Lils Gym Ebook

Contents
Why Did I Write This Book? ............................................................................................................ 4
How Does This Book Work? ............................................................................................................ 5
Chapter 1: Goal Setting and Experimentation ................................................................................ 6
Chapter 2: Nutrition Lv.1 ................................................................................................................ 8
Chapter 3: Weight Training Lv.1 ................................................................................................... 10
Chapter 4: The Extras .................................................................................................................... 13
Chapter 5: Nutrition Lv.2 .............................................................................................................. 15
Chapter 6: Weight Training Lv.2 ................................................................................................... 19
Chapter 7: Closing Disclaimer and Advice .................................................................................... 22
About Your Author ........................................................................................................................ 23
What is Lils Gym? ......................................................................................................................... 24

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Disclaimer
Copyright 2015, all rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in
any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise
without the prior permission of the publisher.
Notice: This program is not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any illness, disease or disorder.
It is always highly recommended that you consult a doctor to ensure that you are healthy
enough to start this program. Lils Gym, its owners, sponsors, subsidiaries, etc, are to be held
harmless for any and all claims of injuries, illness, soreness, etc. that occurs while using this
training method. The Lils Gym Complete Beginner Program is sold for informational purposes
only. Follow at your own risk and listen to your body at all times! The complete beginner
training program is never to be copied, duplicated or posted on any web site or forum (in part
or in whole). Copyright pending.

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Lils Gym Ebook

Why Did
Book?

Write

This

I wrote this book with one goal in mind: to help you.

Yes, you.
The next question gets a bit trickier, why do I want to help you?
When I was about 16 years old a high school teacher (and now good friend of mine) took me a
major highland games event to get the mandatory volunteer hours I needed to graduate, and
that weekend changed the course of my life. At this event I met a man named Jamie Barr
Scotlands Strongest Man, he was 62, 270 lbs, covered in tattoos and very, very nice to me! I
was in awe, I asked him about competing, training, generally how to turn myself into what I
perceived as a near mythical being standing before me.
The next day I quit boxing (I was competing at about 150lbs at this point in time), started
reading everything I could about training, eating as much as I could and following all the advice
Id received.
Six years later I was 62, 315 lbs, covered in tattoos, competing at the world amateur
championships for strongmen and training professional athletes as a career.
I owe all of that not only to the inspiration of seeing the strongmen at the highland games but
more so to the time and advice Jamie gave me when he had nothing to gain by doing so. I had
nothing to offer him in return, weve never seen each other or spoken since, and to be honest I
would be stunned if he even remembered what had happened.
But - a small amount of his time and advice completely changed the course of my life, its the
only reason Im in a position to be writing this for you today.
Its also the why. Im hoping that this can serve you even a tiny bit as well as the advice and
inspiration I received served me.

Good luck!

Craig

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How Does
Work?

This

Book

This book is meant to serve as your guide, as a mentor.

I put this together by imaging the steps I would take if I were going to be with you every step of
the way: the first conversations I would have with you about your goals, the first plans I would
make and then how I would modify them as you improved.
This is everything I would want to have if I was starting over and had to figure it all out again.
All youre going to need is a pen, some paper and a calculator. Work through the book chapter
by chapter; by the end of chapter 4 you will have a complete diet and workout plan to start
with. By the end of 6 youll have a completely customized routine and diet that will be able to
take you deep down the fitness rabbit hole, but more importantly youre going to have a
system.
Programs and diets are great, but the system to make new programs and new diets whenever
your goals or situations change is invaluable.

