Get Ripped Routine By Dale Jacques – iSNutrition

As the Athlete manager for Team Grenade I felt it was important to understand from

an Athletes perspective how difficult it was to get myself into “show condition”. I

thought this would enable me as their manager to relate with the Team and push

myself physically to see exactly how difficult it would be to achieve a single figure

body fat percentage?

After a considerable amount of research I designed a low carb diet and a

supplement stack to help me achieve my fitness goal. I began to see noticeable

results within a week which was unreal. I changed the number of reps I was doing

from 6-8 for size and strength to 10-12 for fat loss and muscular endurance. I was

eating roughly every 2hrs, little and often was the key to my success.

As a serving soldier I am only allowed to consume sports supplements listed on the

Informed Sport website. 90% of Grenade’s products are already registered (with the

remaining products being added soon) with Informed Sport and this was an

important factor when creating a supplement stack that military personnel can follow

too. iSNutrition have a dedicated Informed Sport category here so Military personnel

can easily identify Informed Sport approved products that comply with the MOD safe

supplement policy and will not cause a fail on a CDT (Compulsory Drug Test).

The supplement stack I created is as follows:

Grenade Thermo Detonator (Thermogenic Fat Burner)

Grenade Hydra 6 Protein – 50/50 Casein/Whey Isolate protein

Grenade AT4 – Testosterone Booster (Males only)

Grenade Essentials – Creatine

Grenade Ration Pack – Multivitamins

Grenade Defend – Intra-workout Branch Chain Amino Acid product

Grenade 50 Calibre – Pre-workout

What does each product do?

Grenade Thermo Detonator

Thermo Detonator is Grenade’s original flagship product, an award winning

Thermogenic Fat Burner, it has won European Fat Burner of the year for 5

consecutive years running. It contains green tea, green coffee, caffeine, bitter orange

powder and cayenne. These ingredients combined have the following effects on the

body resulting in fat loss:

Speeds up metabolism

Appetite suppressant

Increases core temperature

Increases energy levels

Grenade Hydra 6 Protein

Hydra 6 is a revolutionary protein blend combining the advantages of both whey

isolate and casein protein. Isolate is an ultra filtered fast release protein

(unnecessary carbs and fats are removed during the manufacturing process leaving

an premium ultra pure low carb/fat (isolated) protein) which is ideal post workout to

feed the muscles, casein offers a slow release protein that is digested and

distributed to the muscles over a longer period (3-4hrs). Having a mixture of these 2

proteins ensures your body gets exactly what it needs to promote muscle growth and

recovery.

AT4 (Testosterone support)

AT4 is a testosterone booster which contains a key natural ingredient called D-

Aspartic Acid (DAA). DAA increases the hormone testosterone in males which can

support strength, muscle size. Increased testosterone levels can also increase your

sexual libido. AT4 is only suitable for males.

Grenade Creatine (Essentials Range)

Creatine increases physical performance in successive bursts of short-term, high

intensity exercise. Creatine is an essential supplement for many training attributes

whether you want to increase your strength, power, muscular effort/recovery, time to

exhaustion, lifting volume and performance.

Grenade Ration Pack (Multivitamin product)

Complete daily nutritional food supplement containing vitamins and minerals, omega

3 fatty acids, antioxidants and bifidex (probiotic). This product offers an ideal

foundation for this nutritional and supplement program, it has been specifically

designed to provide generous levels of nutrients in their highest quality form tested

for purity, potency and absorption.

Grenade Defend (Full Spectrum Amino Acid product)

Defend can be used as an intra-workout supplement or consumed throughout the

day to enhance the amino acid profile of your diet. It contains potent dosages of L-

Leucine, Astragin, L-Citrulline, ALA and Glutamine Peptides, all are essential

building blocks required to repair and build muscle during/post intensive exercise.

