Crystal Clear: Interview with AT11 Winner William Heinrichs

Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 11th Adonis Golden Ratio Transformation Contest.

Even if the path is a little blurry, keep walking.

You’ll focus in when you know what you want.

The picture of your life will become crystal clear.

Just don’t ever give up!

-Unknown

Today we get to learn from William Heinrichs,  who placed  6th in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

William’s journey into the Adonis Lifestyle began in his late-thirties when he tipped the scale at 205lbs.  He felt that was a wake-up call as he didn’t have that much muscle to “show” for that amount of weight.  Sadly, his first approach was the traditional “bulk and cut” strategy.  Unfortunately for many, including William himself, his progress was showing little return on investment.  Nevertheless, William was persistent; he continued to search for a program that would help him achieve his goals.  When he finally found the AGR program, suddenly his goals became “crystal clear.”

Scroll down to read more of William’s transformation journey in his own words.

But first, check out William’s  AT11 Pictures:

William Heinrichs- AT11 6th Place - Before Photos

William Heinrichs- AT11 6th Place – Before Photos

 

William Heinrichs- AT11 6th Place - Transformation Image

William Heinrichs- AT11 6th Place – Transformation Image

 

William Heinrichs- AT11 6th Place - After Photos

William Heinrichs- AT11 6th Place – After Photos

 

 

William’s Transformation Essay:

It wasn’t until my my late thirties when I finally decided to do something about my increasing waistline and lack of energy.  My first attempt left me entangled in the dreaded “bulk and cut” strategy. For someone who was skinny most of his life, weighing as much as 205 lbs without much muscle was just too shocking for me.

I tried for several more years bouncing from program to program with limited success. When I finally found AGR, I was down to almost 190 lbs. The material [AGR System] made sense to me. The podcasts inspired me. Suddenly, my goals  became crystalized! I made the investment in a small home gym, some dumbbells and I was well on my way by the time AT11 began.

For the first 6 weeks of AT11 I kept a detailed record of everything I ate and drank. I had sets/reps/weight records of every single workout. About half-way through the contest it seemed like everything was falling into place. However, I knew that I had a work rotation coming up which would take me out of the country for many weeks.

I was also worried to about losing control of the momentum I had gained. Luckily the place I was going to work at had a decent gym. Unluckily, I would face a huge, all-you-can eat, free buffet at every meal. For the next 5 weeks, I ate by “feel”, kept up with my training and nervously measured my waist every day.

It turns out I’m pretty good at losing weight because I somehow managed to come home 7 pounds lighter than when I left. At 46 years of age, I don’t think I have ever looked better in my life. But this is just a point in time and not the end. Fifty-two inch shoulders are a long way off, so I’ve got some work to do.

EDITOR’S NOTE

William,

That’s very commendable on your part by continuing to pursue you goals despite some setbacks and hardships.  What’s even more impressive, is that you “Held the Line” for over 5 weeks being out of your normal training and nutrition environment.

Temptation seemed to be in your face with every meal but you had momentum, discipline and tenacity  to carry you successfully across the finish line of AT11.  Were happy that your fitness goals were able to finally crystallize with the proper application of the AGR system.

Congrats again on your transformation and  wish you all the best in your pursuit of becoming “Golden.”

your brother in Iron,

Allen Elliott | Adonis Golden Ratio Ambassador

From “Skinny-Fat” to “Shredded-Ripped”: Interview with AT11 Winner Timothy Olson

Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 11th Adonis Golden Ratio Transformation Contest.

Today we get to learn from Timothy Olson,  who placed 4th in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

Timothy states in his essay that growing up, he always considered himself to be “skinny-fat.”  He had never seriously weight trained or followed any nutritional regimen.  However, it wasn’t until he ballooned up to 210 pounds, the heaviest he had ever been that he decided to make some serious lifestyle changes.  Scroll down to read more of Timothy’s transformation journey in his own words.

