In this review I cover the Old School New Body e-book, the F4X workouts that this system is based on… and my personal experience from applying them. I’ll also share some of the ‘gotchas’ of this program. best fat loss method
After a painful confrontation with my bedroom mirror I decided it was time for a change. Actually, that’s one of the reasons this website was born.
I spent a lot of time trying to find the perfect workout system. You know, the one where you sit back and look at people exercising on Youtube and get lean and fit yourself without expending any effort (hint, it doesn’t exist).
After a lot of research (if one part of my body was getting a great workout, it was my mouse-clicking finger) I found Old School New Body. After reading a lot about this system I became intrigued by it.
For one thing, if the creators of the system – Steve and Becky Holman – ended up looking the way they do now was due to using their own methods, I wanted to know what they were doing to get those kinds of results. They were both more than 10 years older than me… and in MUCH better shape. As a matter of fact, at over 50, they were in better shape than most 30 year olds I know.
My curiosity got the better of me. I ended up going through the five-step sales page and purchasing Old School New Body. At the time it cost me a measly 20 bucks (I think it still goes for that price). I figured that was a fair price to pay for getting myself back in shape… if it actually worked. Even if it didn’t I think I would have gotten over those twenty bucks.
I’m glad I took the risk. To this day I’m using the F4X principles (more on those later) in my workouts. They have worked beautifully. I work out a good deal less than I used to when I was in my twenties… with better results.
Here’s my Old School New Body review…
What is Old School New Body
Simply put, Old School New Body is a moderate weight, high fatigue ‘resistance workout’ method combined with some very simple nutrition tips. The workouts are designed to:
- build lean muscle
- burn fat
- strengthen your joints
- increase your body’s production of Human Growth Hormone
- slow down the aging process and reshape your body
- maintain strong and healthy muscles and joints
You do this by using moderate weights and following some very specific principles. These are based on the methods of the old school ‘trainer to the stars’ Vince Gironda. In Old School New Body these principles have been compiled into the ‘F4X protocol’.
Because the F4X system uses moderate weights for less joint stress and high muscle fatigue for intensity, it’s a great system for people over 40 (and even over 60) to maintain strong muscles and joints.
Yes, this is resistance training. That means you’ll be using weights, be it dumbbells, kettlebells or bodyweight
Although the Old School New Body e-book teaches you how to do the basic workouts without weights, eventually you’re probably going to want to invest in a set of adjustable dumbbells.
Personally, I use kettlebells (because I already owned a set) and these work great as well. In the end it’s more about the principles than the type of weights you use.
At this point many women are probably ready to hit the back button. They’re afraid that weight training will make them look like one of those pumped up female bodybuilders. If you’re worried about this, take a look at Becky’s before and after pics further down the page to see what actually happens when women start lifting weights.
Who are Steve and Becky Holman
Steve Holman is the Editor-in-Chief of Iron Man Magazine, one of the oldest and most popular fitness magazines on the planet. Although Steve has been lifting weights since the age of 15 he say’s that, since he started using the F4X principles, he’s had some of the fastest and most spectacular results he’s ever seen.
Becky Holman started using the F4X method in her forties, after becoming thoroughly fed up with her overweight appearance (mmm… sounds familiar). It took her just a couple of months to completely transform her body.
The F4X Protocol
F4X stands for the ‘Focus-4 Exercise’ protocol. As mentioned above, the system uses moderate poundage for resistance and focuses on high muscle fatigue for intensity.
When you go to any gym you’ll see that most people there can be devided into one of two catergories
1: People who are using very light weights and resting too long between sets. They are only getting a small fraction of the results they could getting be if they were to increase both poundage and intensity.
2: People who use too much weight and are risking long lasting injuries and permanent joint damage. Using bone-crushing poundages doesn’t just over-stress your body. It can also damage your immune system. This is caused by the excess stress hormone (cortisol) that is produced during too heavy-lifting.
Yes, you do need to expend effort during your workouts, but it should be cumulative. This means that, for maximum results and minimum risk, you should rely on high muscle fatigue, not joint-jolting poundage.
This is where the F4X system comes in. It causes cumulative muscle fatigue by combining a long ‘time under tension’ (TUT) with short rests between sets. Sound complicated? Actually it’s very simple. Here’s how it works…
The F4X Workouts
During F4X workouts you will be doing 4 sets per exercise and 10 reps per set.
- Start by picking a weight with which you can get 15 reps
- Instead of doing 15 reps, you do only 10
- For each rep you use a 1-second positive and a 3-second negative (how this works is explained in detail in the ebook).
- Take a 35 second resting
- Repeat this for the designated number of sets
- On the last set you go all out until you can’t get another rep in
This type of training is what causes the cumulative muscle fatigue mentioned above. The first few stes will feel pretty easy. However, as you continue you will notice fatigue building in the targeted muscles. The last sets will have you struggeling. Your muscles will be aching from lactic acid and your breathing will be rapid (cardio effect)
See also: Simple workout method that supercharges fat loss
The F4X workouts train both the myofibrils and the sarcoplasm (the two main constituents of your muscle fibers) for exceptional muscle-building and fat-burning effects.