Grenade 50 Calibre Pre-workout

This product needs no introduction, it is Grenade’s hard hitting pre-workout

motivator. It never fails to deliver an explosive energy fuelled assault when

consumed before a gym session. On a low carb diet I found this gave me the mental

and physical energy required to stay focussed to push my body to the limit whilst

carb depleting. But be warned if you consume this product late in the evening, you

may struggle to sleep! #HANDLEWITHCARE

Grenade’s Full Product Arsenal:

The Diet

After much research I created a diet similar to the Cyclical Ketogenic Diet (CKD).

However, I cut out the high saturated fat content typical of the CKD diet as I was

worried about the damage it would do to my arteries and specifically my cholesterol

levels long term. My diet consisted of minimum carbohydrates for 5 days then on the

6th day I could have a cheat meal which was a essentially massive carb load!

A typical low carb phase looked like this:

Low Carb days

0640hrs – 2 x Grenade Thermo Detonator Fat Burner capsules, dissolvable multi-

vitamin C tablet (Asda’s own brand in 400ml water)

0700hrs – 20 Minutes of HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training, every other training

day and on cheat days regardless!) – 3 scoops of Grenade Defend (amino intra-

workout product with 1lt water)

0730hrs – 3 x egg whites, 3 x whole eggs – scrambled with a 100g of Kale

0800hrs – Grenade Ration Pack (4 x individual capsules – Multi-vitamin, Anti-

Oxidant, Pro-Biotic, Essential Fatty Acid - Omega), 2 x Grenade AT4 (Testosterone

booster) capsules.

0900-0930hrs – Grenade Hydra 6 Protein (3 scoops)

1030hrs – 3 x Organic Rice cakes with whole nut peanut butter (whole earth peanut

butter with no added sugar)

1130hrs – 2 x Grenade Fat Burner caps, 2 x Grenade AT4

1200hrs – One of the following types of protein: Chicken breast (Protein Pouch),

Turkey breast, Salmon, Steak, Tuna, any kind of white fish (boiled, grilled or

poached without sauce or breadcrumbs/batter)

Medium sweet potato or Protein Pouch sweet potato mash (Low GI carbs) with either

Veg (typically anything green - broccoli, green beans, spinach, peas, asparagus,

kale etc) or Salad – avoiding anything with pips in (tomatoes, peppers, Chilli’s)

1430hrs – 3 x Organic Rice cakes with whole nut peanut butter (whole earth peanut

butter with no added sugar)

1500hrs – Grenade 50 Calibre – Pre Workout

1530-1645hrs – Weight Training (intra workout - Grenade Defend mixed with

Grenade Engage (BCCA + Creatine))

1645hrs – Post workout Grenade Hydra 6 Protein (3 Scoops) + 1 x Banana

1800hrs – One of the following types of protein: Chicken breast, Turkey breast,

Salmon, Steak, Tuna, any kind of white fish (boiled, grilled or poached without sauce

or breadcrumbs/batter)

With either Veg (typically anything green - broccoli, green beans, spinach, pea’s,

asparagus, kale etc) or Salad – avoiding anything with pips/seeds in (tomatoes,

peppers, Chilli’s due to fructose content(natural sugars which are essentially

unnecessary carbs following this diet)

1930hrs – 250g low fat natural yogurt and some mixed nuts (Unsalted Mixed nuts),

small handful of blueberries

2100hrs – 125g of cottage cheese with 1 x large salary stick

2200hrs – Grenade Hydra 6 Protein (3 scoops)

Examples of macronutrients found in some of the foods consumed during a low carb

day:

Food Cal Fat Carb Protein

Egg whites

(x3)

51kc 0.17g 0.72g 10.79g

Eggs (whole, x

3)

220kc 14.91g 1.16g 18.87g

Sweet potato

(medium)

102.6kc 0.2g 23.6g 2.3g

Broccoli

(200g)

48kc 0g 0g 4g

Asparagus (7

spears)

24kc 0g 3g 2g

Organic Rice

cake & Peanut

Butter (80g) x

2 (nutritional

info based on

2 x RC)

506kc 40g 13.92g 19.68g

Low fat natural

yogurt

(250g)

