Become bulletproof: The ultimate 5-step full body warm up

We all know we should warm up, but let’s be honest – we don’t.

I know I’m definitely guilty of having good intentions but just not following through on them whatsoever. My idea of a warm up just a few months ago was doing a few lighter sets of my first exercise.

And to be honest, that’s not actually too bad. The best warm ups are those that have you doing more work in less time. This basically means, if you’re spending too much time warming up then it will actually detract from your performance and could even be priming you for injuries. You want to be as effective as you can in as little time as you can.

Enter, the 5-step full body warm up.

This is quick and efficient. It warms the entire body up, meaning blood will be circulating throughout all your muscles – perfect for keeping your joints safe and your performance at its peak.

But most importantly, it can be done in less than 5 minutes, which is ideal for consistency. What’s the point in having the best, most intricate warm up routine if you only do it once a month? By having such a quick & simple routine, you’ll be far more consistent, meaning you’ll see the benefits in and outside of the gym.

THE FULL BODY WARM UP: EQUIPMENT LIST

This isn’t an extensive list by any means, but there are a few items you will need. These will be some of the best fitness investments you will ever make, as they’re going to save you from pain and injury time and time again.

All in all, they’ll probably set you back £20 ($30).

• Foam roller

• Golf/Lacrosse Ball

• Light resistance band

HIP FOAM ROLL

This is the perfect exercise for loosening tight hips – a problem that can really hinder leg exercises and predispose you to injury. Moving the roller to the front and back of the legs will also help to prime the quads and hamstrings.

Areas worked:

• Hips

• IT band

• Hamstrings

• Quadriceps

• Glutes

How to do it:

Underhand pull aparts

These are great for hitting the rear delts and rotator cuffs - two areas that can be damaged easily if over stressed without proper preparation. It also gives the biceps & triceps a little stretch which is beneficial for all your pushing & pulling exercises.

Areas worked:

• Rear delts

• Rotator cuffs

• Traps

• Biceps

• Triceps

How to do it:

Cobra stretch

Perfect for working the lower back and helping to warm up the core. This will give you improved stability and strength throughout all your lifts and really helps to prime the glutes and hamstrings too.

Areas worked:

• Lower back

• Upper back

• Shoulders

• Hamstrings

• Glutes

How to do it:

Chest roll

Tight pecs can be the cause of so many underlying issues that lead to injury and prevent maximal power output. The main culprit here is rounded shoulders. By stretching your chest, not only do you injury proof it for your pressing movements but you also improve your overall health by fixing postural imbalances.

Areas worked:

• Upper chest

• Lower chest

• Front delts

How to do it:

Wall slides

These are a bugger. They work the shoulders through a very tough range of motion but the reward to effort ratio here is bang on. Performing these will improve your posture in next to no time and have all of your exercises progressing like crazy.

Areas worked:

• Rear delts

• Rotator cuffs

• Traps

• Front delts

• Medial delts

How to do it:

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That’s it. Quick, easy, effective. Once you’ve done that circuit, start your first exercise with 50% of your 1 rep max for 5 reps, then 60% for 3 and finally, 70% for 1. This will be the cherry on top, ‘greasing the groove’ if you will.

This will allow you to optimise your power output whilst keeping you free from injury in the long run.

You can thank me when you’re 85 and still doing cartwheels.

If you enjoy this sort of stuff then you can follow my dedicated personal training page here. You can also pick up my free bulking blueprint ebook here. AND, if you want a tailored 4-week wellbeing plan courtesy of yours truly, you can pick that up here.

Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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The ultimate guide to a plant based diet

In a world where ‘diet’ has become something of a dirty word, how do we sift through all the bull excretion and find what actually works? I’m here today to tell you that the only diet proven to work for virtually any person on Earth is *drum roll* a plant based diet.

I can hear droves of keto keepers, paleo people and low-carb loonies shouting at their screens right now – and that’s okay. I’m not here to bash on these diets. They may well have their benefits in some populations but they do not work for a large majority of people long term – which is vital.

The plant based diet is the only diet with genuine research showing potential reversal of disease and long term reduction in basically all ailments ever. Yet people do not want to try it. But, why? I ask myself this all the time.

There are so many reasons, mostly misconceptions about what the diet entails, how hard it is to maintain (it isn’t) and scepticism about building muscle and keeping fit. These are all myths perpetuated by industries and individuals whose livelihood is directly opposed to the plant based movement.

I want to get this out of the way first and foremost before diving in – I am not a vegan. I will repeat that. I am NOT a vegan. I eat like your run-of-the-mill vegan the majority of the time but nothing is off the table if I want it. This is what plant based means to me and what it should mean to most of us if we want to reap the benefits of this diet in the long run.

WHAT A PLANT BASED DIET IS

I’ll be straight up with you, a plant based diet can be a bit of a minefield when it comes to it’s true definition, but I’m going to keep it simple and opt with ‘a diet that is based mostly on plants’ (not solely on plants). A plant based diet can be a vegan diet if you want it to, but my point is that it doesn’t have to be if you don’t want it to and that’s the beauty of it – it can be tailored to fit anyone & everyone.

I know there may be a lot of vegans getting their pants in a twist over this statement, saying that only a truly vegan diet can be classed as plant based. Not true guys. Just because you don’t eat animal products doesn’t mean you’re automatically plant based.

And let me pose this question to those who are staunch vegans. What is better – a person who eats animal products all the time, or a person who consumes animal products once or twice a month?

Unless someone is in the plant based movement for purely ethical reasons, there is no need to completely shun a bit of chicken, some cheese or a wee glass of milk every now and again. The point is to reduce it as much as possible and load up on the good stuff, aka, plants.

Once you begin to realise how good you feel when you haven’t got animal fats and proteins clogging up your system though, you’ll barely ever want to eat ’em. Trust me!

Just so we’re clear – a plant based diet, for the sake of this guide, is a diet that is mostly plants (85-100%), that’s all there is to it.

WHAT A PLANT BASED DIET ISN’T

There are a lot of misconceptions floating about surrounding what a plant based diet is and isn’t. A plant based diet doesn’t automatically mean vegan, it isn’t a ‘clean eating’ movement and it isn’t a form of orthorexia. You also don’t have to shove kale in your ears and sacrifice sweetcorn to the plant gods.

Some people associate being plant based with the vegan diet, which they can then associate with orthorexia. The blogger ‘The Balanced Blonde‘ wrote a book called ‘Breaking Vegan’ which details her struggles on the topic. This put a lot of people off veganism and thus – a plant based diet.

The simple fact of the matter is though, this woman had orthorexia and unfortunately, a lot of people mistake this eating disorder as an inherent fault of the diet itself, which couldn’t be further from the truth.

This is the simple beauty of the plant based diet though – nothing is actually off the table. It is just a gradual movement away from animal products (to a level you can maintain) and a gradual increase to a more plant-filled way of eating.

The plants are your base. As long as you are eating a generous serving of various ones each day, you can have some junk food now and again.

It is not the dreaded clean eating movement, which can be another trigger for orthorexia. It is a flexible diet that will work for almost 100% of people.

Just so we’re clear, the clean eating movement nor the vegan diet are inherently bad whatsoever, they both have amazing benefits. However, some people with deep lying conditions may feel slightly more triggered on them over the conventional diet, such as The Balanced Blonde.

This is why I believe a plant based diet is the way to go. It loosens restrictions and means you don’t feel as backed into a corner with your food choices (even though there are plenty of vegan options available nowadays).

MY VEGAN STORY

I’ll keep this one brief because nobody really cares, but maybe a quick backstory on me might *connect* us and help you get more from the guide.

I went vegan when I was 19 and stayed as vehement a vegan as you’ll ever find for about 18 months or so. I wouldn’t wear animal products, wouldn’t use any sort of product with a smidgen of animal traces in it, I didn’t eat my beloved Haribo Tangfastics and I even had a pair of vegan Dr Martens! I still own them too, they’re the best boots ever – shoutout to the doc.

But I felt like I was missing out, so when I was 21, I opted to go back to the dark side. It started with just a slither of bratwurst sausage, but then things got messy. At the time I was loving it, shovelling carcasses down my throat left, right and centre, but after, I felt awful. Everyone knows about the meat sweats, right? And everyone knows how lethargic you feel after a big, meat-heavy meal.

Well, I felt like that all the time. Eventually I felt so lethargic and lacking any sort of energy, I decided it was time to ditch it again. But this time, there was one key difference – I was plant based, not vegan. This meant I would never feel like I was missing out and the knowledge that I could eat animal products *if I wanted* meant that I found the diet easier and less stressful than before. It is also the reason I am still plant based now and have barely touched an animal product since.

WHY I STOPPED LABELLING IT

During my research into plant based diets, I came across so many variants that made me laugh. There are things such as ovo-vegetarians (those who eggs but not meat), pollo-vegetarians (those who eat chicken but no other meat) and the dreaded semi-vegetarian.

Why are we so desperate to label every little bit of our life? You’re not pollo-vegetarian, you just eat chicken and veg. You’re not a semi-vegetarian, you just sometimes eat animal products! It is human nature to want to find meaning and belonging, but trying to use your dietary preference as a personality trait really isn’t the way to do it.

Once I stopped labelling myself as a vegan I felt instantly freer. There was no pressure to conform to the dietary standard and I felt like I was making even better choices as a result. This didn’t mean I was scoffing animal products left right and centre (I barely do) but knowing I could took a weight off my shoulders.

As soon as you tell someone you’re a vegan or a ‘pollo-vegetarian’, you are opened up to scrutiny and you feel like your every move is hawked over meticulously by every man and his dog. This pressure not only from external sources – but from yourself – to conform to this way of life can be hugely off-putting for anyone getting into the vegan/plant based movement.

This is why ditching the label will be the best thing you do. By just getting on with your diet, you – and only you, can concentrate on what’s truly important – your health and wellbeing.

Michael Pollan put it best when he said ‘Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.’ The simplest and most effective dietary advice for all of us to follow if we want to live a life of health and longevity.

So, take the label off, enjoy the bliss of eating your newly found plant based diet and live a stress free life. Just don’t start telling everyone you’re plant based (like I’m doing with this article…).

WHY YOU SHOULD SWITCH: THE BIG 3

You know what a plant based diet is and isn’t, you know a little background on me, but why should you switch? Here’s your 3 main reasons.

HEALTH

First and foremost is your health. You can’t enjoy anything in life if you aren’t healthy, not truly anyway. And you damn well can’t consider the other two reasons if your diet has killed you.

Within the first week or so, the switch may be difficult but you will soon find yourself with bags of energy, a clearer mind and just feeling great at all times. I even managed to give up coffee after the first two weeks of getting on the plant based diet.

ENVIRONMENT

As we are all aware, the meat and dairy industry are terrible for not just our health, but our environment too. By easing off on our animal product consumption, we can go some way to helping our planet heal.

There’s no point in discussing what food to eat if the Earth has turned into a toxic wasteland is there? Your life goal should be to take care of your body and your planet – they’re the only two places you have to live in.

ETHICS

Finally – and this may be the reason why a lot of people choose a plant based lifestyle – is ethics. Consuming less animal products means less animal suffering as a whole. The source of people’s food can really weigh on their conscience, so if you are of this school of thought, a plant based diet is definitely the way to go.

If you are dead set against animal suffering, the plant based diet can also act as a good way to ease yourself into the vegan lifestyle in the long run.

These will all be discussed in much more detail in the ‘Benefits’ section below, just in case you thought I was skimming over the holy trifecta a bit.

THE UNDENIABLE TRUTH OF PLANT BASED DIETS

Let’s talk about the undeniable truth of the plant based diet for just a second before we get into the full list of benefits. It is just healthier. Period. No other diet in existence can boast the reversal of disease, the droves of success stories or the hard scientific proof.

A plant based diet is a superior diet and that’s just not up for debate. Providing you eat the right foods while on a plant based diet and don’t fall into a junk food trap, you will feel absolutely amazing until your dying breath – which will probably be when you’re about 257 (lentils are powerful stuff).

BENEFITS OF A PLANT BASED DIET

Now let’s get into the good stuff. Everyone wants to know ‘what’s in it for me?’. Well pretty much everything is in it for you. By making the switch to a plant based diet, you open yourself up to an almost endless list of benefits.

Since the list is about as long as time itself, I’m going to list my favourites. These aren’t all woo-woo claims either folks, this is all backed up by science. Good old science.

LOWERED RISK OF HEART DISEASE

This is the biggie. Heart disease is one of the biggest killers in the Western world and it really needn’t be. Those on a plant based diet have a significantly lower risk of all forms of heart disease, which begs the question – why wouldn’t you eat this way?

LOWERED CANCER RISK

The second biggest benefit of a plant based diet is the lowered risk of all forms of cancer, especially colon cancer. This has a lot to do with the lowered intake of red meat and its associated carcinogens – which have been shown to actually cause cancer by the World Health Organisation.

INCREASED BLOOD FLOW

Blood flow is such an important factor of health in general. It allows nutrients to be shuttled to muscles and helps you feel great at all times. It is also extremely beneficial to the heart and also for the fellas – their erections.

Erectile dysfunction can be an early indicator of heart disease as both are closely linked to blood flow. What’s good for one is good for both – you can thank me later.

REVERSAL OF DIABETES

A diet that can genuinely reverse disease? Damn bloody right.

Although it may not be able to reverse all cases of diabetes, a plant based diet has been shown to be an extremely effective way of managing diabetes and there are countless stories of people even coming off their medications completely. It really is unbelievable that all diabetes sufferers aren’t eating more plants.

IMPROVED MOOD

Plant based people are happier – according to science.

I can vouch for this though – being plant based gives me so much energy (see below) and makes me feel great all day every day. I know this seems like some sort of JML advert but it does genuinely perk you up and has definitely given me a rosier outlook on life.

ABUNDANT ENERGY

This is probably one of the most obvious ones but when you start packing your gob full of nutrient rich plants, you come to have boundless energy.

I can almost guarantee after a big meat or dairy heavy meal, you feel stuffed and lethargic, then that cycle carries on again and again, every day until you simply don’t have any energy to do anything without some form of external input (coffee, tea, energy drinks, etc). No wonder the majority of people have a crippling caffeine addiction by the time they’re 21!

By taking back control of your energy levels, you can break free of that reliance on caffeine and become free to savour and enjoy your coffees without depending on them. I used to drink 2-3 a day just to keep me functioning, now I drink 2-3 a week and that’s only when I get less than 5 hours of sleep or if I just fancy the taste of one.

That’s not some form of weird caffeinated humblebrag by the way, it’s just showcasing how a simple change in your diet can give you boundless, healthy and sustainable energy.

WEIGHT MANAGEMENT

This one might be a selling point for a lot of folks. Weight & BMI being the two most coveted improvements. Plant based diet followers are on average, much lighter than those on the Western diet.

I don’t really believe your weight matters too much and don’t personally have a scale at home for this reason. Weight can be distorted by bone and muscle mass so don’t take guidelines too seriously.

But plant based people also hold less fat than those on the Western diet which is the important factor. Being fat is asking for disease, illness and an early death. If you can trim the fat even slightly, you’re on the right track.

BETTER BREATH

This is a bit of a vanity thing but still, bad breath ain’t no joke.

Those who eat meat have a higher chance of bad breath due to the animal protein getting stuck in your teeth and attracting bacteria. By eating a more plant based diet you can avoid this almost completely. You can also floss after each meal to be super careful not to have pungent breath.

LOWERED OSTEOPOROSIS RISK

Considering that the plant based diet is supposedly devoid of calcium, it may come as a surprise that those on this diet have a lowered risk of developing osteoporosis and bone fractures.

Research is now emerging showing that cow’s milk may actually increase the risk of breaks and fractures, contrary to what the dairy industry would have you believe. Countless studies have now shown than the highest consumers of dairy products have the highest rates of osteoporosis, bone breaks and fractures!

This could be down to the protein/calcium balance being thrown out of whack by dairy products which have a higher protein/calcium ratio than that of other plant foods.

LESS SECOND HAND HORMONE & ANTIBIOTICS CONSUMPTION

This is more potent now than ever. Our animals are pumped full of steroids to make them bigger and loaded with antibiotics to stop them getting sick. They’re also pumped with a whole lot of other nasties that end up in their bodies when they are killed.

All of these horrible hormones and medications are of course then in our meat, dairy and eggs which is why illness rates are skyrocketing and we have become so resistant to a lot of older treatments.

The only thing you have to worry about on a plant based diet is pesticides which are sometimes sprayed on crops to ward off insects and animals. These can simply be washed off during a good old rinse of your veg.

HOW TO MAKE THE SWITCH TO A PLANT BASED DIET

You don’t just have to jump into a plant based diet head first. You can ease yourself in if you think that is a better way for you to stick to it long term and acclimatise to less animal products.

The tips listed below are designed to take out the hardest parts of the plant based lifestyle with relative ease. They will also help bridge the gap between plant based and animal foods, meaning you’ll barely realise that anything has changed at all.

ADD MORE PLANTS IN

First and foremost, just add some god damn plants in! All you have to do is have your normal meals, but just add in one or two fistfuls of veg. Some broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, asparagus, WHATEVER – just pack the plate with veg.

Your meals should never be based around the meat on the plate anyway. It should be packed with vegetables, grains, starches, etc then the meat should compliment it. However, as a culture we’ve let ourselves go and that serving of meat has skyrocketed so it is the main part of the meal.

We need to take control back. Pack your plate with the good stuff and try to half the meat serving if possible after a couple of weeks.

MILK ALTERNATIVES

This is an extremely easy one to implement. If you’re having cereal, a cup of tea or coffee, just add in some coconut, almond or soy milk instead of cow’s milk. These plant based milks actually taste really good, they’re creamy and each has a unique taste which can sex up your usuals a bit.

It’s also stupidly easy to do as you won’t particularly taste a difference and you’re getting rid of one of the worst offenders when it comes to animal products in the diet.

MEAT FREE MONDAYS

Now we’re stepping it up.

Trying meat free Mondays can give you a real taste of what the plant based diet is all about. It allows you to feel some of the benefits of culling the animal consumption even just after one day.

