The Warrior Diet & Workout

Ori Hofmekler is a very lean and fit former columnist for Penthouse magazine, a world-renown artist (his paintings are best known for their political satire), and the founder and Editor-In-Chief of the men’s health and fitness magazine Mind & Muscle Power. He eats three square meals a day – all in the evening at one sitting. He calls it the "Warrior Diet," and he’s convinced that most of us, men and women, would be better off eating the same way. He also offers a line of Warrior supplements.

The Diet

Hofmekler couches his diet in terms of "natural wisdom" and the instinctive eating cycle of the ancient warrior. He also includes the concepts of freedom -- to eat as much as you want in one large meal (as long as you follow the Warrior Diet rules) -- and spirituality. "Many people have long believed that one can only experience a deep spiritual awareness when fasting," Ori writes.

The Warrior Diet is basically an extension of the concept of training on empty. Ori says controlled fasting 16-18 hours a day "guarantees hours of fat burning."

Hunger, says Hofmekler, "triggers the Warrior Instinct." It makes you "sharper, more alert, more energetic, and more adventurous." Still, if you must, he says it’s okay to have some "live" raw fruits or vegetables, and even a small portion of protein during the "undereating phase." (For my review of the research on fasting, see "Fasting" and "Starve & Get Fat" in chapter 7 of The Lean Advantage 2." Most authorities agree: Fasting is generally a bad idea.)

If Ori's diet appeals to you, try it. It obviously works for him. He’s very lean, small but muscular, in the Bruce Lee mold. He must be doing something right. His diet will probably work for others as well – if they can stick to it.

Here's three noteworthy ideas he has:

He eats mainly whole foods and avoids highly processed foods, especially refined carbohydrates. (He does believe in nutritional supplements, preferably his own, but he claims they’re derived from whole, live foods.)
The Warrior Diet isn’t necessarily high carbohydrate, but Ori realizes that active people need plenty of carbohydrates for energy and to supply the needs of the brain. "The Warrior Diet is definitely not about carb-deprivation," he writes. "In my opinion, the fact that warriors in the past were in such great shape had a lot to do with their high-carb consumption."
Hofmekler also understands that deprivation often leads to uncontrolled bingeing. That’s part of the rationale for his "overeating phase" in the evening. "If you don’t let your body overeat when it needs to," says Ori, "it’s going to haunt you."

The Workout

The Warrior Workout, which Ori explains in the book and demonstrates in two excellent videos. Ori says he trains for "function – not fashion." His goal is to achieve the "functional body" of an ancient warrior. He’s after balance, speed, explosiveness, strength and endurance.

What’s more, he not only wants to achieve that level of conditioning, he wants to maintain it over the course of a lifetime. (I like that.) "A progressive training routine will only be successful if you can live with it;" says Ori, "it should energize you and help trigger your ‘Warrior Instinct,’ with the drive to continually improved yourself. Without this, sooner or later you’ll burnout."

"Sports training in ancient Greece and Rome was based on exercises that mimicked warfare or hunting activities," writes Ori. He recommends - and follows - an exercise routine which does basically the same thing, using modern-day equipment.

Training principles.

Don’t Train to Failure
Training to failure, says Ori, "is not a warrior way." For a warrior, "failure was not allowed," because it meant death. A warrior trains to avoid failure, to succeed, to prevail.
Prioritize and Keep Workouts Short. Ori values strength over size. He wants leanness, without "unnecessary bulk." His top strength-training priorities are strong joints, and a strong back. That’s what a Roman soldier needed, says Ori, to carry "40–60 pounds of arms and equipment on his back while marching thirty or forty miles a day... fight for hours, and then set up camp."
Train for Strength and Explosiveness
Train Under Controlled Fatigue. Choose a comfortable weight; don’t start too heavy, because you might not be able to complete this "giant superset." Begin with the front squat; do 8 to12 reps. Return the bar to the squat rack, take a couple of deep breaths, and do 8 to 12 back squats. Now, without stopping, go to the hack squat machine and do 5 to 6 reps, followed by 3 to 5 half reps. But your not done yet! Go back to the squat rack and do lunges, 8 to 10 reps for each leg. And finally, end with 3 to 5 sissy squats. Clearly, it’s a concept out of Nietzsche’s school of "that which doesn’t kill you will make you stronger."