162.5kc

3.75g 18g 12.5g

Garden Peas

(200g)

180kc 3.2g 20g 13.4g

Mixed Salad

(Florette 125g)

22kc 0.2g 2.4g 0g

Green Beans

(200g)

62kc 0.4g 14g 2g

Baby Spinach 54kc 1.6g 3.2g 5.6g

Food Cal Fat Carb Protein

(boiled) (200g)

Sirloin Steak

(170g each x

2)

640kc 24g 0g 48g

Tuna (1 x can

in brine)

129kc 0.6g 0g 30g

Grilled Turkey

Steak (120g

each x 2)

310kc 3.6g 0g 69.6g

Chicken Breast

130g portion

159 kcal 1.3g 1.17g 36.4g

Grilled Salmon

(120g each x

2)

336kc 10g 0g 57.8

Raw Almonds

(50g serving)

306kc 28g 3.5g 11g

Cottage

cheese with

Pineapple

(150g)

135kc 1.8g 15g 13.2

Grenade

Hydra 6

Protein (3

scoops – 52.5)

197kc 2.6g 4.2g 37.5g

Volvic Sugar

free strawberry

water (1.5ltr)

12kc 0g 0g 0g

Mineral Water

(4-5ltrs a day)

0kc 0g 0g 0g

I followed this diet religiously for 5 days, on the 6th Day I followed the diet up until

Lunch then I had my cheat meal which usually filled me up until late in the evening

(because of all the carbohydrates I had eaten) You may have noticed that I do not

eat any fruit or drink anything other than water (mineral water and sugar free

strawberry water to give the taste buds a treat!). Fruit and fruit juice are full of

fructose (natural sugars) which is a form of simplex carbohydrates, the vitamins and

minerals are replaced by the vitamin supplements mentioned in the supplement list

above.

Food Preparation

One of the hardest things when following a diet and training program is FOOD

PREP! It’s a daily struggle ensuring that you find the time to cook your meals in

advance or when you need them and it’s easy to convince yourself it’s “Ok” to

change your diet on the days especially when you haven’t got the time (or

motivation) to cook meals in advance. I struggled with this myself, after a long day

the last thing I wanted to do was to cook! There are plenty of companies out there

offering pre prepped meals or pre-cooked frozen chicken etc, if you struggle to find

the time to prep your meals use one of these companies. If you want to save yourself

cash be persistent and motivate yourself to prep your own meals (even when you’re

drained!)

Hydration

Extra water is required to help your kidneys flush out and remove waste products

especially when following a high protein diet. Waste products such as uric acid will

remain in the body unless eliminated by the kidneys. Drinking extra water will help

the kidneys work more efficiently, it’s essential for this diet to work and stop you

feeling so hungry whilst on low carbs. The kidneys work to balance the water and

sodium balance in your body, so drinking plenty of water will prompt your kidneys to

filter the extra toxins and excess materials out with the excess water. Diluting the

waste materials in your body will also put less strain on your kidneys while filtering

them out and collecting them into the urine, this will help prevent kidney stones

which can be a side effect of Ketogenic and high protein diets.

“Sugar Free” – Aspartame

Aspartame is an artificial sweetener found in lots of food and drink, it is a low calorie

sugar substitute without the calories. Sounds perfect right?

When you eat something sweet, your brain releases a hormone called dopamine,

which activates your brain's reward center. The appetite-regulating hormone leptin is

also released, which eventually informs your brain that you are "full" once a certain

amount of calories have been ingested.

However, when you consume something that tastes sweet but doesn't contain any

calories, your brain's pleasure pathway still gets activated by the sweet taste, but

there's nothing to deactivate it, since the calories never arrive.

Artificial sweeteners basically trick your body into thinking that it's going to receive

sugar (calories), but when the sugar doesn't arrive your body continues to signal that

it needs more, which results in carb cravings. This is why it’s important not to replace

natural/mineral water with low calorie “sugar free” drinks which are counterproductive

when dieting if you consume copious amounts, a little treat for the taste buds in

moderation is the key.