You’ll probably sleep better, have more energy the day after, won’t be as constipated (so I’ve heard…) and a load of other great benefits that you can feel almost instantly.

It also gives you a chance to experiment with a day’s worth of meat free recipes and it can really open your eyes to the possibilities out there – showing you that meals don’t have to be based around meat in order to taste great.

TRY MEAT REPLACEMENTS

Once you’ve graduated from meat free Mondays, you can start looking into meat replacements long term if you still have those fleshy cravings.

Meat replacements nowadays are brilliant, they’re not like the cardboard gear from back in the day. Linda McCartney has an amazing range of plant based meat alternatives (think sausages, burgers, PIES…) that I’m sure will help even the staunchest carnivore to ease off on the meat.

RESEARCH TASTY RECIPES

The final tip may just be the most important – research some tasty recipes! If you are constantly eating bland foods, you’re more than likely going to cave and go for a McDonald’s after about 4 days.

But, if you have lots of amazing recipes to choose from, you keep everything fresh and you can really explore the amazing plant based dishes that are available to you.

I have listed a few from my favourite plant based chef – the minimalist baker, below. Her site is an fantastic resource for anyone looking for quick but tasty (and very healthy) plant based foods.

WHY IT’S IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON WHOLE FOODS

You could eat fries, chips and smoke some doobies and still call yourself plant based but that completely defeats the object of the plant based diet. This is why you should be focusing on a whole foods approach. And if doobies are a staple of your diet… maybe ditch them too and give CBD oil a go instead.

By focusing on whole foods, you reap the full benefits of a plant based diet. You allow yourself to take on the bevy of nutrients that fruit, veggies, whole grains, nuts & legumes can offer (along with a smidgen of organic animal bits if you really fancy it).

As humans, we are always focused on loss. We always zone in on what we don’t have instead of what we can add. This is no different to our diet. We always focus in on what we are taking out of our diet (gluten free, dairy free, grain free, meat free, additive free, sugar free, etc) when in fact, we should be focusing on adding quality nutrition and making that a mainstay first and foremost.

The whole point of a plant based diet is not to restrict you, it is to open you up to a world of abundance and culinary possibilities. By adding in a wide variety of colourful, healthy & tasty whole foods, you will naturally move away from stuffing your face with processed junk as you simply won’t crave it.

You will start to crave the taste and the energy that whole foods give you, which is the whole point of the diet. You have to want to eat this way. If you feel like you are trapped in this way of eating then you’re eventually going to binge and fall off the wagon for good. I know this because I’ve been there.

And that’s why the focus is on abundance and what we can add in, not what we are taking out, limiting or restricting. Focus on getting those whole foods in and naturally, the junk will fall by the wayside.

THE ESSENTIAL NUTRIENTS OF A PLANT BASED DIETS

People like to think it’s incredibly hard to get certain nutrients on a plant based diet and use this as an excuse not to try it for themselves or do any sort of research into the topic whatsoever.

In reality, it’s far easier to get these nutrients on a plant based diet than a standard diet. Maybe this is because plant based people are more aware of their dietary intake than most standard dieters but in any case – it is still extremely easy if you know how.

Luckily I do know how – and you will too in a moment. I’ve listed the main offenders that people like to reference when bashing on the plant based way. I’ve also listed exactly how you can get these essential nutrients so you don’t have to worry, my plant consuming apprentice.

PROTEIN

This is a myth that just needs to die. Protein is exceptionally easy to come by on a plant based diet.

For starters, you simply don’t need as much protein as you are led to believe by big supplement companies. I weigh around 155lbs and take in about 125g of protein a day. Some say 0.8-1g of protein per lb of bodyweight is optimal but I would say even 0.6g per lb is sufficient for muscle growth. Add to that the high levels of carbs that the plant based diet includes and your athletic performance will be on another level.

My favourite sources of protein are tofu, oats, kidney beans, chickpeas, oats, lentils and quinoa. If I’m running a tad low for the day I’ll throw in a scoop of protein powder for a boost.

B12

Just supplement with this. If you still sometimes eat meat, this won’t be an issue (most likely – although meat eaters can be b12 deficient). If not though, a supplement costs next to nothing and taking a pill once or twice a week will give you your quota.

To be fair, you won’t even need a supplement if you drink fortified milk or eat fortified cereals (or if you ate grass like the cows who give you b12).

ZINC

Zinc is responsible for healthy hair, nails and sleep, amongst lots of other things. Being deficient is no joke, which is why even though the recommended daily dose is pretty low, I still supplement to get more than triple that, as this can have lots of benefits, mainly just increases in testosterone though.

That said, there are still lots of plant based foods that offer loads of zinc. These are kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, peanut butter, cacao powder, chia seeds, pumpkin seeds and oats.

IRON

This really baffles me. Apart from red meat, every other main source of iron is plant based. However strange it may seem, people still love trying to bring it up as a reason to not go plant based.

They’re wrong – obviously. The best sources of iron are spinach, lentils, tofu, quinoa, oats, tempeh, pumpkin seeds – the list goes on…and on…and on.

If you’re really in a pickle, you could just cook your foods in a cast iron skillet which transfers some of its iron content to the foods you are cooking. Just how safe this is though I don’t know – although I still use it anyway because of the #aesthetics.

CALCIUM

Some people – in fact, most people, believe that you can only get milk from calcium. ‘Gotta drink from a cow’s teet to make my bones grow strong!!!’ Not true. Calcium comes from loads of much healthier sources such as tofu, broccoli, fortified milks and cereals, bok choy and oats.

Some of those probably came as a surprise to you and I must admit, they did to me at first too. But these foods are full of nutrients so it makes sense that a wee bit of calcium had to be in there somewhere too.

Ignore the constant onslaught of advertising from the dairy industry and open your eyes to the fact that there are plant based alternatives to everything.

OMEGA 3

It’s not just fish and oils that have omegas in them. My favourite sources of omega 3 in particular are hemp seeds, flaxseed and chia seed. These three pack a huge omega punch and are a convenient, tasty way to get them into your diet.

I throw flaxseed and chia into my oats in the morning and the hemp seeds go in an afternoon smoothie – easy.

IODINE

Since our bodies cannot produce iodine internally, it is essential that we consume enough of it through our diet, which is where scaremongers come in. They will have you believe that a plant based diet simply cannot meet these needs when in fact, it can with ease and it does so by using some of the healthiest foods known to man.

These are potatoes, prunes, strawberries, kelp and cranberries. These are all super easy to work into recipes and are the perfect way to get a huge dose of iodine to keep your body in top condition.

VITAMIN D

The thing with Vitamin D is that it is extremely hard to come by through diet alone. Eggs have a tiny bit in them but the best food source is actually plant based – mushrooms!

Regardless, just get outdoors in the sun if you can. If you can’t, take a Vitamin D3 (D3 is the most powerful form of vitamin D) supplement.

WHY THIS VERSION OF A PLANT BASED DIET IS FOR EVERYONE

The plant based diet is the optimal diet for health, there’s no two ways about it. The beauty of this diet is that it pleases the masses, in part due to the deep levels of customisation you can enjoy on it.

Vegans can have no animal products in their plant based diet if they want. Vegetarians can have some animal products in their plant based diet if they want. Meat eaters can have a tad more animal products in their plant based diet if they want.

It is this level of tailoring that can allow anyone, no matter their dietary preferences, to create a plan that is fun, easy to stick to and most importantly – effective.

The only requirements are that you cut down the animal products to <15% of your total caloric intake and ramp up them fruits and veggies.

A caveat though – I do recommend consuming as little animal produce as possible if you want the best results. I always find that I feel less ‘clogged up’ when I’m running on that clean, lean, veggie energy.

WHY THIS VERSION MIGHT ANNOY SOME

I know I’ve probably ticked off a lot of people with this article, but at the end of the day, it is for the greater good. Just because I advocate not labelling yourself a vegan/vegetarian doesn’t mean I don’t advocate eating that way.

My diet now is almost what you would class as vegan with the exception of a bit of honey. The only difference is that I know I’m not restricted and if I wanted to eat a cheese butty, I could.

This is what is going to help me – and countless others, stay on the diet long term. This is a million times better than going gung-ho for 12 months then crashing and burning like I did. The whole point of the plant based diet is that people will eventually not even want to eat animal products for the most part because they enjoy eating the plant based way so much. This will lead to huge decreases in overall animal consumption, which is what true vegans and vegetarians want, right?

All I’m saying is don’t bash the plant based way. Encourage those around you to join in and to take their health into their own hands by eating the way humans were meant to.

THE CHINA STUDY

An entire section dedicated to just one study? Believe it or not, yes. The China study has been at the heart of fierce debate between vegans and non vegans ever since it was published in 2005. There has even been books that have tried to disprove it, but despite this, I believe the results – kind of.

The China study is the perfect support for a plant based diet. Since it didn’t exclusively look at vegans, this may well be the best study of its kind that represents a plant based way of living in the real world.

It looked at a 20 year study called the China-Cornell-Oxford project which was conducted predominantly in rural china and observed the relationship between animal product intake and chronic disease (cancers, heart disease, etc).

At the end of the 20 years, they concluded that a diet that was heavy in animal products was also more likely to cause chronic disease in participants – results which were corroborated by multiple other studies at the time.

So, what can we take from the China study? Well, considering by the end of the study, they had over 8,000 statistically significant associations between diet, lifestyle and disease – my guess is quite a lot.

But let’s keep it simple – smash the plants. Now backed up by a wealth of research, a plant based diet was shown to prevent and reverse chronic disease, slow or stop the growth of cancer cells, improve rates of obesity, diabetes and bone disease, amongst others.

The China study really taught us the importance of nutrition for keeping the human body in peak condition. It has also showed us that carbs really are NOT the enemy. As long as those carbs are from whole foods, plant based sources of course.

WHAT DOES THE RESEARCH SAY?

After reading through the China study, it led me down somewhat of a research rabbit hole. If you are into your scientific proof as much as me, you’ll love this section.

If you don’t like your research and would rather just mindlessly scroll through success stories then skip this section you lazy dosser.

Be warned if you do skip though – you’ll be missing out on some extremely interesting work by scientific frontrunners.

COUCH POTATO VEGANS VS WESTERN DIET RUNNERS

This is kind of a novel study but it’s bloody profound, that’s for sure. As plant based people are usually much more slender than their Western diet counterparts, it has been argued that results showing less arterial plaque in the planties is down to this and not the diet itself.

So this study set out to put this to bed once and for all – by measuring sedentary vegans against runners who ate a traditional Western diet. These weren’t just any runners either. These were people who ran an average of 48 miles per week. For the past 21 years.

The results were unbelievable – the vegans had lower thickness in their carotid arteries. Considering the fact these people worked out once a week or not at all, this is crazy. And it just goes to show the true power of the plant based diet and what a diet very low in animal products can do for your overall health.

SAVE LIVES, SAVE MONEY & SAVE THE EARTH

There was a study published by Oxford University that compared the three dietary approaches and what effect these would have on the world by 2050 if everybody implemented them.

Within these effect parameters were mortality, environmental health and economy. Greenhouse gases were included too but for the sake of ease, we’ll just lump that in with the environment.

They compared three eating patterns: a Western diet, vegetarian diet and a vegan diet.

While the findings may have to be taken with a pinch of salt, they predicted that the more plant based the diet, the better it was for all three parameters. By 2050, they predicted a 10% decrease in all cause mortality, saving 8.1 million lives per year, along with over a trillion dollars saved on health costs and a 70% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

SWAP OUT YOUR ANIMAL PROTEIN FOR PLANT PROTEIN

This study looked into how different types of protein affected artery calcification scores. This basically means they measured how animal and plant protein correlated with levels of clogged arteries.

What they found was actually quite astonishing. Out of the 4,500 people in the study, those who consumed a higher ratio of plant based protein were almost 60% less likely to have plaque in the arteries.

This meant that those with the higher plant protein intake had a far lower risk of heart disease when compared to the animal protein participants. Definitely something to bear in mind when putting together a meal plan in the future.

SUCCESS STORIES

Whilst there are thousands upon thousands of plant based success stories, I thought I’d compile a mini list of high profile names that may shock you. Some of these people have made incredible journeys on their plant based diets and I’ll leave some links for you to check them out more below.

BRIAN TURNER

One of my favourite plant based athletes, Brian Turner, initially got into this way of eating because of his severe acne. Believe it or not, being plant based helped Brian’s skin clear up massively and he now barely suffers with any acne whatsoever.

What is most astonishing about Brian though is that he is also a bodybuilder! He fuels his strength and muscle training on a wholly plant based diet – something which so many people think cannot be done.

He is not alone though, there are so many other plant based bodybuilders out there doing amazing things with their physiques such as Derek Simnett, Jon Venus, Torre Washington, Dom Thompson & Nimai Delgado.

RICH ROLL

Rich is an extremely interesting guy – he has a wildly popular podcast, he is one of the fittest men on earth and he has built himself a hugely successful wellbeing empire.

But what’s funny is that this wasn’t the case until relatively recently. Rich Roll used to be a lawyer who found himself wrapped up in a drugs and alcohol addiction which led him down a dark path involving falling out with colleagues, landing himself in jails and eventually, into rehab.

It was only after discovering the plant based way of living (the day after his 40th birthday) that he found his love of fitness again. Fast forward a decade or so and this formerly overweight, drug addicted, alcoholic has now competed in ultra-marathons, ironman triathlons and just about anything else batshit crazy.

He is an absolute machine and has shown no signs of slowing down. Just a little taster of what a plant based diet can do for you.

VENUS WILLIAMS

We had to have some female representation in here! Venus Williams went plant based to battle her autoimmune disease and it ended up being the best decision she ever made.

After deciding to fuel her game with mostly plants, Venus has said she feels amazing every day on her plan. She has won 4 gold olympic medals and 7 grand slams. Not too shabby for someone fuelled by a few bits of broccoli and a smidgen of tofu is it?

Her main meals consist of greens, smoothies, tofu and the occasional bit of chicken or egg whites. It just goes to show that even the most elite athletes, athletes at the very top of their field, can sustain and improve their performance by making the switch to a plant based diet.

There are just too many plant based miracles to list here but there is an absolute library of them over on the Forks over Knives website. There are stories of people losing hundreds of pounds, beating heart attacks, reversing blindness and lung failure. It is absolutely astonishing what can be accomplished just by changing your dietary intake.

Have a read through a few of these and if they don’t convince you to go plant based, you may just be impossible to sway.

BEST FOODS TO EAT FOR OPTIMAL WELLBEING

Just cutting down on your animal product consumption is going to do wonders for your health but there are definitely some foods that will help you along the way to improving your health even further.

I’ve listed a few below and why they’re so good for you.

MUSHROOMS

My favourite on this list by a mile. I absolutely love mushrooms, but I know they can be a tad marmite with some people. If you do like your shrooms though, you’re in for a treat when it comes to benefits.

They are packed with B vitamins, vitamin D and selenium. Along with this, they have medicinal qualities. They can help fight against tumours and may even help to fight neurological disorders such as Alzheimers.

BERRIES

Is there anything berries can’t do? I bet if you ate enough berries, you’d develop superpowers – although that’s just a theory, science hasn’t quite caught up yet.

But what science has told us so far is that berries can increase good HDL cholesterol, lower blood pressure, increase blood flow, increase energy and for the women – they may even help to preserve bone density during and after menopause.

POMEGRANATES

My favourite food to consume for taste and performance. Pomegranate seeds taste so damn good in smoothies, yoghurts, oatmeal, whatever AND they help boost my performance whenever I need it.

This is because this sweet treat is one of the greatest foods for increasing blood flow along with watermelon. This helps to boost cardiovascular function and can help with erectile strength. Thank you sweet pomegranate.

BROCCOLI

Hopefully you’ve stopped having childhood nightmares of a big stick of broccoli chasing you down the street now and you’re finally ready to give this children’s arch nemesis a go.

I never understood why kids (and a lot of baby-like adults) don’t like broccoli. When it’s cooked, it’s tender, tasty and incredibly good for you. With a bit of salt on too it tastes unbelievable. So why do we eschew it?

Because of a weird stigma hangover from childhood! Because it’s a textbook joke, a lot of people never grow out of that phase and are missing out on one of the greatest superfoods about.

Broccoli is packed with nutrients and is particularly effective for men looking to flush oestrogen out of their system. It helps to lower the amount of this hormone in the body, meaning there is more free testosterone floating around to be used for making you feel bloody wonderful.

For both males and females though, broccoli is amazing for digestion, producing new cells in the body and for lowering bad cholesterol.

QUINOA

Quinoa is stupidly nutritious – almost comically so. It is so full of of nutrition goodness that you’d be stupid not to get it in you every day.

People who are worried about consuming grains and gluten – don’t worry. Quinoa is a seed technically and is gluten free. It is a great source of animal-free protein, carbs and fibre too.

In terms of micronutrient content, it is packed with iron, zinc, magnesium, potassium, folate, phosphorous, quercetin and B vitamins.

See, I told you it was stupidly nutritious. This is definitely one health trend that’s here to stay.

TOFU

Tofu is made in the same way cheese is (using soya milk instead of cow’s milk). It therefore, has all the benefits of soya milk, but with none of the downsides of cow’s milk (cancer, etc).

It is the perfect main ingredient to big, cooked dinners and can act as a meaty central player to base your dish around. The fact that tofu takes on the flavours of everything around it makes it such a versatile ingredient too.

It can be fried, grilled, baked, scrambled – you name it, tofu can do it. This is what makes it such an indispensable weapon of the plant based diet.

Not only is it perfect as a meat substitute in all dishes, it is a genuine health food in its own right. Absolutely packed with protein, all 9 amino acids, iron, magnesium, calcium, zinc & vitamin B1 – this bean curd should be a staple in your diet.

For women – the fact that tofu may reduce your risk of or even help reverse breast cancer too is reason alone to include this one in your diet.

OATS

I eat oats every single morning. There’s a reason why they’re a staple in millions of people’s lives – they’re tasty and amazing for your health.

