Getting Ripped and Staying Ripped

Getting in amazing shape is the first step of the journey, the second and much longer step is staying in that shape. And there is no better person to talk to about this critical second step than Mark Levy. Mark won the senior open category of the Adonis Index contest. His pictures speak for themselves.

 

Adonis_Index_Senior_Open_Winner

Adonis Index Senior Open Winner Mark Levy

Adonis_Index_Open_Winner_Mark_Levy

Mark is Shredded!

 

We talk of the evolution of working out being a major part of our identity to simply becoming a tool that simply gets you a result that you want.

There is a fine line between defining yourself by your workout and simply using it as a means to an end.

This doesn’t mean that you blow off your workouts and don’t take them seriously…but rather it means we all need to learn to categorize where our workouts and diet planning fit into our lives.

The point is making a lifestyle change and give your workout and diet it’s fair place in your life without letting it consume your life and your identity.

Maintaining a great physique is an active step just like transforming your physique. Learning how to live in maintenance is where we all strive to get and Mark has many great insights on his life in maintenance.

Listen up because this is the goal we’re all shooting for.

John

LISTEN:

Get Lean First, then Build Muscle

Muscle building happens at different rates at different times of your life. If you first start working out in your  late teens or early 20’s you get a big initial growth burst because of juvenile muscle growth being stacked on top of the beginners burst that everyone gets.

Adonis Index Junior Winner David Donoghue

Adonis Index Junior Winner David Donoghue

This is what the Adonis Index is all about

This is what the Adonis Index is all about

Once you reach your mid 20’s the fast growth stops and you have to accept that growth takes more time and effort and patience. This is the revelation that our Adonis Index Open Junior category winner David Donoghue has learned during is time with us as an Adonis Index community member and now contest winner.

In todays podcast David shares his experiences with muscle building and some of the things he has experimented with and how he got into the phenomenal shape you see him in here.

The message is pretty clear. Bulking and cutting simply doesn’t work. Spending years and even decades overweight just to build a few pounds of muscle is hardly a good way to go about getting in shape. You could end up spending all of your 20’s and 30’s as a fat guy telling yourself the lie that you’re ‘bulking’ and one day will cut down. This is a big mistake and many older guys are struggling with this. But David is smart and at only 25 years old he’s already got this figured out and will never make the mistake of being trapped in the endless bulking cycle.

The first key is giving yourself permission to be light and accepting that your bodyweight can’t tell you how good your body looks.

Getting to a lean bodyfat level you’re happy with should be your first step, then from there spend your time in the gym building muscle. At this point you can be ready to push it hard in the gym, and that is exactly what you need to do to build muscle…you gotta push it HARD during every workout.

It’s the difference between ‘working out’ and ‘training’. When David started ‘training’ is when the results really started showing up.

John

LISTEN:

Changing Your Body Changes Your Perspective

Your attitude towards yourself and towards others is going to be influenced by the look and shape of your body. You simply cannot separate your self perception from what you see in the mirror on a daily basis. This will color how you view everyone else even if you don’t realize it.

Sean_Rafferty_Adonis_Index_4th_Place_Front

Sean took 4th place and looks great

Sean_Rafferty_Adonis_Index_4th_Place_Back

Big back!

SeanRaffertyAdonisIndex4thPlaceSide

Sean has some serious muscle

The only time this will become clear to you is when you finally change your body and start seeing yourself and everyone else through a new set of eyes…and this is exactly what Sean Rafferty did in our last transformation contest when he took 4th place.

Sean explains what his perception and judgement of other people in the gym were like before he made his transformation, and then again after he became one of those people he was ‘judging’. It’s definitely a new perspective and a fairer more accepting perspective, and finally you’ll never know what it feels like until you make the change for yourself.

We also talk about Sean’s challenges with diet throughout the contest, how he found motivation and support to make the change and what he thinks are the keys to sticking it out and making it happen.

John

LISTEN:

 

Adonis Index Contest Winner Dan Blunk

In todays podcast we talk to the winner of the 4th Adonis Index transformation contest Dan Blunk.

Adonis Index Transformation winner Dan Blunk Front

Adonis Index Transformation winner Dan Blunk

Adonis Index Transformation Contest Winner Dan B

Dan Blunk Side Before and After

Adonis Index Contest Winner Dan Back Pose

Dan has a great back!

Dan’s story of the 12 week contest is much different than past winners as he had many lifestyle obstacles to overcome as well as catching the flu right in the middle of the contest.