Carb load – Cheat day

The reason I used to eat so many times a day whilst on the low carb days is that the

body absorbs and digests protein quickly, Carbohydrates feed the body over a

longer period so you don’t feel hungry as it takes the body longer to digest the

complex carbohydrates, this is why I could afford to have a cheat meal at lunch on

day 6 and not eat anything until the casein in the evening. As the cheat day is every

6th Day it means that the cheat day is always different each week. Eating little and

often is the key to keeping the metabolism working effectively.

Don’t be scared to each whatever you want on the cheat meal, you have earned it!

The Carbs consumed during the cheat meal will prevent the body from breaking

down muscle instead of fat (muscle contains more nutrients when the body is in

starvation mode due to the lack of simplex and complex carbs).

Here is a typical cheat meal consisting of 3 plates of Chinese then ice-cream all

washed down with a pint of Cola consumed all in one sitting!

Plate 1 Plate 2

Plate 3 Plate 4

How do this diets works? The science behind Keto diets:

By drastically restricting carbohydrates to a mere fraction of that found in the typical diet, the body goes into a different metabolic state called ketosis, whereby it burns its own fat for fuel, producing little carbon fragments (called ketones) as a by-product. Normally the body burns carbohydrates for fuel; this is the main source of fuel for your brain, heart and many other organs. When the body is in ketosis, you tend to feel less hungry, and therefore you're likely to eat less than you might otherwise.

As a result, your body changes from a carbohydrate-burning engine into a fat-burning engine. So instead of relying on the carbohydrate-rich items you might typically consume for energy, and leaving your fat stores just where they were before (alas, the hips, abdominal region and thighs), your fat stores become a primary energy source. The purported result is weight loss. To shock the body and its metabolic rate we incorporate a cheat meal once every six days, the carbohydrates consumed during the cheat meal knock the body out of ketosis, the goal is to replenish all the glycogen in both the muscle in the liver such that they can be drawn upon over the course of the week for performance in various anaerobic activities, such as weight lifting.

Because glycogen re-synthesis requires carbohydrate, most cheat days are composed almost entirely of carbohydrates (i.e. rice, potatoes, crisps, pasta, Chinese, pizza, fruit, sweets, pop, basically anything full of complex/simplex carbs/sugars).

Carbohydrates can be broken down into three categories:

1. Simple 2. Complex 3. Fibrous

Simple Carbohydrates

Simple carbohydrates are shorter chains of sugars, usually coming from food items with a noticeably "sweet" flavour containing sugar, such as sucrose, lactose or fructose. Examples of simplex carbs are chocolate, fruit and fizzy pop. Simple Carbs Are Shorter Chains Of Sugars

They provide short term energy and are quickly broken down by the body. Hence they don't make you feel satiated for very long.

Complex Carbohydrates

Complex carbohydrates, on the other hand, are longer chains of sugars predominantly coming from foods without such a noticeably starchy flavour, such as rice, bread, potatoes, oats, pasta, and things of that nature. Complex Carbs Are Longer Chains Of Sugars

In general, since the body takes a little longer to break these down, they give you energy for a longer period of time than do their simple sugar counterparts. Hence why you can eat your cheat meal and not feel the need to eat again for another 4hrs!

Fibrous Carbohydrates Fibrous carbohydrates come predominantly from roughage such as green leafy vegetables, broccoli and the skins of various vegetables and fruits, hence the term fibre.

Low GI Carbs

Carbohydrates affect blood sugar - The Glycemic Index measures the speed at which a food breaks down in the digestive system to form glucose, which in turn enters the blood stream to feed every cell in your body. The index is scored on a scale of 100, with 100 representing pure glucose. Foods that are broken down quickly into glucose get a high score (usually over 70) and foods that are slow to break down get a low score (under 55).

High glycemic foods include fruit juices, breads, starchy foods like potatoes and sweets, and baked goods. These have in common a lack of fiber, fat and protein, which help moderate the release of sugar resulting in insulin spikes which are quickly followed by a “sugar crash” making you feel low, slow and lethargic and craving more high GI carbs to give you another short lived “sugar rush”.

