How did they manage this?

[Maximilian]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/100k-challenge.html

In just 12 weeks? Thats insane...

 

[Zivic]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/100k-challenge.html

In just 12 weeks? Thats insane...

100% commitment. complete control of their diet.

I think that Isaac Vanwart was the biggest transformation. better than either winner. though at 45, Matt Manning not only got lean, but put on some decent muscle

 

[CPA]

Look at the guys nutritional plan during the 12 weeks. Severe calorie restriction:

OK, I did it again. I am an engineer and I love to tweak things. I have adopted a new aproach for the final three weeks. My plan for the first 7 weeks is at the bottom and my plan for weeks 8-9 is above that. Below is my new plan for weeks 10-12.

Weeks 10-12:
At the beginning of Week 10, I started to get really nervous that I wouldn't get as lean as I was hoping (now shooting for 7%), so I went looking for information on what to do. I ran across this very interesting philosophy of Intermittent Fasting (IF), and have decided to try it out. I'm not sure what the rules are for posting links, so I will just say if you search for Intermittent Fasting you will find the people who deserve the credit.
The basic idea is that all your calories for the day are consumed during an 8 hour window, and the other 16 hours of the day are spent fasting. It is not supposed to matter what 8 hour window you choose, but I have a hard time psychologically eating later in the day (it just feels wrong to eat and then be sedentary), so I chose my window from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. I also like to workout after having a few meals in me, so my lunch-time workouts fit better with this window. Additionally, the 12th-16th hours of the fast period are a good time to do cardio for optimal fat burning. This lets me do cardio first thing in the morning.
The calories and food are the same as weeks 8-9, but instead of consuming them over an 11 or 12 hour period, I consume them in 8 hours. The other big change is cutting out aminos outside of the 8 hour window. I had used them to ward off muscle wasting. I still believe in aminos, I am just choosing to emphasize fat loss. Some things I read indicated that aminos can spike insulin, so I am just being conservative toward fat loss. Oh, I also added a caffeine supplement for a little extra help. It is the equivalent of a cup of coffee. As always, we will see how it goes...

My Schedule (Times are approximate):
5:15 AM: Caffeine (200mg)
5:30 AM: Cardio LISS (Low Intensity Steady State) on empty stomach
8:00 AM: 1/2 Cup Whole Oats with 1/3 Cup Whey (31g Protein / 260 Calories)
10:00 AM: 1/2 Cup Whole Oats with 1/3 Cup Whey (31g Protein / 260 Calories)
11:30 AM: Workout Shake (39g Protein / 32g Carbs / 290 Calories)
12:30 to 2:00 PM: Post Workout Shake (39g Protein / 26g Carbs / 260 Calories)
3:45 PM: Large Salad with Meat (38g Protein / 200 to 300 Calories)
8:30 PM: Cardio HIIT
10:00 PM: Bedtime

Daily Totals: ~150g Protein / 130g Carbs / 1400 Calories


Weeks 8-9:
Starting at the beginning of Week 8, I redid my nutrition plan. What I did for the first seven weeks is explained down below. It was basically calorie restriction (800 to 900 total calories daily).
My new plan still has a calorie deficit, but it is up around 1400 to 1500 total calories daily. I made the change for several reasons. I had planned alll along to up my calories and protein at some point. I just didn't know exactly when. After seven weeks and about 32 lbs of fat lost, it felt like my fat loss was beginning to stall. My strength also seemed to be dropping off suddenly. The last straw was when I took some measurements and realized I seemed to be shrinking (the bad kind of shrinking). It's great when my waist measurement is dropping, but when my chest, shoulders, thighs, and arms started getting smaller, I had had enough. I just felt like it was time for a change.
Below is a schedule of what I'm doing now. I will most likely tweak it again. I might add in some carb cycling and also some zero carb days as well. Almost all the changes are to the first half of the day. Afternoons and evenings are still pretty much carb free. I have upped my morning carbs and split them into two separate meals, with the first one being much earlier than before. The most radical thing, for me, that I'm trying is having carbs and protein before and during my weightlifting workouts. I have never done this before. I have always been a post workout carb and protein guy. I used aminos during workouts before, but never carbs and protein. After just two days, I am totally onboard with it. My strength and energy in the gym are coming back so quickly. I am able to work my muscles so much harder this way. I can't wait to see how they respond to the extra work and the extra calories and protein they are getting. We will see how it goes...

My Schedule (Times are approximate):
5:15 AM: Aminos (4g)
5:30 AM: Cardio HIIT on empty stomach
6:00 AM: Scoop Whey Protein (24g Protein / 130 Calories)
7:00 AM: 1/2 Cup Whole Oats (6g Protein / 150 Calories)
9:30 AM: 1/2 Cup Whole Oats with 1/3 Cup Whey (31g Protein / 260 Calories)
11:30 AM: Workout Shake (39g Protein / 32g Carbs / 290 Calories)
12:30 to 2:00 PM: Post Workout Shake (39g Protein / 26g Carbs / 260 Calories)
4:00 PM: Aminos (4g)
4:30 PM: Cardio HIIT on empty stomach
6:30 PM: Large Salad with Meat (38g Protein / 200 to 300 Calories)
8:30 PM: Cardio HIIT
9:30 PM: Aminos (4g)
10:00 PM: Bedtime
2:00 AM Aminos (4g)

