TRAIN
EXPERT ADVICE
When to
Shut It Down
BRAD DAVIDSON, the author of The Stark
Naked 21-Day Metabolic Reset, says that some-
times the best way to bust a plateau is to take
time away from the gym. AS TOLD TO JEFF TOMKO
NOW IS THE time to look in the
mirror and do a reality check: Am I
making progress in the gym? Is my
muscle mass growing? Are the things
I’m in the gym training for actually
happening? If the answer’s no, it’s time
for a reboot. Take a three-week break,
fix what’s broken—sleep!—then watch
your energy and strength soar.
By the time this book comes out in
February—just after the holidays—a lot
of you will have just jacked up your
liver and blood sugar. You haven’t slept,
and your hormones will be through the
roof—not an environment for muscle
growth, balance, and fat loss.
I make anybody we work with do a
reset right out of the gate. Athletes get
eight to 16 weeks to rest and prepare
when their season ends. We live in a
marathon of sprints. We don’t get that.
This program works best when you’re
not getting anywhere in the gym or no
longer motivated to work out. Yes, it’s
WHERE TO BUY
To order The Stark Naked
21-Day Metabolic Reset,
visit starknakedbook.com
hard to persuade people to take a
break. But instead of feeling guilty,
make this the time to pamper yourself.
I’ll make my athletes take a walk every
day. Get a massage. Meditate. Do yoga.
I train athletes, CEOs, Navy SEALs,
very high achievers. I deal a lot with
people who overexercise. Quarterback
Blake Bortles came to me after his first
season. His arm was tired, and his fat
became elevated. He knew he had to fix
something. He returned this year looking
incredible. I helped PGA pro Brendan
Steele put on 35 pounds of muscle and
add more than 20 yards to his drive.
And let’s not overlook this important
benefit of a metabolism reset: Your sex
drive will be optimized—it’s one of the
stinkin’ reasons we go to the gym! You
should want to have more sex! When
the body’s healthy and the metabo-
lism’s healthy, the only thing it wants
more than sex is to survive. So if you’re
not out runnin’ for your life, then you
should be thinking about having sex as
if you were an 18-year-old.
DAVIDSON’S
TOP TIPS FOR
A SUCCESSFUL
RESET
The most beneficial place
to start is to begin bringing
down coffee intake and get
plenty of sleep. Also eliminate
alcohol and sugar from your diet.
Support your liver by
drinking warm lemon water
first thing in the morning.
Save your carbs till dinner.
This will promote fat burning
throughout the day.
HIGH-PROFILE
CLIENTS
Jags QB Blake
Bortles, left, trains
with Davidson.
72
MUSCLE & FITNESS
FEBRUARY 2016
Proactively reduce your
stress. Yes, it’s easier said
than done. Go to bed early, even
try meditating.
LAUREN HILLARY