But first, check out his  AT11 Pictures:

Timothy Olson- AT11 4th Place - Before Photos

Timothy Olson- AT11 4th Place – Before Photos

Timothy Olson -  AT11 4th Place - Transformation Image

Timothy Olson – AT11 4th Place – Transformation Image

Timothy Olson- AT11 4th Place - After Photos

Timothy Olson- AT11 4th Place – After Photos

 

Timothy’s Transformation Essay:

For the majority of my life, I was what some would consider skinny-fat; about 3 years ago I hit my heaviest weight at about 210 pounds. I had never worked out previously, with the exception of weight training in high school gym class.  Although I have always been fairly active by means of biking, hiking, skiing etc. It wasn’t until February 2013 when I found the Adonis Golden Ratio (AGR) and began my first true resistance training protocol.  I began working out 4 – 5 days a week, starting with Category 3-AGR and the Adonis Index Specializations.

Almost immediately, I started seeing changes that I had never experienced before, I was absolutely amazed! By the time I finished Category-3 AGR, the Adonis calculator told me that I had reached the dimensions to use Category-1 AGR; so after a one week rest period (which happened to coincide with the start of contest  AT11), I dove head-first into Category-1 AGR. After following Category-1 AGR for a month, I decided to try “LEGO-blocking” Category-1 AGR, Category-2 AGR, and Category-3 AGR in weekly intervals. This was the best decision I had made since starting resistance training. It was exciting and kept things new and different, my results began accelerating even more.

Regarding food and diet, since the beginning of my Adonis Lifestyle adventure, I starting eating healthier… considering macro & micro nutrients but never actually counting calories. I feel that it was an equal combination of eating right and progressive resistance training that resulted in having  visible abs for the first time ever! I have been an avid outdoors man since I was quite young, and this has seriously increased my abilities in those areas. Finding the  Adonis Golden Ratio has changed my life in an amazing way; I can now say with no hesitation that I will workout and eat proper for the remainder of my life!

 

 

EDITOR’S NOTE

Timothy,

It’s good to know that you decided to “go against the grain” and make some positive lifestyle changes.  It appears that reaching your heaviest weight  was your, “call to action.”  It’s also very exciting to learn that your Adonis Lifestyle journey was able you to give the give of “Visible Abs!”  Now that you’ve made a successful transformation it’s off to the lands of “Lean Gains” & “Maintenance.”

Your approach of “LEGO-blocking” the three different Categories of  AGR is very interesting; it’s almost like you did a “Giant Cycle.” We’ll take that concept into consideration for future workout routines.

Congrats again on making the transformation from “Skinny-Fat” to “Shredded-Ripped!”

your brother in Iron,

Allen Elliott | Adonis Golden Ratio Ambassador

Brad’s Recovery From Not Exercising and Not Fasting For 7 Weeks: Part 2

Here’s the next episode of the UNCENSORED Podcasts Season 3.

 

Your win for today has to be your list; workout and calorie totals. You must base it on faith.

Your win for today has to be your list; workout and calorie totals. You must base it on faith.

 

Today’s Topic: Brad’s Recovery From Not Exercising and Not Fasting For 7 Weeks: Part 2

For the entire experiment Brad’s overall weight did not change.  During the first half of the experiment he lost muscle and gained fat.  This was not fun for him. Well, eating and relaxing was fun of course – gaining fat and losing muscle was not fun!

Rest assured, when you have built muscle and take a break from exercise your muscle will inflate back fairly quickly once you get back into your routine.

Diet

Losing the fat is a bit harder.

For Brad the first one or two fasts were hard. He had to break the ritual habits of relaxing and eating snacks in the evenings. Even though he was eating at maintenance he had quickly developed fun ritual habits with relaxing and eating.

After pushing through the initial couple of weeks he got into his healthy Reverse Taper Diet.  The first two weeks were hard.  Then six weeks in Brad was in a pretty good groove.

Training

He tapered up in workout time and volume, eased his way up in volume.  Again the first two weeks were hard but then six weeks in he was in a pretty good groove.

It is a delayed reaction.

Especially with a calorie deficit it is a delayed reaction.  There is no immediate feedback. There is no immediate gratification.  You have to go on faith; that what you do right now will have an effect next week, or in two or three weeks.

While you are slimming down it’s a difficult mind set.  You are eating and training for results to be seen a few days or week later.

Your win for today has to be your list; workout and calorie totals.  You must base it on faith.

