I didn’t get around to my workout last night; my shoulders and legs were still exhausted from moving on the weekend. So instead, I bring you this.
I’ve noticed a bit of a spike in hits on my blog over the last week. The culprit: Jason Statham. For some reason all of a sudden everyone’s searching for info on Jason Statham’s diet and workout. I thought I’d dedicate a post to this worthy topic and hopefully answer everyone’s questions.
Why Jason?
A bit of background: Jason Statham was an Olympic diver in a past life, so he obviously knows how to stay fit and healthy, but recently he employed the services of Logan Hood to help him get in shape for Transporter 3 and Crank 2 – both movies that I expect called for him to be shirtless for no apparent reason.
As you can see from the shot below, the magic Logan worked on Statham definitely did the trick. Apparently he lost 17 pounds in 6 weeks. For a man that wasn’t exactly fat to begin with, you’ll agree that’s impressive.
The diet
The exact diet regime Jason followed is called the ‘paleolithic diet’ – also known as the paleo diet, or caveman diet. I won’t cover the specifics here – there’s a ton of info about it around if you look.
The paleo diet is neither low carb, nor is it low fat, it simply requires you to eat the natural, unprocessed foods that were available to man in paleolithic times. This means tons of vegetables, fruit, nuts and meat. No grains, wheat or other agricultural products.
Now, when I say it’s not low carb, that is not entirely true. It is lower carb than a typical western diet in today’s society, however it is not ‘low carb’. The carbs are simply lower than you would expect because carbohydrates are simply not plentiful in natural foods, honey and maple syrup aside. Real maple syrup is 100% natural and unprocessed by the way.
The effect this diet has is to force your body to burn fat rather than sugar. When you consume food high in carbohydrates, the resulting insulin instructs your body to store fat, rather than burn it. For those of you familiar with weight loss, the effect is similar to consuming alcohol – your body ignores its natural energy sources and burns sugar instead. So without the sugar getting in the way, bodyfat will burn off quickly.
So if you’re interested in this diet, what do you need to know?
Firstly, I would consider this diet pretty hardcore. Expect cravings, and expect them to be powerful. You can’t eat candy, you can’t eat pizza, you can’t drink coffee and you can’t drink soda.
Secondly, don’t count calories. Only eat when you are hungry, and eat until you aren’t hungry then stop.
Thirdly, don’t be afraid to eat fatty foods. You don’t have sugar to burn anymore, so you need plenty of fat (not trans fat) to use for energy. When I say fatty foods I mean red meat, nuts and so on, not deep fried chicken.
Enough about diet.
The workouts
No, you don’t need to spend 2 hours, 7 days a week in the gym. Expect 40 minutes to be a ‘long’ workout. The type of exercise you should be doing is high intensity sprints, and resistance training.
Why high intensity sprints? Think about this – what reason would our ancestors (the ones who shaped our DNA through survival of the fittest) have had to run at a steady pace for 20 miles? How often do you think they spent 40 miuntes on a stair climber at their local gym?
A far more likely scenario is our caveman friend running away from the lion he just chucked a spear at. Sounds funny, but it’s true. You don’t run away from a lion at a half-arsed pace – you run like s**t and climb the nearest tree possible. So, start sprinting. Following tabata intervals is a good way to start – 20 second sprints followed by 10 second rests, repeated 8 times.
Why resistance training? Once again, thought is involved. Once our caveman friend has escaped the lion, what’s he going to do? He’s going to spear himself a chicken, cow or whatever else is handy, and then he’s going to carry it back to his cave to share. So, the best kind of exercise for building a strong, powerful body is lifting something heavy – preferably over the head.
Obviously you shouldn’t run outside and try and lift a 200kg concrete block over your head – start at a comfortable level and work your way up accordingly, but everybody should try and include weight lifting in their programs.
I personally love the kettlebell, but you can use a barbell, dumbells, or even a heavy log if that’s what you prefer.
How long till I’m ripped like Jason?
Obviously that depends on where you’re starting. If you’re overweight and lack strength, quite a while. If you’re fit and just want to get that bit leaner, maybe only a month or two.
Ok, I’m ripped now – can I stop?
No. The paleo diet is not a “diet” in the modern terms, it’s a lifestyle change. Once you’re on it, you’re on it for life. If you stop, you’ll go straight back to where you were before.
Alright not necessarily, but many of the benefits will disappear and you’ll most likely put on at least some of your weight again.
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