Bodybuilding.com obituary on the tragic death of the #1 fitness model in the world - Greg Plitt:

Greg Plitt gained worldwide fame not only from his professional sports achievements, but also from his acting and modeling career. The bodybuilder actively promoted a healthy lifestyle and is the author of the special MFT28 training system. Plitt has appeared on the covers of fashion magazines over two hundred times. Women adored him. He was a true icon for many aspiring bodybuilders. The tragedy that occurred in 2015 was a real shock for Plitt’s many fans.

Biography

Gregory Plitt Jr. was born November 3, 1977 in Burbank. His father was in real estate, and his mother was an employee of a design agency. Greg was the second child in the family, since the Plitt couple already had a daughter. As a teenager, he began to actively engage in sports, playing golf and football, and also attending the arm wrestling section.

The boy passed on his love for an active lifestyle from his father, who built a gym in the house with his own hands, in which Greg spent a lot of time working out on equipment such as the horizontal bar and parallel bars. His sister attended the New York Naval Academy, and when she returned after her first year for summer vacation, she made a huge impression on the teenager.

After graduating from school in 1996, he followed in the footsteps of his older sister and went to the same educational institution.

Nobody was given any concessions at the Naval Academy. Greg often recalled how harsh the morals were there. It was especially difficult for the guys who were not used to strict discipline. This also applied to those who went through the “school of street life” and tried to expose their own ego, but the teachers quickly put them in their place.

Only those who understood the importance of discipline, subordination and submission to order remained in the academy. The rest simply went home. Having learned this lesson, Plitt became a paratrooper and ranger. For the next five years he served as a Ranger. During these years, he visited various hot spots of the world, rose to the rank of captain and made more than 1,500 parachute jumps.

Constant change

I change the course of the workout every time. And don't think that this is a difficult task. It's easy to change the course of your activities. Keep your body in the dark, don't let it adapt to the monotony of your workouts. If your body begins to guess your route, it will find a more efficient way through it. Adaptation is a wonderful ability of the human body, but it interferes with our goal of becoming stronger. Your body improves when it is forced to adapt to new challenges. Your body becomes stronger to cope with these difficulties. You can easily change the course of your workout: by switching parts of it, or by training with dumbbells instead of barbells, or barbells and dumbbells instead of machines. Change your weight and rest time. Do the same, but either with more weight 6-8 times per approach, or with less weight 18-20 times. This makes training more fun and interesting, and also stimulates your progress.

Fitness model

Plitt moved to Los Angeles and became a licensed trainer and trained young athletes. Greg joins the MET-Rx business. He is awarded the title of “athlete of the year”, develops his own training program called “MFT28”, which quickly gains popularity among bodybuilders. It attracts attention and often appears in magazines that write about a healthy lifestyle.

Most of his time is spent training, but this does not prevent him from developing in other directions. He becomes the face of a project called “Thierry Mugler's Angel Men”, and also appears as a guest model in commercials for such famous brands as ESPN, Calvin Klein, Old Spice, MTV and other world-famous companies.

Plitt graced the covers of fashion magazines more than two hundred times and participated in the filming of over thirty music videos. In the United States of America, he was recognized as the most successful male model. He is the only one who managed to get on the cover of a famous fitness magazine five years in a row.

The soldier who changed the world. Tribute to Greg Plitt!

Nutrition

The athlete’s diet was quite familiar for fitness - an abundance of protein foods, a minimum of carbohydrates, with an emphasis on vegetables and any slow carbohydrates, healthy fats and the absence of junk food. Sometimes he did cheat meals, which help maintain low levels of body fat and provide psychological relief.

Among the supplements Greg Plitt used:

• Pre-workout: 50g whey protein, creatine, pre-workout supplement (including caffeine and arginine);
• Post-workout: 50 g whey protein, creatine, glutamine, stirring in natural juice;
• Before bed: 50 g of casein.

Television career

Plitt has also achieved tremendous success as an entrepreneur. Greg has launched several successful projects that have brought in multi-million dollar profits, including Whey Up (a protein supplement) and Metaball (a multi-functional exercise machine). Plitt's success was not limited to achievements in sports and modeling. He is remembered by many for his roles in films such as “Slaughter Revenge”, “False Temptation”, and also “Terminator: May the Savior Come”. Greg has been invited to many popular television shows.

