My transformation and how I did it

[Davidpaul007]

Hey everyone, been a very long time lurker but couldn't sign in from work so rarely post. Anyway, just realized tapatalk is free now (how long had this been the case?) so trying this out from my phone.
Before/after

On the phone, so semi-quick explanation: I'm 5'6", at my heaviest was 208lbs. Today i weigh in at 145. Went from 208ish to 185 over a couple of years doing things the "traditional" way of trying to eat healthier and do cardio (have always enjoyed weights). Last year i decided to get serious about getting lean and started studying nutrition and applying what I learned.
The last 40lbs of weightloss have been sans cardio. Since Jan 2014 i have trained exactly 3 days/wk. My strength has increased in deadlifts, squat,pressing and weighted chinups.

Current lifts:
Deads 325 x 5.5
Squat: 260 x 7 (parallel thighs)
Decline: 225x6 (had some shoulder issues)
Chinups: bodyweight +75lbs x 6.75

These are my current 'bests'.

I follow a leangains/IIFYM style eating plan and my current goal is to lean up a little more before switching gears this winter to focus on adding muscle. I typically eat 2-4 meals/day. ~2200 cals on training days and ~1600 on rest days.

I am very pleased with how well this style of eating / training works for me.

 

[blackdogdeek]

Congrats, OP! Great job!

 

[z1ggy]

Is IIFYM some type of intermittent fasting?

If so, I have found this worked for me. I currently went back to regular eating for a while to see if I could still loose weight, and so far, I have not. I'm going to give it another 4-5 weeks because I am attending a wedding this weekend so I'll blow through a weeks worth of food in just a day or two.

For your macros, I'm assuming on lift days, you are eating to maintain, then rest days to lose weight? Doing that and losing 40lb in just 7 months is some serious stuff, that's impressive.

Also, weight lifting plan? I'm currently on MAX OT, which is 5 days a week of heavy lifting. I like it a lot. It's nice for me because I can lift for 30 minutes a day and not have to spend hours in the gym.

 

[Davidpaul007]

IIFYM is 'if it fits your macros'. Basically determining your optimal macros (carb/fat/protein) for you're goals and not getting too caught up in'eating clean'.

Z1ggy, there are some awesome advantages to IF (such as the GH boost, nutrient partitioning effect, diet complience and simplicity to name a few ) bit ultimately thus biggest factor it's the amount of calories.

Yes, that's approx maint for me on training days and a deficit on rest days.

 

[Davidpaul007]

Workout plan is similar to tje Leangains RPT. I do very low volume and high intensity. Typically only 1 all out set for my primary moves...specifically right now my routine is

Monday: Deadlifts x 2 sets
Weighted chins x 2 sets

Wed: decline x 2 sets
Incline press x 2 sets

Fri: squats x 2 sets
Overhead press x 2 sets

Thats about 95% of what i do...

 

[iluvdeal]

Awesome job.

I'd be curious to see if you keep the same eating plan but change your workout regime if you'd see better results as that's really low volume. I assume warm ups included you're in and out of the gym in 20 minutes?

 

[Davidpaul007]

I typically do 3-4 warmups depending on the movement and how i feel. 45 min workout unless I'm there with a friend or two. I will try this out for a while even when i up calories because i have gained strength and muscle even during cut phases using this.

 

[rga]

Great job OP! Definitely inspirational and motivational.
:thumbsup:

How old are you?

 

[Davidpaul007]

32...

I should add, I was very skeptical of this approach initially. Before this i ate every 3 hours and worked out 4-6 days a week. The way i tho things now are ridiculously easy in comparison.

 

[z1ggy]

Awesome job.

I'd be curious to see if you keep the same eating plan but change your workout regime if you'd see better results as that's really low volume. I assume warm ups included you're in and out of the gym in 20 minutes?

Since he's going so intensely, I'm guessing rest is between 2-3 minutes.

OP can you confirm??? Btw, Maybe just for fun/challenge, for a little while maybe do the same routine but switch it up to like 8 reps per set, and do double the sets, with half the rest. It'll change thing sup a bit and challenge you to add some volume.

Also, I never said congrats. Looking great man!

 

[iluvdeal]

Yeah I'm curious on the rep range each set (actually he already mentioned it) and the rest period. Assuming 4-8 reps for a total of 4 working sets, 45 minutes seems like a long time.

Also given that type of low volume, I think 7 days rest between workouts is a bit long.

 

[Davidpaul007]

Since he's going so intensely, I'm guessing rest is between 2-3 minutes.

