationary bikes work well, but don’t be afraid to get outside! I prefer
the treadmill for my really high intensity days because I often scare other runners as I come
barreling down the running path at top speed!

Most popular outdoor exercise areas have mile markers which are very helpful in gauging
your speed. This gives you feedback as to how you are progressing in your program. There are
quite a few watches available now that are able to track time, heart rate, distance, speed, and
elevation change. You can easily download this information into your computer and track your
progress. The watch I use is the Garmin F60. Various brands have products for this. It is worth
the investment if you are looking for long-term, measurable results. There are hundreds of
multimedia phone apps as well that are very affordable and work well.

set-up
Depending on the HICIT day, you may want to select a different “venue” for exercise. For the
high intensity days, you may want to look into using something stationary like a treadmill or
bike. Sprinting or riding a bike at full speed in public areas may not be very safe. Make sure you
have a stop-watch, or another feedback device like the ones mentioned above. As I mentioned
before, it is very helpful to know distances and time so you can gauge your speed. It is also
important to be able to assess your heart rate. If you do not have a heart rate monitor, you can
assess your approximate heart rate in beats per minute by the following:

1. Place the index and middle finger of one hand onto the thumb-side of the upturned
wrist on the other hand.
2. Feel around until you find your pulse (should be right about where your thumb meets
your wrist). Looking at your stopwatch, count the amount of times your heart beats in 10
seconds.
3. Multiply that number by 6.
4. This will give you an approximate “beats per minute”. This is a very objective way to
determine how hard you are working. Most healthy individuals with a well-functioning
heart will have heart rates well above 160 while doing interval training. Prior to doing
an interval training program, speak with your physician about what exercise intensity is
healthy for your cardiac profile.When you are doing your high-intensity days (Days 1 and
3), make sure to be able to record the number of sets you have done. As you get tired,
you will start to lose track. I carry a post-it and a golf pencil to tally the sets.

105
the HICIT workout
For your 12-week HICIT program, you will have 3 different intensity days as mentioned above.
These are found on the 3 pages provided. The training day is found at the top right corner of
the program.

Day 1:
Your intervals are relatively short, so you must do them at a high speed in order to elevate your
heart rate. Due to their shortened duration, there are a larger number of sets. During your rest
time, you will considerably slow your speed to near rest levels.

Day 2:
This is your “Recovery Day”. You will have a sustained activity for varying amounts of time as
the weeks progress. You should work at a speed that has your heart rate relatively constant.

Day 3:
Your intervals will be longer, ranging from 1 to 3 minutes in length. Due to the longer work
intervals, training speeds will be lower than day 1. During your rest time, you will continue to
move, but at a lower intensity.

Your workouts are displayed on a chart that allows you to track all 12 weeks in one
area. Below is a discussion of the different components of the HICIT chart.

Week:
Find the workout week you are on and read across for that week’s workout.

Warm-Up:
It is recommended that you do the dynamic warm-up for that day in addition to the warm-up
time prescribed in the HICIT chart doing your activity at a low intensity. For example, if you
are going to run, make sure you warm up running for at least 5 minutes. The warm-up should
slowly increase in intensity (about every minute), so when you hit your first interval, you are up
to speed and ready.

A video and written version of the warm-up is available at the bottom of the page. Any warm-
up can be used for any workout.

Interval Time:
This is the amount of time you will be working for during your intervals.

Speed:
This is the speed you will attain during your interval work. If you are not on a stationary device with
digital feedback, or if you don’t have a GPS enabled device, you can use mile markers in conjunction
with your time to determine how fast you are going. If you don’t have access to anything, just go

106
as fast as you can, still being able to finish the interval. Using your heart rate should give you a
good indication of how hard you are working. The chart in this manual is set up so if you enter your
highest speed for day 1 in the box provided, you can add the numbers found in the boxes for future
speed goals. For example, if your speed the first workout is 5 MPH and the next box down says
“+1”, your goal is to do that workout 1 mile per hour faster than your first workout. These are only
suggestions. Your rate of progression may be faster or slower.

Rest:
This is the amount of time between intervals. Rest may be complete recovery or active. See
below for active rest speeds.

Rest speed:
This is the speed or intensity of exercise during rest. This is only pertinent to day 3, as day 1
has complete recovery between intervals and day 2 is continuous activity. On day 3, active
rest speeds are recommended similar to workout speeds with numbers to add to your first
day’s speed.

Sets:
This is the number of work and rest intervals you will perform in the workout.

Cool-Down:
It is recommended that you continue to perform your activity until your heart rate decreases to
near resting levels, or for about 5 minutes. After this, perform the cool-down video prescribed
for that day.

A video and written cool-down is available at the bottom of the page. Again, any cool-down can
be used with any workout.

Max HR:
This is the maximal heart rate you achieve during the workout. This is a measure of absolute
intensity. To determine your heart rate, review the information under “set up for HICIT”. This
gives you an idea of how hard you are working. On days 1 and 3, your goal is to achieve a pretty
high heart rate (probably above 160 for fit, healthy individuals). Your heart rate on day 2 should
be about 30 beats lower than on day 1 or 3.

Distance:
This gives you an idea of how much ground you covered during your workout. Since workouts
are done in a fixed amount of time, this helps you monitor how fast you are moving and overall
volume. This is not an essential component to monitor, but it does offer valuable feedback.

Rating of Perceived Exertion or “RPE”:

RPE is how hard you feel you are working on a scale of 6-20. If you are sitting in a chair, it’s a
6. If you are barely breaking a sweat, you are around a 10. A 18-20 would indicate that you are

107
going to puke. On day 1 and 3, you should be between a 14 and 16, possibly a 17 for a set or
two. On day 2, you can be around a 11-12. This is actually a pretty accurate way to determine
how hard you are working. Record your RPE immediately after the workout.