A simple bowl of oats can be loaded with lots of other tasty, healthy foods such as bananas, berries, chia seeds, flaxseed, almond milk, nuts and honey to make it the ultimate bowl of wellbeing.

However, on their own as a standalone health food, oats are the GOAT. Maybe we should start calling them GOATS lmao. Anyway, oats are gluten free (whuuuut), they are packed with vitamins and minerals such as manganese, iron and folate and they are cheap. This makes them the perfect way to start your day.

My recommendation for the optimal plant based morning would be to wake up, go through your morning routine, intermittent fast for the first few hours of the day, then break the fast with a bowl of GOATS, filled up with the other health foods listed above. This won’t spike your blood sugar too much and will give you balanced energy throughout the day without the need for external stimulants like coffee or Red Bull.

BANANAS

If there’s one food that’s associated with the plant based diet, it has to be the humble nay nay.

Packed full of potassium, these little babies are amazing for an energy boost, helping cramped muscles, aiding athletic performance and even protecting your heart.

They are sweet and can be used in virtually any dish. Add them, along with a few dates, into a smoothie for the ultimate sweet treat that has no downside. They also help with digestion which is fantastic when you are eating large, wholesome meals.

BELL PEPPERS

Eat ’em raw, fry ’em, steam ’em, bake ’em – the bell pepper is a versatile little bugger. They are tasty and surprisingly dense in nutrients. They also have 200% of your daily recommended intake of vitamin C – take that, oranges.

They are also full of B vitamins, folate and antioxidants – all fantastic nutrients for those looking to improve overall health and performance. They are excellent at aiding recovery and they add a lovely dimension to any sort of meal. Maybe just don’t put them in your oats, yeah?

SPINACH

Popeye’s favourite – and with good reason. Spinach is packed with so many vitamins such as Iron, Vitamins A, C & K1, fibre.

It can have profound effects on eye health, cancer prevention and just about anything else you can shake a stick at. It can be eaten raw or cooked and has a great taste. Throw a couple of handfuls in with every cooked meal. It will wilt down so you barely notice it but will give you amazing benefits.

AVOID (MOST OF THE TIME)

Now for some of the foods you should avoid most of the time. I’m not saying eradicate them, but just beware that continuing to consume these foods at the level us humans do, will lead to disease, obesity and early death – probably.

OILS

Yes, even olive oil. Oils are tasty and great for cooking but apart from avocado and coconut oil, their nutrient profiles are severely unbalanced.

With the exception of the two mentioned above, oils have a rather low smoking point, which means cooking with them releases cancer causing carcinogens – not the most fun alliteration to read…

Their omega ratios are out of whack too, with far higher levels of 6 than 3, which may cause heart problems further down the line. If you’re going to cook or drizzle oils, then use coconut or avocado. Better yet, use shallow frying with water instead of oil as this is just as effective, but far healthier.

EGGS

I do believe eggs are pretty healthy to be honest – their yolks are packed with vitamins and powerful hormone precursors but I can’t look past the fact that they are packed with fat and cholesterol.

Now, some may argue that dietary cholesterol doesn’t affect overall cholesterol levels – I certainly have in the past, but is it really a risk you need to take? If it does, then eggs are certainly the biggest offender out of any food type.

If you really are desperate for some eggs though, limit yourself to a few free range, organic ones per week. This reduces the carbon footprint, the animal suffering and potentially, your health risk.

CHEESE

Everyone’s favourite comfort food. Pizza? Cheese on it. Bit of toast? Cheese on it. Seeing your newborn baby for the first time? Let’s put some cheese on it.

It tastes phenomenal but what it does to your arteries isn’t quite up to that same level. Cheese is a good source of calcium but so are many other plant based foods. Weigh this up against the huge saturated fat content, the amount of sodium and exogenous hormones in your average block of the good stuff and the disadvantages are starting to heavily outweigh the benefits.

If you really need that cheese fix, try out some plant based cheeses. You’ll be surprised at just how good they are. Remember, we’re living in the 21st century, progress has been made.

MEAT

We all know it deep down, meat just ain’t that good for us. It may taste divine but the dead animals we have come to rely on for our culinary pleasure are killing us.

After the world health organisation brought to light their research outlining how red meat in particular, was a direct cause of cancer – it seemed like meat’s days were over.

And they pretty much are. I believe that we should see meat as a luxury, not something that we rely on every day for the bulk of our calories. Listen, I know it’s a great source of protein and does pack some great nutrients but if cigarettes packed the same sort of punch, would you start smoking 50 a day? I doubt it.

You can get your protein from far healthier, sustainable sources that won’t put you in an early grave.

BREAD

God damn I love bread. But it just isn’t that good for me – so I limit it.

Sounds easy doesn’t it. That’s because it is! How about this: just don’t buy a loaf in your weekly shop. There is the answer to how to eat less bread.

Unfortunately, the bread that most of us consume is full of additives, salt and god knows what else. It’s also got the evil gluten demon floating about in its nutrient makeup. This is responsible for all the bloating and water retention that comes with regular bread intake.

If you pay a bit more, or make it yourself, bread can actually be pretty good though. If you do make it yourself then go ahead and have it every day! But as for the mass produced stuff – steer well clear.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Here are some of the most common questions that are posed to anyone embarking on a plant based diet and are even more prominent if you go completely animal-free (I have had every single one of these questions).

In most cases, I find people are just genuinely interested and actually want to be educated. If they don’t ask though, don’t bring any of these up because it bores people and can actually put them off trying out a plant based diet for themselves.

These FAQ’s may well answer some of your burning questions too. If you do have any other questions though, feel free to comment at the end of the article and I will get back to everyone.

Q: I’VE HEARD THE PLANT BASED DIET IS TOO EXPENSIVE?

A: Absolute nonsense. Unless you’re buying some mad marketing ploys like special coconut milk that’s in a solid gold glass, then the plant based diet is absolutely dirt cheap.

Next time you do the weekly shop, take a look inside your basket and see what the most expensive items are. With the exception of your weekly condom and wine haul, my guess is it’ll be the meat, followed by some form of dairy product (cheese and yoghurt can get rather expensive).

Then take a look at whatever fruit and veg you’ve got in there. Potatoes are cheaper than cheap, apples are practically free and bananas cost 45 times less than an hour’s wage. It’s plainly obvious that going plant based is in fact going to be easier on your pursestrings than a traditional western diet.

Q: ISN’T IT BORING?

A: Not in the slightest. A plant based diet will open you up to so many new recipes and ways of thinking about food. Your palette will no longer be numbed by massive plates of meat and cheese covered in salt and sauce.

You’ll learn new food combos, new cooking techniques, ingenuitive ways of repurposing food and you’ll also get to grips with how to properly flavour and season food – not just lather it in tomato sauce or mayonnaise.

I found after going plant based, I started to cook a lot more different meals, I started to enjoy my cooking again and often made it a social activity instead of just plain old ‘meal prep’ to get me by for the day.

Q: IS SOY SAFE?

A: Ah the plant based staple.

Where the soy/man boobs-esque argument came from is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for sure – it’s not true. Tofu (the main thing people think of when it comes to soy) is simply the curd of the soybean and is extremely beneficial.

Soy has been a mainstay in Asian diets for thousands of years and believe or not, Asians have the highest average testosterone levels of all continents across the globe. This thoroughly debunks the ‘soy boy’ emasculated male myth that people tend to lean on when criticising plat based folks.

But what about the women? No doubt you’ve heard someone talk about soy causing breast cancer at some point? Well in fact, the opposite is true. Soy has protective benefits against breast cancer. It also protects against prostate cancer and heart disease whilst reducing the risk of cancer recurring in those who have had it previously.

Q: I HEARD ABOUT THIS GUY WHO LOST SO MUCH WEIGHT ON A PLANT BASED DIET THAT HE DIED!!!

A: Weight loss on a plant based diet is almost inevitable. But this weight will be fat weight, trust me. If you keep your calories as high as previously with sufficient protein, you will still drop fat weight even though you are consuming the same calories.

Why this is, I’m not quite sure but I believe it might be to do with getting rid of the hormone and antibiotic filled animal produce and switching to a cleaner way of eating that agrees with your body more. This will reduce your bloating, may cause you to lose some water weight and will help flush your body of animal-carried toxins.

These can be the reason that your body hangs on to extra fat around your belly and hips as fat has preventative properties against toxins in the body. Getting rid of them will help your body shrink these stores as not as much is needed. Sounds a bit pseudoscience-y I know but the last part is definitely verifiable in mainstream science.

A caveat now though. When you make the switch from an animal product heavy diet to a diet rich in plants, you will naturally eat less calories.

Whilst you may be eating the same volume of food, the overall caloric value of these foods will be far lower. 100g of beef and 100g of spinach most certainly do not contain the same amount of calories…

With this in mind, make sure you do your research before setting up your meal plan. You need to be getting enough calories and enough protein. Fats and carbs will look after themselves.

Use an app like Myfitnesspal to help get your calories and protein in check so you don’t become one of those idiots who claims that a plant based diet doesn’t work because they thought a lick of a cucumber and a cube of tempeh would sustain them in the long term.

Q: WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR PROTEIN FROM?

A: Everywhere! However, the main sources are lentils, tofu, chickpeas & kidney beans. There are also lots of secondary and tertiary sources of protein such as oats, sweet potatoes, peanut butter, spinach & protein powders.

If you can get 100g+ of protein in your plant based diet then you are winning. People think this is some impossible task but it really, really isn’t. If it was that hard, you wouldn’t have so many plant based bodybuilders building huge physiques and blowing their animal based competitors out of the water.

Basically, everything adds up. There is an issue that naysayers bring up regularly which is complete protein (a protein made up of all 9 essential amino acids). This is sort of important but in reality, as long as your protein sources are varied throughout the day, you will get the full range of amino acids that your body needs. Don’t sweat it.

Q: WILL I NEED TO INJECT MYSELF WITH NUTRIENTS THAT I’M MISSING OUT ON?

Short answer: No.

Long answer: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo.

But you might have to take some supplements just to protect yourself and fill in any sort of nutritional gaps that may arise.

If your diet is well balanced in terms of your food coming from different, whole food sources, then this shouldn’t be a problem at all. If you are super concerned though, get yourself a b12 supplement or even a multivitamin and then go from there.

Q: MY NEIGHBOUR SAID CARBS WERE EVIL?

Your neighbour hasn’t got a bloody clue then! Carbs are essential for life. Your body’s primary fuel source is Glucose, aka, carbs. Limiting carbs makes you feel absolutely horrible, which is why low carb diets never work long term and are only used in athletes when they are trying to deplete themselves of water quickly.

Some people who love the Ketogenic diet will be screaming at their screens shouting all sorts of obscenities at me but in reality, the keto diet is a fad and always will be a fad. When you look into any sort of supporting research for its long term health benefits, the majority of it is flawed.

Go plant based and save yourself the hassle.

Q: BUT, B12?

This is the big one that anyone who criticises the plant based diet brings up. However, it’s the most easily refuted claim out there. B12 can be taken as a little pill or it can be obtained in fresh water (sort of) and fortified milks.

It’s as easy as that and it simply cannot be used as a way to criticise a diet that has cured and even reversed disease, granted higher quality of life to thousands and reduces harm to animals and the environment.

Don’t stress is what I’m trying to say. The whole b12 thing has been blown so far out of proportion that no one even knows what it does or why it’s important anymore. They just know plant based folks DEFINITELY CAN’T GET IT!!! Although that’s a flat out lie so hey ho.

Q: BACON THO?

A: Yeah you’ve got me there, bacon tho is an irrefutable weakness in a plant based diet.

Oh wait, no it’s not.

At the end of the day, if you have a craving for bacon, have some bacon. But once it’s dehydrated you from all the salt in it and has made you feel stuffed and lethargic, you’ll soon learn that it’s not really the fuel that your body needs.

Listen, I’m not saying you can’t have some of that sweet, sweet bacon – you can, but you’ll feel so much better if you looked for alternatives. If you can find a new, plant based comfort food, you will feel so much better. I sometimes go for the meat replacements or even go a bit sweeter and go for a few peanut butter bagels.

POPULAR RECIPES

Here are some of the most popular and easy to make plant-based dishes out there. I’ll leave some recipe links beneath them too so you can get started on your plant based meals without any effort at all. It’s basically all done for you, all you have to do is cook the god damn thing!

I’ll also include the cooking times of each one so you know which ones you want to invest your clicks in.

BURRITO BOWL

30 minutes

Scrambled Tofu Breakfast Burrito (30 minutes!)

PAD THAI

30 minutes

Noodle-Free Pad Thai (30 Minutes!)

OVERNIGHT OATS

5 minutes

Peanut Butter Overnight Oats (5 Ingredients!)

HOMEMADE VEGGIE BURGER

30 minutes

Easy Grillable Veggie Burgers

BUDDHA BOWL

30 minutes

Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl

CREAMY GARLIC PASTA

30 minutes

Creamy Vegan Garlic Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes

FALAFELS

1 hour

Baked Quinoa Black Bean Falafel

TIPS TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR PLANT BASED DIET

These are just a few little tips that will help you feel even better on your plant based journey. I use the below tips to have energy all day and very rarely ever have the need for a coffee, despite waking up at 5am every morning.

I know that all sounds a bit too good to be true but trust me on this one, these tips, plus a plant based diet, will help you develop the lust for life of a young Iggy Pop.

MACA & ASHWAGANDHA

This potent little combo is something I would recommend to anyone.

Let’s start with Maca. Maca is technically a cruciferous vegetable, but is consumed in ground powder form. Some people aren’t sold on Maca’s effectiveness but one thing is for sure – I am.

Maca can boost brain function, energy, stamina, sex drive and potentially even fertility. I must say, after about a week of using Maca I felt the benefits big time. It may well be a placebo but I am certain it’s not. Given that it’s also cheap as chips, you’d be mad not to give it a shot.

Now ashwagandha. This second herb is my favourite. It can also be consumed in ground powder form or taken in extract form (known as KSM-66). Ashwagandha is an adaptogen, which means it helps your body manage stress effectively.

This can be great for men looking to increase testosterone and anyone in general looking to manage stress, anxiety & cortisol naturally.

It can also boost muscular performance, stamina and reduce inflammation in the body which are all things that a plant based diet will help with too, making the introduction of these two herbs into your life one of the best decisions you’ll ever make.

A word of warning though – pregnant & breastfeeding women should give it a miss, just as a precaution.

HERBS AND SPICES IN GENERAL

You should be looking into herbs and spices in general as they are fantastic for you – not to mention they taste absolutely fantastic. Things like turmeric, cumin and oregano will all add a massive kick to meals, but they will give you lots of other health benefits too.

Turmeric especially is fantastic for reducing inflammation in the body, increasing the antioxidant capacity of the body and also lowering the risk of brain diseases. Just be sure to have it with some black pepper as pepper helps turmeric to be absorbed into the blood. Without black pepper, it isn’t absorbed very well at all by the body so bear this in mind.

SMOOTHIES

Without doubt the best way to funnel mounds of nutrients into your body quickly and efficiently, the humble smoothie is the plant based warrior’s secret weapon.

You can throw a whole host of fruits and veggies into a blender and make it taste amazing with a bit of flavouring from protein powder, etc. I usually load up a smoothie with minimum, 3 pieces of fruit, some from of veggie, some herbs and a scoop of protein to get as many nutrients as possible, as easily as possible.

If you’re stuck for ideas, do a bit of research on Google you lazy bugger.

SUPPLEMENTS

Currently, I don’t use too many supplements as my diet includes a pretty wide variety of plant based foods that meet my nutrient quota for the day.

But if you want somewhere to start, here’s what I’m using:

Zinc

15mg, 3 times a week

Almond milk enriched with calcium & B12

150ml, daily

Vitamin D3

10,000iu’s, daily

And that’s it! Of course I use the herbs I mentioned above but I wouldn’t class them as a supplement as I throw them in my smoothies. Using these three has helped eliminate any sort of deficiency I may have.

To be quite honest, you’d probably have far more deficiencies on a normal Western diet so covering these bases doesn’t stress me out at all. I would definitely recommend enriched almond/coconut milk as an alternative to conventional milk to anyone. It basically acts as a supplement with the added nutrients, it tastes great, doesn’t cause any lactose stress and doesn’t contain cancer causing IGF-1.

HOW TO START YOUR PLANT BASED DIET TODAY

Don’t wait until the new year or a new week to start your plant based diet. I find that starting afresh never seems to work for me. If I start say, on a random day, it makes the activity feel normal and I am far less likely to quit after the initial buzz has worn off.

Making something feel like the norm straight off the bat is the best way to keep on with a habit. However, if you feel like you need a fresh start to get motivated for something, then I get that too.

But all I’m saying is don’t make a big deal out of it. You’re not doing some super crazy diet, you’re just beginning to eat like a human should – waking up, if you will.

You can start today by filling your plate with less meat and more veg, eating an extra piece of fruit or even just having a coffee with no milk in. These baby steps on your first day can help ease yourself in for the bigger change further down the line.

GUARANTEEING LONGEVITY

We now find ourselves at the end, my plant based warrior. Are you ready to take the plunge and start running on broccoli florets and kale stems?

I hope you are.

Now we just need to guarantee longevity. All you need to do is to NOT LABEL this diet. Don’t go round telling people you are plant based, just eat a ton of fresh food and enjoy your life.

If you feel like you’re getting cravings for some sweet, sweet animal produce then that’s fine. It’s normal and you can totally go and have something. Just make sure it’s what you really want and then don’t beat yourself up after it. That is the whole point of the diet, it’s long term and there are going to be cravings. As long as you keep them cravings satisfied and less than 15% of your total calories then I don’t see a problem, do you?

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If you have gotten this far down then I’d just like to say thank you for reading one of the longest articles I’ve ever written and thank you for hopefully viewing this topic with an open mind.

Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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How To Stay Fit On Vacation Bodybuilding: It's easier than you think

We all love a good bit of travel every now and again don’t we? But what about keeping fit whilst travelling? This blog is going to answer “how to stay fit on vacation bodybuilding” based upon my experience.

A lot of people tend to stress over this, often giving up all together on trying to keep up any sort of fitness regime whilst on their travels. If you’re bodybuilding, it can feel like you need to stay on top of all of your workouts and stay 100% fit while on vacation.