Here we go

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Chapter 1: Goal Setting

and Experimentation
Lets start with the million dollar question, whats your
goal?
Think about this for a few minutes if you need to and try to make it as specific as possible.
Write this goal down.
Now, why? What does this goal mean to you? What does achieving this goal change for you, for
your life? This is just a thought experiment so you dont need to write this down but definitely
enjoy the fantasy of what has changed for you when youve achieved your vision.
Next were going to get specific. How do we measure this goal? We want to identify the
tangible, or measurable aspects of your goal so we can keep track of your movement towards
it. When youve got this, write it down too.
Time to talk about time! What are we thinking for timeline on this goal? I want to stress that
this needs to be reasonable, you want to take into account all the different factors that are
going to affect this. Dont necessarily go for the fastest time possible, we need to find a timeline
that not only makes you happy but one that corresponds with how much energy and sacrifice
you can put into this part of your life. I want to stress this: part of your life. Dont forget that
you have a whole life to keep living while you do this!
Establishing time and considering how much youre willing to put into this goal is not meant to
be an exercise in guilt, being hardcore about your goals is crazy if it means that youll lose the
enjoyment in everything else you do day to day.

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When you think you have a time line I would make 3 notes: a timeline for everything going
perfectly, the timeline you found generally reasonable and a timeline where there are some
interruptions and unforeseen detours.
The idea is to make sure that you wont sacrifice your happiness with the process in an attempt
to race to your goal. Youll always be able to make small adjustments but this is more about
setting the course. Once we get out in the water we can adjust the sails based on the wind but
this is more about leaving from the right port!
Next were going to talk about experimentation.

What are we experimenting with?

Everything! Foods, exercises, gyms, running, swimming, rec sports, protein powders, yoga, kale
chips, whatever!
I want you to hear me: YOU have permission to experiment, mess around, enjoy, hate, love or
just not really care about everything health and fitness wise right now with absolutely no right
or wrong judgement. Take as long as you need with this step but focus on finding the things you
truly enjoy in all aspects of dieting, exercising, etc!
Why is this important? I want you to think about kids; how fast they learn, evolve and adapt.
Part of the reason they do these things at such a blistering pace is that they never work, just
play. The more you can find foods, exercises, training routine, etc that feel like play the faster
youll adapt and evolve as well without even noticing how much effort youre pouring into
things.
The idea is to find what you enjoy, once youve got a handle on that Ill meet you on chapter 2
where we can start putting some of these ideas into play!

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Chapter 2: Nutrition Lv.1

Time to get into the bread and butter (get it for the nutrition section) were going to start
with some basic rules:
1. 10% of the time you dont have to follow the rules
2. You will eat 4 meals per day
3. You will eat veggies at every meal, the meal you eat after exercise can have fruit in
place of veggies
4. You will not drink anything with calories in it
5. You will have protein at each meal
These 5 simple rules are the base layer of any good nutritional plan, which is what were
building! Similar to buying a new car there are a variety of options and packages you can
choose from. You can choose the vegetarian package, you can choose the package with the grill
(good for the diet and the car example!) you can change the paint or spice, you have a lot of
options!
Youve got to keep the 5 rules in place to allow your car to run, theyre all the parts under the
hood that guarantee youll get where you want to go. With those in place you can pick the
options that will allow you to arrive in style!

So what about a treat, cheat, off the rails bad food type
of meal?
First of all, its going to happen and thats ok! Youre not expected to be a soldier with your
diet plan, which in reality feels more like being a zombie, you just have to do your best as often
as you can. So what does try mean? It means that 90% of your meals should be following those
4 rules and outside of that, dont worry too much.
FYI: 90% is 25 out of 28 meals per week (with 4 meals per day as per rule 2)
That means 3 meals per week can be off plan - not too bad right?

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Thats all you need to get started! The goal is to build these habits for the next week or two
until you feel ready to step things up a notch. And dont rush this! Taking at least a week to
build and practice these habits is a minimum, after that youll have plenty of time to get into
the meal plan we develop specifically for you in chapter 5.

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Chapter 3: Weight Training

Lv.1
Things are going to start getting a bit more interesting as we start planning your weight routine.
Youre going to have 2 decisions to make right out of the gate. The first is easy, are you looking
to put on muscle or lose fat? Hopefully both will happen at different points in your program but
keep in mind your #1 objective as we go forward. The second decision is going to be how many
days per week you would like to train. If you chose fat loss thats done for you, youre weight
training 2x per week, if youre looking to put on muscle youre going to choose between 2, 3 or
4 days based on your schedule.
Once you have that sorted lets move on! Youre going to be training whole body every time you
go to the gym. Why whole body?

