Dan Bilzerian Workout
Who Is This Bilzerian guy?
BONUS: Download the free Dan Bilzerian training routine
In this article I plan on laying out the Dan Bilzerian Workout and diet, also how you can use it to build an amazing body. But first, let me give you a little background on Dan Bilzerian…
If you haven’t heard of Dan Bilzerian, I will now do you the great pleasure. This guy is the king of slashes – actor, professional poker player, multi millionaire and of course, playboy. Oh you think I’m done, not even close! Gun addict, race car driver, MMA fighter and ex military… The list goes on!
This dude makes Tony Stark look elementary at best. If I didn’t know any better, I’d assume Bilzerian was some fictitious entity, something illusory. But low and behold, the dude is real, just check out his Instagram account.
Matter of fact, his over the top lifestyle packed with gorgeous women, exotic cars, James Bond like weaponry and adrenaline fueled events has claimed him international fame.
Now you might be wondering why in gods green earth I am dedicating a Kinobody post to this man, well it’s simple. Blizerian lives one of the most versatile and hedonistic lifestyles while staying in pretty damn good shape!
I’m more of a have your cake and eat it too kinda guy. I don’t ascribe to the notion that fitness needs to be some noble sacrifice. But rather, I feel that a properly implemented fitness and nutrition program should enrich your life greatly. After all, if you’re going to build a physique of a god, then you damn sure better get to enjoy it, at-least in moderation.
Me with Dan Bilzerian in Toronto (June 2015)
DAN BILZERIAN BODYbuilding routine
By following the Dan Bilzerian workout, you’ll end up focusing heavily on chest, back and abs. These are the three areas where Blizerian has very solid development. Shoulders, legs and arms should be given less focus and attention.
I’d suggest hitting chest and back twice per week with a mix of heavy weight and long rest periods and light weight with short rest periods. This will maximize muscle growth. For legs, shoulders and arms I would keep the volume relatively low and just focus on strength work without the pump training.
The Dan Bilzerian workout is very effective to pack on some solid muscle, but eventually you’ll want to shift gears to bring up your shoulders and arms to keep your body balanced. Here’s how I would design the workout.
Monday
Barbell Bench Press: 3 sets RPT
Incline DB Bench Press: 3 sets RPT
Cable Rows: Rest Pause
Incline DB Curls: 3 sets RPT
Bent Over Flyes: Rest Pause
Wednesday
Barbell Squats: 3 sets RPT
Deadlifts: 1 set x 3-5 reps
Leg Extensions: 2 sets RPT
Leg Curls: 2 sets RPT
Calf Raises: Rest Pause
Friday
Seated DB Shoulder Press: 3 sets RPT
Weighted Pull ups: 3 sets RPT
Incline DB Flyes: Rest Pause
Rope Push Downs: Rest Pause
Lateral Raises: Rest Pause
Notes on the Dan Bilzerian Workout
RPT = Reverse Pyramid Training. Please see article on Reverse Pyramid Training
For Rest Pause please see article on Rest Pause Training
The dan bilzerian body
Sure, Bilzerian’s body is not perfect but who cares! I’m more impressed by Bilzerian’s physique than that of a professional fitness model. Why? Well because Bilzerian has a life outside of fitness, most fitness models and natural bodybuilders, do not.
But as you can see, Bilzerian is in pretty great shape. He has very visible abs, good muscle size and solid definition overall. Now you might be thinking, how does this guy party non stop, drink like a sailor and look better than most the guys at your gym?
Well it’s precisely because Dan Bilzerian has been training for most of his life. When you’ve been strength training for over a decade, you can hold a very solid level of muscle mass. In fact, as long as you are consistent with your workouts, it will be very hard to lose this muscle size.
In fact, you don’t have to eat protein every three hours, live in the gym or swear yourself off alcohol to build a dan bilzerian body. As long as you’re hitting the gym hard a few days per week, getting in enough nutrients over the course of the day and exercising some self control – you can enjoy yourself while getting in amazing physical condition.
And let’s not forget Bilzerian’s military and sports background. This comes with a serious work ethic and high pain tolerance. I can only speculate that when Bilzerian hits the gym, it’s an absolute war zone. The same mentality he brings to the gym is what has propelled him to cultivate a lifestyle that normal society can not wrap their heads around.
This Is All It Comes Down To
In fact, if I had to refine it down to four words it would be – work hard, party harder (or do both at the same time – see above picture). Now the real challenge is maintaining a low body fat. When you’re eating out constantly and enjoying plenty of ‘substances’ it can be difficult to stay very lean.
This is where stuff like intermittent fasting can be incredibly helpful. But I have no confirmation that Bilzerian uses this diet hack, at-least not deliberately. More likely, Dan probably is a moderately health conscious eater while at the same time very active. On top of that, he is undoubtedly so absorbed in his amazing lifestyle that food is just a means to fuel himself.
When you’re with gorgeous women all day, driving exotic cars, partying like a rockstar and blowing stuff up in the desert, food doesn’t provide much comfort. So it’s likely that he enjoys his expensive meals but has little desire to overeat or brood about food all day.
That said, Dan doesn’t stay completely shredded all the time. In fact, he let’s his body fat percentage creep up to the mid to low teens. So my assumption is that he occasionally tightens up his diet and training to look really sharp.