How many times have you heard people say they have come home about 10 pounds heavier after their trip?

It doesn’t have to be like this though. With a few simple tweaks, you can stay as fit as ever whilst on your holidays.

Are you ready for your key to keeping fit whilst travelling and bodybuilding?

WHAT MAKES ME AN EXPERT?

In short – nothing other than years of experience bodybuilding and travelling.

I’m not claiming to be an expert but I am telling you what works for me and I know it will work for you too. I do travel a lot and hold a qualification in personal training if that is any sort of qualifying criteria for those concerned about certificates and credentials though…

#1 PRIOR RESEARCH

This is the biggie if you’re dead set on getting a full weighted workout in whilst away. There’s nothing wrong with going to the gym abroad (I’ve done it a few times this year) but you just need to do a bit of research before you head out.

Get an idea of what sort of gyms are near your hotel/apartment/whatever, look at some reviews on google and see if they have any images online or even better, their own site.

Then find out if they offer day passes, week passes and anything in between. This can get expensive so just beware. This is why I recommend sticking to the protocol below for keeping fit whilst travelling.

#2 EQUIPMENT

There are varying levels of equipment you can take on holiday with you to get the perfect workout. In reality, you have 3 options: Nothing, a pull up bar or my preferred option – a pull up bar and some gymnast rings.

You may be thinking that it’s impossible to take these with you, but you’re wrong. I take these with me in my hand luggage. A pull up bar can be a tiny tube that extends and you can pick them up for about £15 ($25). Then some rings will only set you back another few quid and they take up virtually no room.

The bang for your buck with these two is absolutely immeasurable as it allows you to do what I believe to be the best two upper body exercises about – the pull up and the dip. These should be your keeping fit whilst travelling bread and butter no matter where you go.

I recently just invested in one of the coolest pull up bars on the market – the Flexr. It folds to fit in your travel bag/suitcase and you can hang your olympic rings off it to perform dips, incline pushups, L-sits and anything else you can think of.

It did set me back about $85 (it’s from the USA) but it’ll be worth it in the long run as just a week’s membership at some gym I went to in Barcelona cost €50 alone. Think of the savings god damn it.

However, if this isn’t your cup of tea, just go for your standard doorway pull up bar which, like I said before, ain’t gonna cost you the Earth.

One tip for your rings, if you choose to use ’em, is to invest in wooden ones. They are more durable, easier on the hands and simply a lot cooler than plastic ones. Just my two cents.

SHOP: THE TRAVEL COLLECTION

#3 KEEPING FIT WHILST TRAVELLING AS A BODYBUILDER: THE WORKOUTS

We’ll go in the three stages depending on what equipment you have at your disposal. This can all be done in your hotel room, saving you time, money and stress.

Do the workouts on days you would normally work out (duh). They will be fully body workouts though so if you’re used to working one muscle every day, just do these workouts every 48 hours to give your body a chance to rest.

I haven’t gone too big into leg work as you’re more than likely going to be doing a helluva lot of walking and nothing ruins a holiday quite like leg DOMS.

No equipment

• 100 decline pushups – How to do them

• 100 doorway rows – How to do them

• 20 second plank – How to do it

Do as many pushups as you can, then take a 10 second break and do as many doorway rows as you can, take a 10 second break and finish by doing a 20 second plank.

Repeat until you hit 100 reps for both pushups and rows. Don’t stress if you’re better at pushups or rows, just get 100 done and really feel the contraction of the muscle.

We’re working out with no equipment here so there’s no need to worry, just get it done and feel great as you take your cold shower afterwards.

Pull up bar

• 3 sets of 10 pullups – How to do them

• 3 sets of 15 pushups – How to do them

• 3 sets of 30 second plank – How to do it

• 2 sets of 10 chin ups – How to do them

• 2 sets of 15 diamond pushups – How to do them

If possible, try and wear a backpack with random things in it to add extra weight to your exercises. This will make the moves far more challenging and will build/maintain more muscle. Obviously if you can only do the prescribed reps with bodyweight then that is fine too – whatever challenges you is perfect.

Perform the pull ups and pushups as a super set and do the same with the chin ups and pushups, taking 90 seconds rest after completing a set. By working opposing muscles back to back, it allows us to work more muscle in less time, resulting in greater gains and a better hormonal boost.

Pull up bar and rings

• 3 sets of pull ups – How to do them

• 3 sets of ring dips – How to do them

• 3 sets of 45 second plank – How to do it

• 2 sets of 15 ring push ups – How to do them

• 2 sets of 15 Australian rows – How to do them

• 2 sets of 10 ring curls – How to do them

• 2 sets of 10 ring extensions – How to them

This is pretty much my personal workout even when I’m at home. The rings add such a great element to a workout and force you to work out in a way you never thought you would, incorporating skill and balance into the muscle building equation.

Make sure to perform each new exercises set as a superset with the exception of the plank. So you would have 3 supersets: pull ups and dips is A, push ups and rows is B and curls and extensions is C. Be sure to take a 90 second rest between each set.

What’s so effective about this workout is that it hits each of the big movement patterns for the upper body. We have horizontal push and pull (pushups and rows) and we have vertical push and pull (dips and pull ups). We also move the arm through flexion and extension which is essential if you really want to eek out as much growth as possible.

There’s also some ab/core work in there for good measure to break things up a bit. You can add weight to your plank via a backpack to really test your might. This will help to stop the exercise getting boring too.

For some context, I only do this workout twice a week and it takes about half an hour to complete. Any more and it may start to get a little overkill, especially if you’re in holiday. Twice is enough in my opinion and you should spend the rest of your time enjoying your life.

#4 HOW TO STAY FIT WHILE TRAVELLING FOR WORK - DIET

The easiest thing you can do is bring some rations with you if your airline allows it. Bring some tinned sardines, some epic bars, protein bites, packs of rice or whatever dried goods you fancy eating.

These will make things a lot easier and straight forward if you’re worried about poor food selections when travelling abroad. This is probably the easiest diet hack and a key element of keeping fit whilst travelling.

If you don’t fancy packing your bags with foodie bits, you can implement my favourite eating hack – intermittent fasting. Click the link to find out everything about IF but basically, you skip breakfast and consume all your food for the day in an 8 hour window – fasting for the other 16 hours.

This helps to curb cravings and overconsumption of food whilst still allowing you to enjoy the local delicacies within that timeframe. We all know that filling, healthy meals can help you lose weight, make it easier staying healthy and are all round great for health and fitness - so avoid just eating fast food and protein powder.

I also recommend aiming for a nice balance of protein and fats with minimal carbs for breakfast as this keeps the insulin spike down when you break the fast. If you do consume carbs just make sure that fats are accompanying them (think avocado on toast with some OJ).

The ideal meal would be salmon, a couple of eggs cooked in coconut oil and half an avocado but anything that follows that basic rule is ideal for fuelling a day with no crash.

As I am considering heading back to a vegan diet I will give a vegan example too! Try sourdough bread with peanut butter, chia seeds and some blueberries. Blueberries are quite low in carbs and sugar and PB is surprisingly high in protein – bonus.

IS THIS ACTUALLY EFFECTIVE?

Damn right it is!

At any level, these workouts will at worst, keep you fit on your travels. At best, they will add muscle or burn fat depending on your diet and they may just revolutionise the way you train. By freeing yourself of the ball and chain that is the gym, you become free to live life again.

I’m not saying that the gym isn’t great – it is. If I hadn’t discovered the gym back when I was 15 then I would have never become who I am today. But sometimes, it can get a bit stressful trying to keep up with a regime, especially if you don’t work out at home and you have various other commitments.

Being able to get these sort of quick, effective, minimalist workouts in is perfect for anyone looking to pack on muscle and lose fat without having to spend their life in a gym. I always say that fitness should add to your life, not take away from it and these routines will help you do just that for the long run, they’re not just for keeping fit whilst travelling!

SHOP: THE TRAVEL COLLECTION

GOLDEN NUGGETS

No, this tasty childhood cereal is not the hidden key to untold gains. But I can give you some tips that may help you along the way.

The 30/60 rule

Keeping fit whilst travelling needn’t be the minefield that people would have you believe it to be. The 30/60 rule is something which we can all apply.

For every 30 minutes we spend sat down, get up and walk around or stretch for 60 seconds. 2 minutes every hour isn’t too much of a commitment is it? Just stand up and get the blood flowing round again. Even though you’ll be doing a lot of walking on your travels, I guarantee you’ll spend a lot of time sat down so just remember this little tip for when you start cramping up after being sat at the all you can eat buffet for 5 hours.

Always take the stairs

This may seem like a ball ache and truth be told – it is. However, taking the stairs whenever you get the opportunity is one of the best ways to increase your total calorie burn for the day. It’s also one of the most effective cardio workouts you can do, for literally no cost.

If you’re looking for the cheapest and most convenient way of keeping fit whilst travelling – you’ve got it here. Even if you didn’t do the workouts outlined above, just taking the stairs at any chance you get will allow you to stay uber-fit and keep your body fat in check almost without trying.

Fitness isn't just about bodyweight exercises, weight loss, hotel gyms or resistance bands - it's about finding actional things to improve your fitness when answering How To Stay Fit On Vacation Bodybuilding.

Mindset

I know there is a lot of talk about keeping fit whilst travelling in this article, but one crucial component to travelling is to set your mind to relaxation mode.

You want to return home refreshed, not burnt out – like so many people do after a trip abroad. I know it’s easier said than done but make sure you try not to stress over the little things and don’t ‘let yourself go’ if that makes sense.

Look at your holiday as a time to recharge your batteries and come home with a whole lot more get up and go about you. That will keep you fit as a fiddle and stop you feeling lethargic and guilty for your indulgences.

The novelty factor

This could be a lot of people’s favourite way of keeping fit whilst travelling. The novelty factor allows us to do a lot of exercise without even realising it’s exercise.

In Thailand? Try a Muay Thai lesson. Spain? Flamenco dancing. Gone all the way to New Zealand? Why not try some rugby? These may be extreme examples and may not exactly be to your tastes but you get the idea.

Using local activities that are genuine cultural experiences at the same time can be one of the best and most fun ways to stay in shape whilst still experiencing your travels to their fullest.

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You see – keeping fit whilst travelling is wayyyy easier than you think. I used to stress about finding a gym with a squat rack, walking too much as it might burn muscle and strength or even missing a workout all together.

Now however, I do two weights workouts a week along with some sprints and this can be done anywhere, making working out on the fly easier than ever.

If you can prize yourself a way from the gym-dependent mindset that so many of us fall into, you may just unlock your most fruitful period of gains.

Either way, it’s something to think about.

Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Best Pillows For Side Sleepers UK: Leesa

Here we go again! This is my second collaboration with Leesa Sleep, who have been kind enough to sort yours truly out with their new sheet and pillow set. This is one of the best pillows for side sleepers in the UK.

If you’re interested in my last post on the Leesa mattress, you can have a quick read of that before carrying on. If not, I won’t hold it against you – promise.

WHO ARE LEESA? Best Pillows For Side Sleepers UK

Leesa are one of the world’s leading mattress specialists. If you were to have a read through their reviews on trust pilot you’d think people were paid to say what they’re saying.

Everyone loves Leesa. If you’re interested in getting knee deep in some reviews that aren’t mine, you can check them out here.

I’ve said it before but Leesa are the good guys of the corporate world. They donate one mattress for every ten they sell, they plant one tree for each mattress they sell and they donate a huge portion of their time to supporting local and national organisations.

If Leesa was a person I’d buy them a pint (or a vodka red bull, whatever floats their boat).

SHOP: THE LEESA RANGE

THE LEESA SHEET SET

Let’s start with the sheet set because this is exciting stuff. How sad is it that I’m getting excited about bed sheets?

Anyway, whatever.

Leesa have teamed up with THIRD. who are a company that produce luxury linen from the finest cotton money can buy.

The sheet set has a ‘sateen weave’ which apparently makes it softer to the touch after each wash.

As I’m sure you’re aware, sheets usually get a bit rough and bobbly with each wash so the fact that these get better with age is a massive bonus and it means your sheets will last you a whole lot longer. I can’t say this enough – you get what you pay for.

As long as you’re not soiling yourself nightly then these sheets are gonna last you a helluva long time.

MY EXPERIENCE

I’m not going to pretend I usually sleep on sandpaper – my usual sheets are pretty sweet, but they’re not specialist sheets.

Leesa and THIRD. have engineered the holy grail of sheets here and the difference in comfort was night and day (was that a pun?). On that first night I was out like a light, much like my first night on their mattress.

After another week or so of testing, it just got comfier and comfier. Obviously it is tailor made for the Leesa mattress (although it fits all other mattresses) so it fits like a glove and gives the best possible conditions for shuteye.

This was the perfect storm for helping me to get my fabled 8 hours. This is especially important for me, as someone who sleeps on their side, I need a pillow that fits my personal preference, has the right firmness levels and keeps my spine aligned.

I know it’s not exactly a huge selling point but THIRD. also threw in a wee care package with a few bits to aid my sleep quest. Some teabags, sleep spray and even a cheeky link to their wind down playlist on Spotify.

THE LEESA PILLOW

Apparently, the Leesa Pillow took years of development along with hundreds of prototypes just to get it out in the public eye.

That’s a lot of man hours for a pillow, but that's why it's one of the Best Pillows For Side Sleepers UK.

With that in mind, it would be fair to say that this pillow should be blowing its competitors out of the water. And that’s basically what it does – but I’ll get into that further down.

This pillow is made with the same technology that NASA use. Although it’s probably wise not to make the mistake I did and try to make a rocket out of it. Apparently that’s not feasible.

Back to the NASA tech anyway. The Leesa pillow uses an airflow system in the memory foam layer that helps one side of the pillow to stay cool – aiding in your quest for the best sleep of your life. Good gear if you ask me.

MY EXPERIENCE

I can’t think of a funny comparison for what putting my head on this pillow for the first time felt like. But rest assured, it felt rather pleasant. Maybe my first motorboat?

Paired with the sheets, the pillow worked wonders for collecting Zzz’s. Then pair THAT with the mattress and you’re basically guaranteed to wake up feeling born again.

After a couple of weeks I had noticed that my sleep was a lot more consistent. Not that I’m a bad sleeper anyway but I feel like this pillow was the cherry on top. Now, I’m not saying the Leesa pillow is magic – it could have been a placebo effect – but bloody hell it was good.

After digging even further into the tech behind the pillow itself, I found out why it was so perfect for my big fat head. It has a memory foam centre and is topped with premium microfibres, meaning it keeps your head and neck in perfect alignment all night no matter what position you sleep in.

I've always looked for the right supportive pillow/medium firm pillow that not only allows me to stay in the right sleep position, but is also machine washable and anti allergy. I've found the one.

FANCY IT? Best Pillows For Side Sleepers UK

Yet again, the Leesa team have smashed it out the park. On top of one of the best mattresses in the world, they’re producing cooling pillows and magic bed sheets.

I’m a guy who prioritises sleep over most things – and with good reason. By upgrading my sleeping gear I have been able to optimise my sleep & overall wellbeing, which is something I can’t recommend enough.

If you want to get started on your sleep improvement journey, you can get £100 off your purchase with the code ‘IMTHEMANBLUEPRINT01‘.

SHOP: THE LEESA RANGE

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done.

Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Weighted Pushups: The best exercise you're not doing.

How did I realise weighted pushups were such a fantastic movement?

Well, as I work out in the comfort of my own home, I often have time to try out different exercises that may look a bit weird to the average gym goer. I try to find more efficient ways to do old school exercises as you really can’t beat the basics.

BUT, you can always put a fresh spin on these basics. Weighed pushups aren’t exactly new but a lot of people just don’t know how to properly perform it. With that in mind, let’s crack on with it.

Here’s your guide to weighted pushups: The best exercise you’re not doing.

WHAT ARE WEIGHTED PUSHUPS?

The standard pushup is an amazing exercise that builds a huge chest, shoulders and triceps. It also works the core as it is used to stabilise the body throughout the movement.

The only problem with regular pushups is that once you can do them with ease, adding more reps simply won’t build muscle. You want to be staying in the 6-12 rep range ideally for the best muscle building results.

This is where weighted pushups come in. Doing these by having someone load weight plates on your upper back is one way to do it, but frankly, it’s uncomfortable, unsafe and can only be done with a training partner to load and unload the weights.

HOW TO DO THEM

Invest in a dipping belt and load the weight that way. This allows for virtually unlimited overloading of the exercise (which is key to muscle growth).

To allow the dip belt to be effective, you need some clearance from the ground. To achieve this, set a barbell up at around knee height and bench a body’s length away. This will be your platform.

The position of the load is also important, loading the weights around the mid to lower back allows the pushup to play to its strength – the fact that the scapula isn’t fixed against an object such as in the bench press.

This allows for reduced inflammation around the target muscles and is what makes this unique move so beneficial.

ADDING THEM TO YOUR WORKOUT

And here’s a sample workout to include weighted pushups in:

Bench Press: 3 sets of 8 reps

Weighted Dips: 3 sets of 10 reps

Cable Laterals: 3 sets of 12 reps

Weighted Pushups: 3 sets of 12 reps

Cable Flyes: 3 sets of 15 reps

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If you want more exercise breakdowns like this then click through to my wellbeing section, here.

Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Home gym 101: How to build the perfect home gym

Oh thy humble home gym – the secret sauce for those looking to get huge in a time efficient manner. If you’ve got a bit of space in your home, you need to consider installing some iron.

I’ve been flitting between home gyms and commercial gyms for the past 6 years now, which is due to the fact I’ve moved home 7 times meaning in some circumstances, building a home gym was quite hard.

As someone with experience in both realms, I can see the positives and negatives of each. I have to say though – when you pit the two against each other, there is only one clear winner…

BUT FIRST OF ALL: THE CASE FOR COMMERCIAL GYMS

Right, let’s be honest – most of us will have a gym membership if we’re into fitness. The amenities offered by gyms is unrivalled. They have hundreds of pieces of fancy gym machines, saunas, swimming pools, swanky showers, gym classes, etc. The list is endless.