OP can you confirm??? Btw, Maybe just for fun/challenge, for a little while maybe do the same routine but switch it up to like 8 reps per set, and do double the sets, with half the rest. It'll change thing sup a bit and challenge you to add some volume.

Also, I never said congrats. Looking great man!

First, I want to be clear, I did NOT make up this training style. This was popularized by Martin Berkham of Leangains.com.

There are many ways to implement something similar. I believe the primary focus should be on heavy compound movements and progression. Everything else matters less than those two points. With that said, any program should be tailored to your goals: my goal was to maintain muscle while cutting the fat. With that in mind, I wanted maximum intensity and minimal volume.

Would I do "ok" with double the volume and less rest between sets? I don't know honestly but I'm doubtful because of the strain it would be on a my CNS. In fact, I used to train more like a typical bodybuilder program you'd find in any magazine--and as a result I was beat up and not making progress.

My actual workout follows a double progression reverse pyramid scheme to be exact. Instead of trying to explain it here, you can check out a great explanation (as well as who should use this type of training) at Andy Morgan's RippedBody.jp site.

http://rippedbody.jp/reverse-pyramid-training/

in fact, that entire site is awesome.

I typically rest AT LEAST 5 minutes after my "top set", that is, my all-out-do-or-die set with maximal weight. Then I reduce the weight a bit and do another set where I stop at least 1 rep short of failure.

EDIT: Forgot to address rep ranges:

Deadlift:
Set 1 (top set) 4-6 reps
Set 2 (decrease weight by 10-15%) Failure -1*

*right now I'm experimenting with simply stopping after I get 1 additional rep over my "top set". Ie., if I did 5 reps on my heaviest set, then when I reduce the weight I would stop at 6 reps even if I could do 2 more.

Squat / Bench press / Chinups
Set 1: 6-8
Set 2: 8-10
Set 3: 10-12* sometimes I do 3 sets, right now I'm only doing 2

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Holy crap balls.

Good job.

XXXXmay I ask your age?XXXX -> 32

5 minutes is probably a rational amout of time to rest given the weights lifted and OPs weight.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

zOh, the best part of this is your kids seeing you exercise. My kids are not really that interested but do show some interest in it. (7 and 9). But the thing is, my son at 9 is seriously at the point where he wants to weight train. I only did it one night with him but once summer is over I might try to get him on a schedule.

 

[Davidpaul007]

zOh, the best part of this is your kids seeing you exercise. My kids are not really that interested but do show some interest in it. (7 and 9). But the thing is, my son at 9 is seriously at the point where he wants to weight train. I only did it one night with him but once summer is over I might try to get him on a schedule.

Even more important than that it's learning how to eat...training is the catalyst for change,diet lets it happen...

The power of tracking macros can't be overstated imo. I'm no longer a slave tho trying to "eat clean". I have maybe 80% off my food from whole sources but i absolutely work in pizza, ice cream,pop tarts or any other foods i love into my diet plan.

 

[AntonioHG]

Even more important than that it's learning how to eat...training is the catalyst for change,diet lets it happen...

The power of tracking macros can't be overstated imo. I'm no longer a slave tho trying to "eat clean". I have maybe 80% off my food from whole sources but i absolutely work in pizza, ice cream,pop tarts or any other foods i love into my diet plan.

Freaking awesome. Enjoy life.

 

[z1ggy]

First, I want to be clear, I did NOT make up this training style. This was popularized by Martin Berkham of Leangains.com.

There are many ways to implement something similar. I believe the primary focus should be on heavy compound movements and progression. Everything else matters less than those two points. With that said, any program should be tailored to your goals: my goal was to maintain muscle while cutting the fat. With that in mind, I wanted maximum intensity and minimal volume.

Would I do "ok" with double the volume and less rest between sets? I don't know honestly but I'm doubtful because of the strain it would be on a my CNS. In fact, I used to train more like a typical bodybuilder program you'd find in any magazine--and as a result I was beat up and not making progress.

My actual workout follows a double progression reverse pyramid scheme to be exact. Instead of trying to explain it here, you can check out a great explanation (as well as who should use this type of training) at Andy Morgan's RippedBody.jp site.

http://rippedbody.jp/reverse-pyramid-training/

in fact, that entire site is awesome.

I typically rest AT LEAST 5 minutes after my "top set", that is, my all-out-do-or-die set with maximal weight. Then I reduce the weight a bit and do another set where I stop at least 1 rep short of failure.