What Kinobody Adjustments Could He Make?
For Bilzerian to take his physique to the next level, the two areas he really needs to focus on are bringing up his delts and slimming down his waist. If he was to do these two things he would go from looking really solid to looking like a Greek god!
His shoulders are getting overpowered by his chest. This is very common in a lot of lifters because most trainers and fitness professionals don’t know how to design programs that maximize shoulder development. If I was going to personally coach Bilzerian, I would have him ease off the bench press and flyes and focus more on incline presses, heavy overhead presses and high rep lateral raises.
This would give Bilzerian a much more masculine and aesthetic look to go along with that glorious beard. Next, I’d focus on easing off any exercises that are contributing to a thick waist. Squats, deads and heavy side bends. I’d also focus on dropping a few pounds of fat to bring the waist in an inch or so and bring in more lower abs definition. This also brings me to my last point.
Is It Possible That Bilzerian Takes Steroids?
There are rumors circulating that Blizerian is no stranger to anabolic steroids and growth hormone. Now it’s really impossible to say whether he ‘juices’ or not, unless he comes out and openly admits to it. But there are a few things in his favor and a few things that point to the possibility of chemical enhancement.
Let’s look at possible reasons that Blizerian would take steroids and/or growth hormone. He has no shortage of money, openly admits to taking illegal substances such as cocaine and parties like an animal. So I doubt he has any ethical obstacles in his way. Furthermore, he’s also in his early 30’s so his sex, drug and adrenaline fueled life would benefit from increased levels of testosterone.
Furthermore, his thick, yet extremely muscled waist is a possible sign of performance enhancing drugs. It’s rare to see a natural lifter with a waist that thick and muscular. That said, it’s possible that his genetics and training have resulted in a very thick and muscular core.
As for possible reasons Blizerian is not on steroids. Well he’s been training for over a decade, so he didn’t just explode with muscle out of nowhere. As well, his level of muscle mass is completely achievable naturally and his shoulders and traps aren’t that well developed. The use of steroids tends to encourage growth in the shoulders and traps where anabolic receptors are very high.
So I’m not going to say whether he is or isn’t using drugs. But just some stuff to keep in mind. As a natural, I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but most drug enhanced lifters would probably jump the gun and say he definitely juices.
Living The Crazy Life Of Dan Bilzerian
I have a lot of respect for Dan! He’s living his life with a lot of congruence and isn’t buckling under the social weight of the system that tells him how he should act. As well, he imbues me with a sense of what’s possible. Race car driving, professional poker, MMA, Acting.. That’s a hell of a resume. He definitely motivates me to step out of my comfort zone and learn new skills.
Blizerian lives without limits, if he wants it, he can have it. Does that come with a certain level of arrogance, hell yah. But he’s not masquerading around as being a ‘nice guy’. In fact, his Instagram account says it perfectly – Actor, Astronaut and Asshole.
And yes, Bilzerian’s life is light years beyond excessive and I’d never to want it for myself. I’m more of a simple guy. The endless amount of women, cars, lavish outings and adrenalin fuelled thrills is on a whole other level. And it makes you wonder what is propelling this guy to such hedonism.
But one fact remains, enjoy your life. Work on your fitness and have some fun too. And even immerse yourself in new skills. Having 10 ferrari’s, spending thousands of dollars on nights out at the club and being surrounded by dozens of women at all times is not cool.
But socializing with your friends, exploring new experiences and immersing yourself in new skills is cool.
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Gotta love how no one mentions that the guy has had three fucking heart attacks but you guys say he’s a health nut? He IS in a cocktail of steroids, GH and he abuses cocaine. That’s why he’s had three heart attacks
lol.This guy is a mixer(coke,alcohol,roids,sex pills and heart strokes..).You simply CANT party this hard and maintain such physique.In my opinion he is a liar (big or small doesnt matter).Either he has a very healthy lifestyle and promoting himself as a party animal or he is truly a party animal and take roids along with some not so “magical” workout-diet.Personally i think hes just a lost product.And i dont know why they promote him.Playboy girls?Mansions?Private jets?You really think he pays for all that?He is FUNDED but the question is still “why?”
He had 2 heart attacks only after being on 200 mg of viagra avid Coke and being extremely dehydrated. Get your facts straight.
Hi Greg! Not sure whether you saw my message on a Youtube Video of yours, so i’m posting here too.
I have been following you for 2 years now, and believe you are the most knowledgeable and functionally strong fitness expert in the industry. I really look up to you as a role model, man.
I have made decent gains with your GGMB program, but have recently hit a plateau both in terms of number and motivation with the routine structure. I feel like my local gym is a major limitation in this, with the benches/weights unavailability often making it difficult to record everything and consistently adjust the resistance RPT-style.
As such, i’m gravitating towards a modified 5X5 program that endorses weighted chins & dips, cross-sets (with the same weight for practicality) and shorter recoveries than the ~2-3 minutes i’ve been taking.
I’m trying to add some lean mass whilst increasing my severely low androgen levels, so I understand I won’t necessarily achieve the same aesthetic outcome that your program entails, but I hope I can break my current strength rut.
Do you think this is a plausible strategy Greg, even for a few months before returning to your program?
Thanks Greg!