 

How to Dress to Increase Your Adonis Index

It’s been said “the clothes make the man.”  Well, we wouldn’t go that far, but the clothes may very well make his Adonis Index (Find Yours Here).  Or at least enhance it.  If you like our systems you probably know that a Man’sAdonis Index, more than his watch or his car is most correlated with making a good first impression.  But bad clothing choices can totally sabotage your Adonis Index, whereas good choices can make a guy who’s a 1.4 look like a 1.6!

But first, how NOT to dress:

2810275667_799b6cf4c3

Americans on the Street…Emphasizing their lower bodies, the opposite of the Adonis Effect.  Don’t be like them.

Here are some tips on dressing for your Adonis Index:

1.)  YOU ARE NOT AN EXTRA LARGE.  As a rule, American sizes are a guideline, unlike European sizes which are numerical and correspond to a certain measurement.  Our theory is that American manufacturers want to appeal to guys’ vanity:  everyone wants to be an extra large, have a million and drive a sports car.  But it just doesn’t work that way, NOR do you have to wear an extra large to show off your Adonis Index.  As an example, John, who is 6’1″ 185 lbs and a perfect Adonis Index, often wears mediums, as does Pilon.  Considering that the average N. American and European male is 5’10” like Pilon, if you’re buying large, you’re probably making a mistake.

In fact, if you DO buy a large or extra large, there’s often going to be a lot of extra material around the waist, so you’re hurting your natural and trained-for V shape.  Also, the length will be longer, shortening your legs and overall height, or the extra material may give the impression of extra girth, while form-fitting clothes (like we recommend) tend to give an extra impression of slimness.  And if you’re like a lot of guys on our programs, you’ll find you lose some upper body circumference along with waist circumference (don’t worry about this, as you actually look bigger when you have a slim waist than when you were fat), so you’ll commonly to want to drop a size in the shoulders in order to maintain a slim fit and not look baggy.

So unless you’re 6’4″, buy the Mediums (or even the smalls!)  No one will know but you.  All they’ll know is that they can see the awesome shape that you are getting from your training and “covert nutrition.”

ryan-gosling

Hollywood Actor Ryan Gosling on the Street.  Notice how slim pants lengthen the body and emphasize the upper body.

 

2.)  Try Clothes On In Person, Do Not Buy Online Unless You Already Know How that Manufacturer Fits.

This will require you to visit stores more, but it will be worth it in time and effort, because you’ll get the right size, as WELL as stay up to date on fashion.

A Medium from one manufacturer may fit like a Large from another, and vice versa.  Pants and jeans are just as hard:  there are a lot of new fits out there like Slim Fit and Lowrise that you may look great in, but you’d never know it until you try them on; OR, you may look HORRIBLE in them!  So you need to know before you buy, or else you’er going to be sending them back.  Once you know a manufacture’s idiosyncrasies, you can feel free to order online.  But be careful when they change the fit or style on you again!

So go to the store and try on that manufacturer, style and size before you buy anything.

 

3.)  Buy Slim fit Jeans and Pants.  Slim fit jeans aren’t just for hipsters; they can really enhance your Adonis Index by emphasizing your upper body incomparison to your legs.  They also lengthen the leg and make you look taller, whereas baggy jeans are just going to make you look fat and emphasize your lower body, and if you adhere to the principles of our program, you know that it’s the upper body that is more correlated with prestige.  The best new jeans are called “drop-crotch, slim-fit” and allow a slimmer fit while still leaving room for the other male identifiers, so, keep an eye out for those.

Brad-Pitt-leather-trousers (1)

Brad Pitt Wearing Slimfit, Drop-crotch leather pants

 

4.)  If you Find Something that Fits Really Well, Buy Two.  Once you find clothes that Fit close to your body, that item will become your favorite, and you’ll quickly realize that Fit is the most important element in fashion.  You’ll also find out how hard it is to find clothes that fit your exact body type!  And once they’re faded or frayed, you often won’t be able to find that item anymore, even on the manufacturer’s website, as most change their selection every season or so.  So if you can, BUY TWO of your favorite items.  This also lets you have a backup if your favorite outfit is dirty, but it may require saving some money elsewhere or finding sales, and we have some tips for that too in another blog post.

That’s it for our first installment of tips and we’ll have some more for you in the future.  We hope you can put these to use on your next shopping trip and that people start noticing your AI even more!

Or When in doubt, just dress like this kid (seriously)!

