What's in store for today:

• Why reverse fasting is one of the simplest ways to drop body fat faster (without restrictive dieting).
• The best three squat variations to use in your workout program to get stronger.
• Build muscle faster using TUT and spend less time in the gym.

I spent the last few days working through my triggers.

What I've found over the years is that the more I feed my unconscious patterns, the stronger they become.

The less I feed (or give them energy), the weaker they become.

I've been using a technique called active imagination for several years.

Active imagination is a technique promoted by Carl Jung. It allows us to engage with the archetypes that reside in our minds.

It's a way of acknowledging them and releasing them from your psyche.

It was something I was skeptical of for a while until I finally tried it.

To my surprise, I started to get answers.

What was even more interesting was the fact that each unconscious pattern has a purpose in your life.

The Tyrant archetype helped me as a child. It gave me strength and boldness. I often felt like the Weakling archetype, but Tyrant was my shield.

Archetypes are unconscious, energetic patterns.

But according to the Taoists, they aren't part of our original mind.

Every authentic teacher and guru speaks of the same thing.

Your original mind or True Nature remains untainted.

It's the acquired mind that we receive shortly after birth that causes havoc and chaos for the rest of our lives.

It's why living from your Center is central to all these teachings.

From your Center, you are calm, at ease, and fully aware.

Remember, over 90% of your life is spent in a state of unconsciousness.

The two ingredients (according to Scott Jeffrey) to reach full adulthood are:

• Awareness
• Responsibility (ownership)

You can't change what you're not aware of.

You can't take ownership of what you're unconscious of.

Both ups and downs have marked my story.

The deeper you dive into inner work, the more you’ll discover in your unconscious.

Society often distracts us from focusing on our inner growth.

It's designed to keep us off-center.

This is destructive to our full growth and maturity.

These unconscious archetypes run the world.

It's full of underdeveloped humans who never 'grew up'.

The solution here is simple.

Each of us must light our path and face our individual and collective unconscious, our shadow.

The path is straightforward, although it will be full of challenges.

To become a healthy, mature human, we must walk the path that has not yet been trodden.

We must delve into a world that none of us wants to see.

But, as Campbell reminds us, 'The cave you don't want to enter holds the treasure you seek.'

I’m grateful for writing these letters each week. They let me keep a personal diary for myself.

I would write these regardless of whether anyone reads them.

Self-reflection is part of developing yourself.

After nearly ten years of fitness coaching, I've found that most of our fitness and health issues fall into three main categories:

• Internal (unconscious patterns)
• Health (bugs, viruses, parasites, heavy metals)
• External (societal distractions, trends, environment)

Although this is a broad summary, numerous challenges remain.

But the three groups often stop many people from making lasting health changes.

All three of these groups stopped me.

It's even harder if you aren't aware of what's getting in the way.

But once you do, you can start to take responsibility.

It's not your fault, but it is your responsibility.

It's life-changing when you have awareness and ownership.

Your life can change in an instant.

It did for me.

It can for you.

Lesson: The way to lasting health and strength is simple: face your fears.

Here's Your 1-3-1 Friday:

1.) Use reverse fasting to get leaner

Many people are familiar with intermittent fasting.

The concept goes that if you fast for 16 hours and eat within an 8-hour window, you'll be able to drop body fat faster.

You also receive additional benefits, such as autophagy. This means your cells can repair better when you take breaks from eating.

Numerous studies have shown that intermittent fasting (IF) can improve overall health, increase lifespan, and reduce body fat.

It was a key component of my fat-loss plan when I dropped 30 pounds.

I can write a full, in-depth article on IF if there's enough interest (just let me know).

But there are several drawbacks to IF.

The first is that for the female body, there's a higher risk of losing one's menstrual cycle.

Dr. John Berardi and Krista Scott Dixon conducted a well-known study on intermittent fasting (IF). They both followed IF for a long time to examine its effects on their bodies.

What happened next blew their mind.

Krista lost her period and never regained it.

IF is an important health tool.

However, it should be used with caution, especially in women.

Being that 80% of HPV readers are women, I thought this was an important point to mention.

Secondly, IF is not a shortcut to fat loss.

IF does not mean you'll 'burn' more fat.

It just means you have a smaller eating window.

If you aren't in a caloric deficit, fat loss will not occur.

For lipolysis (fat loss) to occur, you need to consume less food.

