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Training Manual PDF
Training Manual PDF
1
Xtreme Fat Loss Diet
TRAINING MANUAL
By continuing with the program you recognize that despite all precautions on the part of Joel
Marion Fitness Solutions, LLC, there are risks of injury or illness which can occur because of your
use of the aforementioned information and you expressly assume such risks and waive, relinquish
and release any claim which you may have against Joel Marion Fitness Solutions, LLC, or its
affiliates as a result of any future physical injury or illness incurred in connection with, or as a
result of, the use or misuse of the program.
Welcome to the Training Manual for the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet! This document
contains all of the information for all 8 individual training sessions that
accompany the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet.
Or, more accurately, each “type” of diet day is paired with a specific “type” of
training.
My name is John Romaniello, and outside of being Joel’s best friend, and I have
also been working alongside him as a colleague for nearly ten years.
A lot of people reading this document will recognize my name from either my
blog (www.RomanFitnessSystems.com) or from my well-known fat loss program,
Final Phase Fat Loss.
That program has helped thousands of people shed fat while building or
maintaining muscle; the workouts in FPFL are, quite simply, some of the best fat
loss workouts ever written.
Not necessarily because of the specific exercises therein, but more so because
the fact that those workouts were created following a series of “rules” that all
In many ways, it’s the training equivalent of the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet.
And so, when Joel decided to make this program available, he and I decided that
the ONLY POSSIBLE way to make it MORE effective was to add in the workout
styles from my system.
Initially, Joel asked if he could use some pre-existing workouts that I’d had
written. After trying XFLD with a number of our clients (both shared and
respective), we decided to create new ones that fit in even more in effectively.
These two things work synergistically together to make the diet even more
effective, and facilitate the process for the most radical fat loss possible.
Guinea pig Number Two, by the way, was an actually Stephan on his Moderate Carb Day
To be clear, Stephan is not dead. However, for reasons I can’t get into here
We’re here, of course, to give you an overview of the training methods. I’m going
to tell you a little bit about them, how and why they work, and of course how to
perform each specific one. So, without further delay, let’s get into it.
This is the training style I tend to get the most questions about, so it makes
sense to start with Lactic Acid training.
Without getting overly scientific about it, lactic acid is a waste byproduct that
occurs when you perform exercise (specifically the concentric or lifting phase,
which we’ll touch on below). On overly scientific discussion of the production of
lactic acid is a bit past where we need to be to explain how to do it, so I’ll skip
ahead to WHY we do it.
One of the cool things that happens when you product lactic acid is a
corresponding increase in Growth Hormone—in fact, you can think of it as a
direct relationship: as lactic acid is created, the production and release of Growth
Hormone increases. This is important because Growth Hormone is THE single
most powerful substance your body can naturally produce to directly increase the
Which basically means that the sole reason to create lactic acid training is to
produce GH. Interestingly, that is NOT the only reason to perform lactic acid
training.
Remember when I said that more lactic acid is produced during the concentric
(lifting) phase of exercise? Well, that’s a very important facet of how we set up
the lactic acid training workouts in both Final Phase Fat Loss and the Xtreme Fat
Loss Diet.
Because we know that more LA is produced when we lift and not so much when
we lower, the idea is to EXTEND the amount of time it takes to LIFT a weight,
and DECREASE the amount of time it takes to LOWER a weight.
So, for most exercises, you’ll be lifting the weight(s) over a period of 3 or 4
seconds, and lowering quickly but safely—usually about 1 second. By doing this,
we extend the concentric time under tension and drastically increase the
production of lactic acid.
That is, if you normally use 100 pounds for an overhead press, drop it down to
about 75-80 pounds, at least for the first few workouts. As you get the hang of it
and your body adapts, you’ll be able to bump it up as you go.
Lactic acid isn’t easy, but it is one of the most effective fat loss training methods
around, from both an immediate physiological and a long-term hormonal
perspective.
During the Xtreme Fat Loss Diet, you’ll be performing Lactic Acid Training on
your Depletion Day before your Cheat Day, and on the Fast Day immediately
following the Cheat Day.
Density Training
Speaking of Cheat Days, that’s a great segue for a discussion about the training
modality you’ll be using on those days: Density Training.