Daily Totals: ~190g Protein / 130g Carbs / 1500 Calories

Weeks 1-7:
This is what I'm doing for the 2014 Transformation Challenge so far (week 6). I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. My plan leans heavily toward calorie restriction and I'm really struggling with maintaining muscle mass and strength, but the fat loss I'm experiencing seems to be worth it right now. If the fat keeps falling off like this, I am hoping to be able to bump my calories up so I can add some muscle mass before we get to week 12. We will see...
I'm including workout times with my eating schedule because they are so closely linked in my mind. I plan meals/snacks around workouts and I use cardio as an appetite supressant. I also prefer to do cardio on an empty stomach as I believe my body will transition to burning fat almost immediately. So, eating and exercise are inseparable for me.
My Schedule (Times are approximate):
5:30 AM: HIIT Cardio on empty stomach
6:00 AM: Scoop Whey Protein (24g Protein / 130 Calories).
7:00 to 9:00 AM: Drink ~64 to 96 Oz. of Water over several hours to hydrate and suppress appetite.
9:30 AM: 3/4 Cup Whole Oats with 1/2 Scoop Whey (21g Protein / 290 Calories)
11:30 AM: Weight Lifting (Sipping Amino Acid drink (Xtend) during workout).
12:30 to 2:00 PM: Post Workout Shake (24g Protein / 25g Simple Carbs / 180 Calories)
4:00 PM: HIIT Cardio on empty stomach
5:00 to 7:00 PM: Drink 48 to 64 Oz. of Water over several hours to hydrate and suppress appetite.
7:00 PM: Large Salad with Meat (30g Protein / 200 to 300 Calories)
9:30 PM: Cardio
10:00 PM: Bedtime

Daily Totals: ~100g Protein / 800 to 900 Calories

 

[TallBill]

I'd be highly willing to bet that they get OCD about the whole thing, but hey it works.

 

[Koing]

Look at the guys nutritional plan during the 12 weeks. Severe calorie restriction:

THIS and IRON will power.

Weeks 1-7: (1hr of cardio a day EVERYDAY)
Daily Totals: ~100g Protein / 800 to 900 Calories

Weeks 8-9: (1.5hrs cardio EVERYDAY
Daily Totals: ~190g Protein / 130g Carbs / 1500 Calories

Weeks 10-12: (1.5-2hrs cardio EVERYDAY)
Daily Totals: ~150g Protein / 130g Carbs / 1400 Calories

All of the guys have a reasonable level of muscle mass but they either stopped working out for a while and got fat, or they got fat on purpose for the contest.

If you could *lock away* a person for the 12 week on a calorie restricted diet 99.999% of people would lose huge amounts of fat. They would get better results if they did some weight training and some cardio. But most people don't want to make better food choices or eat less.

Koing

 

[CPA]

THIS and IRON will power.

Weeks 1-7: (1hr of cardio a day EVERYDAY)
Daily Totals: ~100g Protein / 800 to 900 Calories

Weeks 8-9: (1.5hrs cardio EVERYDAY
Daily Totals: ~190g Protein / 130g Carbs / 1500 Calories

Weeks 10-12: (1.5-2hrs cardio EVERYDAY)
Daily Totals: ~150g Protein / 130g Carbs / 1400 Calories

All of the guys have a reasonable level of muscle mass but they either stopped working out for a while and got fat, or they got fat on purpose for the contest.

If you could *lock away* a person for the 12 week on a calorie restricted diet 99.999% of people would lose huge amounts of fat. They would get better results if they did some weight training and some cardio. But most people don't want to make better food choices or eat less.

Koing

I'm basically that guy's age and I would have a very hard time having that willpower, and I've done it before and won a similar contest before. But at 44, I don't know if I could do it or necessarily want to do it. I'm still in good shape, work out frequently and limit the crap food I eat, and right now that's good enough for me.

 

[JBT]

Wow. I would go insane eating that little amount of food. 7 Weeks of 800-900 calories plus an hour of cardio for a male? that's nuts.

 

[Maximilian]

So they already had a good chunk of that muscle to begin with?

 

[smackababy]

So they already had a good chunk of that muscle to begin with?

I would imagine so. I would imagine these guys packed on some flab for this competition and then lost it.

Eating 900 calories a day for 7 weeks would be a huge deficit. That can't be healthy. Even 1400 seems incredibly low for someone that active. That doesn't seem sustainable at all. Whatever though, for $100,000 I suppose it is worth 12 weeks of nonsense.

 

[JBT]

They must have had the muscle for sure. There is no way that would "grow" with that much of a deficit.

Surely its not sustainable. But heck now they if they can back off to maintenance calorie levels and keep being active they should be able to stay looking pretty good.

Everyone seems to think fitness models don't have to gear up for a photo shoot. They do. Being that lean long term is tough, but pretty close to it is attainable.

 

[southkrn]

WTF, when does this guy work?

 

[Koing]

I'm basically that guy's age and I would have a very hard time having that willpower, and I've done it before and won a similar contest before. But at 44, I don't know if I could do it or necessarily want to do it. I'm still in good shape, work out frequently and limit the crap food I eat, and right now that's good enough for me.

I was having a hard time eating 2400cal a day...and again when I upped my calories to 2650. I hated losing strength when I was cutting.

The people that do these sorts of thing are super driven and really want it.

It's not sustainable but it can be done to get in to shape for a photoshoot or a contest like the guy. As soon as he eats 2000-2500cal he will start putting on some fat but not a huge amount. He'll be leaner than 99% of people still.

Koing

 

[Koing]

So they already had a good chunk of that muscle to begin with?

Yes.

Your body won't build any muscle on 900-1200cal a day along with the 1hr-1.5hr of cardio. You are just trying to keep whatever muscle you have left. He would have also lost muscle during the 12 weeks. The dramatic loss of fat would make it seem the guy put on muscle.

If a guy with less muscle did the same 12 week thing he would just look very thin and lean. The affect would not be as pronounced.

Koing