When I used IF years ago (not during my 2021 shred), I loved it because my 8-hour window coincided with my binge window.

I ended up eating much more than I would have if I had just eaten at my usual pace.

This is common in the IF community.

It reminds me of the IIFYM community (if it fits your macros). They said you can eat anything as long as it fits your macros.

You can lose body fat by eating only donuts and pizza, but you won’t feel great.

Context > content.

So the solution here is to use reverse fasting.

Reverse fasting connects closely to chronobiology, a topic I've often discussed in these letters.

The strategy is simple: start your day with big meals. Then, eat smaller meals throughout the day.

The science behind chronobiology is compelling.

Studies show that eating more in the morning and less at night can help you lose body fat. You can achieve this even without cutting calories.

The body prefers to use food earlier in the day for energy rather than storing it as body fat.

Combining reverse fasting with a smart caloric deficit yields a robust strategy for fat loss.

I believe reverse fasting can help with a common weight loss issue:

Feeling hungry all day long.

A steady supply of healthy carbs and lean protein helps stabilize your liver and brain. This keeps you feeling full for longer.

Reverse fasting can change your life.

Give it a shot.

2.) 3 different squats to get stronger

To build strength faster and more effectively, include squats in your workout.

Sadly, squats often get a bad rap. Barbell squats are sometimes done wrong, leading to 'fitness myths.'

When it comes to fitness, the movement pattern is always before the tool.

Aka, your squat pattern is more important than the actual tool you use.

Would using a barbell squat be the most ideal for raw, unfiltered strength?

Absolutely (also, does strength need to be unfiltered? haha).

But you can build ridiculous levels of strength using nearly any other tool.

So here's 3 of the best squat variations you can mix into your workout program this year:

a. Smith Squat

The Smith Squat is an underrated squat pattern.

It's one of the most people skip on, but it can yield terrific results when done correctly.

The pattern resembles the barbell squat, but it poses less risk. You don’t need to worry about a heavy barbell on your back.

It's also great because you can quickly deload the bar if you start to feel yourself fail or fatigue.

What I also like about the Smith is that it's stable and forces you to squat underneath the barbell.

The loading pattern looks like a barbell for stacking plates. However, note that the Smith squat barbell typically weighs between 20 and 25 pounds.

Add this weight to your total load. This ensures you have an accurate count.

Add Smith squats to your next workout.

b. Dumbbell Bulgarian split squat

I've mentioned split squats before.

Bulgarian split squats are great for single-leg strength.

A few notes on split squats:

• Make sure your back leg is propped on the bench correctly
• Have a wide enough (not too big) stance to extend into a deep knee split

Often I see trainees not prop their back legs (which are elevated) well enough on the bench.

Your back foot should be flat on the bench.

The leg squatting should be far enough from the bench to also give you a deep enough squat.

Squatting only 2-3 inches, as many do, doesn’t engage your muscle fibers effectively.

Again, this is common, especially among males who prioritize ego over form.

Women tend to have this problem less often.

To build strong legs for life, use split squats.

c. Cossack squat

The Cossack squat isn't as well-known.

But as humans, we're designed to move through all three planes of motion:

• Frontal
• Sagittal
• Transverse

You should move forward, backward, sideways, and rotationally.

Most of us live in one direction after our youth.

We move forward (sometimes backwards but not often).

As children, we moved through all three planes of motion (probably more with the amount of movement we did).

We jumped. We sprinted. We played hide and seek. We did sports. We ran backwards. We crawled.

We used our bodies the way they were designed to move.

Atrophy is the process of losing a characteristic.

For muscles, atrophy is common after the age of 30.

For movement patterns, this is often earlier.

The Cossack squat will re-teach you how to move side to side.

I will preface that it's more of a technical lift, so it's not for beginners.

However, you can use this technique without weights (that's how I teach it to a client starting).

Once you have the pattern down, you can then start to load it.

The cossack is a deep squat on one leg and a half split on the other leg.

You'll want to start with a wide stance and then focus on the side you're coming down on.

I'll drop a technique video below so you can see this in action.

Focus on the technique for all these squats first and build your foundation.

Once you feel confident in your form, increase the intensity in each workout.

You can reach this by modifying the number of reps, sets, weight, or time under tension (TUT).

I’ll break it down below.

Keep squatting!

3.) Build muscle faster using TUT

If you want to build muscle faster as a plant-based athlete, then TUT will be your friend.