THanks a lot Jonny! No. You need to handle this gym issue to start making progress. Switching routines won’t do anything at this point.
possibly the worst workout i’ve ever seen… stopped reading at “Deadlift 1 set, 3-5 reps” LOL what a fucking joke
Hey sean. Interestingly enough, one set actually produces a considerable amount of strength progress with deadlifts. They are very neurally demanding, and as you get stronger, trying to knock off multiple heavy sets, takes it’s toll and reduces recovery. Now, this would not be an issue, if you were just doing deadlifts in the workouts, without the squats. But following 3 sets of squats, I have found one set of deads to be perfect.
This is actually the same protocol that Mark Rippetoe, utilizes in Starting Strength, which has been very effective at building lowerbody strength and mass. I wouldn’t judge before you give something a honest effort. Because, you will lose out on learning. If you have been following my stuff, you’ll learn that most people start making unbelievable gains when they follow my workouts.
Great article, Greg. Although I understand the humorous tendency in this article, I really don’t respect Dan at all (well I cant deny that I’ll bang one or two of those chicks, if I got the opportunity, and that I also find those guns pretty badass) and I don’t think I need to explain why.
Greg, to me, you’re a much bigger inspiration and I find your balance between social life and training approach extremely inspiring. Thanks for that, and keep going, bro.
Definitely appreciate that Emil! And no, I don’t consider Dan to be a role model. Though there’s a lot to learn from him by his mistakes and positive attributes.
Hey Greg, I know this question doesn’t really tie in with this post.
I was wondering:
1) how you reccomend getting tested for vitamin and mineral deficiences?
2)How you reccomend checking Testosterone levels?
Thank you!
Good question. You should contact your doctor to see if they offer those services. You can also see a naturepath doctor or see if there is a way to send the sample yourself.
Hey Greg!
I’m not going to have access to a gym for the next month (I´m going to be on vacation), so I’ll try to do some bodyweight exercises (pullups, pushups, handstand pushups, lunges,…) in order to try to maintain my muscle.
What I wanted to ask you is whether if you’ve ever taken such a long time (1 month is a lot…) from weight lifting and what should I expect after the break in terms of strenght loss and how long should it take to recover my strenght.
Thanks!
If you do bodyweight training you should be able to maintain most of your gains. I’d recommend following the bodyweight routine from kinobodyelite
Hey Greg! I bought the kinobody Aggressive Fat Loss course and have been meaning to ask you a few questions about it.
Is the program only for people above 15% body fat who are looking to get to 15%? Or can you be at any bf level?
Can you use the diet to get to 10% or sub 10%?
Lastly, in the last page of the program you mentioned doing refeed days 1x a week but in the Kinobody Aggressive Fat Loss cheatsheet you didnt include it. Does the program include refeed days or not?
Thanks!
You can be any bf% level. But it’s great for people that want to lean down quickly. If you’re already pretty lean then just use it for 3 weeks at a time or so. Yeah do the refeeds once per week, definitely.
Thanks!
So what would that look like? 3 weeks aggressive and then 2 weeks on maintenance – then just repeat? Or would it be 3 weeks aggressive then switch to the warrior shredding program for 3 weeks and just cycle that?
Yeah that’s a good strategy. Three weeks aggressive then 1-2 weeks at maintenance.
Hey Greg just wondering what how your new program will vary with the greek god. Thanks
Its the next level. It’s a different workout program and utilizes more of the MEGA training protocol with 4 phases.
So would you reccomend completing GGMB before superhero?
I’d suggest doing so. At the minimum you should be pretty damn strong before you start superhero.
Hey Greg! I’m just finishing up a cut and got myself down to about 10% body fat. Starting next week I’m switching to using the Greek God program for muscle building. In the program, you recommend 3 days of lifting, ideally Mon,Wed,Fri. Would it interfere with recovery too much if I just lifted every other day? One week would be Mon,Wed,Fri and the next would be Sun, Tues, Thurs, Sat. What do you think?
Every other day will work well.
Hey Greg Im sure youve already been asked this but ive been a customer since day one, also finally just became an elite member this month! So the big question is when is your awesome superhero routine coming out! Haha ive been waiting for quite some time I think I remember you were working on for well over a year! If possible is there an exact release date or will it be out in the next few days before August? Any info is appreciated! Thank you Greg!
-Joey
We’re looking at early august! It’s going to be epic.
Hey Greg! Just wanted to make a suggestion for another article. Chris Pratt workout for the Guardians of the Galaxy movie! His transformation is astounding!
Thanks man, I’ll look into it! Appreciate it :)
I’d also throw out Cristiano Ronaldo. The World Cup is slightly behind us, but the soccer physique seems the closest to the Warrior physique out of any of the major athlete types.
Hi Greg! Been sticking to your diet and workout guidelines w/ GGP for the past 2 months now making solid progress and feeling great. While by no means would I ever entertain the idea of steroids, I am curious about b12 injections. I recall you stating somewhere that you’ve gotten them somewhat regularly and would like to get more feedback regarding your experience and benefits with them. Thanks for your time!
Well i’d only suggest them if you went to a doctor and you have really low b12 levels. I don’t really do them anymore. But a few years ago my b12 levels were super low and I was having some health issues and the b12 shots definitely helped.
