Body for Life (BFL) is a 12-week

nutrition Nutrition is the biochemical and physiological process by which an organism uses food to support its life. It provides organisms with nutrients, which can be metabolized to create energy and chemical structures. Failure to obtain sufficient n ...

and exercise program, and also an annual physique transformation competition. The program utilizes a low-fat

high-protein diet A high-protein diet is a diet in which 20% or more of the total daily calories comes from protein.Longe, Jacqueline L. (2008). ''High-protein diet''. In ''The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets: A Guide to Health and Nutrition''. Gale. pp. 524-526. Most ...

. It was created by Bill Phillips, a former competitive

bodybuilder Bodybuilding is the use of progressive resistance exercise to control and develop one's muscles (muscle building) by muscle hypertrophy for aesthetic purposes. It is distinct from similar activities such as powerlifting because it focuses o ...

and previous owner of EAS, a manufacturer of

nutritional supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement one's diet by taking a pill, capsule, tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients either extracted from food sources or that are synthetic in order ...

s. It has been popularized by a bestselling book of the same name. Medical experts have described Body for Life as being effective, if difficult to follow. It has sometimes been described as a

fad diet A fad diet is a diet that becomes popular for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements. There is no single defini ...

, but this criticism is not universal.

Exercise

The

human body The human body is the structure of a Human, human being. It is composed of many different types of Cell (biology), cells that together create Tissue (biology), tissues and subsequently organ systems. They ensure homeostasis and the life, viabi ...

adapts itself to changes in nutritional intake. If the calorie intake is reduced, the body responds by slowing down its metabolism, and by

burning Combustion, or burning, is a high-temperature exothermic redox chemical reaction between a fuel (the reductant) and an oxidant, usually atmospheric oxygen, that produces oxidized, often gaseous products, in a mixture termed as smoke. Combusti ...

muscle in preference to fat. This reduces the metabolism long-term. When the diet comes to an end and normal calorie intake is restored, the individual starts to gain weight even faster than before. This is known as

yo-yo dieting Weight cycling, also known as yo-yo dieting, is the repeated loss and gain of weight, resembling the up-down motion of a yo-yo. Many dieters are initially successful in the pursuit of weight loss but unsuccessful in maintaining the loss long-term ...

. Diets that focus exclusively on calorie reduction often fail in this way. With these concerns in mind, Body for Life addresses energy expenditure (i.e. exercise) in addition to energy input. For best results, Body for Life holds that this exercise should include

weight training Weight training is a common type of strength training for developing the strength, size of skeletal muscles and maintenance of strength.Keogh, Justin W, and Paul W Winwood. “Report for: The Epidemiology of Injuries Across the Weight-Traini ...

to build skeletal muscle and increase the metabolism over the long term. This also helps to maximise the energy expenditure and

fat In nutrition science, nutrition, biology, and chemistry, fat usually means any ester of fatty acids, or a mixture of such chemical compound, compounds, most commonly those that occur in living beings or in food. The term often refers spec ...

loss from aerobic exercise. Body for Life's exercise program is more complicated than its diet program. It suggests exercising six days a week, normally Monday to Saturday, and alternating between weight training and

aerobic exercise Aerobic exercise (also known as endurance activities, cardio or cardio-respiratory exercise) is physical exercise of low to high intensity that depends primarily on the aerobic energy-generating process. "Aerobic" is defined as "relating to, inv ...

. The seventh day, usually Sunday, is a rest day (referred to as the "free day", during which no exercise is done and unhealthy, normally fatty foods may be eaten). Weight training sessions alternate between exercises for the upper body and exercises for the lower body. This allows the exercised muscles enough time to recover fully before the next training session. Each fortnight follows the same pattern: Intensity index Body for Life uses Gunnar Borg's Rating of Perceived Exertion (known as the

Borg scale The Borg are an alien group that appear as recurring antagonists in the ''Star Trek'' fictional universe. The Borg are Cyborg, cybernetic organisms (cyborgs) linked in a Group mind (science fiction), hive mind called "the Collective". The Borg ...