The thing is though…is this even necessary? If you work out at home you have weights to push, pull, curl, squat and whatever else. You should also have a shower (hopefully). Do you really need anything else? I’d argue that you most certainly do not. Classes? Get ’em on Youtube. Machines? Don’t need them. Swimming pool? Just fill your bath up really high (please don’t).

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The only thing I’d say you’re missing out on is a sauna (if your gym even has one). They are absolutely amazing BUT, you can pick up weird little sauna pods online for pretty cheap and whack that in your newly built home gym. Just something to think about.

Basically, there aren’t too many arguments for the use of commercial gyms over home ones except for your circumstance. In my opinion, motivation shouldn’t be an issue and if you have the resources to work out at home then you most definitely should.

THE CASE FOR THE HOME GYM

Building your own home gym is going to be the best thing you ever do. If you go for it, you will find that all these benefits will pop up at some point or another.

The cost is much lower

Okay, maybe not initially. But think of it as a lifelong investment. Let’s say you’re 25 for instance. You’re probably going to work out till you pop your clogs which is when you’re 80 let’s say. That’s 55 years of iron. If your gym membership costs you £30/month, that works out to £360 a year, which works out to almost £20,000 over your lifetime. Now that’s a pretty conservative estimate – imagine all the time and money spent on commuting to and from the gym and you’re looking at a lot more than 20k.

You can start your home gym with nothing but your bodyweight and slowly add to the collection over time – my home gym has cost me about £700 so far. If I was to add everything on this list it would still be nowhere near that commercial gym figure. Just think about that for a second.

You save countless commuting time

As mentioned briefly above, you’re going to spend a whole lot of your life commuting to and from the gym. Can you really afford to be doing that along with your commute to and from your job? I know I can’t. I get that there will be gyms close to your office but it’s still another little commute even if that is the case.

A lot of people I know will go home, get changed, have dinner and then go and work out. This makes their day full of 4 commutes – that’s not good for anyone who values their time.

The solution is to set your home gym up and work out right before or after you go to work. This makes you more likely to work out than if you were to try and go back out to pump the iron after your Wednesday night chilli.

You’re the only member

This is what I enjoy most about having a home gym. The equipment is always free, you don’t have to be distracted by other people talking or asking how many sets you have left.

You can simply go in, get your workout done with no distractions and get out.

If you like company to motivate you then why not invite your pals over for a workout? You may enjoy the intense atmosphere and you could make it a thing to train in your home gym with your mates more often. It can become a social thing, it’s not always about isolating yourself from the world – although sometimes that is quite nice.

You can do what you want

Fancy working out in nothing but sandals? Why not! It’s your gym and you can do anything you please. You can do all the stupid exercises you were afraid to do in the normie gym, you can play your music loud and you can grunt and make stupid faces to grind out those last few reps.

Building a home gym really creates a sense of freedom, lets you express yourself and do what you want whilst not having to look over your shoulder to see if you’re being judged.

Open all hours

You wanna work out at 1pm? Okay. What about 12am? Most certainly sir. Christmas day?? The gains don’t wait even for Santa my man. Any time you want to work out, you can. No bank holiday closures, unexpected late openings, nothing. If you want to work out, do it.

This makes it easier for you to fit training around your life. You may have to stay late at the office or you may have to be somewhere super early – whatever it is, you can fit a workout in instead of being a slave the gym’s opening hours.

It almost feels like getting control of your life back – no joke.

WHY YOU NEED OLYMPIC WEIGHTS

We will touch on Olympic weights in the Barebones segment but I’m going to cover it now because I believe it deserves its own section.

You see a lot of part-timers in their garage with a standard weights bar with those little screw-on ends. This is good if you’re just starting out and I applaud anyone who works out instead of siting on their backside all day. However, if you’re looking to make real progress then you better believe you’re going to need an Olympic barbell and weights.

“But, whyyyyy?” I hear you and your York bench & barbell set cry. Well, because your barbell set is gonna bend and snap once you start lifting heavier weights. They can usually support about 100kg (225lbs) max before bending out of shape and breaking. The size of the plates also makes conventional lifts from the floor needlessly more difficult to perform, exposing you to uneccessary injury risk.

By investing in an Olympic set now, you future-proof your gains- this equipment will last you (probably) forever if you care for it correctly. The barbell itself is much heavier and sturdier and rotates which will help your wrists out a lot during big lifts that involve any sort of wrist movement – which is basically all lifts ever.

There’s a reason you’ll never see a commercial gym with a standard bar – treat your home gym the same way.

ULTRA-BAREBONES

If you’re looking to go super minimalist in your set up and don’t want to spend a penny, then you can literally just use your bodyweight to get fit.

If you’re willing to purchase a little bit of kit, I’d recommend a door frame pull-up bar that doubles up as a dip bar. These are pretty cheap and will get you in great shape if you make the relevant progress.

Equipment:

• Bodyweight – Cost (£0)

• Door frame pull-up & dip bar – Cost (£15)

SHOP: ULTRA BARBONES

An example beginner workout would be a round of pull-ups, dips and jump squats. You would do 5 sets of each for 10 reps and try to add weight to each exercise by holding on to household items if you don’t want to invest in weights yet. Try holding old milk jugs filled with stones for your jump squats and holding a heavy book or two between your legs for the pull ups and dips.

The workout would look like this:

• Pull-ups (10 reps)

• Rest (30 seconds)

• Dips (10 reps)

• Rest (30 seconds)

• Jump squat (10 reps)

• Rest (60 seconds)

• Repeat 4 more times

BAREBONES

This is the minimum amount of equipment you can use to get great results. You can of course, get great results with just bodyweight, but the difficulty arises when it comes to loading exercises.

Once you can do 10 push ups, doing 10 more isn’t going to build muscle, you need to be adding weight to your exercises in order to stimulate the muscle to grow. This is where the Olympic barbell comes into play.

Just having the bar and plates is enough to start off with (you can do hundreds of exercises such as clean & presses, rows, deadlifts, curls, etc, etc) but by adding in a pull-up & dip tower along with a dipping belt, you’ll really be able to take your gains to the next level.

Equipment:

• Olympic bar & plates set – Cost (£300)

• Pull-up & dip tower – Cost (£90)

• Dip belt – Cost (£25)

SHOP: BAREBONES

Here, you can push your training into a more comprehensive routine. You could employ properly weighted pull-ups and dips now, alongside a variety of barbell moves. Below is an example workout:

• Clean & Press – 3 sets of 5 (2 minutes rest in between sets)

• Pull-ups – 3 sets of 8 (2 minutes rest)

• Dips – 3 sets of 8 (2 minutes rest)

• Barbell rows – 3 sets of 10 (2 minutes rest)

• Skullcrushers – 2 sets of 12 (1 minute rest)

• Barbell curls – 2 sets of 12 (1 minute rest)

INTERMEDIATE

This is where I believe most lifters should be within the first 6 months to a year of lifting. If you aren’t doing exercises that require a squat rack then you’re probably not optimising your training correctly.

A squat rack is an essential purchase to getting peak #gains from your home gym. This will allow you to do heavy bench presses, overhead presses, squats, rack pulls, shrugs, heavy curls and just about anything else that involves having the weight off the ground.

I’ve also included a weights tree as in all likelihood, you’re going to be adding to your weight plate collection as you go along, so having a tree to keep everything organised will just make the whole experience much easier. If you walk into your home gym and see a million plates scattered round the floor then you run the risk of demotivating yourself – something which you don’t need. It’s a small thing but it’s made a big difference for me.

At this stage you’re probably going to want to invest in a pair of 20kg (45lb) bumper plates. These should be rubber or at least rubber encased. What bumper plates will allow you to do is slam your bar down from whatever height without damaging the other plates. If you have bought cast iron plates like I have, then you run the risk of snapping them if you go heavy enough on deadlifts or drop the barbell off your back during a squat.

A bench also becomes essential when you reach this stage. A sturdy bench shouldn’t cost the earth and will probably double the amount of exercises you will be able to do. You can now finally join the ‘how much do you bench, bro?’ club.

There’s also some dumbbells in there too that can help you to perform things like lateral raises, dumbbell curls, weighted lunges, flyes, etc. I’m not a huge fan of dumbbells and prefer barbell exercises much more but, they can add a new dimension and stimulus to your workouts.

Equipment:

• Squat rack – Cost (£150)

• Weights tree – Cost (£30)

• Bumper plates – Cost (£110)

• Bench – Cost (£80)

• Olympic dumbbells – Cost (£30)

SHOP: INTERMEDIATE

You should take this opportunity to really build up your compound moves here. An example workout would look like this:

• Squat – 3 sets of 5 (3 minutes rest in between sets)

• Bench press – 3 sets of 8 (2 minutes rest)

• Pull-ups – 3 sets of 8 (2 minutes rest)

• Dips – 3 sets of 10 (2 minutes rest)

• Rows – 3 sets of 10 (2 minutes rest)

ADVANCED

By this stage in your lifting/home gym career, you should have excellent strength standards and a decent physique. This is when you can start to get more advanced in your workout programming and employ some fun moves to add to your arsenal.

Cable exercises can help to hit muscles from much different angles and tensions than conventional barbell and dumbbell exercises. The fact that you will likely be splitting your training up into body parts (Push, pull, legs) as opposed to full body workouts means that you can add more exercises to each workout. Obviously you should still be aiming to be progressing on the compound lifts but more isolation and assistance work can really help to bring up your overall development.

I am a huge fan of the hex bar and this is actually the cornerstone of my ‘athletic blueprint’ workout program as it is the perfect mix between a squat and a deadlift with none of the drawbacks. I would probably recommend getting one of these straight off the bat but each to their own…

Olympic rings can help you to develop gymnast-level control of your body as they allow you to practice moves such as the iron cross & maltese along with offering different kinds of stimulation in standard moves such as dips, pull-ups and dead hangs.

A landmine holder is such a versatile bit of kit. It will allow you to perform landmine laterals (a favourite of mine), T-bar rows, landmine presses, squats and cleans. It’s a very efficient bit of kit and pretty cheap for what it offers as well. Of course you could go old school and whack the end of the barbell in a corner of the room but if you have the money I’d recommend going for the safer option.

Ah the weighted vest. A mainstay in military training and the secret for so many fit bodies out there. You can whack a weighted vest on and everything becomes harder. Walking? Harder. Jumping? Harder. Taking a deuce? Much harder. Seriously though, the weighted vest is an excellent bit of kit and allows for variable resistance in exercises where it would usually be very difficult to do so, such as sprints, box jumps and hill walking. These will build muscle and torch fat no doubt.

Battle ropes are my favourite bit of cardio equipment. My home gym has these babies and I can’t believe I ever trained without them. They offer a full body workout and give you a fat arm pump along with burning fat at an almost alarming rate. They’re cheap and they are extremely effective. Pair these with a lower body cardio exercise like sprints or bike sprints to get a huge fat burning boost.

Now I know this is a boring one but let’s quickly talk about flooring. Luckily for me, I can beat my garage floor up because it can take it. I know a lot of people can’t. This is where you will probably need to kit your home gym out with some decent flooring. This will help to protect your weight plates and your floor, meaning you’re actually getting quite a bit of bang for your buck. This one comes down to personal preference but it just bears mentioning.

The airdyne bike has been showing up everywhere nowadays and with good reason. This bike differs from most cardio equipment in that it has no motor. Just a big old fan that naturally increases the resistance of the exercise the more beans you give it. Basically, the harder you push, the harder it gets. Even though it’s a leg-centric move, it works your arms and your legs much like the battle ropes. You can also burn some major calories on the airdyne compared to other cardio equipment (this guy burnt 87 calories in 60 SECONDS), which is exactly what we want in our home gym – the most bang for your buck.

Finally, my favourite – the sauna/sauna pod. If you’re looking to go full Scandi then you could invest in a big boy sauna. You can pick up a single person sauna for kind of cheap nowadays (£800-ish) and there are more expensive options if you want to fit a few more people in. But, for those who are after the benefits of the sauna without having to pay huge price tags – there are sauna pods. These offer most of the same benefits while being much cheaper and easier to install/fit in your house. As long as you don’t mind looking like Neil Armstrong then this could be the perfect addition to your home gym.

Equipment:

• Hex bar – Cost (£90)

• Cable machine – Cost (£420)

• Landmine – Cost (£80)

• Olympic rings – Cost (£30)

• Weighted vest – Cost (£40)

• Battle ropes – Cost (£30)

• Flooring – Cost (£15+)

• Airdyne bike – Cost (£180)

• Sauna – Cost (£200+)

SHOP: ADVANCED

Since you will likely be training at a much more advanced level here, you will be adding volume to workouts and splitting up from full body into more of a body part split. Here is an example of a ‘Legs, abs & cardio’ workout.

• Deficit hex bar deadlift (leg focus) – 3 sets of 8 (2 minutes rest in between sets)

• Romanian deadlift – 3 sets of 10 (2 minutes rest)

• Landmine front squat – 3 sets of 10 (2 minutes rest)

• Cable kick backs – 3 sets of 12 (1 minute rest)

• Cable crunch – 3 sets of 15 (1 minute rest)

• Bike sprints – 3 sets of 15 seconds (45 seconds rest)

• Weighted dead hangs – 3 sets of as long as possible (1 minute rest)

• Sauna to rid the body of waste built up during workout – (15-30 minutes)

EXTRAS

These are just little bits that you can add to your gym over time to really put the icing on the protein packed cake. They’re self explanatory so I won’t go in to depth – you know what they’re for.

Equipment:

• Foam roller – Cost (£10)

• Speakers – Cost (£90)

• Jump rope – Cost (£12)

• Resistance bands – Cost (£10)

SHOP: EXTRAS

You will not need everything on this list but it is as comprehensive as you will find on the web and you can take inspiration from the equipment and workouts listed in order to create your ideal home gym. One thing is for sure, anything that is not on this list, you’re probably not gonna need.

There’s your complete guide to starting and growing your home gym into something that you can be proud of. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step – get started with a bar, make some serious strength progression and before you know it you’ll be adding in bits, getting bigger & stronger, all whilst saving time and money.

What’s not to love?

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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How To Build Your Confidence As A Man - The Four Pillars

We live in a society where anxiety and lack of confidence is rising and rising at an alarming rate. This can be attributed to so many different things such as social media, poor diet, sedentary lifestyles, lack of social interaction – the list goes on. This blog is going to tell you how to build your confidence as a man.

Some of these things can’t really be helped, most of us have to sit behind a desk for 8 hours a day, we only have access to ready meals and we don’t really get a chance to go out because of other commitments, etc.

With this in mind, I have developed what I believe to be the 4 pillars of building bulletproof confidence that will aid you in your quest to become the best man you possibly can.

The reason I have picked these is that they are easy to implement for literally anyone. Each pillar will take up a tiny part of your day and will almost certainly add to your quality of life if you practice them consistently.

ABUNDANCE - Build Self Confidence As A Man

First off, what is abundance and how can this help you feel more confident? In this instance, I’m talking about the abundance mindset.

In short, this way of thinking is aimed at completely reshaping the way you think about things. It will help you to frame situations in a positive manner and allow you to get out of the victim mentality that so many of us have fallen prey to in modern society.

Abundance will give you the confidence to climb a multitude of large cogs

The easiest way to practice abundance is to write down 3 things that you felt went well during your day before you go to sleep. This makes you focus on what is actually going well in your life and stops you from leaning your cognitive bias toward insignificant negatives of the day.

This is part of the reason I have stopped journaling. Writing down all your stresses is supposed to be a cleansing experience but in reality, it just made me focus on the negatives. Use this little trick to become a much more abundant and confident fella.

MEDITATION

Meditation is one of the best stress relievers there is. Doing some meditation every day will bring your cortisol levels down massively and help you achieve your desired outcome. Decreased cortisol means increased testosterone – which means you’ll be biologically and psychologically more dominant. When you’re feeling so unstressed, it’s hard not to have superior confidence.

Meditation also teaches you to breathe deeply and from the stomach – not the chest, like most of us tend to do. This focus on breath will help you to stay calm in stressful situations that may trigger anxiety, force you to lose your cool or make you retreat into your shell. By becoming aware of your breathing, you become more present – something which others will pick up on subconsciously.

If you perform some meditation before you go to sleep, you will sleep deeper and at a heightened quality than if you were to simply switch the light off and go to sleep the conventional way.

Clearing your head of negative thoughts will help you to achieve more REM sleep and lower cortisol even more. As we know, lowered cortisol is good for testosterone, as is getting great sleep – so you’re effectively killing two very large birds with one stone here.

how to build your confidence as a man - NOFAP

This is something I’ve been kind of reluctant to talk about on the blog because of the nature of the topic but it’s something that I believe is essential if you want to lead a fulfilling life.

This topic is NoFap - and is one of the best ways to master your strengths and weaknesses, build mental health and feel comfortable in relationships.

There are loads of gurus online who promote this in order to make a quick buck from worried guys on the internet – they’ll sell courses on it and special supplements to go along with it when in reality, all you have to do when practising NoFap is not fiddle with your sausage.

I won't go too far into the nitty-gritty of the whole topic but the general gist of it is that we’re a world that’s addicted to porn. This addiction has gotten to a point where guys (even young guys) are sitting at home in front of a screen and beating it for 2 hours a day.

It has started to rewire our brains – our very beliefs when it comes to respecting the opposite sex, our expectations of the real world and our actual ability to handle ourselves in social situations.

To sum it up, porn has created a generation of fellas who are so devoid of confidence, they’d rather date a robot than talk to real-life people.

A visual representation of my NoFap induced relaxation

Others (including myself) who have taken back their self-control have experienced confidence related benefits such as:

• Increased energy

• Deeper sleep

• Reduced brain fog

• A complete psychological ‘reset’

This is something I am quite passionate about but there are others who have an infinitely better grasp on the subject so if you’d like to read more, here’s a few resources:

Your Brain On Porn

Reddit No Fap

NoFap Official Page

There are also some sources which cite NoFaps benefit to increasing testosterone (good for body building) and can develop guys into more confident men.