Greg-
Big fan of yours, love what you’re doing with the site. Quick question: I’ve worked up to weighted chins for 5 reps with 70lbs on my waist, and my back is looking very wide but not as thick as I would like. In the S+D workout, should I replace weighted chins with rows? Also, any ways I should change the S+D workout on a very slow cut, or just keep it as is? Thanks a lot, Greg.
On a very slow cut you will be fine. No need to change anything. For back – I’d do one heavy set of pull ups followed by two sets of rows.
I’ve been enjoying the comments on this article. This life-style looks FUN, but, would get old after awhile…I think. :-P
He’s in fantasy land aka cloud 9, no doubt! But to each their own. Nice to hear he helps out people in need! THAT’S AWESOME, and because of that I like the guy. His physique, it’s not bad, but I prefer our very own here, Gregs’s build, or Hannibal the bw master.
On a side note, I’m making my best gains/progress in YEARS thanks to Greek God Workout! I’m doing the strength/density…the big compound lifts & LOVING IT. For too long I’ve been doing the workouts from the guys over at IRONMAN. Steve & Jonathan’s workout are good, but too much into sarcoplasm training, and not enough towards the strength side. I’ve done RPT a few years back & enjoyed it, but got away from it. It’s now my backbone for training & I’m sticking with it!
Also, back in the 60’s, the great Steve Reeves was in ID visiting the gym where Larry Scott was training. This was before Scott became BIG. Scott told Reeves how he & his training partners were training, which was SPT, Reeves told them, THAT’S CRAZY! He told them they should be using RPT! Tada!
Can’t wait for the new training program, Greg! Also, really like your Flickr! Keep it up, man!
Awesome to hear about your killer gains! Keep up the fantastic work and love hearing about the Reeves story, very cool stuff. Also I don’t have a Flickr lol, which one are you talking about? Or did you mean instagram?
YES, I meant Instagram!
Thanks!
Can you lift more weight on Standing One Arm DB Press than Standing Barbell Press (when you half th weight)? How much can you do Standing One Arm DB Press vs. Standing Barbell?
I think it’s quite similar. I think maybe slightly more on dumbbells. I htink I’ve done 95-100 lbs on dumbbells standing one arm. I usually do 180 on standing press for 5-6
I respect Dan Bilzerain because he has what he wants and does what he wants to do. That is what we all should be striving towards.
Greg, great assessment of his workout and ways to improve upon it. I really love the 3 days/week workouts as I too have too much going on to make fitness my life.
Thanks matt!
So only workout Monday Wednesday and Friday then off Saturday Sunday. Is that optimal for Muscle growth despite protein synthesis being elevated for limited time?
Yeah you’re hitting your chest and back (the two muscle groups we’re focusing on the hardest) twice per week. There’s really no benefit to training a muscle more frequently. This 3 day per week set up maximizes total recovery (muscular and neural). If you were to lift more often you’d be training with CNS fatigue. This would limit your ability to recruit muscle fibers. So yes, this protocol is best for gaining strength and building muscle over the long term.
Greg,
Can’t agree more with some of the other commenters that this guy does not seem like anyone I’d ever want to aspire to be, for any reason. He seems like a product of privilege with lots of insecurities. Being born into money and then trying to do lots of different things with it, and seemingly not doing anything that would take hard work or dedication, is little more than idle masturbation.
Furthermore, as many readers have pointed out, he admits to steroid use. Thus living his “dream” life while maintaining a decent body is not a sign of discipline or hard work or seizing the moment or any other malarkey, it’s wake up hungover and inject yourself in the ass. If someone does not go to the gym at all and just takes steroids, they will gain muscle and lose fat.
When I was 20, I used to think that guys who had a “fuck you, I’m who I am” attitude were cool people…really sticking it to the man. Now at 30, I realize these guys are just assholes, however deluded they are about their own narcissism. The difference between a man and a boy is that the man is perfectly satisfied not always getting what he wants. If this person were confident in who he was, he wouldn’t advertise the way he does.
On that note, keep up the great work. I have made great strides implementing your training/diet principles.
If you want someone who worked for what they have and is living the dream in a satisfying relationship with a famous actress, and is also in great shape nowadays, look up Chris Pratt.
I would like to see where they said he admits to steroid use because I never came across such a thing. That would have made my life easier when addressing the possibility of steroid use. And I actually agree with what you’re saying for the most part. You can’t take this post too seriously though.
Roger that. I won’t take it seriously. This guy kinda reminds me of Scott Disick, Kourtney Kardashians husband. He came from tons of money and tries all sorts of things…but does not actually stick with anything that requires dedication and hard work and isn’t handed to him. Then he refers to himself as Lord Disick.
Looked the best I ever have at 30 at the beach last week following Zach plan with IF and lots of walking. And I modeled in college. I was always lean but never this muscular ly dense. May send an email on where to go from here.
Hah yeah Scott Disick is the last person I’d look up to lol. Damn sounds like you’re doing awesome work – would love to see some progress pics.
Hey Greg,
I personally don’t mind the article, I totally see the appeal. I go to school with a lot of rich preppy kids who worship this guy, it’s definitely smart to put one of these articles up once in a while.
Anyways, I’m currently doing the Warrior Shredding Program and I have a quick question.
