Nick Nilsson of FitStep.com recently interviewed me about my Lean Hybrid Muscle RELOADED program and I wanted to share my answers with your below.
Nick: Do I need to have specialized equipment to do this program?
Westy: You don’t need any special equipment. Just barbell, dumbbells, bands and bodyweight. There is a specialization day where you can use some machines if you’d like.
Nick: Will I have a hard time doing this in a busy gym?
Westy: I think most programs would be hard to in a really busy gym. There’s nothing too crazy though. For the circuits you just need to grab a dumbbell or barbell and find a corner. You’ll need access to a treadmill in the winter to do some sprints. Other than that as long as you can superset between biceps and triceps once in a while a busier gym shouldn’t be a problem.
Nick: Will this program work for women as well?
Westy: A common myth is that men and women need to train differently. I am no scientist but I can tell you from experience that women do very well training with Hybrid Muscle Variables. In fact, the results that women get at my gym are often better than the men.
This is simply because this is the first time they have been exposed to strength training. So, all types of cool things start happening like their posture improves and this means that the boobs stand up a little higher.
Since we include so many squats in the programs there is a significant tightening and firming up of the glutes. We may design a program specifically for women in the future but the foundation will still be exactly the same.
Nick: I’m 60+ years old. Is this program safe for me?
Westy: It’s the best thing you can do to feel young and vibrant. We have at least five guys that train at Elliott’ gym Strength Camp doing the exact same program with us. If you need to make any modifications for health reasons feel free, but you’ll find yourself feeling better, moving more freely and feeling younger.
Nick: Will this program improve my athletic performance while it burns fat and build muscle?
Westy: That’s exactly what it’s for. Will it improve your fast ball for baseball? Probably not. However it will make you a better overall athlete. If your sport doesn’t have very specific skill sets LHM Reloaded would be a good choice for overall athletic enhancement. There’s power training, strength training, explosiveness training, hypertrophy training as well some speed training. Oh and there’s conditioning and hybrid cardio which carry over to field better in most contact sports such as MMA, football, wrestling and rugby.
Nick: Does this program tell me exactly what to eat? Do I need to eat weird foods?
Westy: As long as you don’t mind eating raw herring and anchovies 7 times a day you’re golden. Just kidding, there’s a lot of variety and there are exchang lists to swap out anything you don’t like. I really can’t think of anything too strange on the meal plans.
Nick: Do I need to take a bunch of fancy supplements to make this work?
You’re probably waiting to hear us say there’s a super duper top secret supplement stack in the program that is going to make your lean and ripped. Well if that’s what you wanted to hear, sorry to disappoint you.
Look at our ancestors and, in particular, the warrior cultures like the Spartans, the Roman Gladiators, or the Vikings. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors did not take supplements yet they built powerful, muscular physiques. How did they do it? First, their daily lives centered on intense physical activities—what we would today refer to as hybrid muscle training. And second, they ate natural, whole foods that provided all the nutrition they needed. Honestly, that is really the best way to give your body the vitamins and nutrients it needs. For the modern guy though, that can be easier said than done.
That’s where supplements do come into the picture but not until you’ve got a solid foundation built or underway!
The word supplement means “to add to”. Once you’re 90% of the way to your goal, supplements can help give you an edge, but by themselves they’re not going to help you much without everything else being in place. Yes we give a few basic recommendations but supplements are not mandatory.
Nick: How much time do the workouts take and how many days a week do I train?
Westy: Workouts take about an hour total sometimes much less which includes your cadio. It varies based on the week. Anywhere from 3-5 days per week.
Nick: Can I make this program work if I can only train 2 or 3 days a week?
Westy: Well all get busy so if you’re traveling a lot or just got a lot going on you can do the Maintenance phase during those times. 3-days should really be your minimum. I supposed you could still do the program, you’d just want to randomly pick two full body workouts per week to do.
Nick: How soon will I start seeing results?
Westy: Seeing or feeling? You’ll be really sore the first couple weeks. You probably haven’t trained this way before. You can usually notice something within 2-weeks. When you put yourself through tough workouts like this ‘something” is going to happen I can promise you that.
Nick: Are the exercises hard to learn?
Westy: Like anything a new exercise will take practice. But if you can pick up Nick’s new invention exercises these shouldn’t be a problem for you. Besides there are videos demonstrating everything you are asked to do. If you’d like to learn more about the new Lean Hybrid Muscle RELOADED just click here.