In 2014, Plitt was included in the list of the twenty-five most influential men in the United States of America. This rating was compiled by the authoritative Fitness Magazine. He competed even with President Obama and such an iconic actor as Will Smith. On the TV show EXTRA, Plitt was named the most eligible bachelor in the United States. According to the rating from the publishing house DNA, Greg was included in the list of the sixty sexiest men in the history of mankind.

Filmography

Cause of death

The bodybuilder, entrepreneur, fitness model and actor died during filming after being hit by a train. Plitt was taking part in an advertisement for a famous energy drink when, due to a tragic coincidence, his life was cut short. Gregory was only 37 years old, and the accident itself occurred due to Plitt's negligence.

The commercial featured an athlete overtaking a moving train. After one sip of the energy drink, Plitt was supposed to appear as Superman, but this was not destined to happen. After drinking the drink, Gregory ran to race the train, but it turned out that it was traveling too fast, which led to the tragedy. The athlete died on the spot from the impact. This is exactly how one of the most famous Americans of the early twenty-first century died.

Appreciate every day

Most people fail to change and continue training because there is no end goal in their minds. When we get behind the wheel, we plan to arrive at some specific place. And at the same time, even diligent people often forget to train with an end goal. Without a goal, we move into the unknown. Such training leads to a lack of motivation and inaction. People without a goal will put off today's workout until tomorrow because they don't appreciate every day. A goal can set a deadline: if you have a competition/vacation/wedding in 90 days, then today is one of ninety opportunities, each of which is important for the success of your plans.

If you don't have a goal, then one day has no value, and going to the gym can easily be replaced by a party, a movie or a cafe.

If the day for which you are training is ninety days away, each day is especially important.

Greg Pitt's training program

The following text was taken from the athlete's diary, which is kept by many bodybuilders:

Plitt trained at least five times a week. Each lesson was dedicated to working out and strengthening a specific muscle group. In other words, one training day for the back, legs, shoulders, arms, chest. The athlete spent at least 10-15 minutes after each main session working on his abdominal muscles. Typically, according to Gregory's notes, Monday and Tuesday were devoted to chest training, Wednesday to shoulders, Thursday to arms, and Friday to legs.

After this cycle, everything changed the other way around. Only the final part of the abdominal workout remained unchanged. The main thing is that Gregory always took into account that the abdominal region consists of three sections, so he alternated working on each of them. When the lower abdominal area was worked out, it means that straight leg lifting exercises were performed, the number of which varied from 30 to 50 times. This kind of circuit training allows you to change the load, that is, exercise without rest days and avoid overtraining, since each muscle group rests for four days.

Plitt started studying at half past five in the morning. In such early hours, as the athlete himself noted, of course, it would not be worth training, but there was simply no other way out, since his schedule was scheduled hourly. In addition, over many years, Gregory’s body has already become accustomed to such a regime. Thanks to such morning activities, as the athlete himself wrote, he felt more alert, concentrated and active.

He did not recommend adopting such a training regimen, since he himself would prefer to exercise in the evening, when the body has the opportunity to rest, since the night is ahead. But, unable to afford such training, he simply drank a portion of a protein shake in the evenings, which helped his muscles relax after a hard day of work.

In addition, as Plitt wrote, he never allowed the same type of training. To diversify his classes, he constantly introduced some new exercises into his program, changed the number of approaches performed, the order and intensity. One day, for example, he took the usual working weight, and on the other, on the contrary, the maximum. This made it possible not to overload the body and make training more effective and interesting. Plitt made sure to do cardio training three times a week and simply loved swimming, thanks to which he became more resilient and also worked and stretched his muscles. He devoted his evening time to these activities, which allowed him to burn off the calories accumulated during the day and go to sleep peacefully. Regardless, he always drank a protein shake. This drink replenishes protein deficiency in the body.

Plitt training program:

• Monday: morning – chest, abs; evening – swimming pool (45 min).
• Tuesday: morning – back.
• Wednesday: morning – shoulders, abs; evening – run 8 km.
• Thursday: morning – arms, abs; evening - swimming pool.
• Friday: morning – legs, abs.
• Saturday: morning – chest, abs; evening – walk with dogs (2 hours).
• Sunday: morning – back.

"Level of Respect"

We begin training with limitations and some specific strength and form parameters based on our current fitness level. To improve these parameters, we must push our body beyond its limitations. When we lie down to squeeze out, for example, eight times when we could do 10 or 12, we are doing an injustice to our potential. The speed of body improvement depends on the mood in the gym. Perhaps the gym is the only honest, objective place where progress or lack thereof directly depends on our efforts. Consciousness determines success and how quickly it is achieved. If we stop after eight times when we could have done 10 or 12, we miss the point and are not training at the “respect level.”