The more frequently you do the most important movements the quicker youll learn
them

Whole body allows you to do a ton of work each day without having to wait until each
individual body part builds up the work capacity to do that amount of work with fewer
muscle groups

Not only does it allow for a lot of work per session but it allows for a TON of work over
the course of a week as well.

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Here is the program:

What is the RPE?

Video explanation here: http://youtu.be/eqGLqOyd040
Essentially with the RPEs listed here its going to work like this:
7 RPE: You have 3 to 4 reps left in the tank when youre done your set
8 RPE: You have 2 reps in the tank when youre done
9 RPE: You only have 1 rep left in the tank at the end of each set

With the movements listed youre still welcome to experiment! If there is a movement youre
not a big fan of feel free to switch it to a different movement as long as its a movement that
achieves a similar effect. For example a squat could be switched for a leg press or a deadlift
however switching it for a bicep curl would not be such a good idea.
As for frequency if youre training for fat loss you already know youre only doing this routine
twice. For those looking to add muscle youre picking between 2 and 4 times per week and as a
broad recommendation the more the better between those numbers.

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Here is an example day including the warm up, workout and cool down:

Warm up: 10 minutes stationary bike

Goblet squat, 10 reps at 20lb, 10 reps at 25lb, 3x5 reps at 40

Seated DB Press, 10 reps at 12.5lb, 3x6 at 20lb

Pull ups: set #1 9 reps, #2 8 reps, #3 6 reps

Curls: 2x12 @ 20lb

Tricep extensions: 2x12@20lb

Plank: set #1 48 seconds, #2 37 seconds

Full body stretching: 10 minutes

If youve never lifted weights with a program and a regular schedule before you want to follow
this plan for 4 to 8 weeks before you move on to the more advanced program we create in
chapter 6.

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Chapter 4: The Extras

Before we get rolling lets do a little recap: Currently you should have your goals, a timeline for
achieving them, a solid idea of the foods and exercises you enjoy most, a nutritional routine
youre going to use to build some momentum and a full weight training program.
So what are we missing? Weve got the main course, were just looking to add an appetizer and
dessert. This means were looking for cardio, recovery methods, flexibility and of course, fun!
Were going to break these down one by one to start layering them into your program.

Cardio is up first!
For those who picked a goal centered around fat loss youre going to be looking at 2 to 4 days
per week of cardio, depending on the intensity of the weight loss goal. For those looking for
lean muscle gain youre looking at 1 to 2 days per week again depending on how intense the
muscle gain pace is.
How are we going to define a cardio session? Typically were looking at a run outside or were
talking some sort of machine like a bike, treadmill, etc (More cardio options to come when we
get to fun stuff) Here is how I define a standard cardio session:
A - Intervals/Intense Cardio: were talking 8 to 9 RPE. These are 15-20 minutes
B - Steady Cardio: talking an RPE of 6 to 7. These are 25-40 minutes
Are these set in stone? No.
Is this the only way to do things? No.
Will you go wrong if you follow these guidelines? Definitely no.
So now that weve established our cardio work what does our recovery layer look like?
Recovery work is very light, hopefully enjoyable exercise that is mentally and physically
rejuvenating. Mentally it always feels good to loosen up and get moving. Physically light
exercise flushes your body with oxygen and nutrient rich blood which allows you to heal and
recover quicker.

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What are some recovery workout options:

Easy swimming

A light 10 to 15 minute workout going over the same muscle groups that are sore with
about 30% of the usual weight you would lift

A massage of self-myofascial release with a foam roller

A long walk

Yoga or stretching

These are just a few ideas but the point is that youre choosing exercise that when done lightly
gives you a bit of an extra boost to get through the rest of your routine.
After cardio, stretching and recovery what do we have left? I saved the best for last the fun
stuff! Before we get into the details Im going to explain where it fits into the rest of your
program. The fun stuff can replace either a cardio or recovery session in your program. The
deciding factor between what it counts as is not the activity itself but the intensity with which
you do it.
Here are examples of the fun stuff Im talking about:

Playing in a sports league

Going surfing

Playing golf

Playing basketball

Enjoying time with your kids and joining a game of tag at the park

Obviously there are a million more options than I can list here but as the name implies this can
literally be anything you find enjoyable. The only limit to this category is your creativity.
So where do you take this from here? Take a look at the options that line up with your goals,
grab the ones you like and sprinkle them throughout your routine.