1) I would like to add weighted dips to the third workout day. Any idea on what I should replace it with?
I would do dips instead of flat bench press.
Greg-
I’ve been doing strictly incline bench pressing for about a year now. My upper chest has filled out nicely. I’ve cut down to around 10% bf but don’t have the sweep under my chest. Should I switch to flat BP for a while?
Thanks,
Donny
I’d hit both lifts. When you hit chest, start with heavy flat bench pressing then go to incline dumbbell.
How could I incorporate that into the strength and density workout A without overtraining? I’m trying to focus on shoulders by doing the standing military press first.
Thanks Greg
Gotcha. You can do the 3 day split. Alternatively, you could do standing press on Workout B after weighted chin ups. And do flat bench press right after incline instead of standing press.
Dude im 6 foot 3 im skinny like a twig. People just dont take me sorleusiy and think that they can start shit with me just cause im skinny. Ive tried working out and taking in protein shakes and nothing seems to work. If i buy your weight gain program will this seriouisly help me put on some real muscle mass so i can stop being a skinny ass, and do you adress how much we should eat and how much cardio we should do. If you give me your honest oppinion i will buy it.
Yes I address all of it. And it will work. But you must be patient. FOrget about your weight, your only priority is to focus on lifting more and getting stronger. When you are incline pressing 200+ lbs and doing weighted chin ups with 70 lbs you will be jacked! That’s the bottom line. If you focus on your scale weight you’re going to trip yourself out.
He doesn’t even look like he’s using steroids, looks to me like he did all the hard work himself.
My opinion he’s body is pretty much perfect, probably could work on his shoulders and deltoids a bit.
But if my looked anything like that, and with the Bilzerian beard I’ve got rocking…I’d be a very happy man.
Watch out ladies.
– Yeti
Greg,
I do RPT, but I can’t do the “go down by 10%, add two reps.” For instance, if I do incline db bench with 70s, even if I round 7.5 all the way down to do 60s, I still have a hard time squeaking out two more reps. I’m curious how you got the 10% figure and if it works for you. That being said, I’m a huge fan of your workouts, but do you have any routines where you don’t do legs at all? Do you recommend that?
This stuff isn’t 100% set in stone. You can go down by about 10-15% and go for 1-3 more reps. Certain people may be slightly different in how many more reps they get based on their fast twitch muscle fibers. Some exercises I drop the weight and I’ll get 3-4 more reps and other ones only one more rep. It doesn’t have to be exactly 10% and 2 reps. That’s just a guideline.
Sorry if this is a repost. Don’t know if my previous message went through.
My girl wants help getting in better shape.
I’m trying to help. She wants to remain feminine firm and fit and not get super bulky and masculine.
Can I apply the principles in the warrior and Greek god program and direct it towards her needs?
Will RPT style traing be sufficient or should I there be a different approach.
Putting in a little muscle is ok
Thanks for the advice
Yes you can apply the general concepts. That said, I’d focus on lowerbody movements that hit the butt really hard. Box squats, forward lunges, step ups, romanian deadlifts…. And you can give the upperbody less volume.
A little off topic but bro you need to come up with a fitness system for women.
My girlfriend wants a workout program. Here goal is to tighten up and lose bodyfat while still staying feminine.
Could your approach in the warrior program or Greek god be tailed for a woman. Could women use RPT style traing?
Any advice or would help. Or just create a female version if you.
Hi Greg,
I had never heard of this man until I got your post in my email today. I looked him up. I find him generally distasteful. You’re right – he does donate to charity, which is awesome. I happen to believe it’s also a moral imperative when one has more (in his case, a LOT more) than others. But still, there’s no one forcing his hand on that, so kudos where they are due. Beyond this, I find few redeeming qualities.
Basically, I agree with ASG. This man appears to be an overgrown teenager/frat boy who has enough money to pay to be surrounded by beautiful women (whom he objectifies by, among other things, having them pose with next to no clothes, bending over with buttocks hanging out or with him signing those buttocks with his name) and have a massive gun collection which gives rise to his “greatest worry” which is which one he would choose to use to shoot a potential intruder into his house (this is a caption on a gun photo on his instagram). So I guess guns, women and cash interest him and he pursues them. Is this to be admired or emulated? I’m with ASG – this is a poor choice of role model. Let me ask you something: would you want your sister hanging out with this guy? And if the answer is ‘no’ (as I suspect it would be), should he really be glorified or admired for living life on his own terms or whatever you want to call it?
And I haven’t even said anything about the fitness. His body is not impressive. (1) It’s thick and unevenly developed. I do not see his body and think it is an advertisement for having one’s cake and eating it too. Again, I’m with ASG. Some of your client success stories are way more impressive. And your own body, Greg, is leaps and bound beyond his. You also live a life that is not a slave to fitness – isn’t yours the more impressive success story? (2) This man has had MULTIPLE heart issues because of his lifestyle. There’s nothing balanced or inspiring about that at all. In fact, it’s the opposite of the balance you espouse, isn’t it? i.e. he DIDN’T stay in shape while “enjoying” life. He lived life so rough that he damaged his heart. How can he be featured as a role model on a fitness blog?