) for assessing the intensity of exercise based on how hard you feel you are working. It uses the variant developed by the

American College of Sports Medicine The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, is a sports medicine and exercise science membership organization. Founded in 1954, ACSM holds conferences, publishes books and journals, and offers certific ...

, which uses a scale of 0 to 10: * 0 is no exertion at all. * 2 corresponds to very light exercise. For a healthy person, this is like

walking Walking (also known as ambulation) is one of the main gaits of terrestrial locomotion among legged animals. Walking is typically slower than running and other gaits. Walking is defined by an 'inverted pendulum' gait in which the body vaults o ...

slowly at their own pace for several minutes. * 5 on the scale is somewhat hard exercise, but it still feels OK to continue. * 8 is very strenuous. A healthy person can still go on, but they really have to push themselves. It feels very heavy, and the person is very tired. * 9 on the scale is an extremely strenuous exercise level. For most people this is the most strenuous exercise they have ever experienced. * 10 is maximal exertion: an all-out, 100% effort. These levels accommodate differences in fitness. An unfit individual may require a level 10 effort to walk briskly uphill, whereas for a competitive

athlete An athlete (also sportsman or sportswoman) is a person who competes in one or more sports that involve physical strength, speed, or endurance. Athletes may be professionals or amateurs. Most professional athletes have particularly well-devel ...

this may only be a level 3 effort. Over the course of the 12-week Body for Life program an individual would get noticeably fitter, so their intensity scale needs to be adjusted over time. Body for Life uses a "wave" pattern, periodically building up from level 5 to level 9 or 10 during an exercise session. This allows the muscles to warm up, and gives the body a chance to build up to a "high point" of maximal exertion. Brief but intense exercise provides maximum stimulus for the body to build

strength Strength may refer to: Physical strength *Physical strength, as in people or animals * Hysterical strength, extreme strength occurring when people are in life-and-death situations *Superhuman strength, great physical strength far above human c ...

and

endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a long period of time, as well as its ability to resist, withstand, recover from a ...

, but without the risk of

overtraining Overtraining occurs when a person exceeds their body's ability to recover from strenuous exercise. Overtraining can be described as a point where a person may have a decrease in performance and plateauing as a result of failure to consistently perfo ...

Weight training

Exercises for upper-body muscle groups include: * "Pecs" (chest), e.g.,

bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

, pec-deck, incline fly. * "Lats" (upper back), e.g., pull-down, bent-over row, dumbbell pullover. *

Deltoids The deltoid muscle is the muscle forming the rounded contour of the human shoulder. It is also known as the 'common shoulder muscle', particularly in other animals such as the domestic cat. Anatomically, the deltoid muscle appears to be made up o ...

(shoulders), e.g., upright row, shoulder press, lateral raise. *

Triceps The triceps, or triceps brachii (Latin for "three-headed muscle of the arm"), is a large muscle on the back of the upper limb of many vertebrates. It consists of 3 parts: the medial, lateral, and long head. It is the muscle principally responsibl ...

(rear arms), e.g., push-down, triceps kickback, bench dip. *

Biceps The biceps or biceps brachii ( la, musculus biceps brachii, "two-headed muscle of the arm") is a large muscle that lies on the front of the upper arm between the shoulder and the elbow. Both heads of the muscle arise on the scapula and join ...

(front arms), e.g.,

biceps curl The term "biceps curl" refers to any of a number of weight training exercises that primarily targets the biceps brachii muscle. It may be performed using a barbell, dumbbell, resistance band, or other equipment. Overview The biceps curl mainly targ ...

, concentration curl, hammer curl. Exercises for lower-body muscle groups include: *

Quadriceps The quadriceps femoris muscle (, also called the quadriceps extensor, quadriceps or quads) is a large muscle group that includes the four prevailing muscles on the front of the thigh. It is the sole extensor muscle of the knee, forming a large ...