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Chapter 5: Nutrition Lv.2

Alright, hold onto your hat, its time to go deeper down the rabbit hole!
Ive mentioned the idea of layers a few times so far and this is where were going to really add
some depth to the nutritional layer.
Integral to the layering idea is not changing habits, simply growing from them. Think along the
lines of If I have seen further its because Ive stood on the shoulders of giants except more
like If Ive progressed further its because Ive built on my existing good habits!

Lets review these habits youve built:

You eat 4 meals per day

You eat protein at each meal

You eat veggies at nearly every meal

You dont drink anything with calories

You only break from these habits 10% of the time

Building on these were going to start getting specific with how much youre eating every day
and what amounts of protein, carbs and fats are in these meals. This definitely requires more
thought but this is going to allow you to really ramp up the progress youre making.

Enough talking, grab your calculator and lets get

going!

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Follow me through the next few steps:

10 x your bodyweight in Kg =
6.25 x your height in Cm =
Add those together =

Then:
Your age + 5 x 5 =
Now subtract the number you just got from the one we got above
For men youre done remember that as X
For women subtract another 160 from that number
Then remember that number as X

Now youre going to multiply X by 1.25, this number is Y

Example:
Lets say Cindy weighs 154 lb, is 55 and 30 years old
10 x 70 = 700
6.25 x 165 = 1031
= 1731
35 x 5 = 175
1731 175 = 1556 (if she was a man this would be X)
1556 160 = 1396 (her X)
1396 x 1.25 = 1745 (her Y)

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For those looking for fat loss youre going to multiple Y by .85 and that will be how many
calories you eat per day. (If and when your weight loss stalls you can re-do this calculation and
multiple by .8 and follow the same steps)
For those looking for muscle gain youre going to multiply Y by 1.05
You should now have your calorie goal for each day on your new plan!

Moving on
Youre going to multiply your bodyweight by 0.8 to get the number of grams of protein youre
going to shoot for each day.
Then youll multiply your bodyweight by 0.4 for the number of grams of fat youll shoot for each
day.
Now: take the number of grams of protein and multiply it by 4 and then number of grams of fat
is multiplied by 9 and then I want you to add those numbers together

Example:
If youre eating 112 grams of protein and 86 grams of fat it would look like this:
112 x 4 = 448
86 x 9 = 774
448 + 774 = 1222

Now take the amount of calories youre eating per day and subtract this number from it. Once
you have that divide that answer by 4 and thats the number of carbs you eat per day!
Example:
You worked out that your calorie goal was 2000 per day and the number we just got was 1222
so:
2000 1222 = 778
778 / 4 = 194 grams of carbs

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You should now have numbers for how many calories youre going to be shooting for every day
as well as how that breaks down into grams of protein, carbs and fats, cool huh?
Now that you have these youre welcome to eat whatever youd like at each meal
(remembering the habits weve built!) as long as what youre eating adds up to those numbers
at the end of each day.

To keep track of this I recommend the app or website myfitnesspal (myfitnesspal.com)

This will take some practice but after a week of playing with portions and types of foods you
will definitely have the hang of it. While youre learning to balance your calories, carbs, fats and
proteins I have a quick tip; start with the important stuff and work up from there. The first part
you add to your meal will be the base and then you move up level by level, like this:

I know that was a lot of work but youre out of the woods now! Our next stop on our trip down
the rabbit hole is going to be customizing your training!

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Chapter 6: Weight Training

Lv.2
This might be my favorite section of the book, this is
where it gets pretty fun!
Youve already got a solid training routine under your belt and youre going to want to continue
that program for at least 4 weeks before you get into a more advanced routine so you have a
firmly established base with the main movements.
Once youre ready to move to the next step this is the process were going to follow lets get
personal!