This type of workout is also one of the best ways to increase your body’s production of natural Growth Hormone (more on that later).
The F4X Lean Workout
The ‘Lean’ workout is a mild introduction to the F4X method. It’s designed to get rid of excess fat, build some muscle tone and to get you used to this type of resistance training.
The F4X Lean workout is intended to be repeated 3 times per week and takes less than 30 minutes to complete. It consists of just four simple exercises. You start off doing just 2 sets of these exercises for 10 repetitions each, following the rules of the F4X protocol. After you get accustomed to the exercises, you slowly increase the number of sets.
Personally, I love this workout! It’s really all you need to stay in shape and maintain strong and healthy muscles and joints.
Now this is important…
It’s all about the structure of the workout! I often use different exercises than the ones mentioned in the ebook (although they work wonderfully), but I do follow the F4X protocol.
That’s the great thing about this system! Once you understand the principles you can easily apply them to any other resistance training you do.
The F4X Shape workouts
You can get great results by only doing the ‘Lean’ workout three times per week. However, if you want maximum body transformation as quickly as possible the F4X Shape workout is where it’s at.
Like F4X Lean, F4X Shape also consists of three workouts per week. The Shape workouts are longer, contain more exercises and are more intense than the Lean workout. You’ll also be targeting different muscle groups per workout.
The F4X Full-Range Build workouts
These are advanced workouts. They are based on Position of Flexion, a program Steve developed with the help of college researchers that took his physique to new heights.
If you want a strong, lean and toned body the Lean and Shape workouts are really all you need. If you want to build some serious muscle you should definitely include the Build workouts in your exercise regimen.
Why Resistance Training
If you’ve read this far you may be wondering why Old School New Body is so heavily focussed on resistance training. Here are some of the most important reasons…Resistance training:
- Counteracts the bone loss that occurs as you age.
- Improves your insulin sensitivity, lowering your risk of most chronic diseases.
- Stokes your metabolism and keeps it stoked well after you’ve finished your workout
- Stimulates and increases your body’s production of natural growth hormone (the anti-aging hormone). Building muscle is a key growth signal to your body and brain.
- Lowers inflammation
- Gives you a great looking body you can be proud of.
But shouldn’t you be doing cardio to burn off those calories? Well, the truth is that the HIIT type workouts you learn in Old School New Body actually give you a great cardiovascular workout as well. The intensity of the exercises is high enough to keep your heartbeat raised and your blood pumping, even during the short rests between sets.
That being said, if you’re only doing the Lean workout, Steve recommends you do some cardio on your off days like a stationary bike (or my personal favorite… jumping rope) if you want to maximize fat-loss.
What about diet
The nutrition section in Old School New Body is very strait forward. It comes down to eating multiple protein based meals and snacks throughout the day and including some good carbs in most of them.
Although the ebook contains the daily diets used by Steve, Becky and John Rowley (co-creator of Old School New Body) it doesn’t go into specific recipes. It doesn’t need to.
As a bonus you do get a ‘Paleo Sweets’ ebook that contains a ton of guilt free recipes for cakes, biscuits, ice creams, muffins and more.
What about cheat days? Yes! They are allowed. Steve and Becky state (and I agree) that a diet that is too restrictive causes you to rebel and give up sooner or later. That’s why they set aside a 24 hour period each week to loosen their diets. They call it a ‘Victory Day’.
A weekly cheat day will also help ‘shock’ your system, kicking your metabolism into high gear again.
Old School New Body For people over 40
The fact that the F4X workouts get their intensity from muscle fatigue while using moderat weights make them a great choice for people over 40. Especially if you haven’t been doing any sort of exercise for some time. It gives your muscles the workout they need to maintain their strength and mass while also minimizing the risk of damaging your joints.
As a ‘person over 40’ I can safely state that resistance training has had a massive impact on the way I look and feel.
Joint Stress
Following the F4X principles has also strengthened my joints. At the age of 22 my knees gave out due to excessive jumping (basketball and taekwondo). I spent months with my knees taped and whenever I put too much explosive pressure on them, like jumping, the pain would be excruciating.
Thanks to the slow, controlled way of performing resistance exercises (as thought in Old School New Body) I have have strengthened my knees considerably. I won’t be dunking basketballs or practicing flying kicks anymore, but at least I can jump without my knees giving out.
I’m a firm believer of the ‘use it or lose it’ principle. I think you have to stay active and keep on using your body if you want to keep it strong and functional. That being said, I think that some ways of ‘using’ are better than others. For me the F4X way has proven to be very beneficial.
I think this is a workout method I can (and will) still be using when I’m well past 65.