Low glycemic foods include oatmeal, beans and vegetables, which are packed with fat, fiber and protein and cause a slow, steady digestion, leading to a longer period of satisfaction.

The advantage of eating low-glycemic carbs (such as sweet potato) with a combination of healthy proteins and fats to keeps digestion slow. The quick release of glucose triggers a hormone response that tells your brain you're hungry again,

which is problematic for dieters, who are trying to reduce their overall calorie intake. But consistently high or modulating blood sugar can contribute to insulin resistance.

Obviously if you go crazy on your cheat meal, you’ll not only refill your glycogen stores, but also cause excess energy to be stored as fat. So you have to be conscious of the amount of food you eat such that your glycogen is filled, but not overfilled. But in theory the carbohydrates you eat on your cheat day will be converted into muscle and liver glycogen, while the rest of the body will continue to obtain energy by breaking down fat.

There is also evidence that having a large portion of food once per week limits the body’s ability to down-regulate the basal metabolism, and also stimulates the thyroid gland, which raises metabolism.

The results I noticed over the 8 weeks I dieted for can be compared on the photos below:

Seen above with 2 good friends of mine, JJ Richards (middle) and WBFF Pro Jamie Alderton (on the right)

Does this diet have any side effects?

As with everything there is always a risk, but it is proportionate to the results in my opinion compared to the unpleasant side effects can occur with the Keto diet’s. To start with, burning fat results in the production of substances called ketones as your body enters a state called ketosis. This can result in bad breath, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, insomnia and nausea. Constipation may also occur as a consequence of avoiding typically high-fibre foods such as fruit, beans, whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, wholegrain breakfast cereals and jacket potatoes.

When it comes to long-term side effects, many health professionals are concerned that the Keto diets may have serious dangers. There are also concerns that the unbalanced nature of Keto diets may lead to nutritional deficiencies, which cause health problems in later life. For example, poor intakes of bone-building calcium (found in dairy products) may increase the risk of osteoporosis, while poor intakes of antioxidant nutrients (found in fruit and veg) have been linked with a host of health problems ranging from heart disease and cancer to premature ageing and cataracts. Some experts are also worried that high intakes of protein may cause kidney problems or weaken bones. Which is why additional vitamins and minerals are consumed following this diet.

References – Boots - Women’s Health Guide, Duane Storey - Cyclical Ketogenic Diet, Dr Atkins – Weight loss resources, Livestrong – How to get rid of high protein in my body, Livestrong – Low GI carbs, Bodybuilding.com – The truth about carbs

The Training program

I was training weights 6 times a week with one rest day and HIIT (cardio) 3 times a week incorporating a rest day every 3 days.

I exercised each muscle group individually for the first 6 weeks then changed to supersets* on Exercise routine A and used Dropsets** on Exercise routine B to shock the body and maximise fat loss for the last 2 weeks.

Superset* are two exercises performed sequentially without stopping, to add intensity to your training.

Drop sets** is a technique for continuing an exercise with a lower weight once muscle failure has been achieved at a higher weight.

Typical workout week would consist of:

Monday – HIIT (am) Chest (Exercise A) (pm)

Tuesday – Back (Exercise A) (pm)

Wednesday – HIIT (am) Legs (Exercise A) (pm)

Thursday – REST

Friday – Shoulders (Exercise A)

Saturday – (Cheat day!) HIIT (am) Arms (Exercise A) (pm)

Sunday – Chest (Exercise B)

Monday – REST

A rest day is incorporated after every 3 sessions; HIIT session is included every other day except for rest days. A cheat meal is never consumed on a rest day, if this occurs you must postpone the cheat meal until the 7th low carb day. HIIT sessions are included on every cheat day.

There is two workouts for each muscle group, these are labelled Routine A and Routine B. I alternated the workouts week by week to keep the muscles guessing and to stress the muscles at different angles.