EDIT: Forgot to address rep ranges:

Deadlift:
Set 1 (top set) 4-6 reps
Set 2 (decrease weight by 10-15%) Failure -1*

*right now I'm experimenting with simply stopping after I get 1 additional rep over my "top set". Ie., if I did 5 reps on my heaviest set, then when I reduce the weight I would stop at 6 reps even if I could do 2 more.

Squat / Bench press / Chinups
Set 1: 6-8
Set 2: 8-10
Set 3: 10-12* sometimes I do 3 sets, right now I'm only doing 2

I only suggested the volume thing as a way to switch it up when you hit stalls on muscle gains, probably during a bulk phase. A lot of body builder types always stress volume. I've experimented with both ways, and for me it's still hard to tell which gives me better gains. I feel like I work harder on low volume high insanity, but on the higher volume stuff, my muscles feel bigger and more full. Of course, that's really just blood swelling them up, and I really can't comment if it actually makes them grow more in the end.

Not that I am totally surprised, but I am impressed at your muscle gain from just doing those things. Did you never do any accessory lifts, like tricep push downs, curls, etc? I'm actually a really big fan of doing bent over rows, I might try to incorporate those.

Additionally, just to make my fat loss quicker if I do decide to eat for maint. on life days, I might add in a short session of HIIT on tues and thurs, followed by some stretching since I don't think I am doing that enough.

I'm checking your link out now, too. Thanks.

 

[blackdogdeek]

OP, can you list what you eat on a typical lifting and non-lifting day along with times of the day?

 

[z1ggy]

OP, can you list what you eat on a typical lifting and non-lifting day along with times of the day?

With out commenting for the OP, I highly suggest you read the linked website OP gave me above. I'm reading the info in here, and it's wonderful. It lays out everything you will ever need to know about work out regiments, eating habits, calorie intake, etc for successful fat loss and muscle bulking.

Seriously. Go read it. I'm reading this entire website from top to bottom today.

 

[blackdogdeek]

With out commenting for the OP, I highly suggest you read the linked website OP gave me above. I'm reading the info in here, and it's wonderful. It lays out everything you will ever need to know about work out regiments, eating habits, calorie intake, etc for successful fat loss and muscle bulking.

Seriously. Go read it. I'm reading this entire website from top to bottom today.

I'll definitely go check it out but I asked because I'm the same height as OP and I'm lazy.

 

[Davidpaul007]

With out commenting for the OP, I highly suggest you read the linked website OP gave me above. I'm reading the info in here, and it's wonderful. It lays out everything you will ever need to know about work out regiments, eating habits, calorie intake, etc for successful fat loss and muscle bulking.

Seriously. Go read it. I'm reading this entire website from top to bottom today.

I love your thirst for knowledge!

Another site you might like is my own where I have laid out exactly what I've learned through this process and some help with implementing. It's not near as chock full (yet) as RippedBody for guidance... hence why I suggested it first. Andy Morgan has put together an incredible free resource that has been extremely beneficial to me.

I'm not here to advertise my site but there is a lot of good info linked within the articles showing how/why I train/eat like I do:
www.AgainsttheflowFitnes.com

 

[Davidpaul007]

OP, can you list what you eat on a typical lifting and non-lifting day along with times of the day?

Sure, you can also friend me on MyFitnessPal (fuzzystump) and see everything I eat. Because I practice IF my meals generally fall between 12 and 8pm.

 

[Davidpaul007]

OP, can you list what you eat on a typical lifting and non-lifting day along with times of the day?

I just want to caution you to NOT get too caught up in the small details--that is, unless you are sub 10% BF and wanting to take it to another level. I see it constantly in the gyms I frequent--small weak people doing these crazy complicated routines but can't bench press 135lbs or squat their bodyweight. The same principle applies to diet: You would be amazed at how often I see people fret about the best time to eat carbs, or the best type of carb to eat post workout, or what the optimal peri-workout nutrition is, or the best whey protein...etc. when they are 40lbs overweight. Oh, and I really love it when obese people proudly exclaim they eat only organic and won't drink diet soda b/c of the threat of artificial sweeteners.

Anyway, off my rant!

Today is Friday, so squat day and some overhead pressing in the gym. I'll take some BCAA's around 10 (remember, I haven't eaten since 7 or 8pm last night) and then head up to my gym (I'm off work today). After my workout I'll probably head to the grocery store to pick up a few things and head home for lunch (I mention this only to illustrate that there is not a magic 20 minute feeding window post workout where you are super anabolic).

