OK I have to admit that initially I was cynical about this ebook which I mentioned recently…

At the top of the author’s sales letter are two photos showing his “before” and “after” pictures of using these techniques as covered in his ebook.

However you can clearly see from the pictures that he was already big and muscular to begin with, but had simply put on some fat. Look how muscular those legs are!

There’s not a huge “wow factor” for me when someone was clearly already toned and just lost a few pounds to make his after photo look amazing.

To be fair though not only has Lebrun dropped an impressive amount of fat in the 12 weeks between the photos, but there is a picture further down the sales page of a reader who tranformed from a skinny ass teenager to someone who looks more like a quarterback!

These are the only photos present though so while there are lots of testimonials, Body For Life has hundreds more photos to back up it’s claims (even if I din’t put on as much muscle as I’d like when doing it).

As an aside, here’s one testimonial I particularly liked myself:

“When people from work see me out at the mall or a bar in more revealing clothes they all say ‘Oh my God, I didn’t know you were built like this’. It’s very flattering, I definitely have a physique that stands out in a crowd and all this with no steroids!”

Sounds tempting, doesn’t it? Lets hope I’m sending Shaun my own testimonial in a few months time!

So how does Lebrun’s ebook differ from Body For Life when it comes to getting in shape?

Well, to be fair, there aren’t too many huge differences though as Body For Life contains more detail it’s still probably what you should read first, followed by How To Get Shredded.

He agrees with the six meals a day, he agrees with keeping cardio sessions short and intense, he likes to keep cardio and weights on separate days just like Bill Philips suggests.

There are, as I see it, two key differences. The first is the number of reps suggested and the second is the exercises suggested. They’re not a million miles apart but there are some noticeable differences.

As you may be aware, Body For Life principles state that you should do 12 reps of a low weight, then 10 of a heavier weight, 8 even heavier, 6 that are starting to bust your butt, then you do 12 reps of a massive weight followed immediately by another 12 reps of the same weight, but doing a different exercise that still works the muscle group you’re exercising.

Lebrun suggests if you’re able to do 12 reps then the weight you’re lifting isn’t high enough. Any more than 6 reps and you’re doing yourself out of potential muscle growth and firming. It’s an interesting suggestion.

He also suggests warming up and conditioning your muscles for results differently.

So cardio is the same, nutrition is pretty much the same. The weight lifting element is different - which is what I was disappointed with on the Body For Life plan so I’m looking forward to trying out these new techniques.

It’s going to be a week or so before I get started though…

It’s getting too damn cold to be out running at the moment and having spent the last two weeks getting over a nasty cold (which my immune system kicked out in just 3 days making me feel fine - apart from a cough that’s been going on longer than I can remember!) so I have been investigating local gyms (there are several to choose from).

I shall be signing up within the next week, going for my induction then it will be all systems go!

I shall be putting Shaun Lebrun’s book to the test to see the results I get. What I *will* say right now is that I have high expectations and think the book offers great value for money. I definately won’t be asking for a refund. If you want to check out the book yourself then you can find out more here.

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My fat calipers have arrived to help me accurately measure my body fat percentage over the coming months. It’s taking a little bit of getting used to and I’m slowly getting better at it.

Getting your technique right is the key so you can be certain of accurate measurements.

The one I chose is a FatTrack Gold which comes with full instructions on how to use it and a “Myotape”.

“What the heck is a Myotape?” I hear you cry! Don’t worry, I wondered the same thing when I ordered it over the Internet. Basically this piece of technology is a fancy measuring tape for wrapping around your waist, leg etc. to measure the circumference of a body part accurately. So I’ll be making use of that too in the near future to measure inches gained or lost as I experiment with the Get Shredded program.

To measure your body fat with the calipers you need to input some basic details such as your age and sex (which the caliper then remembers) and then you take 3 readings. The places you take the readings differ depending on whether you’re male or female but for a man you essentially take a reading of the fat on the side of your pec, just by your belly button and the front of your thigh.

To take a reading you pinch your flesh gently to create a “fold” then the calipers measure the thickness of the fold, and hence how much fat there is under your skin. By using these 3 measurements, the caliper calculates your body fat percentage nice and accurately.

Easy!

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