Chest routine

Routine A Routine B Reps Sets

Dumbbell Bench Press

Flat Barbell Bench Press 10-12 4

Incline Barbell Bench Press

Dumbbell Incline Press 10-12 4

Cable Flies Dumbbell Flies 10-12 4

Decline Dumbbell press

Decline reverse grip Barbell Bench on smith machine

10-12 4

Weighted Dips Body weight dips Failure 3

Back routine

Routine A Routine B Reps Sets

Weighted wide arm pull ups

Bodyweight wide arm pull ups

10-12 4

T-Bar row Deadlifts 10-12 4

Wide arm seated row

Lat pull down (front) 10-12 4

Bent over single arm dumbbell

row

Seated row close parallel grip

10-12 4

Partial Deadlifts Barbell bent over row 10-12 4

Shoulder & Traps routine

Routine A Routine B Reps Sets

Arnold Dumbbell press

Barbell Clean and Press 10-12 3

Dumbbell front raises

Smith machine shoulder press

10-12 3

Dumbbell seated press

Dumbbell bent over side lateral raises

10-12 3

Single arm leaning side lateral raises

Double handed Front raises with straight bar on cable

10-12 3

Upright row with rope on cable

cross

Upright row with EZ bar 10-12 3

25kg plate shrugs (25kg plate in each arm, 50

front, 50 side, 50 rear)

Dumbbell Shrugs 50/ 10-12 3

Legs routine

Routine A Routine B Reps Sets

Leg press Barbell Squats 10-12 4

Front Barbell squat

Leg Extensions 10-12 4

Weighted Lunges Hamstring Curl 15-20 / 10-12 4

Weighted Step ups

Stifft leg deadlift 15-20 / 10-12 4

Hamstring Curl Plyometric Box jumps 10-12 4

Calf raises Calf raises 15-20 6

Arms routine

Routine A Routine B Reps Sets

Rope Hammer curls

Preacher Curl with EZ bar 10-12 3

Reverse grip tricep pull down

Dumbbell hammer curls 10-12 3

21’s with EZ bar Barbell curls 10-12 3

Tricep kick backs with cable

V bar Tricep press 10-12 3

Incline seated dumbbell curls

Skull Crushers 10-12 3

Close arm weighted dips

Tricep rope ext split 10-12 3

HIIT Cardio (High Intensity Interval Training)

HIIT training is ideal for burning body fat yet preserving muscle, the cardio sessions are ultra intensity but last only 20-25 minutes per session. I used to rotate though the following sessions:

Interval rowing – Concept 2 rower

Level 5 resistance on the rower, set a new workout, set by distance which will be 500m, set rest period which will be 60 seconds.

This means you will row as fast as you can for 500m then rest for 60 seconds before you must row again as fast as you can (I used to try keep my 500m split time below 1:50). I would do this 8 times (so 8 x 500m).

Interval Sprints – Treadmill

Start with a 5 min warm up on level 6 (so 6km speed) for 5 minutes @ 1% incline. Then up the level by 1km every 60 seconds. When you can no longer run any faster jog for 60 seconds on level 8 then sprint as fast as you can for 60 seconds, repeat this 5 times.

Body resistance beasting – for time

A Cross-Fit inspired workout that is completed as quickly as possible with minimum rest, consisting of bodyweight exercises:

1km run @ 5% incline – best effort!

50 Pull ups

50 burpees

50 Crunches

50 Press ups

50 Tuck jumps

50 Dips

50 squats

50 hanging leg raises

1km on the rower – Best effort!

Disclaimer

I hope you find this diet and training program beneficial and you are pleased with the results if you chose to follow my routine. I have created this program myself and it worked wonders for me personally. It is worth noting that I have no dietary or nutritional qualifications and I accept no liability for injuries, illnesses or adverse effects as a result from you choosing to follow my personal plan. Lift responsibly; train your muscles not your ego and use a spotter where necessary!

Enjoy -|||-----------------|||-

Dale Jacques

www.iSNutrition.co.uk

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