Anyhow, you asked us to let you know what we think, so I didn’t hold back. ;-) Up till now I’ve read everything from you as if from an oracle. Seriously. You know what you’re talking about and you know how to teach it. This guy though…. I think you should reevaluate why you admire his nonsense. Guns, naked women and money. As far as I can tell, your own passion, dedication, generosity, fitness level, and all round decency seem far more impressive than whatever this guy is contributing to the world.
Right…I do actually agree with what you’re saying. There’s no doubt that Bilzerian has taken things way past excess. And his lifestyle is ludicrous. But you do realize why I wrote this article? 1. It’s an interesting example of someone being in shape despite a party lifestyle. 2. This will get lots of organic traffic. It really came down to 2. And I was going to talk about all the negative aspects of his absurd lifestyle but it was going off the point.
Greg,
I agree with the above comments. I never heard of this man before and honestly he does not seem like a guy that I relate to, or are inspired by. Truth is, you are far much more interesting. You exude passion, humility, and most importantly; selflessness.
You provide people with abilities to reach their fitness dreams with such honesty, and you do it all for free! Now that is a person to admire and respect. Selfless..
No need for organic traffic with this article. Your other lifestyle posts and fitness genius are what makes you so unique and cherished. Through time, this site will continue to grow because of how genuine its founder is. Lets keep moving forward coach!!
Officially pissed at this article man. Respect lost, Gregyola.
The Kinobody lifestyle is one of becoming the strongest version of yourself, I’d figured. I actually admired that in all the BS spectrum of the mainstream media you had remained true to this. No bullshit, no gimmick, no self-worshipping attitude, no drugs, just staying fit the old-fashioned way and keeping a Zen mentalitiy to everything. Are we not gentlemen? Do we not stand for something? Are we not striving for something more than who has the biggest ego?
Dan the D-bag goes against everything that represents. He BUYS his way into everything. He ADMITTEDLY uses gear, which above all else rights him off. And he portrays a self-made lifestyle that is nowhere near as embellished as many believe. He’s the ultimate freaking Beta trying to buy his way into an Alpha persona. Reminds me of a male Paris Hilton. He’s trying to ride the Wolf of Wall Street Jordan Belfort train all the way to gravyville. When Jordy himself will tell you, if you respect anything that he’s done throughout his life then you have some serious issues in your own life.
I have nothing against the way he lives. Kudos. What I am sick of is it being shoved in my face as some kind of dream perfection lifestyle. Least of all on my favourite fitness site here. :l
Two of my friends know him – both actually live on his block. Neither respect nor admire him. He’s a known toss-bag. Not for anything he has, but the person (or lack thereof) who he is. The Porsche GT Dan claimed to own, like many of his cars, is not even his. I know this because my buddy owns it, and left it there after a night of poker and drinks.
He’s no actor – he PAYS the producers to give him roles and STILL gets left on the chopping room floor. He’s not a Seal – guy NEVER graduated. Did all the training? Who gives a? Regardless, couldn’t make the final cut you’re no Seal period. And by far the biggest of all, he’s no self-made poker millionaire. He IS a trust fund baby.
Just because his daddy FILED for bankruptcy does not mean he was crying poor. If it’s not common knowledge by now that this was a tactic (search the records) to throw the tax man off the scent of ALL his squandered funds, by now, it never will be. Dan is not a skilled poker player. He just has the money to buy-in and occasionally beats other amateurs worse than him. Does that make him a professional? Sigh.
The funniest part of the entire deal is that all his little Beta followers ‘wish’ they had what he had. ‘Oh adopt me’, they say. ‘Oh if I was a chick I’d f*&k him for all that money’, they proclaim. They share the mentality, which appeals to them. And yet… there is absolutely nothing stopping them from doing exactly the same thing. Hey, if you wanna pay a bunch of prostitutes to hang around you 24/7… the phone book’s right there.
99% of guys could have his lifestyle.
But who truly does?
Like they say, some people are so poor. All they have is money.
Appreciate you sharing this. You’ve brought up some good points. What you must understand is that I need to grow the site and this article will get a lot of organic hits. So I largely wrote this article for traffic purposes. And yes, of course his lifestyle is way overdone. And obviously there’s some insecurity that is driving him to take things to the absolute excess. This is all true. But the example remains, you can enjoy yourself and continue building your fitness.
Now when you have this strong of a reaction to something, it’s important to evaluate what’s going on inside you. This guy is just doing his own thing, he’s not actually ‘hurting’ anybody. Anything that you resent and strongly react to in another, reflects something inside of you. Perhaps your set of standards, your ego and how you define someone’s self worth is in opposition to what he’s doing. Which would create a strong amount of resentment.
“If there isn’t an emanation of love and joy, complete presence and openness toward all beings, then it is not enlightenment.” Eckhart Tolle
See… that type of reply is what I respect about yourself mate. Classy as hell. I just wish more people would see that there is more to someone’s personality than who has the biggest bank account and most excess. Money can’t buy a personality. Especially a respectable one. Moreover I despise arrogance.
The background is, it resonates so strongly with me, because I’ve been there. I’ve been the off-my-face Ferrari driver with a prostitute just-as-gone beside me, and not only was it a horrendously dark time, but an incredibly lonely one. At 27 I woke up and realized
A: I am… a dead-set f@#king loser and
B: I will be dead by the time I’m 35 if I don’t… change and grow up.