Flu or not, Dan persevered and pushed through it all and came out as the winner.

In this podcast we’ll talk about the challenges of working out when you’re sick, sticking to a commitment that you’ve made to yourself and the importance of social support and finding your motivation to move forward.

We also talk about the common mistakes guys make of trying to be bigger by overeating and ending up getting fat and in some cases giving up on the idea of ever actually getting in the shape they really want. This may have even crossed your mind, but Dan mentions the feeling of simply giving up on the idea that he could ever get into the shape he’s been working for over the past 15 years.

John

LISTEN:

Adonis Index Transformation Contest #5

The official start date of the next Adonis Index Transformation contest is Wed May 11th 2011.

As with the previous contests we’re always trying to make them a bit better each time so we’ve made a few changes to the structure and format.

Who can enter:

Anyone who is an Adonis Index customer can enter this contest except for those who placed in the top three in their respective category in our previous open contest. Placing in the top 3 in our previous open contest qualifies you for our annual level 2 competition that will be held in April 2012. There will be more details about the level 2 competition in the months to come.

Similar to the last contest there are going to be cash prizes for the top 1-6 in the transformation which is judged on total change combined with best final look, total change in AI, how much you changed overall and how close your are to your true golden ratio.

The new twist is that you automatically qualify for the open contest as well, so this gives everyone double the chance to win. The open contest will no longer have age categories but rather we will give prizes for the top 1-6 in the open category as well.

If you think you already look pretty good and want to enter the contest, but you’re not sure you’ve got a big enough ‘transformation’ to make, go ahead and submit your before and after pictures anyway. The judging panel will automatically bump you up to the ‘open’ contest if you’re final look is good but your total transformation isn’t as big as other people who have farther to go. This is the easiest way for us to award as many prizes as possible to everyone who wants to enter.

There are cash prizes for places 1-6 in transformation and 1-6 in open (we’ve eliminated the age categories for the open category)

Entry into the transformation contest automatically enters you into the open as well.

Prize money for both categories of transformation and open are as follows:

1st Place – $500

2nd Place – $350

3rd Place – $250

4th Place – $200

5th Place – $200

6th Place – $200

Submitting Before Pictures:

“Before” pictures must be submitted by all contestants at the beginning of the contest to me at my email address johnbarban at gmail (dot) com

“Before” pictures required: standard front, back and side shots, standing relaxed with hands at your side, and at least one extra picture in the grouping with the current days newspaper (while you’re in the same position and wearing the same shorts so we can verify the date you took the pics). Find a spot in your house with a clear background or hang a plain sheet up behind you so you’re standing in front of a plain background.

Make sure the cover of the newspaper is visible and also include a close up pic of the news paper as well.

Name each before picture file according to the pose with your name and the word ‘before’ ex: name_before_side

The earliest you can submit a before pictures is on May 11th, every day you wait after this day is one more day of transformation that you are losing compared to others who have submitting on May 11th. I’ll be accepting before pictures until the following wednesday May 18th (however I strongly advise you take them and send them on May 11th). So even if you take them on May 11th you have until May 18th to send them in to me.

You must also submit a document with your before statistics including:

Age, Height, Waist measurement, Shoulder measurement, current Adonis Index Ratio.

Send all materials in a zip file.

All contestants must submit before pictures and statistics as stated above no matter if you feel you’ll end up in the open category or in the transformation category. The judges will decide which category you will end up in.

Your pictures will remain on my personal drive and will not be used or viewed by anyone for any purpose. If you choose not to complete the contest or have to bow out for any reason your pictures will never be used, viewed or posted for any reason whatsoever.

The rest of this post the the legal mumbo jumbo about privacy and the legal right to photo’s etc. This is the same stuff as the previous four contests.

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Contest Policy and Privacy Statement

All entries become the property of the Contest Sponsor and will not be returned.

Contest Sponsor, its advertising and promotion agencies assume no responsibility for lost, stolen, delayed, damaged, illegible, incomplete, postage-due, garbled or misdirected entries or entries that have been submitted through illicit means, or do not conform to or satisfy the Contest Rules or for any problems or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers, access providers, computer equipment, software, failure of any entry to be received or traffic congestion on the internet or at any website, or any combination thereof including any injury or damage to an entrant’s or any other person’s computer related to or resulting from playing or downloading any material in the contest.


The Contest Sponsor reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify, cancel or suspend this Contest should an external circumstances arise which are beyond the reasonable control of the Contest Sponsor. The Contest Sponsor is not responsible for any errors or omissions in printing or advertising this Contest.