(front legs), e.g., squat,

leg press The leg press is a compound weight training exercise in which the individual pushes a weight or resistance away from them using their legs. The term ''leg press machine'' refers to the apparatus used to perform this exercise. The leg press can be ...

, leg extension. *

Hamstring In human anatomy, a hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in between the hip and the knee (from medial to lateral: semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris). The hamstrings are susceptible to injury. In quadrupeds, ...

s (rear legs), e.g., leg curl, lunge, glute-ham raise. * Calves e.g., standing calf raise, seated calf raise. * "Abs" (torso), e.g., crunch, reverse crunch, leg raise. Most of these exercise can be performed using either

dumbbell The dumbbell, a type of free weight, is a piece of equipment used in weight training. It can be used individually or in pairs, with one in each hand. History The forerunner of the dumbbell, halteres, were used in ancient Greece as lifting w ...

s, a

barbell A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting and strongman, consisting of a long bar, usually with weights attached at each end. Barbells range in length from to above , althou ...

, a

Smith machine The Smith machine is a weight machine used for weight training. It consists of a barbell that is fixed within steel rails allowing only vertical or near-vertical movement. Some Smith machines have the barbell counterbalanced. The machine can be us ...

, a

cable machine A cable machine is an item of equipment used in weight training or functional training. It consists of a rectangular, vertically oriented steel frame about 3 metres wide and 2 metres high, with a weight stack attached via a cable and pulley system ...

with adjustable pulleys or a specially-designed apparatus. Two exercises should be chosen for each muscle group. Five sets of the first exercise are performed, and then one set of the second. Weights for each set should be chosen so that the specified number of repetitions can be achieved at the specified level of intensity. For example:Weight training sessions proceed at a brisk pace, with one minute of rest between the first four sets for a muscle group, and no rest between the final two sets. The

cadence In Western musical theory, a cadence (Latin ''cadentia'', "a falling") is the end of a phrase in which the melody or harmony creates a sense of full or partial resolution, especially in music of the 16th century onwards.Don Michael Randel (1999) ...

for each repetition should be one second to lift the weight (while exhaling deeply), one second holding it at the top, two seconds to lower the weight (while inhaling deeply) and then one second pausing before the next repetition. Each session should be completed within about 45 minutes.

Aerobic exercise

Most forms of aerobic exercise are suitable. Common choices include walking or running (perhaps on a

treadmill A treadmill is a device generally used for walking, running, or climbing while staying in the same place. Treadmills were introduced before the development of powered machines to harness the power of animals or humans to do work, often a type of ...

cycling Cycling, also, when on a two-wheeled bicycle, called bicycling or biking, is the use of cycles for transport, recreation, exercise or sport. People engaged in cycling are referred to as "cyclists", "bicyclists", or "bikers". Apart from two ...

, swimming, or the use of a

rowing machine An indoor rower, or rowing machine, is a machine used to simulate the action of watercraft rowing for the purpose of exercise or training for rowing. Modern indoor rowers are often known as ergometers (colloquially erg or ergo) because they m ...

cross-trainer An elliptical trainer or cross-trainer is a stationary exercise machine used to stair climb, walk, or run without causing excessive pressure to the joints, hence decreasing the risk of impact injuries. For this reason, people with some injuri ...

. However, exercise classes are generally not suitable, unless they are specifically designed to suit Body for Life. Aerobic exercise sessions are limited to 20 minutes duration. They compensate for this by following the same "wave" pattern of steadily increasing intensity just like the weight training sessions. During the first 2 minutes, intensity should be at 5. Minutes 3, 4, 5, and 6 should be at intensity levels 6, 7, 8, and 9 respectively. Minute 7 goes back down to 6 intensity level and continues the wave pattern until the 19th minute where you push intensity level to 10. The last minute is a cool down to 5 intensity. You should be completely exhausted at this point so stretch afterwards. Phillips maintains that aerobic exercise is more effective for fat loss when done first thing in the morning, because it raises the metabolism for the remainder of the day, and because the body draws more heavily on its fat stores after

fasting Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...

overnight.