Growth hormone
Growth Hormone (somatotropin or HGH) plays a crucial role in maintaining a strong and healthy body. It’s also known as the anti-aging hormone. Among other things it stimulates growth, cell reproduction, and cell regeneration, increases muscle mass, strengthens bones, improves cognitive function, stimulates the immune system and boosts the metabolism.
All-in-all a pretty important hormone. The problem is that, as we age, our production of growth hormone decreases.
One of the things that increases the secretion of HGH is vigorous exercise. Now I have no way of measuring the actual increase in the amount of GH my body produces as the result of the F4X workouts. I do know the extra physical exercise has made me stronger, leaner, fitter and a lot more energetic. That’s good enough for me.
If you want to know more about growth hormone and what it does Wikipedea has a great article on it. You can find it here.
What’s Included in OSNB?
The Old School New Body pdf
This is the main guide for the program. It’s a 101 page e-book. It introduces you to the program and covers all the different F4X workouts and exercises. It also teaches you the simpel diet rules you should be following and how to use certain supplements for faster results.
It finishes of with the F4X Advanced training. This is for if you really want to take your workouts to the next level. Chances are you’ll never use it though. The three main F4X workouts are more than enough for most people to get the results they wore looking for.
F4X Quick Start Workout Guide
Eager to get started? This short guide strips the F4X program down to the absolute bare essentials you need to know to get started right away, without having to read the main guide first!
The quick start guide covers all 3 Phases: LEAN, SHAPE, and BUILD. Just pick the body style you want (shown in each section) and dive right in!
Besides the two main guides mentioned above, you also get some more bonus e-books when you order the program. These are:
- Ultimate Fat Burning Secrets
- Ultimate Muscle-Building Secrets
- Ultimate Sex and Anti-Aging Secrets
- Ultimate Health and Happiness Secrets
Old School New Body User Reviews
If you’ve read this far you’re probably tired of my rambling. I thought you might be interested in what others are saying about Old School New Body.
Now there’s a lot of scam reviews out there. People who are reviewing the product without having tried it themselves. However, these Old School New Body user reviews sound sincere and they align with my own thoughts on the ebook, so I decided to include them here.
Ready to try Old School New Body out for yourself? Click here to visit the official website.
Are there any Old School New Body negative reviews?
So, are there any negative reviews about Old School New Body or the F4X workouts? I scoured the internet to see if there were any dissatisfied customers and, if there were, what they were dissatisfied about. Here’s what I found…
Over on pissedconsumer.com there were a few people saying that they never received any material:
I also never received any material. Was expecting a Spiral bound instructional book on workout routines.
Some people are clearly under the impression that Old School New Body is a physical book that will be delivered to your doorstep.
However… this is a digital product. After you order you will receive an email with a link where you can download the Old School New Body e-book and all the bonuses.
I can understand the confusion though. The product images give the impression of a physical book. Also, I think the sales page does a very poor job of pointing out that this is an e-book… not a physical book. Only once on the whole sales page is this mentioned…
So, just remember… This is a digital, downloadable product, not a physical book.
Personally I’m a big fan of e-books. They don’t take up any space, you can read them anywhere from your smartphone or e-reader and they are environmentally friendly (no trees getting killed).
However, I do think vendors should be transparent about a product being digital, and I agree that Old School New Body falls short in this respect.
Shady affiliates
I also came across some people complaining about the marketing tactics used.
Every single review on the 1st page, and the 2nd, has been written by the sellers. They paid an SEO expert to anticipate that people would go online to investigate with “reviews”, figured out the key search words, and authored every single “review”
Yes, there are a lot of shady reviews that pop up on google if you search for ‘Old School New Body review’. However, these were not written by the sellers but by affiliates (like me) promoting the product.
Here’s how that works…
An affiliate writes a review about a product. In this review they place links to that product. If someone clicks on those links and then purchases the product, the affiliate earns a commission.
The review you’re reading right now contains affiliate links. If you click on them and purchase Old School New Body (this is an example of an affiliate link), I will receive a commission. That is what pays for this site’s hosting costs.
The problem with a lot of affiliate reviews is that the affiliates writing them have never actually tried the product. Their sole purpose is to earn money promoting it. This is a despicable practice. It adds absolutely no value and its only purpose is to coerce visitors into buying.
A good way to weed out these kinds of reviews is to look at the headline. Things like ‘shocking review’ or ‘don’t buy until you read this’ in the headline are a good indication that you are dealing with a less-than-ethical affiliate.
Now, I feel completely comfortable promoting Old School New Body. I think the value it provides is well worth the money you pay for it. I also know for a fact that it works… having used it for quite a while now.
Conclusion:
Old School New Body is a digital product, developed by Steve and Becky Holman, which teaches a moderate poundage / high fatigue type of resistance training. They call this workout system the F4X method.
The program consists of different phases which build on each other (lean, shape and build). Three 30 minute workouts per week is all you need to get started.
If you apply yourself, do the workouts consistently and follow the simple nutrition guidelines you will get results. The 60 day money back guarantee gives you ample time experience the program and decide whether or not it’s right for you.