The Contest Sponsor collects your personal information for the purposes of registration, program evaluation and to keep you informed about contest. The Contest Sponsor may, if consent was given during registration, also contact you from time to time with information about other ways you can lose weight.

The Contest Sponsor will not share any personal data about entrants with any
other party. The personal data collected for this Contest will not be used for any other purposes unless entrants provide explicit permission as indicated on the entry form. For more information about our privacy practices or to obtain a copy of our Privacy Policy, visit: Privacy Policy

By entering this Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Contest Sponsor and their respective employees, officers, directors, agents, representatives, successors, assigns, advertising and promotional agencies from any liability for any loss or damage of any kind to the entrant or any other person in connection with this Contest or participation in any Contest related activities, including but not limited the taking of a urine test or, if declared a winner, the use or misuse of a prize or any portion of a prize including personal injury, death or property damage.

This Contest will run in accordance with these Contest Rules, subject to amendment by the Contest Sponsor. Contest Sponsor reserves the right to cancel, amend, modify or terminate this Contest or the Rules at any time in its sole discretion and without notice.

Entrants must comply with these rules, and will be deemed to have received and understood the rules if they participate in the Contest.

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John

Adonis Index Contest Winners Announced!

It’s time to announce the winners of the fourth Adonis Index Transformation contest as the first ever Open contest.

The competition keeps getting tighter each time as the bar just keeps getting set higher and higher.

Contestants were judged on total change in AI, how close they got to their true golden ratio and their final pictures.

Finally, if you want to get a hold of the systems that make all of this possible, here’s where you need to go:

==> Click here to grab your copy of the Adonis Index Systems

Ok lets get to it.

Adonis Index Transformation Contest #4

1st Place: Dan Blunk

Adonis Index Transformation Dan

Dan Blunk AT4 Winner

Adonis Index Pictures Dan

AT4 Winner Dan Blunk

Adonis Index Before

Dan Before

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2nd Place: Leo Bell

Adonis Index Leo Bell

2nd place Leo Bell

Adonis Index Contest Leo

2nd place Leo Bell

Adonis Index Before

Leo Before

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4th Place: Sean Rafferty

Adonis Index Sean

4th Place: Sean Rafferty

Sean Before

Sean Before

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5th Place: Richard Lane

Adonis Index Rchard Lane

5th Place: Richard Lane

Richard Before

Richard Before

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6th Place: Greg Rojem

Adonis Index Greg Rojem

6th Place Greg Rojem

Greg Before

Greg Before

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Adonis Index Open Contest:

Senior Division (40+ years old)

1st Place: Mark Levy

Adonis Index Senior Mark Levy

Adonis Index Senior Open Champ Mark Levy

Adonis Index Open Mark Levy

More of Mark

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2nd Place: Joe Weaver

Adonis Index Senior Joe Weaver

60 years young and looking great!

Adonis Index Senior Joe

Showing the young guys how it’s done!

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3rd Place: Rich Sigona

Adonis Index Rich

3rd Place Rich Sigona

Adonis Index Rich

Rich has serious muscle mass and a huge back!

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Adonis Index Open:

Middle Division (25 – 40 years old)

1st Place: Allen Elliot

Adonis Index Open Allen Elliot

Adonis Index Open Winner Allen Elliot

Adonis Index Allen

More of Allen

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2nd Place: Kidafi Byer

Adonis Index Kidafi

2nd Place Kidafi Byer

Adonis Index Kidafi

More of Kidafi

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3rd Place: Andrew Tullio

Adonis Index Andrew Tullio

3rd Place Andrew Tullio

Adonis Index Andrew Tullio

More of Andrew

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Adonis Index Open:

Junior Division (under 25 years old)

1st Place: David Donoghue

Adonis Index Junior David

Junior Division 1st Place David Donoghue

Adonis Index David D

More of David

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Adonis Index Andrew I

Andrew Irvine 2nd Place

Adonis Index Junoir Andrew

More of Andrew

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Congratulations to all, you did a phenomenal job getting into great shape.

I’ll be contacting each of you personally as we owe you money and I’d like to do a podcast interview with each of you to share your training and preparation that you went through over the past 12 weeks.

This just set the bar even higher for our next competition which starts May 11th.

John

p.s. If you want to get a hold of the systems that make all of this possible, here’s where you need to go:

==> Click here to grab your copy of the Adonis Index Systems

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