I have no issue with the lifestyle – whatever floats the boat.
But I take massive issue with the juvenile mentality he has of bragging about it as the idealistic goal, and so many clueless others literally striving towards it as something of perfection. That really gets at me, and it’s what I don’t appreciate about the guy.
Peace :)
Really appreciate you sharing thins. Paints a much deeper perspective and I can definitely hear where you’re coming from. I suppose the danger is in people seeing Bilzerian as a ‘complete’ role model and believing that his ridiculous life is interchangeable with happiness and success.
The lifestyle all guys want? Please. Aspiring to Bilzerian’s reported lifestyle is unrealistic and is for losers. Maybe young guys want lots of “chicks” and to “party” – gee, who wouldn’t want to life in an Axe commercial? But most real people are working for a paycheck, trying to have a stable relationship and raise a kid or two they can put through school. Seen The Wolf of Wall Street? Empty empty empty. Frat boys who never grow up. Barf. Gear up for muscle? Barf. 3 heart attacks by 30? Barf. Guns and girls (gee, what cool symbolism – if you’re 14). Barf. Ferraris – ok, I like Ferraris . . . .
Greg, your clients’ success stories are way more inspiring and you even occasionally post a sensible blog about common sense lifestyle. Maybe I don’t belong on this website, being over fifty, married 30 years, but I am 8% Body fat, doing handstand push-ups, working on one arm chins, and surfing double overhead waves, and I
like Greg’s diet and exercise philosophy and workout ideas, but I think Bilzerian is a poor choice of role model.
Definitely not the lifestyle all guys want. Didn’t say that ;). But it’s inspiring nonetheless. I would never strive for the excessiveness that Dan Bilzerian revels in. I’m more of a simple guy ahha. But their are positive aspects to his life and negative aspects to his life. I had actually wrote covered the negative aspects and extremism but the article would have gotten too long and would have fallen off topic.
But the good – this guys is living his own reality. No one elses. Create the life you want and stop following the beaten path in front of you. This doesn’t mean you need to blow shit up or be surrounded with models and porn stars all the time. It just means you need to pursue what interests you. Moreover, the guy is just doing everything he wants. He’s not letting people project limitations onto him. Nothing’s stopping him. He goes after it all. Sure you can anyone could do that if they had a nice trust fund. But I don’t know too many trust fund guys that are acting, fighting mma, racing cars and all that shit. Plus the guy does donate heavily to charities.
Dude,
He has a ton of cash, so he gets what he wants. It didn’t matter what kind of body he has, the girls want his cash. Beisdes, if i didn’t have to work all day, I’d have a great body and lots of hobbies too! Not on steroids? Come on!!!
If I have the aggressive Fatloss diet which program should I use? WSP or GMB? Or does it matter?
Use WSP for the workout, it’s ideal for ‘dieting’.
I’ve heard of this guy; he’s living the life all guys want! Looks like a lot of FUN, no doubt.
His physique is not bad, nothing great thought, IMO.
Also, the guy has already had..I believe it’s 3 heart attacks!
Looking forward to the future posts, Superhero routine!
What’s your thoughts about the PSMF diet ?
Have you tried it? It’s absolutely brutal, not fun at all. Carbs and fats are so crucial to hormonal functioning, sleep, and satisfaction. I can’t live without carbs or fats for a day. I recommend my aggressive fat loss program if you need to drop fat quickly.
I haven’t tried it, but I’ve seen crazy transformations that have happened in just a couple of weeks just from that diet. But it seems INTENSE I mean 800 calories a day.
What I’m doing right now, is your old average cut. Taking my time. I may try out PSMF, but for the time being I’ll stick to my diet.
Do you think that fat loss at that rate (e.g. losing 30 pounds in 10 weeks) could cause a lot of muscle loss? Because many people seem to suggest that muscle loss on a cut is highly exaggerated, especially when your protein intake and weight training is at an optimum level.
Yes you will lose a good chunk of muscle. And it depends. If you’re someone who has built up a fair amount of muscle already then diets excessively, they will invariably lose muscle. If you haven’t built muscle yet and you diet really fast but also strength train then you shouldn’t lose muscle. Almost every fitness/bodybuilder dude that cuts fast will complain that they lost a ton of muscle.
Hello Greg, loving the content! Could i use rtp in a full body workout, or do you reccomed leaving it to push,pull legs or any other way because im a bit stuck on what to do because im on a 5×5 at the moment and id say im still a novice lifter, any advice would be aprechiated, thankyou very much man, you are my role model :)
You can try a full body routine, but I’d prefer to break up the body over 2 or 3 workouts. If you’re a beginner I’d suggest hitting your body over two days. Doing your whole body in one workout is very demanding.
He actually admitted to using performance enhancing drugs, I believe on twitter. Although, I do believe that his physique is attainable naturally. Unfortunately, I’m not a big fan of his.
A few things to add:
“MMA fighter, pro poker player, race car driver, actor”
– I wouldn’t consider him a real actor, when he pays for his roles :/
– He’s not much of a poker player, and lies about making his wealth from this field. When in reality he’s a trustfund baby (not that it’s wrong or anything).