COLD SHOWERS

These are my absolute favourite thing to do, especially if I’m feeling a bit unmotivated and introverted. Set your shower to a mild setting, get in and then slowly turn the dial down until it’s as cold as it’ll (or you can) go. This will build confidence like no other. Being able to face an ice cold shower every morning and night will help you to build balls of steel.

It’s these little victories that will help you to develop the sort of inner confidence that others can only dream of. All you have to do is face up to a little bit of adversity each and every day. Getting out of that comfort zone that so many of us are afraid to leave will be the best thing you’ll ever do.

The benefits to cold showers are varied and I have written about all of them in more depth here if you fancy having a little gander.

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So, to recap and answer how to build your confidence as a man:

– Write down 3 things that went well that day each night.

– Meditate twice a day.

– Practice nofap and get a handle on your self-discipline.

– Take a cold shower every morning and night.

You now have your 4 pillars – your confidence foundations if you will.

Use this information as you please, but if you can implement at least one each week then you’ll be on your way to becoming that charming swine you were always destined to be. This isn't a quick fix or short confidence boost, it's a proven way for increasing your self confidence, to become a confident person and improve your body language.

Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant.

Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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The Navy Seal Breathing Technique To Calm Down

Today’s article will be discussing box breathing. This technique has been around for thousands of years in yoga practice but hasn’t had as much publicity as it maybe should have. That has began to change in recent years with advocates such as Wim Hoff and the Navy Seals singing its praises. It has become even more popular recently after being called the “navy seal breathing technique to calm down”.

WHAT IS BOX BREATHING? Navy Seal Breathing Technique to Calm Down

Box breathing is a method of conscious deep breathing that is used to calm the mind and body. Whilst being able to boost sporting and athletic performance it can be a huge stress reliever as well due to the meditative nature of the practice.

It is named box breathing due to the way in which one is supposed to envision each breath. More on this a little bit later.

MAIN USES

Box breathing can be used for a variety of things. Its main uses include but are not limited to;

• Calming the sympathetic nervous system.

• Improving PTSD.

• Reduce blood pressure

• Decreasing anxiety and panic attack prevalence - improving mental health, reducing stress and anxiety

• Aiding in the induction and quality of sleep through this well known relaxation technique

• Improving pain management.

How do I do it? Navy Seal Breathing Technique To Calm Down

As mentioned before, you must envision your breathes in a box format. There are four steps to this process – each step forming one side of the box. Now we have that oh-so complicated visual exercise out of the way I’ll give you the steps.

1. Whilst sitting up straight, inhale for four seconds, filling your lungs with as much air as possible.

2. Hold the air in your lungs for 4 seconds - holding your breath is a key part

3. Slowly exhale for four seconds, completely emptying your lungs of any air.

4. Hold this emptiness for four seconds.

Repeat this process for as long as you want until you either fall asleep or are de-stressed beyond belief.

Remember, it is normal to feel slightly dizzy if it’s your first few times doing this so don’t worry about that. Just take a rest, sit in a chair and make sure you’re not standing up when you're practicing box breathing.

WHY BOX BREATHING TECHNIQUE?

If you’re looking to improve your stress levels then this can be a massively useful tool as it brings you into the present moment and stops your mind from dwelling on unnecessary details of your life. Lowering your stress and keeping yourself in a relaxed state can be one of the most important factors to focus on when trying to decrease cortisol in the long term, which can aid in increasing testosterone so give box breathing some serious thought.

The other impressive benefit of box breathing I listed above was that it can actually help you to get to sleep whilst also improving the quality of that sleep too. I know so many people who struggle with sleep and it affects them the next day in a seemingly never-ending cycle.

Most of the time, people struggle to get enough sleep because their minds are constantly doing overtime worrying about every little thing in their lives.

By focusing solely on breathing it prevents your mind from thinking about anything else, allowing you to drift into a much deeper, uninterrupted sleep. As we all know, quality sleep is key to maintaining high testosterone levels so anything that can help with this is absolutely invaluable.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done.

Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Rack Pulls: Why they are a natural lifter's best friend

WHAT ARE RACK PULLS?

Rack pulls are one of the simplest exercises you can do in your training. As the name suggests, you pull off the squat rack. It’s the easiest compound exercise to load up and should be in your training at least once per week if you’re looking to build your back and your deadlift.

THE THREE VARIATIONS & HOW TO DO THEM

There are 3 variations to the rack pull, you have below the knee – where the rack pins are set below the knee (shock horror), just above the knee and then one pin position above that again. The easiest of these variations to load up is the furthest position above the knee, however this will not give you the most benefits and will basically just work your grip strength.

The best variation in my opinion, is the below the knee position as this best simulates a deadlift and therefore, this is the variation I will be referencing in this article. You can see how to correctly perform the rack pull below.

If you wish to increase the range of motion further, you can employ a snatch grip for the lift, which again simulates the deadlift’s range of motion whilst allowing for greater loading of weight. If you wish to employ the snatch grip for your rack pull then you can see how to do this below also.

WHY ARE THEY GOOD FOR THE NATURAL LIFTER?

Huge trap stress

Rack pulls put an immense amount of stress upon the traps – even more than deadlifts and shrugs. The trap muscles are notoriously hard to grow, so being able to overload them with the weights that rack pulls offer makes doing this exercise a no-brainer.

It is common knowledge that steroid using lifters tend to grow huge traps, upper back and shoulders due to how steroids interact with the androgen receptors in these areas. By building up the traps, it can completely transform your look as a natural and make you look far bigger in clothes which is a bonus.

Builds a thick back 

Placing so much stress on the back can only cause massive hypertrophy. This exercise isn’t just for building smaller body parts and assisting lifts, it will build a big, thick & wide back. I use this along with weighted chins and standard deadlifts and my back is by far my strongest area. No need for lat pull-downs and iso-lateral cable rows at a 90″ inversion atop a unicorn whilst riding into the mists of Avalon.

Helps the lockout portion of the deadlift

The rack pull simulates the upper portion of a deadlift, which means that the pulling strength and explosiveness you build from rack pulling has transferable qualities to your conventional deadlift.

If you struggle with locking your deadlifts out at the top, practising rack pulls allows you to add massive amounts of volume and overload to this particular sticking point without having to perform too many tiring deadlifts that would hinder your overall recovery.

Less full body stress

The rack pull places less overall stress on the body which means you can do them for some considerable volume and not fry your central nervous system. I do 5 sets of 5 for rack pulls once a week on a separate day to my deadlifts.

This allows for a decent amount of recovery and means you’re hitting similar movements twice a week which is optimal for strength and muscle gains in the long run.

Boosts the ego

This one is sort of a joke but the rack pull can really skyrocket your confidence. Knowing that you can handle far more weight in your hands than you’ve ever done before builds up a mentality that becomes bulletproof to self doubt. When you’ve pulled 200kg from the rack, pulling a 160kg deadlift will be a much less daunting task than attempting that weight for the first time without having ever felt it in your hands.

Speaking anecdotally, once I started to incorporate rack pulls into my regime, my deadlifts flew up – and I think this was because I knew I could lift, lock out and hold far more weight than I was tasked with lifting from the floor.

If you’re not convinced to get down to the gym and start doing rack pulls straight away then I don’t know what else I can do for you son. Give them a go for at least 3 months and watch your deadlift, traps and upper back blow up.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Stoicism: Why this philosophy will change your life

Stoicism has gained a lot of popularity recently with people shifting away from constantly dwelling on the past and fixating on the future. People want to move away from materialistic desires and go back to becoming truly happy with what they have in the present moment.

I attribute this in part, to the fantastic book ‘The Power of Now’ by Eckhart Tolle which taught readers how to live in the present moment and become truly happy.

WHAT IS STOICISM?

Stoicism was founded by Greek Philosopher Zeno in the 3rd century BC. The key point that Stoicism attempts to make is that true happiness comes as a result of accepting the present moment for what it is. This includes acceptance of our emotions – abstaining from our desire for pleasure and our fears of pain.

It is centred around nature and the natural cycle of life – in short, treat everyone fairly, understand your role within nature’s plan and detach yourself from emotion as this can cloud judgement.

BENEFITS OF STOICISM

The benefits that stoicism hold are unlimited depending on how you interpret the philosophy, but I have listed the top ones which I have found in my experience with it.

Connection to nature

By appreciating your role in nature’s cycle, you allow yourself to accept the fact that you cannot change at this moment in time and you have a role to play in the Universe. This realisation of a bigger picture can calm your thoughts and allow you to feel more ‘at one’ with the world.

Increased consciousness

Once you become aware of your thought processes, it makes you more attuned to how your mind works. This can allow you to challenge your perceptions and live a more conscious life instead of suffering from the dreaded ‘autopilot’ that a lot of us cave into in the modern world.

De-stress

Letting go of you materialistic desires and becoming truly present takes a lot of stress out of day-to-day life. When you stop worrying about what is in the past and what is in the future, you free yourself from that which you cannot control. This allows you to become the architect of your own life. This is what separates stoics from everyone else, they are content with their life because they have accepted the present for what it truly is.

HOW YOU CAN BECOME A STOIC

Be open minded at all times

You do not have all the answers, no matter how much you think you do. I have been victim to this mindset, which can close your mind to advice that could have greatly benefited my life.

Once you open up your mind, you become truly engaged with what others have to say and allow yourself to soak up far more knowledge than if you had your walls firmly up.

Read quotes and meditations from famous stoics

This allows you stay on track with your Stoic journey. By reminding yourself of stoic principles each week, you can begin to understand its underlying principles – expanding your mind in the process.

Whenever you feel demotivated and lost on your journey, referring back to famous philosophers can offer beneficial guidance on where you want to go.

Let time pass before engaging in emotion-driven reactions

One pitfall that the majority of us suffer from is our tendency to use knee-jerk reactions when presented with a difficult situation. We let our emotions take control and act without thinking of the consequences.

By taking a step back and becoming conscious of our emotions, we allow ourselves to be calm amongst chaos and never act upon impulse again. This can stop a lot of regrettable confrontation or decisions being made in future, contributing to your increased wellbeing.

If you want to become happier with what you have and express gratitude every single day then adopt a stoic mindset. This will lead to you becoming much more productive, engaging in healthier relationships and experiencing a spike in your general well-being.

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There’s your guide to Stoicism, easy isn’t it.

Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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How your grooming essentials are killing your testosterone

What does the average man’s grooming bag look like? My guess is he will have a £3 plastic zip up contraption containing a can of Lynx, some 99p shaving cream, a disposable Gillette razor and finally, a lovely plastic toothbrush complete with the newest Colgate toothpaste promising a glistening smile fit for a king.

If your wash bag resembles this monstrosity in any way, shape or form, this article will probably shock and potentially offend you. I don’t really care – what I do care about is the sad decline of testosterone (and the modern man in general) in this generation and therefore it is my duty to address one of the biggest – and most ignored causes of this. Grooming essentials.

THE FIRST GROOMING CULPRIT: TOOTHBRUSH

What’s so bad about it?

Chances are, your toothbrush is made from plastic. Not only is this terrible for the environment due to plastic’s almost infinite breakdown time – it is awful for your testosterone. By over-exposing your body to plastic, you can disrupt what is known as your endocrine system (the body’s hormonal hub).

This is facilitated by the much demonised BPA, which can leach from plastics into your body. To then go one step further and put this stuff in your mouth by using a plastic toothbrush is almost beggar’s belief. Billions of men do this daily without second thought, not realising the harm they are doing to their testosterone.

What can I do?

What I have been doing for the past couple of years is using a bamboo toothbrush with charcoal bristles. Whilst this sounds all very la-di-da, it is actually an effective way of getting rid of any plastic from your tooth-care routine and is good for the environment due to bamboo being easily bio-degradable.

The charcoal bristles also aid in cleaning teeth as charcoal has many antibacterial properties. No need for the latest Colgate teeth whitening super duper 3000 mouth blasting moon rock infused tooth foam then…

TOOTHPASTE 

What’s so bad about it?

Along with your toothbrush, your toothpaste is completing a hefty one-two grooming combo on your testosterone levels. Most toothpastes contain at least 20 ingredients, 90% of which you can’t pronounce and end in oxide, zine or ate.

Basically, if your toothpaste contains more than one ingredient ending in each of those or you can’t pronounce over half the ingredients list, chuck it in the bin.

The single most dangerous ingredient in toothpaste is fluoride. This has been in toothpaste since its inception and is still used as a teeth whitening aid to this day. Fluoride has been shown to significantly lower testosterone and wreak havoc among various other bodily functions such as the neurological system and gut health.

What can I do?

The most basic step and one which I recommend to anyone starting out would be to invest in a fluoride free toothpaste. After this though, I recommend going full hippy and buying some all natural toothpaste that contains only natural ingredients and absolutely no chemicals.

Any natural toothpaste that contains baking soda will do the trick nicely as this has been shown to be one of the most effective active teeth whitening ingredients around. Having used the Georganics range for the past couple of years, I have noticed my teeth looking whiter than ever (despite upping my intake of coffee substantially…).

DEODORANT 

What’s so bad about it?

One thing that shocked me into switching my deodorant overnight was the fact that cans of deodorant contain anti-freeze. Yes, ANTI-FREEZE. What a strange concept it is then, to liberally spray this all over your ‘pits.

Your armpit skin is more absorbent than most parts of the body, so putting these harmful chemicals in the huge quantities that men tend to spray them onto the body is a recipe for hormonal disaster.

What can I do?

If you’re a really sweaty, stinky fella then maybe going full natural could be a bit of a disaster. Switch to roll on and try to limit the application to the bare essentials if you want to lower your exposure to harmful chemicals.

I use a deodorant stick called Salt of the Earth. It’s literally just a stick of solid salt but it does the business, will last you years and is odourless, so if you wear aftershave then that can take centre stage instead of overpowering deo.

Top that with a dollop of coconut oil under each armpit and you’ve got a rock solid antiperspirant. Coconut oil has antibacterial properties and can absorb smell – another use for this absolute men’s health powerhouse.

SHAVING CREAM

What’s so bad about it?

The majority of off-the-shelf shaving creams are a tin full of bollocks in my humble opinion. Far too many harmful chemicals such as Triethanolamine are packed into the average bottle of squirt, which has been shown to increase your risk of liver & testicular cancer. Not something you’d like from your grooming staples.

Whilst levels of Triethanolamine may be small, the majority of men tend to shave at least a couple of times per week, meaning these doses stack up and can spell disaster for your long term wellbeing.

What can I do?

Find yourself a quality shaving cream or lather from brands you know you can trust. I used to use coconut oil as my shaving cream and post-shave moisturiser. Whilst this may be the best way to shun the chems, my skin was too sensitive for this lack of lather, much like millions of other men.

If this is the case for you then opt for the highest quality and lowest amount of chemicals possible. I really like Cade by L’Occitane & any of Cornerstone’s offerings.

HAIR PRODUCTS 

What’s so bad about it?

Where to start with this one? Gels, waxes, pomade’s, sprays, shampoos…you name it, there’s about a million zillion different grooming products for men’s hair and almost every one of them is hurting your testosterone levels. Let’s say the average man uses a dollop of pomade in his hair every day.

Contaminants such as lead and coal tar have been found in hair pomades in recent years – I don’t need to explain why these are bad to be massaging onto your scalp.

Then there’s your shampoos. Most men I know tend to use head & shoulders or bedhead shampoos. Whilst these may reduce your dandruff, they will over time not only strip your hair of natural oils and nutrients – they’ll strip your gonads of their precious T.

Sodium lauryl sulphate is the biggest offender here and has been shown to lower testosterone in males significantly. This is what is used to create the foaming effect in your shampoo for the most part and therefore can be easily left out without much effect on your hair.

What can I do?

For styling your hair I recommend a big ol’ dollop of everyone’s favourite little miracle – coconut oil. I’ve been using it in my hair for years now and even my barber has asked me what I use in it.

Whilst this completely neutralises any threat to testosterone and provides vital nutrients for your hair, it also gives it decent hold and keeps it soft instead of that horrible hard, straw-like effect that so many hair products give.

In terms of shampoos, shop around on eBay and Etsy for all natural offerings. These tend to last for months and months, smell great and are so much healthier for your hair than the mass-produced garbage peddled in shops.

I’m currently using something called all-natural (believe it or not) that I got off Etsy which acts as a shampoo and bodywash, so you’re killing two birds with one stone, not killing your testosterone in both stones.

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Whilst having every grooming item optimised for testosterone production can be hard for a lot of people, you really do reap the benefits when making the change. Of course, compromises can be made in all areas – sweaty fellas may opt to keep the deodorant, smokers may opt for stain preventing toothpaste etc.

However, by making a conscious effort to try and eliminate chemicals, toxins and xenoestrogens from your grooming regime, you will be doing your hormones a huge favour.

Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Dead hangs: Exercise guide & Benefits

Dead hangs – doesn’t sound very exciting does it?

The benefits of this exercise certainly are though. Hanging on a bar is one of the easiest things you can do and the risk to reward ratio is better than any other exercise out there, hands down.

DEAD HANGS? WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME?

There’s quite a lot in it for you actually. I have listed some of the top benefits here but the improvements that dead hangs will offer you in the long run are far more detailed than these five points.

Spinal Decompression

The biggest draw when it comes to dead hangs is their proficiency at decompressing the spine. Hanging for just a few minutes per week can help to undo all the compression you put your spine under day in, day out from things like squatting in the gym, sitting all day and carrying heavy backpacks. This is great for spinal strength and can vastly improve your posture.

Grip strength

Another fantastic benefit that dead hangs offer is that they can turbocharge your grip strength. Having to hold onto the bar for far longer than you usually would forces your forearms to work overtime keeping you and the bar acquainted.

Over time as you build up your hang time and eventually add weight to the exercise, you will gain a vice-like grip that will carry over to your big lifts such as deadlifts, chin ups and rows.

Build huge forearms

An often overlooked benefit of dead hangs is that along with building mammoth grip strength, they also blow up your forearms. You’ll realise once you give these a go – doing 4 sets of dead hangs per week will blast your forearms 10x as hard as 10 sets of mindless forearm curls with 15kg barbells.