Diet

BFL promotes a low-fat

.Longe, Jacqueline L. (2008). ''The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets: A Guide to Health and Nutrition''. The Gale Group. pp. 113-116. Another key aspect of BFL is consuming a diet that is low enough in caloric intake to cause fat loss, while providing enough calories and protein to build muscle and cardiovascular endurance. In addition, BFL attempts to make choosing portion sizes and food as easy as possible to avoid overcomplication. The major aspects of the diet program include: *Eating 6 smaller meals per day instead of the standard 3 large meals. BFL (along with some dietary experts) maintain that eating smaller, more frequent meals throughout the day will boost the body's metabolism, causing it to burn fat faster. *Eating one "portion" of carbohydrates and one "portion" of protein at each meal. To keep determining portion sizes simple, BFL suggests that one "portion" of carbohydrates should equal a potato or ball of rice roughly equal to the size of the person's clenched fist. Additionally, one "portion" of protein would roughly equal a piece of meat the size of the person's palm and as thick as a deck of cards. *Consuming vegetables with at least two meals per day. *Taking a good multi-vitamin. *Limiting consumption of butter, cheese, mayonnaise, alcoholic beverages, and high fat salad dressings. *Allowance of one "free day" each week. A free day is one day a week in which the person is allowed to make dietary choices that do not correspond with the BFL eating program. Although this should not be a day to binge eat junk food, BFL encourages people to eat whatever foods or desserts they desire on this day. According to Bill Phillips, this allows the body to avoid the

Starvation response Starvation response in animals (including humans) is a set of adaptive biochemical and physiological changes, triggered by lack of food or extreme weight loss, in which the body seeks to conserve energy by reducing the amount of calories it burns ...

and gives the dieter a chance to avoid cheating since they know they simply have to wait until their free day to have what they crave. Body for Life also encourages people to eat mostly lean meats like chicken, fish, and turkey, as well as

tofu Tofu (), also known as bean curd in English, is a food prepared by coagulating soy milk and then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness; it can be ''silken'', ''soft'', ''firm'', ''extra firm'' or ''super firm ...

. Carbohydrates that are multi-grain and unrefined are also encouraged. Bill Phillips encourages people to adopt this eating program as a lifestyle, and not as a temporary diet. Although the amount of protein eaten should be enough for some people to build good muscle mass, some observe that high-protein shakes and meal bars should be consumed to increase protein intake. Not surprisingly, the program suggests consuming protein products from EAS.

Reception

No scientific research has been done on Body for Life. The Body for Life program has been described as a hard to follow program that is effective at losing weight and building muscle. While criticized as a

, with the "program's success is based on testimonials and anecdotal evidence", Retrieved 10 December 2019. it differs from many fad diets because it can be sustained. The program's dependence on extensive exercise means it is not suitable for everyone. The high-protein content of the diet has been criticized. ''The Gale Encyclopedia of Diets'', notes that:

The thing nutritionists tend to criticize most strongly, however, is the need for dietary supplements in this program. Body for Life unabashedly pushes dieters to use EAS supplements. Many nutritionists feel that a good, healthy diet should not require protein shakes and other supplements beyond perhaps a multivitamin for certain dieters.

Body for Life books and videos

* Phillips, Bill. ''Body for Life: 12 Weeks to Mental and Physical Strength.'' HarperCollins, 1999. () * Phillips, Bill. ''Body for Life Success Journal.'' HarperCollins, 2002. () * Phillips, Bill. ''Eating for Life: Your Guide to Great Health, Fat Loss and Increased Energy!'' High Point Media, 2003 () * ''Body of Work.'' Seventh Dream Pictures, 1998. (ASIN B0001H9T72)

References

{{Reflist Brand name diet products Exercise-related trademarks HarperCollins books Weight training