Last 10 Pounds
by Alwyn Cosgrove
05/12/08

We challenged the surly Scot to come up with a fat loss program that could quickly shave off 10 pound of fat without dieting. He pretty much did it, but it'll work better if you clean up the dirty dieting.

Hoo-ah, first post!

You boys sure got this one up way early, didn't you? At least my all-nighter had one benefit, I guess.

Good article, Alwyn. I pretty much subscribe to the fast fat blitzkrieg notion, because I hate dieting. Not so much the healthy eating part, but the calorie restriction part. I'd rather suck it up and do 4 weeks of misery than a long period of semi-misery.

Quick question:

Would you recommend doing this before, after, or on a different day than my regular lifting?

Thanks!

nice article!im on the last 10 lbs now. dieting sucks. ive been waiting for an article like this

I don't think anyone would agree with me, but this is the best Alwyn Cosgrove article I've ever read.

Now can we get a companion article about gaining those last 10 pounds?

Nice job Alwyn, i'll send you a deep fried mars bar for your troubles ^^

Best article in weeks. this is exactly what i feel like there was missing in the Physique Clinic. somebody who allready have a pretty atletic body but just need some new perspective to get the last couple of inches off..

Well played Cosgrove !

I hate the phrase "This is exactly what I needed", but in this case its pretty true.

I am hopefully at the last 10 lbs needed to reach my original goal for June 7th. Now as events have unfolded in the last few months, coincidentally I am also scheduled to be on a Mexican beach on June 13th for 10 days... :D

I have never been leaner than now. I am going to give this an honest shot. With Mexico it makes my goal mean more.

My current schedule

Cardio has been progression 1x a week, usually incline or speed.

sun - (cardio,40)
Mon - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 25)
Tue - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 25)-(lift 60)
Wed - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 25)-(lift 60)
Thu - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 25)
Fri - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 25)-(lift 60)
Sat - (cardio 40)-(lift 60)

New schedule

sun - (cardio,40)-(NEPA 60)-(Metabolic 2x)
Mon - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 60)-(Metabolic)
Tue - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 60)-(lift 60)
Wed - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 60)-(lift 60)
Thu - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 60)-(Metabolic)
Fri - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 60)-(lift 60)
Sat - (cardio 40)-(NEPA 60)-(lift 60)

Eating about 2500 cals on lifting days, 2200 on non-lift days. With carb ups on sunday. I am not changing the diet though.

great article!

what do you guys think about making sure you get a certain amount of fat the same way you keep your protein at 'epic levels'.

is there some number of grams per LBM pound i should shoot for? like .5g per lb of LBM or something...

Concerning the three zones, the article states they should be done three or four times per week. Does this mean three or four times for each zone or is this basically take your pick, but do something three or four times weekly?

This program is a basic evaluation of everything AC has been promoting for a while. It is very similar to what he is asking in his new Warp Speed Fat Loss. The only difference is that he has taken out the one Super heavy lift before Metabolic. 28 Days is also the same length he promotes. If this article is what it takes for people to work hard and achieve what they want that is fine, but don't say this article is sacred when it is much of the same.

Great article Alwyn. my 2 questions are about the additional serving of Carbolin 19, should it be taken in the PM and as per recomended use- 6 hrs apart, or all at once? and if your workout is PM is there a best time to take it??

I like the article very much, but would use the Prowler Sled for Intervals in 20yrd sprints.

Rich

did anyone else start to get tired and their mood grow sour while reading this article?

Great article and again, just what I needed.

One question though, the extra work does not have to be done with out normal workout, correct?

For example can zone 2 and 3 be completed in the morning, then zone 1 following training?

Have to re-read, since I thought this was the only training done during the 28 days.

Now I am wondering what it looks like.

FOr example:
train 45 minutes with weights FOLLOWED but the three 15 minute zones for a total of 90 minutes?
Or do you train 3-4 times per week with weights and add a 15 minute zone to each weight training session?

The last option would not really make me hate him,

The first one might :)

Of course you add the daily walk at another time.

Man, I cannot believe this article confused me that much.

Hope Alwyn can clarify a bit.

Marc

Actually, Marc, you do add this routine to what you're currently doing.

I'll go back and reread it, but what I got was you adjust your diet to what it says in the plan and you add the extra work on top of any work you are already doing.

To me it seems like an all or nothing approach, which would make sense to include the diet changes along with the added training.

Of course this should have given it away (sigh):

4. You have the time to add activity to your current schedule. Everything you're doing activity wise needs to stay the same. We're adding to your activity levels to ramp up the fat dump.

5. You're ready to suffer.

I think I confused people with this article!!!

TC's original article assignment was "The last ten pounds - 30 days to abs without changing your diet"

But if you've read my other articles - I always point out that diet is the single most important factor in fat loss. I think it would have been irresponsible of me to not reiterate that.

So the idea of the program is that you aren't changing your diet! And you want to just ramp up the training to get the last ten pounds of fat off.

The problem? Fat loss with no dietary changes requires a shitload of work! And as everyone knows - the LAST ten pounds is harder to shift than the first ten.

So with the assumption that you are
a) at maintenance right now
b) already working out regularly
and c) not willing to change your diet

We have to massively ramp up activity and do anything we can to burn calories. 30 days is not long.

So the program is basically 45 mins of hard metabolic work every other day or so - IN ADDITION TO your current exercise. We're adding 2-3 hours of exercise per week to your regimen, along with some NEPA work to just burn up some calories.

So keep in mind that this is NOT what I'd recommend if you aren't exercising at all - and this is NOT what I'd recommend for the first ten pounds.


Hope that helps a wee bit.

--
AC