It’s a much more natural way to build mass and vascularity whilst adding transferable grip strength to your arsenal.

Rotator cuff strength

The rotator cuff is to a lifter what the metatarsal is to a footballer. These puppies are the main culprits when it comes to injuries in their respective practices. The rotator cuff is one of the most vulnerable muscles and is often injured due to an overload of pressing movements.

Because it isn’t a show muscle people tend to overlook it’s importance in favour of 5 extra sets of bench press. By doing a few sets of dead hangs you can stimulate the rotator cuff and proof them against strain and injury in the future – all whilst working a variety of other areas simultaneously.

Un-tightens lats

The final benefit that dead hangs posses is that they can stretch out and un-tighten the lats. The lats are crucial in pulling AND pushing movements so keeping them loose and healthy is key to skyrocketing your pressing exercises like bench press (where your lats do a large portion of the work) and overhead press.

It goes without saying that this will also carry over into your chins, dead lifts and rows. For the sake of a few minutes a week it looks like you’re getting some serious bang for your buck here doesn’t it?

HOW?

So, how exactly do you complete a dead hang?

Grab a pull up bar, totally disengage every muscle in your body and just hang onto the bar for as long as you can.

For your first go, record your max hang time.

After finding this, work out 70% of your max and use this as your ‘working weight’ to stop fatigue setting in and interfering with your other exercises. So you would do 2 sets of 70% of this time a few times a week after a workout.

Try to then add 5 seconds on to that time every month, retesting your max every 12 weeks.

Make sense?

CONCLUSION

Dead hangs are the easiest and most efficient exercise you’re not doing. Add them to the end of your workouts three times a week to decompress that spine, blast your forearms and super-strength your rotator cuffs. Try it for 12 weeks and see how much your performance and wellbeing come on.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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What Helps Clear Up Brain Fog: Causes, Symptoms & Remedy

Brain fog is an extremely common issue in today’s society due to our overly fast-paced lifestyles and lack of healthy living in all areas. It is a state of mental fatigue whereby a person will generally lose focus and become irritable more often than usual. Luckily for you though, brain fog is widely considered to be easily reversible providing the right course of action is taken. This blog will answer what helps clear up brain fog.

The Causes of brain fog

High stress levels

Having high stress levels can play havoc with your hormones. Having chronically high stress over a long period of time can lead to extremely high cortisol, low dopamine and the testosterone levels of a 700 year old corpse. Your hormones are so susceptible to stress and therefore it is paramount that you get this under control.

Inflammation

Inflammation can be caused by a lot of things but the main culprits are stress and your diet. The main dietary cause of inflammation is the ingestion of processed foods – something that is common place in this day and age. Most foods in the modern age will cause some degree of inflammation but there are steps you can take to limit this.

Lack of sleep

Another big offender here, lack of sleep can be attributed to all manner of problems but brain fog is definitely one of its bigger targets. Lacking sleep can have a knock-on effect on your stress levels AND inflammation, making this the most important factor to dial in during your fight against the fog.

The SYMPTOMS of brain fog

Some of the most common symptoms to look out for when trying to diagnose brain fog include:

Headaches

Forgetfulness

Low energy

Trouble focusing

Lack of motivation

There are many other answers to what does brain fog feel like - ultimately, brain fog will be unique to you, so make sure to speak to your doctor if you feel you are being impacted by the symptoms of brain fog.

HOW TO REVERSE BRAIN FOG

You are probably going to be thinking "how to get rid of brain fog" and the ways you can reverse the effects of brain fog - below I have added three things you can do to get rid of the symptoms. These have not been medically reviewed, so be sure to speak to your doctor to discuss your brain health, mental health and medical condition if needed.

De-stress

As mentioned before, stressing will only fog your brain out faster. In order to clear your mind you will have to put a lot of your efforts into tackling stress. This could involve practising meditation each night before you go to sleep, working out a few times a week, keeping a diary or even supplementing with adaptogenic herbs such as ashwaghanda. Adding these steps into your daily routine can drastically reduce stress and help you feel clear headed in no time.

Don’t limit macronutrients

Low-quality fats from processed foods can cause brain fog, but low fat intake can cause brain fog. High levels of processed and refined carbs can cause brain fog but low carb intake can cause brain fog. See what I’m saying here? Don’t demonise a macronutrient because some schmuck told you it’s the devil.

Keep a healthy serving of healthy fats in your diet from things like olive oil, salmon, quality beef, organic butter and coconut oil. Add to that some healthy carbs from foods such as sweet potatoes, bananas, berries and green veg along with a moderate serving of protein from animal meats and lentils. Keep your macronutrient split around 40% Carb/ 40% Fat/ 20% Protein and you’ll be just fine.

Remember, that without macronutrients, your immune system will not function optimally and you could develop chronic fatigue syndrome.

Sleep long, sleep deep

The most important factor to get in check – improving your sleep should not be taken lightly as it can improve brain function and increase red blood cells. The most potent actions for attaining a deeper and longer sleep are to switch off all electronic devices an hour before bed (failing this, buy some blue-light blocking glasses), get a nighttime routine and to make sure your room is cold.

You would be surprised how many people are impacted by sleep deprivation - you need to make sure you're getting enough hours of sleep as otherwise, you can develop poor concentration and disrupt your mental clarity.

These three tips have been shown to skyrocket your sleep quality in just one night, meaning you get instant benefits.

There’s your definitive guide to brain fog and how you combat the symptoms. If you can address these basic areas then you will notice a huge difference in your mental ‘sharpness’ and feel much more energised in no time.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done.

Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Forget the dog. The Sauna is Man's new best friend.

Have you ever wondered if saunas are actually any good for you? Turns out they are. Very much so. Get your sweat on and learn about the benefits of the sauna.

SAUNA PRECONCEPTIONS

The sauna can conjure up a whole host of images for different people. For some, it’s a place where you can flush toxins, zone out and enjoy a peaceful cleanse. For others, it’s an old man’s saggy gonads swinging freely, dripping sweat just about everywhere they possibly can.

No matter what your preconceptions are of the sauna, I’m here today to tell you about the benefits you can reap if you choose the hotbox life. So long as you make sure you go in without any old overly body-confident gentlemen then you should be fine…

IMPROVES SKIN

As we all know, saunas are quite hot. The heat given off by the hot rocks of the sauna raises your skin’s internal temperature – increasing the blood flow to top-layer cells exponentially for the duration of your session.

The increase in blood flow means more oxygen (amongst other nutrients) is transported to your cells and these nutrients allow for your skin to repair itself efficiently – even as your natural reparation processes get slower with age.

STRENGTHENS HEART

After reading another article – this time from Harvard University, it became crystal clear that saunas have an extremely beneficial effect on the blood flow system. The researchers at Harvard suggested that increased blood flow caused by sauna sessions decreased blood pressure and decreased the risk of heart attacks in men in particular – good news for the fellas.

Taking a trip to the sauna has also been shown to lower cholesterol. This has been suggested to be caused by the sauna’s stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, which can mimic the effects of exercise – causing a decrease in overall cholesterol levels and further decreasing your risk of heart disease.

PROTECTS BRAIN FUNCTION

Studies have shown that regular use of the sauna can decrease your risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as you age. This promising research was conducted on over 2,000 men over a 20-year period which further adds to the validity of their claims.

The key here is regular use if you want to decrease your risks of brain ailments. Those who went 4-6 times per week were over 60% less likely to develop diseases of the brain than those who went just once.

BOOSTS IMMUNITY

One interesting effect of sauna exposure is that it can boost the strength of your immune system. It’s been shown that as little as two saunas per week can reduce your risk of colds and flu by 65%! That’s a huge improvement in flu resistance and highlights just how effective saunas can be to overall health.

How exactly does a sauna help with immunity? Well, once your body is exposed to the heat, it triggers your body’s immune system to ward off bacterial infection. This causes your body to produce more white blood cells whilst sweating out a whole load of toxins that would have otherwise been kept within the body. This all creates a more harmonious and balanced immune system that protects your body as opposed to fighting against it.

IMPROVES GYM PERFORMANCE

Some small-scale studies have considered the effects of saunas on athletic performance, with one in particular finding that athletes who followed running workouts with sauna sessions of only a half hour were able to run further without hitting exhaustion after just three weeks.

This was attributed to the increased levels of blood plasma in the body caused by the heat of the sauna. This increase in haemoglobin allows for better oxygen transfer from the lungs to the rest of your body – meaning that cardiovascular performance can be increased massively.

Basically, using the sauna is like real life cheat codes. Forget your Grand Theft Auto jet pack cheats, climbing into the sauna is the way forward.

If that list isn’t enough to get you down to the sauna I don’t know what is. Don’t let them Scandis keep all the good stuff for themselves – get sweaty.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Spiritual and Psychological Benefits of Hiking

After visiting Moel Famau a couple of weeks ago I was inspired to write a piece on hiking. The hike itself wasn’t particularly hard – there were literally children doing it. But, there was just something special about it – I got such a buzz afterwards. This got me interested in learning more about the spiritual and psychological benefits of hiking.

Despite not being the most challenging it was certainly a tough 4 hours and provided an almost instant improvement to my wellbeing, which prompted me to do some research into the area. Some of the results I found were extremely promising.

I am going to share with you some of my anecdotal experiences mixed in with the hard science behind hiking and how these can have immense benefit to you – and more importantly, your testosterone (which you should always pay attention to)

The Scenery Can Clear Your Mind

Going up a mountain and hiking in nature is pretty much a guaranteed way to get yourself some of the best views in the world. Just looking out at the vast expanse ahead can have a fantastic head-clearing effect, which is only helped by the health benefits of hiking.

When we reached the summit of Moel Famau (not the hardest task in the world), we sat there in silence for about 5 minutes just taking in the miles and miles of green space ahead of us.

Besides getting a break from her whining…it offered me a perfect opportunity to let my mind completely empty. After a few stressful weeks with work beforehand it had an extremely de-stressing effect on me.

Clearing my mind not only gets rid of negative thoughts, but it also boosts my creative problem solving skills, perfect for problem solving tasks in everyday life. This can be almost like a form of exercises, which, as well as being great to reduce stress, has immense physical benefits (almost as much as the physical activity itself!)

Clearing your head has been shown to decrease cortisol substantially which can lead to huge increases in testosterone. This is mainly due to cortisol’s SHGB increasing properties. Basically – Clear mind – Lower Cortisol – Lower SHGB – Higher total & free testosterone.

The Air Can Improve Blood Flow

Although it’s quite common knowledge, I’m going to tell you anyway – the higher above sea level you go, the thinner the air becomes. Believe it or not, mountains are quite a way above sea level, meaning there’s less of that precious air for you to breathe in.

This challenges your respiratory system, and physical fitness in general much more than a standard walk. It can also induce a state of hypoxia without having to use one of those ridiculous bane masks that fitness ‘gurus’ like to pedal quite regularly.

Induced hypoxia has been shown to have a myriad of benefits such as increased blood flow to tissues, higher blood cell production, reduced risk of heart diseases, lower blood pressure and higher Vo2 max. These results can actually be observed after only one bout of exercise meaning just one hike can give you lasting benefits.

The Success of Getting Outside and The Spiritual Benefits of Hiking

There is a certain sense of accomplishment you get when you reach the summit. Technically, Moel Famau is actually a hill so my sense of accomplishment was diminished slightly upon learning that. This success and accomplishment gave me a spiritual boost, which is really hard to describe in words unless you have a spiritual experience yourself.

However, this is universal throughout life. Who doesn’t love to accomplish something after putting in some seriously hard work? Getting a high grade after putting in hours of research, winning a game of football you’ve put your all into or even completing a video game you’ve stayed up all night to play.

This is backed up by science which shows that competing with people or against yourself can be beneficial to testosterone. Especially when you taste success or complete a massive task – this can skyrocket testosterone and give you a massive mood boost along with the benefits increased testosterone bring. 

THE END

To conclude, not only is hiking a great way to access the world’s greatest views but it comes with a whole host of health benefits both for the mind and body. Get your hiking boots out and get rambling.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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Blue light: The dangers and how to combat them

Blue light is a type of light given off by electronic devices mostly. Think phone, laptop, tablet etc. It’s a much more powerful and concentrated type of light compared to natural forms such as sunlight. It comes with its fair share of disadvantages which is why I bring you today’s article.

Let’s take a look at the potential side effects.

SLEEP DISRUPTION

The biggest issue that gets all the publicity when it comes to blue light is the fact that it can disrupt sleep. As we all know, sleep is one of the most fundamental building blocks to high levels of testosterone and muscle building.

To ensure that you get at least 8 hours per night you should be wary of blue light and its sleep disrupting dangers.

EYESIGHT

With every man and his dog now possessing some form of electronic device capable of giving off substantial amounts of blue light it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a huge increase of people under 30 suffering from eye problems due to constant strain.

DIABETES

There was a small-scale study conducted into Circadian rhythms and how shifting them gradually can affect the human body. They found that this shift caused a spike in blood sugar which put subjects in a pre-diabetic state.

Blue light has been shown to mimic real life sunlight, making your body believe it’s still daytime when you should actually be going to bed (thus messing up your body clock). Basically, don’t shift that good ol’ Circadian rhythm and you’ll be much healthier for it.

So, what can I do???

SWITCH OFF AN HOUR BEFORE YOU GO TO BED

One thing I like to try and do is switch my electronics off about half an hour to an hour before I go to bed. If you read a book or do something relaxing like yoga or meditation it lets you take your mind off everything going on like messages, emails, notifications etc and allows you to simply relax and get in the right state of mind for bed.

Having your mind running overtime will keep you awake for hours and you’ll kick yourself in the morning when you’ve got no energy for the day ahead and your whole day is off to the worst start possible.

SWITCH TO NIGHT MODE

You can use night mode on apps such as Facebook and Twitter or if you have an iPhone, use the blue light reducing feature they have now installed in their phones.

I’m sure there’s some wonderful app out there that helps just as well if you’re on Android but I couldn’t be bothered looking for that so you can do your own research…

BUY A PAIR OF BLUE LIGHT BLOCKING GLASSES

I’ve only recently bought these but I noticed the difference straight away after using them. When I was sat on the laptop or even just zoned out watching TV I felt like I was straining much less to concentrate on what was in front of me.

I slept like a baby from the first night of wearing them and long may it continue. They look surprisingly un-awful as well which is a bonus. You can buy pairs for pretty cheap on eBay or Amazon.

So, to conclude…

So, there you have it, blue light’s major dangers and what you can do right now to minimise them. From trying out these tips myself I’ve noticed a drastic reduction in the time it takes me to ‘switch off’ at night. This has helped me sleep brilliantly, which has aided in my recovery and surprisingly, my mood the next day.

Give at least one of them a go and see for yourself.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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The Testosterone Diet: Supercharge your testosterone

Today’s article will be taking you through a very detailed testosterone diet template.

After reading this article you’ll have a much greater knowledge of testosterone increasing foods and how to use them together in your testosterone diet in order to elicit the most optimal hormonal response.

THE TESTOSTERONE DIET

First of all, I recommend using a 12/3/6 intermittent fasting protocol in the testosterone diet.

This means eating a meal at 12pm, 3pm and 6pm.

Your snack is there for when you get hungry between meals or up to 8pm if you are still hungry. You should consume nothing but coffee and water before 12pm or after 6-8pm if you want to reap the fasting benefits.

MEAL ONE – THE MAN SMOOTHIE

The first ‘meal’ of the testosterone diet comes in the form of a smoothie. This is an upgraded version of my ultimate man smoothie recipe with some minor tweaks to improve its benefits further.

2 bananas 

Bananas are full of potassium and aid greatly in boosting recovery due to their high electrolyte content.

100g frozen berries

Get yourself a big bag of mixed frozen berries and you’ll be getting a huge dose of antioxidants, vitamin C and resveratol which are all fantastic for testosterone production and overall health. Not to mention they make the smoothie taste fantastic.

100g pomegranate seeds

Without a doubt my favourite addition to this smoothie. Pomegranate tastes amazing and are an extremely potent nitric oxide booster which boosts blood flow around the body. Great for meeting your performance goals.

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds 

These are a fantastic source of iron and magnesium which are vital nutrients for overall health and vitality.

100g steamed beetroot

Beets are loaded with vitamins A & C and have a large amount of folic acid as well. They make the shake taste great as well.

100g watermelon

Watermelon is one of the densest sources of L-Citrulline which is great – just like pomegranates, for increasing blood flow. This nutrient will help you achieve improved vascularity as well if that’s something you’re into.

1 raw egg

Eggs are great. They’re full of protein and healthy saturates. Adding a raw one into this smoothie allows you to get these great benefits without even noticing it’s in there.

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

This adds a nice flavour to the drink and has proven benefits when fighting off diabetes and improving blood sugar levels.

2 Brazil nuts

Brazil nuts are loaded with selenium which is one of the lesser known nutrients but is a potent T-booster. Just two of these will give you your full selenium needs for the day.

1 tbsp Honey

Honey helps to prevent cancer and can actually increase your athletic function so if you are an avid gym goer then honey should definitely be part of your arsenal.

1cm cube Ginger

Ginger can be used to treat all manner of stomach problems. Since testosterone health can be directly linked to gut health, implementing ginger can be hugely beneficial.

1/4 tbsp turmeric

Turmeric can go some way to preventing Alzheimer’s disease and can be used as an anti-inflammatory supplement to aid your intense gym sessions.

3 dates

Dates are full of iron and magnesium, two essential nutrients for a healthy endocrine system.

25g whey protein

Now for a final protein boost. Whey is one of the most easily absorbed forms of protein and putting a scoop into the smoothie makes it the ideal post workout shake.

1 tsp ashwaghanda

This adaptogenic herb has been shown to improve your sleep and significantly lower stress. It may also improve testosterone but results have mostly been observed in animals so far.

1 tsp maca

Maca may not actually be the potent testosterone booster it was previously claimed as being. However, it is fantastic at balancing hormonal levels, boosting energy naturally and giving your libido a kick start.

1 tsp Ginkgo biloba

 This herb can improve concentration, improve libido and can fight depression and stress. Basically, it’s like cheating at health but it’s cheap and legal.

