In a previous post, I told you about how spinach can cause wonders in weight loss, muscle growth, and exercise performance.
Since I told you, I carried on having spinach, but I reduced my intake to dinner time only.
Raw spinach isn't exactly delicious, and it takes some motivation to eat a handful of the stuff regularly throughout the day.
Just recently though, I started taking a handful of spinach before my HIIT and bodyweight workouts in the morning, along with a tablespoon's worth of MCT oil.
MCT oil is a healthy fat that causes zero fat gain, and is better brain fuel than glucose. In fact, MCT oil is known to help with fat LOSS, and I'll be writing about this wonder-fat in a future article.
The main reason I took MCT oil though, is to help with the absorption of fat-soluble vitamins in spinach. You can substitute MCT oil for any healthy fat, one of the best being coconut oil.
Anyways, the two times I've done this recently, I broke two training records.
The first record I broke was my dipping record.
Last Wednesday I took a handful of spinach and MCT oil before my workout and I was flying up with my dips. I managed to knock out 2 extra reps, and it felt easy.
The next record I broke was my sprint record.
Yesterday I took a handful of spinach and MCT oil before my workout, and I beat my previous sprint record by 1 second on all 3 sprints.
Normally I can cover this set distance in 24 seconds, and I'll be lucky if I can hit it in 23 seconds.
Yesterday however, as I approached the finish line, I looked down on the stopwatch on my phone, and I was shocked to see I did the sprint in 22 seconds!
I thought it must have been a fluke and didn't expect I would do it again, but lo and behold, I did it in 22 seconds on the second set, and 22 seconds the final set to boot!
So the lesson today is this:- take a handful of raw spinach with a healthy fat before your workouts, and see how it boosts your performance.
And if sprinting outdoors in the hot weather scares the life out of you because your man boobs will be bouncing up and down, then don't let that stop you. Grab yourself a good compression shirt and get out there and start sprinting right away.
Stop start sprinting is one of the most powerful ways to lose man boobs. You can learn more about how to sprint to lose man boobs in my program, Paleolithic HIIT, here:
https://chestsculpting.com/paleolithic-high-intensity-interval-training/
Thanks for the tip, Garry! Definitely going to try this. How soon before training did you take the spinach and MCT? I´ve also found that drinking some beet root juice about 30-60 minutes prior to training had similar effects.
BTW, I am just starting Phase 3 of PHIIT and LOVING it. I read the manual over and over and continue to learn new things. One of the best training manuals I´ve come across. Combined with kettlebell and bodyweight training focusing on chinups, pullups and dips, my chest is flattening out and shaping up nicely, slowly but surely! Thanks again.
Hey Ray, wow, great to hear about your results.
Paleolithic HIIT is powerful stuff, I love all the other benefits beyond just losing man boobs. I feel unstoppable when I know I can sprint fast.
Interesting tip about the beetroot juice. I’ll give that one a try, though I wouldn’t recommend anyone with high bodyfat using that one, as beetroot contains a lot of sugar. This is one for the advanced guys who are more focused on performance alone.
I would advise taking the spinach and MCT some time before your training to allow for digestion. I personally took it just before I left to work out in the park. That’s a 8 minute drive, plus around 5 minutes of walking, and maybe 5 minutes of warming up, so I’d say give it around 20 minutes.