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Ok, whats this guy doing here? Youre going to use your new (and very muscular friend) to
identify the different muscle groups on your body.
And what are you going to do with those? Youre going to rank them!
Youre going to rank body parts in order from what you feel needs the most improvement to
least improvement based on how you would like to look.
Grab your pen and fill out the following list as described in the following example:
1. Needs most improvement
2. 2nd most
3. 3rd most
4. 4th and so on
5. 5th
6. 6th
7. 7th
8. 8th
9. 9th
*For an area you are really concerned about youre able to put it down as a maximum of 2
points
From here I would like you to choose your favorite exercises for each body part and write them
beside the parts on your list. (If youre not sure for some bodyparts bodybuilding.com has a
monstrous exercise directory that will help!)
At this point in the program youre going to have the option for fat loss to weight train up to 3
days a week if you so choose. If you would like to stay with 2 thats no problem just ignore the
3rd day in the following routine:

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This might look a little sparse but the idea is to replace these numbers with the bodyparts and
exercises you picked above. As for sets and reps youre going to be able to start experimenting
a little bit more but I would recommend the following to start:

Lower body movements: 3 sets of 5 to 10 reps

Muscles on the front or back of your torso: 3 sets of 8 to 12 reps

Arm muscles: 2 sets of 12 to 20 reps

For those training for muscle gain youre going to operate the same way with the number
system but youre going to fill in the following chart and choose between 3 and 5 days per
week:

For sets and reps with muscle gain my suggestion is to start with the following:
Lower body movements: 4 sets of 6 to 12 reps

Muscles on the front or back of your torso: 4 sets of 10 to 15 reps

Arm muscles: 2 sets of 15 to 20 reps

When it comes to your training routine nothing else needs to change, until you want it to of
course, but continue with the same warm up, stretching, cardio and fun stuff until youre
either mentally ready for a change or have that gut feeling that you need to make an
adjustment to keep making progress.

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Chapter 7: Closing
Disclaimer and Advice
I want you to pay attention to the following disclaimer, its important.

Is this the only way to train, diet, make progress, etc? ABSOLUTELY NOT

If you follow this advice and work hard will it work? ABSOLUTELY YES

I am not giving the same programs, diets and advice to my clients as I was 2 years ago, in some
cases if I could go back 6 months ago I would make some tweaks to my approach you should
be the same way! Im not a big supporter of dogma in anything but especially not when it
comes to training and diet.
One of the best lessons I ever received from a mentor was him explaining that no one will ever
be able to be as good a coach to me as I will be able to and this applies to everyone! Any
expert, any trainer, even a guy who has written a great Ebook for you can only give you advice.
Youve got the insider info when it comes to your body and the further you get into training and
dieting the more you want to learn to trust yourself.
The tools in this book are exactly that, tools. Take them, use the systems in here and slowly let
the Lils Gym method melt into YOUR method.
I can, and have, given you some of my best strategies for changing the human body - your job is
to learn from these and figure out the best way to change your body.
Youre about to start an exciting journey, there arent many things as amazing as changing your
body into something you built in your imagination. As you walk this path remember, stay firm
with your goals but flexible in your approach and most of all - have fun.
I wish you all the luck in the world!

Sincerely,

Craig Bongelli

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About Your Author

Craig has been a professional trainer for 7 years
and opened his first private gym in 2011. Craig
opened Lils Gym in 2012 and has since
developed the BEST personal training programs
in the tri-cities.
Mentored by the top strength coaches in the
world Craig now trains some of the top athletes
in both Canada and the world. You can find out
more about him at www.lilsgym.com

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What is Lils Gym?

Lils Gym is the premier training facility in Kitchener/Waterloo.
Lils is a private gym located in downtown Kitchener that caters to anyone serious about
achieving their goals. From professional athletes to clients who have lost 100+ pounds, Lils
expert team of trainers and staff have been there and seen it all.

Originally opened in 2012 Lils has been home to some of the country and worlds best athletes
including Miss Olympia competitors, Pan Am Game competitors and World Championship
fighters.

For more info please visit:

www.lilsgym.com

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