1 tsp Forskolin

Forskolin can reduce blood pressure and help manage weight. These are both beneficial to increasing testosterone and becoming the healthiest version of yourself.

COOKING

1. Quite a tough one this…

2. Add all the ingredients into the blender.

3. Press blend.

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Nutrition Facts	% Daily Value*
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 790
Total Fat 17 g
Saturated Fat 5 g	26 %
Monounsaturated Fat 3 g	24 %
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 245 mg	82 %
Sodium 184 mg	8 %
Potassium 1101 mg	31 %
Total Carbohydrate 135 g	45 %
Dietary Fiber 18 g	72 %
Sugars 96 g
Protein 37 g	74 %
Vitamin A	9 %
Vitamin C	119 %
Calcium	7 %
Iron	18 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

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MEAL TWO – BOLOGNESE

150g pasta

Tasty and full of fibre. Also helps to up the calorie content of the dish. This isn’t conducive to a ‘testosterone diet’ per se but it’s tasty and that’s all that matters.

70g bolognese sauce

You can make your own by blending tomatoes and spices but I use this for ease. Makes the dish taste authentic enough that you don’t have to think about how bloody healthy this meal is.

50g spinach

This is the poster boy for health foods. Full of zinc, iron and folate, Pop Eye’s food of choice is one you simply can’t afford to be leaving out of your daily intake.

1 clove garlic

When this is paired with the freshly squeezed orange juice it will boost your nitric oxide by up to 200%! This is great news for your blood flow and sporting performance.

100g button mushrooms

Button mushrooms are an amazing source of vitamin B, C & D along with being an unusually potent source of potassium.

130g beef mince

Red meat is a powerhouse of nutrients – iron, zinc, protein & healthy fats to name a few. Animal protein is most bio-available when compared to plant sources – although don’t discard the protein you can acquire from your greens.

3 finger chillies

Recently, chillies have become renowned for their high levels of capsaicin, a nutrient that can reduce cancer, headaches and increase testosterone. Go with spice if you want to give your T levels a kick.

1/2 large avocado

The greatest plant source of monounsaturated fat, maybe tied with coconut oil is avocado. They can lower cholesterol, protect your heart and can aid in the absorption in other nutrients – all fantastic things if you want to be healthy and increase your T.

1/2 lime

Citrus fruits such as lime can aid in a massive spectrum of areas. They can improve your eye health, skin health and your digestion. All areas you should be striving to improve if you’re looking to become the healthiest version of yourself.

COOKING

1. Saute spinach, chillies, mushrooms and garlic in a dash of water.

2. Add in the mince and cook til brown.

3. Boil the pasta.

4. Add the cooked ingredients together and top with the bolognese sauce until it heats up.

5. Serve and top with the avocado and the juice of the lime.

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Nutrition Facts	% Daily Value*
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 1142
Total Fat 46 g	71 %
Saturated Fat 16 g	80 %
Monounsaturated Fat 8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 616 mg	26 %
Potassium 1688 mg	48 %
Total Carbohydrate 130 g	43 %
Dietary Fiber 14 g	55 %
Sugars 12 g
Protein 51 g	103 %
Vitamin A	322 %
Vitamin C	110 %
Calcium	17 %
Iron	32 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

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MEAL THREE – CHICKEN, EGGS & VEG

3 eggs

See above. These should be a staple in any testosterone diet.

125g chicken

Chicken is amazing if you’re looking to add protein into your diet for relatively low calorie expenditure.

100g broccoli

Broccoli is fantastic at flushing oestrogen from the body and is full of vital nutrients like folate, vitamin E and manganese. This should be a staple.

1 bell pepper

Bell peppers have got great T boosting vitamins and minerals including folate, vitamin C and potassium.

4 sticks of asparagus

Asparagus is a brilliant source of vitamin B1, choline and vitamin C.

Spices of choice

Tasty and healthy, no more needs to be said here. These are perfect for keeping the testosterone diet fresh.

Sea salt & pepper

Sea salt is chock-full of minerals, just make sure you stay hydrated and stay away from the rat poison that is conventional table salt. As for pepper, see above.

Coconut oil

Using coconut oil instead of your usual 1-cal sprays or vegetable oil nonsense has been shown to increase your testosterone due to its high levels of saturated fat. Coconut oil is one of the best fruit-based sources of this essential nutrient for perfecting your body’s T production.

Vinegar (optional)

Red wine vinegar is a great topping for your meals and is full of antioxidants.

COOKING

1. Saute the chicken, peppers, broccoli and asparagus in the coconut oil then empty onto a plate.

2. Cook the eggs in a pan with the remainder of the veg juices and add in the salt & pepper.

3. Add everything into the plate and top with spices and the vinegar.

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Nutrition Facts	% Daily Value*
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 556
Total Fat 29 g	44 %
Saturated Fat 17 g	84 %
Monounsaturated Fat 6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 608 mg	203 %
Sodium 1282 mg	53 %
Potassium 846 mg	24 %
Total Carbohydrate 16 g	5 %
Dietary Fiber 5 g	18 %
Sugars 9 g
Protein 59 g	119 %
Vitamin A	35 %
Vitamin C	466 %
Calcium	12 %
Iron	25 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

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SNACKS

3 stalks of celery, 2 tbsp Natural Peanut butter & 1 tsp cinnamon

Celery is a great source of folate & vitamin K and is great at boosting blood flow. Peanut butter is good for boosting the calorie content of this dish and has a great helping of protein and fat. Finally, cinnamon can lower blood pressure and protect against heart disease.

PREP

1. Fill the celery with peanut butter and top it with cinnamon. Another extremely tough recipe.

50g Grapes

Not only are grapes tasty but they are another potent blood flow booster too

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Nutrition Facts	% Daily Value*
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 268
Total Fat 16 g	25 %
Saturated Fat 2 g	10 %
Monounsaturated Fat 0 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 0 mg	0 %
Sodium 154 mg	6 %
Potassium 509 mg	15 %
Total Carbohydrate 22 g	7 %
Dietary Fiber 7 g	27 %
Sugars 13 g
Protein 10 g	19 %
Vitamin A	17 %
Vitamin C	10 %
Calcium	10 %
Iron	3 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

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DRINKS

1-2 cup(s) of coffee

Coffee is a great nitric oxide booster and may help to prevent erectile dysfunction.

3 litres of water

Keeping hydrated is key to keeping your body running as smoothly as possible, amongst hundreds of other functions – fill up on as much water as you can

200ml freshly squeezed orange juice

Orange juice is a great source of vitamin C. Make sure to take this with the bolognese meal, as vitamin C and garlic is a potent nitric oxide booster which can be great for your T.

This testosterone diet meal plan comes to;

• 2,850 calories

• 158g protein

• 325g carbs

• 108g fat

This gives you 150 calories to treat yourself each day. This could be in the form of some sweets, some chocolate or even just some trail mix. You can switch it up every day to keep you on track with the plan and stop yourself getting bored.

So there you have it, if you’re looking to bulk up, build muscle and increase your testosterone then the testosterone diet should be your go-to every time.

Eat these things 80% of the time for 3 months and you’ll notice a huge difference.

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Coconut oil is a man's best friend. Here's why

Coconut oil is the Swiss army knife for the modern man’s health and wellbeing. You could probably replace every single thing you own with coconut oil and you’d have a better product on your hands.

Okay, maybe not everything…

But, I’m about to talk you through all the uses for coconut oil that can hugely benefit us men in particular.

COCONUT OIL FOR COOKING

Using coco oil instead of your usual 1-cal sprays or vegetable oil nonsense has been shown to increase your testosterone due to its high levels of saturated fat. It is one of the best fruit-based sources of this essential nutrient for perfecting your body’s big-T production.

TANNING

This is for the vainer gents out there. Whilst it’s probably not advisable to put coconut oil on before you head into the sun (unless you want to sizzle like the little pale sausage you are), applying it to your skin post-sun exposure can help your skin tan and turn brown – not the usual bright red.

HAIR WAX

This is one I discovered by accident a couple of years ago and haven’t used a conventional hair product since. Add a fingertip full of coconut oil to slightly wet hair and comb into the style you go for. Once that’s dried you’ll have a solid hold for about two days if you don’t wash it out. This will save you money on constantly buying hair wax as a tub of coconut oil will last you for months and costs about £3.

DEODORANT 

This is another slightly unconventional use for coconut oil but an extremely useful one. I apply my stick deodorant and then use a thin layer of oil over the top. This is extremely effective as coconut oil has been shown to posses antibacterial properties and is excellent at neutralising underarm smells – perfect if you want to avoid smelling of 3 week old onions.

SHAVING CREAM & MOISTURISER

This one is quite novel and may not be the best for those with extremely sensitive skin. However, I have had great success when using coconut oil as my shaving cream AND as my post-shave moisturiser. It allowed me to get a great smooth shave and didn’t irritate my skin noticeably more than a conventional cream. This saved me lots of money and kept my skin in top condition.

I have now moved to a natural shaving gel from Cornerstone as my skin did start to feel the burn just using oil but if your skin isn’t sensitive then give this one a shot.

So there you have it. Using coconut oil as a replacement for your conventional items can save you mounds of money and can help you to shun all the chemicals we are now seeing in grooming and cooking products, which helps you to optimise key hormones in your body such as testosterone, DHT and SHGB.

Give your normal products a rest for 2 weeks and sub in coconut oil. I guarantee you’ll feel great and not miss your old stuff at all.

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Smoothies For Testosterone and Male Enhancement

This smoothie will turn boys into men. This is my recipe for one of the best smoothies for testosterone and male enhancement.

Probably not, but it might put a few hairs on your chest. I can also guarantee you’ll feel like a new man, with much more energy and drive to get out into the world. The reason for these effects is the fantastic benefits of the ingredients that make up this recipe.

THIS IS THE ULTIMATE MAN SMOOTHIE (SERVES 1)

This is one of the most ultimate smoothies for testosterone and male enhancement that can boost and increase your testosterone levels, help with erectile dysfunction, help blood circulation and support your sexual desire.

2 bananas

Bananas are full of potassium and aid greatly in boosting recovery due to their high electrolyte content.

100g frozen berries

Get yourself a big bag of mixed frozen berries and you’ll be getting a huge dose of antioxidants, vitamin C and resveratol which are all fantastic for testosterone production and overall health. Not to mention they make the smoothie taste fantastic.

100g pomegranate seeds

Without a doubt my favourite addition to this smoothie. Pomegranate tastes amazing and are an extremely potent nitric oxide booster which boosts blood flow around the body. Great for meeting your performance goals.

2 tbsp pumpkin seeds

These are a fantastic source of iron and magnesium which are vital nutrients for overall health and vitality.

100g steamed beetroot

Beets are loaded with vitamins A & C and have a large amount of folic acid as well. They make the shake taste great as well.

100g watermelon

Watermelon is one of the densest sources of L-Citrulline which is great – just like pomegranates, for increasing blood flow. This nutrient will help you achieve improved vascularity as well if that’s something you’re into.

1 raw egg

Eggs are great. They’re full of protein and healthy saturates. Adding a raw one into this smoothie allows you to get these great benefits without even noticing it’s in there.

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

This adds a nice flavour to the drink and has proven benefits when fighting off diabetes and improving blood sugar levels.

25g whey protein

Now for a final protein boost. Whey is one of the most easily absorbed forms of protein and putting a scoop into the smoothie makes it the ideal post workout shake.

Feel free to add additional ingredients as you wish - some people may decide to add peanut butter, almond milk and additions for extra health benefits.

OPTIONAL

The next 3 ingredients are optional but I believe they can add an extra boost to your sex drive, sexual performance and overall testosterone production.

1 tsp maca powder

Maca may not actually be the potent testosterone booster it was previously claimed as being. However, it is fantastic at balancing hormonal levels, boosting energy naturally and giving your libido a kick start.

1 tsp ashwaghanda

This adaptogenic herb has been shown to improve your sleep and significantly lower stress. It may also improve testosterone but results have mostly been observed in animals so far.

5g creatine

Creatine is one of the few clinically proven supplements that has been shown to increase muscle mass and add strength at a significant rate. Just 5g a day has been shown to improve these areas so I recommend loading up on this if you want to optimise your gains.

Amino Acids

Adding amino acid to your smoothie recipe (especially during a cut) can maximise your muscle building potential as well as boost your testosterone levels through the above ingredients.

COOKING

1. Prepare yourself because the following steps may be hard to comprehend.

2. Empty the ingredients into a blender.

3. Press blend.

CONCLUSION - Smoothies For Male Enhancement

Ultimately, there is no single thing that is suddenly going to put your testosterone through the roof or give you the male enhancement you've been looking for... but don't worry, the above recipe has tested and proven ingredient to make a difference.

Hopefully those steps weren’t too difficult to follow. Jokes aside, this recipe is quick, easy and packs a serious punch in terms of nutrition. This will help you in your journey to adding mass to your frame and size to your balls. Below is the macro and micro breakdown.

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Nutrition Facts	% Daily Value*
Servings 1.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 628
Total Fat 15 g	23 %
Saturated Fat 4 g	22 %
Monounsaturated Fat 2 g	24 %
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 245 mg	82 %
Sodium 182 mg	8 %
Potassium 856 mg	24 %
Total Carbohydrate 92 g	31 %
Dietary Fiber 15 g	61 %
Sugars 63 g
Protein 35 g	71 %
Vitamin A	9 %
Vitamin C	118 %
Calcium	6 %
Iron	11 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

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Slow cooker stew recipe for boosting testosterone

Today I present to you the ultimate recipe for raising testosterone levels - the best god damn slow cooker stew you ever did see.

This recipe is incredibly tasty and easy to make. It contains less than 10 main ingredients plus spices so hopefully it won't blow your mind.

The recipe is as follows;

Slow cooker stew (serves 5)

1kg White Potatoes

Potatoes are a superior carbohydrate source than conventional man-made grains and provide a steady release of energy to fuel workouts. Not to mention their various testosterone boosting benefits.

500g Grass-fed red meat

Red meat is the go to protein source for those looking to increase testosterone as it contains many essential nutrients required to perfect one's endocrine system like Zinc, L-Carnitine, Iron & b12.

3 types of veg (I usually go for 400g mushrooms, 3 bell peppers and 3 carrots)

Veggies are chock-full of testosterone boosting nutrients like vitamins A, B & C along with magnesium, folic acid and potassium.

1 Tbsp of either Butter or Coconut Oil

Fat, especially saturated fat is crucial to optimal hormonal health. Cholesterol is a precursor to testosterone, meaning a lot of your staple foods should include some degree of this male-friendly nutrient. Just don't overdo your fat intake (Keep it around 30-40%) as you don't want cancer, hypertension or liver failure - do you.

Juice of a Lemon

Citrus fruits have been shown to be extremely testosterone friendly due to extremely high levels of vitamin C and rather high levels of Thiamine per serving.

4 cloves of Garlic

Garlic is an amazing T booster due to its high levels of quercetin. This gives garlic anti-inflammatory properties and is also a very potent nitric oxide booster.

1cm cube of Ginger

Studies have shown ginger to effectively raise serum testicular testosterone levels. It can also help to protect joints and lower bad cholesterol.

2 Tbsp of All spice

This adds flavour and as an added bonus, spices within allspice like cumin have been shown to have positive effects on testosterone - tasty.

Handful of Parsley

Due to its high levels of apigening, parsley can be classed as one of the best garnishes about when it comes to the big T.

250ml veg stock

Veg stock is used here to improve the taste and sauce of the entire meal. Veg stock is also very healthy due to its high concentration of vegetable nutrients like vitamins A, B & C and folic acid.

6 blended vine tomatoes

Tomatoes are actually a very healthy food which can aid in healthy hormonal function due to their high levels of vitamin A & B and fibre. By blending up natural loose tomatoes you avoid the BPA's in tinned tomatoes which is a huge bonus for optimising hormonal output.

Avocado (Optional)

These fat bombs are amazing for testosterone production. They contain lots of Vitamin E, which is great but they are also full of Saturated and Monounsaturated fats which have been correlated with higher testosterone production.

Cooking

1. Chop up the potatoes, meat and your chosen veg - set aside.

2. Finely chop the ginger, garlic and parsley - set aside.

3. Boil 250ml water and stir in veg stock.

4. Blend up your 6 vine tomatoes.

5. Line your slow cooker with your chosen fat source.

6. Make a base of flavour by placing in the all spice, ginger, garlic, lemon juice and parsley.

7. Add in potatoes, meat and veg.

8. Pour over the veg stock and blended tomatoes.

9. Set your slow cooker to cook for 8 hours on a low heat.

10. If you would like to bump up the fat and calorie content of this dish then add an avocado in.

Conclusion

As you can see, there's a bit of wiggle room for ingredients so you can change the tastes to your liking and keep it fresh so you don't get bored.By using the slow cooker you tenderise the meat and let all the flavours really come through - not to mention the fact that you can just throw everything in there and let it cook for 8 hours with no effort at all.Below is the macro-nutrient breakdown for a serving of slow cooker stew - feel free to play about with the amount of servings you break it in to.

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Nutrition Facts	% Daily Value*
Servings 5.0
Amount Per Serving
Calories 519
Total Fat 22 g	33 %
Saturated Fat 10 g	49 %
Monounsaturated Fat 8 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g
Trans Fat 0 g
Cholesterol 6 mg	2 %
Sodium 103 mg	4 %
Potassium 630 mg	18 %
Total Carbohydrate 51 g	17 %
Dietary Fiber 8 g	31 %
Sugars 11 g
Protein 29 g	58 %
Vitamin A	26 %
Vitamin C	94 %
Calcium	12 %
Iron	52 %

* The Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet, so your values may change depending on your calorie needs. The values here may not be 100% accurate because the recipes have not been professionally evaluated nor have they been evaluated by the U.S. FDA.

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Be sure to follow me on socials to keep up with the daily goings on of The Man Blueprint. You can also sign up for my inner circle using the newsletter form above. Just drop your email in there and it’s job done. Completely free and completely brilliant. Whilst you’re here, have a little browse of some other article you might like below too. You won’t regret it.

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