TUT stands for time under tension.

It's the time your muscles hold the weights, often during the eccentric phase of the lift. That's the negative part.

The eccentric phase of a squat happens when you lower into the squat position.

That's when your muscles are in the negative phase.

Research shows that the eccentric phase is when you activate the most muscle fibers.

You'll teach your body to break down more muscle fibers. This will help boost muscle growth.

(Don't skimp on your sleep and nutrition, though.)

You can use TUT in a simple format: using your tempo.

Tempo is often skipped for reps and sets.

However, tempo refers to how you use TUT without doing more work in the gym.

Here's how to understand tempo and cadence:

3 - The first number shows the negative phase. Here, you'll use TUT for the best muscle-building benefits.

1 - The second number is the pause at the bottom/top of the lift (depending on the exercise).

1 - The third number is the positive phase (concentric) when you're coming back up on exercise

1 - The 4th number is the pause at the bottom/top of the lift (depending on the exercise).

Here's how a 3-1-1-1 tempo on a Smith squat would look:

3 - 3 seconds coming down on squat.

1 - 1 second pause at the bottom of the squat.

1 - 1 second coming back up from the bottom of the squat.

1 - 1 second pause at the top of the squat (before coming back down again).

TUT offers more muscle-building benefits than just working out harder or longer.

It just means working out smarter.

Do less and get more.

Try out TUT this week in your next workout.

1 Action Step

What's one exercise you've been struggling with? Study the best technique videos on YouTube and observe the form.

Try again and focus on mastering one part of the exercise at a time.

Client of the Week

Can you work 50+ hours and get lean?

Nathan did when he took ownership.

Before we started working together, Nathan was:

• Overeating and unable to control his cravings, especially with long hours on the road/office
• Insecure in his body and unable to take his company to new levels of growth
• Sluggish and ‘out of touch’ with his inner athlete, which had been part of his identity for so long
• Didn’t feel confident as a CEO or show up powerfully for his team, family, and relationships

So we got to work.

One of the things I enjoy about working with high performers is the level of responsibility they take vs the average person.

Most people complain and blame others for their health problems.

Mature individuals recognize that if it's meant to be, it's up to you.

So we started getting into action.

Here's what we did to get Nathan into his best shape in decades.

Our strategy: Walk 10k steps per day, lift weights 4 days a week, moderate caloric deficit of ~500 k/cal per day, eat slowly, and drink a minimum of 4 bottles of water per day.

It wasn't easy since Nathan's schedule is busy.

He travels often, running a national disaster cleaning company, and usually leaves on emergency trips at the last minute.

He was also planning his succession and potentially stepping down as the leader of the organization.

So he had a lot on his plate.

But his commitment to his health was serious.

Even with work bearing down on him, going on several family trips (one with his son to Argentina) along with recovering from a few stomach bugs, Nathan persevered.

His wins so far:

• Down 55 lbs (and has kept the weight off for nearly 12 months)
• Dropped 8 inches from his waist and down three pant sizes
• Confident that he can lead his company to hit first $5 million record year
• Showing up as a POWERFUL leader for his family, team, and community

If Nathan can do it even as a single dad running his company in his 50s while being a positive role model to his family, so can you.

If you're like Nathan, you don't need more information.

You need high-level accountability and a high standard for your health.

That's what we teach inside the HPV Accelerator Program.

Apply here to get lean​, strong, and healthy using plants. Deadline to apply each month is the 20th. Create your best health and body using a fitness system that's handcrafted for you.

One Quote To Finish Your Week Strong

“Here is the most important thing to understand about cravings: They are not caused by weak will or gluttony. Biological properties of the foods themselves trigger cravings. That is, certain foods have chemical makeups that cause us to crave them in very much the same way that drugs, alcohol, and tobacco have addictive components.” ― Neal D. Barnard

The weather is getting warm here.

Walking more barefoot these days, too.

Have Anthony's life celebration tomorrow.

Can't wait to see all the family.

See you next week,

Whenever you're ready, there's 3 ways I can help you:

1. Connect with me on ​Facebook ​and ​Instagram ​and let's be friends.
2.  ​Join our free Facebook Group​. Get free trainings on how to get lean and strong with plants.
3. Want to drop body fat and build lean muscle in a fraction of the time with ease? ​Apply for Accelerator 1:1 coaching.​