As you know by now, active rest is a crucial piece of the Operation Aesthetic puzzle. That isn’t going to change during Phase Two. Today, you’ll include 2 steady-state sessions of cardio for 25 minutes each. Remember that the reason for this is that when you awake your body is low on blood sugar (energy), and so it needs to pull stored energy to support this activity.
When you consume amino acids it will preferentially burn body fat over muscle tissue. I get in fermented Glutamine and fermented BCAAs before this cardio session to prevent muscle breakdown at this time.
Then you’ll perform another session of steady-state cardio later in the day. You can add abs training to this session if this is a weakness in your physique. Today, I recommend switching up your moves to hit abs in a different way than you did in Phase One. You’ll start with Russian twists, where you move a medicine ball or weight plate across your body. This helps develop the obliques. Then you’ll include standing cable crunches to target your rectus abdominis (the six-pack muscle) from the top. Keep rest between abs sets to only about 60 seconds.
If you follow me on social media, then you know I’m a pretty active guy. In addition to being an IFBB Pro bodybuilder, I started breakdancing. I’ve found this to be a great activity for my active rest days. You may find that hard to believe, but I think it helps me control my body for posing. Check out one of my links if you haven’t seen them before: https://www.instagram.com/p/BvmgFv1HLLE/
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EXERCISE
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SETS
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REPS
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COMMENT
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Early morning cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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Perform this session upon waking on rest days before consuming food.
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Russian twist
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4
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15 to each side
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Suck in your gut, and really force a contraction in the muscles on the sides of your six-pack.
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Standing cable crunch
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4
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15, 20, 20, 15
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Really force a contraction into the tops of your abs as you bring your elbows toward your knees, holding the weight behind your head near your ears.
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Post-workout cardio
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1
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25 minutes
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You can perform this one at any time of day so long as it’s at least 3 hours or so after your previous session. Make sure you’ve had at least one whole-food meal between these cardio sessions.
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TIP: Today is all about the appearance of your midsection and how much detail you need. You’ll be including moderate cardio, and working your abs as much (or as little) as you need. You’ll also shift your macros so you’re getting in more protein than carbs on your Active Rest and Abs days. Remember on these days to go with a ratio of 50-30-20 of protein to carbs to dietary fats. You’ll still eat the same amount of calories, but you’ll rely more on protein and less on carbs as compared to your weight-training days.
FAT-FRYING SUPPS: PRE-KAGEDÒ
This pre-workout helps prime me before workouts when I’m cutting calories on programs like Operation Aesthetic. PRE-KAGEDÒ features ingredients that include CarnoSynÒ beta-alanine, BetaPowerÒ betaine, fermented amino acids such as BCAAs and pure L-Citrulline, patented Creatine HCl, PurCafÒ Organic Caffeine, SPECTRA antioxidant blend, coconut water powder, and more. I like to get in this pre-workout product about 30 minutes before each weight-training session. PRE-KAGED supports heightened mental focus, better performance, and, most importantly, energy to blast through tough workouts.
FOR BEST RESULTS: Get in a serving about 30–45 minutes before every weight-training workout.