Recording all of the above each training session helps you constantly look for ways to progress
in your program, creating a life-long fat burning machine!

108
the underground workout manual
car d iovascular interval T raining DAY 1 - highest intensity

Interval Cool-
Speed Rest Rest Distance RPE
Week Warm-Up Time Sets Down Max HR
(MPH) (Seconds) Speed (Miles) (1-10)
(Seconds) (Minutes)

Complete
1 5 90 0 75 6 5
recovery

Complete
2 5 60 +1 45 10 5
recovery

Complete
3 5 30 +2 60 12 5
recovery

Complete
4 5 90 +1 75 7 5
recovery

Complete
5 5 60 +1.5 45 11 5
recovery

Complete
6 5 30 +2 60 13 5
recovery

Complete
7 5 90 +1.5 75 8 5
recovery

Complete
8 5 60 +2 45 12 5
recovery

Complete
9 5 30 +2.5 60 14 5
recovery

Complete
10 5 90 +2 75 8 5
recovery

Complete
11 5 60 +2.5 45 13 5
recovery

Complete
12 5 30 +3 60 15 5
recovery
cool-down
warm-up

Dynamic Warm-Up 1 (2x’s through) Flexibility Circuit 1

• 50 Pogo Hops
• 50 Pogo Hops w/Twist
• 10 Jumping Jacks
• 10 Seal Jacks
• 8 Leg-Up Twists (4 each side)
• 20 Butterfly Stroke • Tennis Ball (60 sec each foot)
• 10 Standing Rainbows • Supine Hamstring (40-60 sec)
(5 each side) • Supine Adductor (40-60 sec)
• 20 Frankensteins • Supine Glute (20-40 sec each leg)
• 10 Rotating Hip Flexors • Supine Cross and Reach
(20-40 sec each leg)
• Kneeling Wall Hip Flexor
(20-40 sec each leg)
• Standing Cross and Reach
(20-40 sec each side)
• Standing Chest Stretch
(20-40 sec each side)
• Calf (20-40 sec each foot)
the underground workout manual
car d iovascular interval T raining DAY 2 - recovery

Interval Cool-
Warm-Up Speed Rest Distance RPE
Week Time Rest Sets Down Max HR
(Minutes) (MPH) Speed (Miles) (1-10)
(Minutes) (Minutes)

1 5 20 N/A N/A 1 5

2 5 25 N/A N/A 1 5

3 5 30 N/A N/A 1 5

4 5 30 N/A N/A 1 5

5 5 35 N/A N/A 1 5

6 5 35 N/A N/A 1 5

7 5 40 N/A N/A 1 5

8 5 40 N/A N/A 1 5

9 5 45 N/A N/A 1 5

10 5 45 N/A N/A 1 5

11 5 45 N/A N/A 1 5

12 5 45 N/A N/A 1 5
cool-down
warm-up

Dynamic Warm-Up 2 (2x’s through) Flexibility Circuit 1

• 20 In-place Skips • 10 Standing Can Openers • Tennis Ball (60 sec each foot) • Standing Cross and Reach
• 20 Monster Walks • 12 Step-Back Hip Flexor • Supine Hamstring (40-60 sec) (20-40 sec each side)
• 20 Forward/Back Wall Reach • Supine Adductor (40-60 sec) • Standing Chest Stretch
Swings (Each Leg) • 20 Straight Arm • Supine Glute (20-40 sec each leg) (20-40 sec each side)
• 20 Lateral Wall Swings Push-Ups • Supine Cross and Reach • Calf (20-40 sec each foot)
(Each Leg) • 12 Hip Raises (20-40 sec each leg)
• Kneeling Wall Hip Flexor
(20-40 sec each leg)
the underground workout manual
car d iovascular interval T raining DAY 3 - high intensity

Interval Rest Cool-

Speed Rest Distance RPE
Week Warm-Up Time Speed Sets Down Max HR
(MPH) (Minutes) (Miles) (1-10)
(Minutes) (MPH) (Minutes)

1 5 3 0 3 0 3 5

2 5 2 +1 2 +.5 5 5

3 5 1 +1.5 1 +1 12 5

4 5 3 +.5 3 0 4 5

5 5 2 +1.5 2 +.5 6 5

6 5 1 +2 1 +1 13 5

7 5 3 +1 3 0 4 5

8 5 2 +1.5 2 +.5 6 5

9 5 1 +2.5 1 +1 14 5

10 5 3 +1.5 3 0 5 5

11 5 2 +2 2 +.5 7 5

12 5 1 +3 1 +1 15 5
cool-down
warm-up

Dynamic Warm-Up 3 (2x’s through) Flexibility Circuit 1

• 10 1-Leg Hip Raises • 8 1-Leg Balance • Tennis Ball (60 sec each foot) • Standing Cross and Reach
(Each Leg) Frankenstein • Supine Hamstring (40-60 sec) (20-40 sec each side)
• 20 Spidermans Each Leg • 12 Split Stance Golf • Supine Adductor (40-60 sec) • Standing Chest Stretch
• 15 Flex T’s Swings • Supine Glute (20-40 sec each leg) (20-40 sec each side)
• 15 Cobras • 20 X-Jacks • Supine Cross and Reach • Calf (20-40 sec each foot)
• 30 Mountain Climbers (20-40 sec each leg)
• Kneeling Wall Hip Flexor
(20-40 sec each leg)