Training Density refers to the amount of work you do in a given time frame, or
over the course of your training session. The idea of increasing the density of a
training session is not new, but I’ve put my own spin on it to make it more
effective for fat loss as well as muscle gain.
Traditionally, you were able to increase density in one of two ways: either do
more work in the same time period, or do the same amount of work in the same
With the version of density training in XFLD, we take it a step further and have
you do MORE work with MORE weight in the same time before. That’s where
the muscle gain comes in.
To help facilitate fat loss, we set things up with fast paced circuits.
Now, here's where it gets kooky: for your second circuit, you'll be using heavier
weight—substantially heavier weight. Rather than just create density circuits, I
also took advantage of some other cool things that happen when your body
adapts and seems to get instantly stronger.
Not only are we seeking to increase reps, but also increase weight before we
repeat a given exercise. Again, this is applied to all exercises within a circuit.
Let's say you did each of the following exercises for 30 seconds* each: overhead
press, bent-over row, squat.
How is this possible? Simple: your nervous system is firing like crazy.
You see the first set serves as what we might call a neurological primer; that is,
while it is certainly hard and helps you burn fat, that set is really preparing your
body to move more weight your second set.
As is probably obvious, lifting heavier weights requires a lot more effort, and
providing that effort a greater expense of energy. Lucky for you, that energy is in
the form of calories, and so density training is also a great fat burning routine,
particularly the second set of any circuit.
That means that performing density training on your Cheat Days will not only
help you build a bit of Lean Body Mass, it will ALSO keep your metabolic rate
elevated during your FAST Day, while you’re already in an extreme caloric
deficit—it’s not hard to see how that leads to Xtreme Fat Loss!
Overall, I’d say Density Training ranks very high on the Scale of Awesome.
In fact, as a frame reference, I’ve provided a Scale of Awesome for those of you
who don’t have it.
The last thing anyone should seek to do is lose strength during the leaning out
period. You’ve spent a lot of time and effort building up both fat-burning lean
body mass, and to sacrifice it while getting leaner isn’t just shameful, it’s
downright counterproductive.
Finally, as if all of that wasn’t that wasn’t enough to convince you, lifting heavy
weights makes you LOOK better.
Muscle tone, my friends; you see, lifting heavy weight helps to increase both
neurogenic and myogenic muscle tone. Neurogenic muscle tone is the amount
of tension in a muscle while it’s working, or in a flexed state.
So, say, for example, you’re sitting around randomly on the floor of a gym, not
flexing, and someone decides to snap a photo of you…. probably come your
arms will come out pretty nice in that photo if you have a high level of myogenic
muscle tone.
At the same time, the old standby of static sets and reps isn’t really ideal,
because if you can lift a heavy weight for the same number of reps on your last
set as your first set, then chances are that weight really wasn’t heavy enough to
challenge you on that first set, and you’re losing out on some benefit.
In the Heavy Strength Workouts in XFLD, you’re going to ignore the sets, and
instead just focus on the total number of reps; as I’ve been known to say, let the
sets take care of themselves.
Let’s say on your first round, you get 13 push-ups, 9 squats, and 8 pull-ups. In
that instance, you have 27 push-ups, 31 squats, and 32 pull-ups to go.
Your next set, you get 13 push-ups, 10 squats, and 8 pull-ups. Now you’re got
14 push-ups, 21 squats, and 24 pull-ups left.
Next you bang out 10 push-ups, 10 squats, and 7 pull-ups. So far, you’ve done 4
sets of each exercise, but you’re way ahead on one of them. You now have 4
push-ups, 11 squats, and 17 pull-ups to go.
You do another set, get 4 push-ups, 8 squats, and 9 pull-ups (there’s that
neurological efficiency again). Now you’re done with push-ups (5 total sets) and
This time, you go right into squats and get all 3 (6 total sets), then only get 5 pull-
ups. Now you’re done with 2 exercises, so your next set, you just do pull-ups.
You get all 3 that you have left. Circuit done.
It took you 5 sets to do the push-ups, 6 sets to get the squats, and 7 for the pull-
ups. And that’s IDEAL.
You see, you were using heavy weight, and had a high workload. Overall, you
were working hard enough each set that you were able to maintain both strength
and mass.
After all that, you’d move on to another circuit curse my name, and enjoy the rest
of your Shake Day—which is when you’ll be training in this way.