Sometime around 12:30-1pm I'll probably eat. Going back a few weeks, here was my food log:

Meal 1 (around 12-1pm)
175g potato
200g watermelon
8.5oz grilled sirloin steak
200g of Bush's baked beans (man i love these)


Meal 2 (probably 4-5 hrs later)
6oz Rotisserie chicken
Hawaiian dinner roll
1/2 cup Vegetable medley (from a can)
150g Bushed baked beans (I told you I love these!)

Meal 3 (probably around 7 or 8pm)
2 cups Fiber one with 1.5cup Almond breeze (unsweetened) almond milk


SNACKS:
Mcdonald's Oreo Mcflurry
1 serving Cheesecake yummy w/PB (this is basically a protein fluff recipe)

Macros for that day:
2319 Calories / 314g Carbs / 65g Fat /148g protein



For a typical "rest day" here is what I had yesterday (I'm actively trying to lose some more fat)

Meal 1 (around noon)
7.5oz Pork chop
1 cup Lima beans
1/2 cup green beans

Meal 2 (around 8pm)
15g cheese (half serving)
85g ground beef (93/7)
3 eggs

Meal 3 (I ate this around 5:30pm after work)
1.5 serving of cheesecake yummy w/PB (same protein fluff recipe as above)
1 serving of Pb2 (I sprinkle this in the mix for awesomeness)

Macros Yesterday:
1524 Calories / 66g carbs / 67g Fat / 151g protein

Notice that I cycle calories via carb cycling between rest and training days. This is more of an "advanced" technique for when you get relatively lean (say, visible abs). Anyone can do it, but I don't know that it's worth the effort for someone with significant weight to lose.

 

[z1ggy]

Sure, you can also friend me on MyFitnessPal (fuzzystump) and see everything I eat. Because I practice IF my meals generally fall between 12 and 8pm.

Did you train fasted? I'm pretty sure it's placebo/I wasn't eating enough carbs, but now that I am back to having breakfast, I feel stronger. My lifts have actually increased, but.. looking at Myfitnesspal logs, I am actually eating more carbs now.

Actually, after reading the 5 points on the website, I was eating waaaaaayyy too little of carbs.. Like an astoundingly low amount. Generally I was on like 220g protein, <100g carbs and maybe 80g fat, every single day, regardless of training or not. No wonder my deadlift went up by like 50lb once I started eating breakfast which upped my carbs to about 175g a day. Even that is much too low if I am training hard (which I do).

I am very excited for the coming weeks. Planning on upping cals a bit on training days and upping my carbs by almost twofold, then cutting back on non training days.

New diet is:
Training Day- ~2800cal, 200g protein, 350g carb, 63g fat
Rest Day- ~1900cal, 210g protein, 75g carb, 90g fat

This leaves me at exactly -3500cal per week, hopefully giving me an average weight loss of 1lb/week. I realize though this is more of a body recomp approach, so I don't intend to see the scale move accordingly. In fact I would be alarmed if I lost 1lb/week even as I really only have about 12lb to lose to be at 10% body fat.

 

[Davidpaul007]

Not that I am totally surprised, but I am impressed at your muscle gain from just doing those things. Did you never do any accessory lifts, like tricep push downs, curls, etc? I'm actually a really big fan of doing bent over rows, I might try to incorporate those.

Additionally, just to make my fat loss quicker if I do decide to eat for maint. on life days, I might add in a short session of HIIT on tues and thurs, followed by some stretching since I don't think I am doing that enough.

I'm checking your link out now, too. Thanks.

I do VERY little accessory work. My thought process was this: I wanted to really test this low volume approach out for myself and ALL my muscles should be getting hit with this primary movements.

Deadlift/Chinup days: I might do 2 sets of barbell curls on these days. Not because I think it's necessary so much as it's fun for me. Also, my arms look like an anatomy chart when I train them and it's enjoyable (for me) to see my veins look like they are going to split my skin open.

Benchpress days: I do a couple sets of external rotations due to past shoulder injuries and physical therapist saying I had looser than normal shoulder joints making me prone to injuries (especially in pressing movements). They recommended I keep my deltoids/rotator cuff muscles strong. I might also do a couple sets of curls on this day if I feel like it.

Squat days: sometimes I do a set of bodyweight pullups (palms facing away). I did this for a few months for simply fun and to see how many I could do. After I got to the point of being able to do 30+ I switched to weighted ones where I strap a 45lb weight around me. I do this for enjoyment...lol.