He’s quite reckless, and I do hope he gets his shit together. I mean suffering 3 heart attacks by the age of 30, isn’t what I would call “the epitome of healthy”. Nevertheless, I would mind experiencing his lifestyle for a week or two ;D.
I think there was a misconception about him paying for the roles. The only movie he invested in was the one with Mark Wahlberg. And that was because a portion of the movie was based on the lives of navy seals who he trained with. But I know what you’re saying. I’d suggest watching the tv episode of his life on youtube. He’s by no means the best poker play, but he does very well for himself when he plays agains super wealthy people and celebrities. He’s supposedly won 50 million in poker and was making money from poker before his trust fund kicked in at 30. But either way, how may other trust fund kids do you see doing the shit he is doing. He’s created his own reality and that’s impressive.
Yeah, that’s one thing I truly like about Dan. I mean he’s erratic in his own nature, but man does he grab life by the balls and if 3 heart attacks doesn’t fret him the least bit, then you gotta respect that.
In the first picture, it shows that he have pretty impressive forearms?
what’s the secret to that? any thoughts of making a post about strong and functional forearms anytime soon, would be nice! Grib strength is so functional, and it looks impressive with well developed forearms!
I hate putting in time to directly train forearms. It’s very slow building this muscle group and the training you pour into forearms doesn’t go along way. I’d only recommend fighters or people that specifically need strong forearms for their sport to put time into forearms. Otherwise you’ll build strong forearms from a proper training routine. Hitting biceps and heavy chin ups will build tons of grip strength. Not to mention, heavy deads or rack deads.
Thomas, as a skinny forearmed person I’m a little obssessed with forearms. What doesn’t work for me is wrist curls and reverse curls. I get a nice pump but nothing else. Ive had more success with forearm development by training the hands with grip holds and finger tip push ups. A routine looks like this; fingertip pushups 3×5-10, bodyweight grip hold 4×30 sec, 60, 60, 60. Done twice a week a the end of a pull day. For progression you can start with fingertip pushups against a wall and work towards a one arm fingertip pushup. For grip holds, start by hanging from a bar and work towards a one arm towel or rope hang. Check out the book convict conditioning 2 for more info on this type of forearm training.
Great advice. Another awesome forearm builder is to get a 16 lbs sledge hammer. And do one arm wrist rotations with your hand about 6-12″ from the head. As you get stronger you can work your way down the sledge hammer.
dude – this post is awesome. what i really love about your whole approach to fitness is that you totally eschew the sort of “holier than thou” bullshit that most other fitness coaches spout on their websites .
Staying in great shape while enjoying life is what it is all about. Like you say, what is the point of having the body if you cant enjoy it. Partying like a lunatic while looking like an athlete is the ultimate goal.
Keep up the good work man! really look forward to the post about handling social life and staying in shape. CONSTANT BATTLE ;)
Thanks a lot man!
Another great article Greg! People like Dan are both inspirational and motivational. Most of us will never get anywhere close to living a life like his, but all the envy can only make us try harder and trying only gets us closer to success.
That said, I have a few questions I’d like to ask you:
1. In my gym cables and dummbell only come in big increments (2,5kg each dumbbell, 2kg each cable) which makes finding the right weights and progressing on RPT and SPT difficult.
For instance, lets say I want to do a given SPT dumbbell movement and I get 15 reps with 10kg (2 x 5kg). If I increase the weight to 15kg (2 x 7,5kg) I’ll only be able to get around 9/10 reps because the weight added is so big (5kg), which means I can’t get close to the 12 reps a SPT movement requires for the first set.
Similarly, if I’m doing a RPT dumbbell movement with 25kg (2 x 12,5kg) and I get 6 reps, I’m supposed to drop the weight by 2,5kg (10%) for the next set in order to get around 8 reps, but the least I can drop is 5kg, which is around 20%!
How’d you go about finding the right weights and progressing in SPT and RPT with such big increments?
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ebOots24nKA&feature=kp
What do you think of this exercise as an upper chest builder?
I saw a guy do it at the gym the other day and it does look like a very effective exercise for both the chest and the triceps, so i was thinking about incorporating it in the MEGA routine by either replacing the close grip bench or the dumbbell flyes with it.
What do you think?
Owning both the WSP and the GGMBP I’m really looking forward for that Superhero Program. When is the insight coming?
Thanks!
1. This RPT and SPT stuff is not set in stone. It’s the concepts behind them. Adapt it to your situation. So do 10, 8, 6, 5 for SPT and gradually add the reps. For RPT, drop by 15-20% but aim to get 3-4 more reps.
2. Really useless exercise. It’s going to do nothing for you. Isometrically contracting your chest together while lifting a elementary weight up and down may sound cool, I even played around with this exercise 3-4 years ago, but it’s retarded. Romaniello popularized this exercise too. Scrap it. There’s no measurable way of progressing on it because you have no clue how much force you’re applying. Focus on heavy bench preses and inclines and dips. Even chest flyes are more useful than this.
3. Superhero will be out soon. Couple weeks.
He apparently suffered three heart attacks already. Another sign of steroid use.
More likely coke, booze and lack of sleep!
It was 2 heart attacks, and because he took 200mg of Viagra, plus drugs and alcohol.
Overall seems like a pretty cool guy.
– Yeti