Dynamic Training
For my part, I’ve put my own spin on circuits when it comes to exercise selection.
You see, I am a huge believing that you’re going to get the best fat loss result by
moving your body through as much space as possible as often as possible—so
when it comes to training back, it’s better to use a pull-up or an inverted row over
a pull down.
And so the thrust of dynamic training is to move fast, work hard, and get as much
out of each exercise as possible—it’s using movement to get better at moving.
Outside of being a great fat loss training modality, it’s also going to help you
increase flexibility, mobility, and endurance.
For both the Lactic Acid workouts and the Strength workouts, you will something
between each of the prescribed circuits called a “Dynamic Interrupt.” This is a
little invention of mine that was born out of training multiple athletes in a crowded
facility, and needing to keep them moving when equipment wasn’t available. I
wasn’t prepared for the results when I first developed this.
In the beginning, it was intended as a way to increase conditioning. And then the
fat started dropping off. Since then, I’ve incorporated it into workouts with so
many different kinds of clients, and all of them have enhanced their results.
After your last set of a prescribed circuit, the Dynamic Interrupt takes place.
Usually a series of bodyweight exercises, the Dynamic Interrupt gets your heart
© 2010 Joel Marion Fitness Solutions LLC and XtremeFatLossDiet.com.
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rate going and helps you to burn more calories and fat. The generally low reps of
the strength training are offset by the activity of the Dynamic Interrupt, and the fat
burning workout effect becomes even more profound.
In the case of the Lactic Acid workouts, performing the Dynamic Interrupt is
intended to help clear the lactic acid from the limbs between circuits. Keep in
mind it is not the lactic acid that burns fat, it’s the lactic acid that encourages the
production of growth hormone, and THAT helps to burn fat.
Clearing lactic acid from the limbs allows you to be more productive on the
subsequent circuit, and have a more effective workout overall.
Below, you’ll find a list of nearly all of the exercises included in the above
workouts. This list also serves as an entry point to a video database at my
YouTube Channel. Simply click on any of the links, and you’ll be taken to a video
of me, one of my athletes, or another fitness professional performing these
exercises in good form.
Now, I say “nearly” very intentionally, because some of them were not included.
I’m sorry, but I don’t feel it necessary to demonstrate a push-up or jumping jacks.
It’s not necessary.
When I released FPFL, 98% of people were absolutely thrilled with having
access to videos for references to various exercises. About 2% emailed me and
pointed out that they found pictures to be more convenient to print out and bring
to the gym. While that point is certainly not without merit or validity, clearly I have
to cater to such a vast majority. Further to that, it’s my personal belief that you
can learn about 100 times more from watching an expert on video ONE time than
looking at an exercise model on paper 100 times.
It’s really just better. So, if you fall within the 2%, I urge you to watch the videos
a few times, learn the exercises, and please know that this is ultimately the way
things are going from a socio-technological perspective.
Upper Body Notes (If needed) Lower Body Notes (if needed)
Exercise Exercise
Alternating DB Chest Hold one arm locked Alternating 3-way Hold DB “Goblet Style.” One
Press out while the other Lunge lunge to the front, side, and
works back.
Arnold Punch Push Explosively Alternating
Rev.Lunge
Bent Over Dumbbell Bulgarian Jump
With the above workouts paired on the corresponding diet days of the Xtreme Fat
Loss Diet System, you are going to go through the next 25 days in a blur of fat
loss and intensity. I cannot wait to hear about your results.
If you enjoy the workouts in this program, keep in mind they are based on those
that make up my 6-week fat blasting program, Final Phase Fat Loss.
If you don’t already have it, you can pick it up HERE an Xtreme discount (Normal
price 137!)
John Romaniello is one of New York’s most highly respected trainers, and one of
the industry’s most sought after fitness authorities. Working with professional
athletes, actors, and models in the gym Roman also runs an online coaching
program through which he helps people all over the works achieve incredible
results.
He is the author of Final Phase Fat Loss, on of the best selling fat loss programs
available on the Internet, as well as countless articles for Men’s Health, Men’s
Fitness, Oxygen, SHAPE, TMuscle.com, LiveStrong.com, and others.
For more information on Roman or any of his articles, you can check him out at
his website over at www.RomanFitnessSystems.com