Practicing at a “level of respect” means doing it to the best of your ability, without regret. When you leave the gym, you should be proud of the work you've done and the progress you've made.

Leave with increased self-respect and the respect of everyone who watched you. Consistently practicing at a “level of respect” will make your dreams come true. A beautiful body is a combination of sweat, blood and tears. These liquids reflect victory in a test of willpower, determination and desire. Failure is your friend; it is the best marker of the level you have been at and where you are now. When you fail, you should be happy because you have just overcome your own limit and taken a step forward. Failure leads to growth!

Fashion magazine cover star

After leaving the service, Greg becomes the holder of a fitness trainer's license. He begins his difficult journey of training young aspiring athletes. At this time he begins to live in Los Angeles. He takes an active part in the MET-Rx direction and is even awarded the title of athlete of the year.

Plitt begins to actively develop a training program using the MFT28 method. Since that time, many fashion publications have published his photos on the covers. His name is often mentioned in articles talking about a healthy lifestyle.

The athlete spent a lot of time on sports training. But this did not bother him at all. He has achieved significant success in this area. At this time, he became a participant in many fashion projects.

Despite the fact that his life was very short, he managed to appear on the covers of fashion magazines over two hundred times. He has participated in more than three dozen videos. Experts once recognized him as the best male model. In one very famous fitness magazine, he was on the cover for a long time.

Curb your pride

In the gym, pride is your worst enemy. And if you don’t contain it when you get there, you can forget about progress that day or in general. Pride allows the worst to happen - it allows others to influence the process of your training. Pride can cause you to make an impression: you lift more weight than you can handle, lose proper posture, and often injure yourself.

Pride makes you lift heavy weights to prove something to someone. The resulting injury will keep you out of practice for a month or more.

The fastest route to muscle development and growth is always through ideal shape, which usually means lighter weight. Growth does not come from lifting weights. It occurs due to the work of muscles.

Exercises

Traction on the sheet

Exercise for the back. We take a pre-prepared sheet. We rest our feet on the door. And we pull ourselves. You can adjust the load by changing the angle. The main thing is not to stop during the allotted minute for work.

Pushups

Exercise for the chest. Standard push-ups. If you run out of strength and still have time left, you can switch to push-ups from your knees.

Situps (body raises)

Exercise for the abdominal muscles. Greg's emphasis here is to NOT go all the way down and NOT go all the way up. To keep your abs in constant tension.

Suitcase pull to the chin.

Shoulder exercise. What an important point here. Despite the name, we are not focusing on reaching the suitcase to the chin. And raise your elbows as high as possible. We do it slowly and under control.

Climbing on the sheet

Back exercise. Let's return to the sheet. And now we don’t pull ourselves, but climb up, moving our hands. Like on a tightrope, only from a lying position to a standing position. And back in the same way.

Push-ups from the bed

Exercises for the chest. It would seem that the task is easier - we do push-ups from an elevation. But. This is not the first exercise. And remember that you need to hold on for 60 seconds. Therefore, it will not seem a little.

Lying pelvic raises

Abs exercise. Greg hooked his hands onto the bed and lifted his pelvis, not just his legs. However, if your strength is already running low, then you can move on to lifting your legs or even your knees. The main thing is not to stop.

Arm extensions on a sheet

Triceps exercises. We kneel with our backs to the door to which the sheet is attached. We take the sheet behind our head and straighten our arms at the elbows, changing the position of the body (only through the efforts of the hands!).

Mattress press

Shoulder exercise. We slightly tilt the mattress off the bed. We sit with our backs to her. We place the mattress on our shoulders and press it from behind our heads while sitting.

Hyperextension

Exercise for the lower back. Greg rested his feet on the suitcase (not visible in the photo). He leaned over the headboard, then straightened up. To avoid damaging your leg muscles, you can place a towel on the headboard. Repeat for all 60 seconds.

Rotations of the body with a bottle

Abs exercise. We rest our legs under the headboard, body at 45 degrees to the floor. And we make body turns, touching the floor with the bottle at the end point.

Reverse push-ups from the bed

Triceps exercise. We rest our hands on the headboard behind our backs and straighten our arms. Then we kind of sit down again. We start with straight legs. If you are tired, you can bend your legs and continue working with less load.