13

Alonso Mateo is a 5-yr-old Style Icon on Instagram (his mother is a stylist)

http://instagram.com/alonso_mateo

Simon Says…Lose 48 Pounds

Before we get into today’s post, the first order of business is the announcement of  our third and final contest for 2013,  Adonis Transformation contest AT12, which kicks off next Monday Sept 2nd and ends on Wednesday Nov 27th. 

As many of you in the U.S. are aware, Wednesday November 27  is the day before Thanksgiving.  It’s encouraged that you submit your final pictures earlier than the deadline but  nevertheless the full 12-week period will be available to those who need it.

You may enter any time starting next monday by using the tracker app found within the Adonis Index Community.  Remember  to enter your mandatory before pictures, along with all your starting measurements. The deadline  to submit your starting pictures and measurements is Friday September 6th at Midnight (Eastern Standard Time).

Now that all announcements are out of the way, it’s time to give credit, where credit is due… We often find ourselves wishing  we had more spots to award than just “The Top 10” in our transformation contests. 

Today’s post features AT11 contestant Simon Cozzolino, who lost a whopping total of 48 pounds during the contest! Simon putting forth an exceptional effort, had the most weight-loss amongst  AT11 contestants.   Although he did not appear in the Top 10,  make no mistake his transformation did not go unnoticed.

Check out Simon’s Before/After pics:

Simon Cozzolino-  AT11 Front Shot Starting Weight: 242 Finishing Weight: 194

Simon Cozzolino- AT11 Front Shot
Starting Weight: 242
Finishing Weight: 194
“Coming to the end, I now have a whole new wardrobe, friends,
family and colleagues are immensely impressed with my progress so far.” -Simon C.

 

Simon Cozzolino-  AT11 Back Shot Starting Weight: 242 Finishing Weight: 194

Simon Cozzolino- AT11 Back Shot
Starting Weight: 242
Finishing Weight: 194
“The Nutrition calculator was very simple, eat 1000 calories a day average- no problem I thought.
Wrong, this would soon become a major hurdle for me.” -Simon C.

 

Simon Cozzolino-  AT11 Side Shot Starting Weight: 242 Finishing Weight: 194

Simon Cozzolino- AT11 Side Shot
Starting Weight: 242
Finishing Weight: 194
“I couldn’t finish all of the reps at once, I even struggled to finish push-ups- but I stayed in the gym until every rep was done, every time.” -Simon C.

 

Simon Says…

Simon shares his thoughts and experience  about the AT11 contest:

Younger in life I was never this fat. I was into sports, very active and kept up my gym raining throughout my early twenties. However, it wasn’t until my late twenties that I started commuting to work for a better job.  Shortly thereafter, I was overcome with the balance of stress and time constraints and  I quit going to the gym.

After a couple of years passed my friends and family started telling me I was looking big, so I weighed myself and the numbers glaring back from the scale came as a major shock to me.  Nevertheless, I kept convincing myself I wasn’t really that  fat and that things were fine.

After shaking off those delusional thoughts, I needed a motivational boost, so  I bought the AGR system in 2010. I actually never started the program, it took me until 2013 at the beginning of  AT11  to actually take a step forward and  simply begin the program.

The Nutrition calculator was very simple, eat 1000 calories a day average- no problem I thought. Wrong, this would soon become a major hurdle for me.

The workout plans were really simple to follow, there were a few moves that I had no idea about, but the guide has links to short instructional videos which solved that problem.

The first 6 Weeks were a breeze, I lost the majority of my weight then- while the  workout plans was simple to follow, the actual workout itself was immensely tough because of my lack of recent training. I couldn’t finish all of the reps at once, I even struggled to finish push-ups- but I stayed in the gym until every rep was done, every time.

After 6 weeks the caloric deficit became harder to maintain while performing the exercises, so I dropped the amount of weights used and soldiered on- but it was HARD WORK.

Along the way, I missed my fair share of workouts and helped myself to some days off the diet. Those days off felt great!

Coming to the end, I now have a whole new wardrobe, friends, family and colleagues are immensely impressed with my progress so far- although I know I have a way to go to golden. I now look at my before pictures, and I could swear I was never that fat!  

 

Again congratulations to  Simon on an awesome transformation, we hope to see you in a future contest!

 yours in fitness,

Allen Elliott

 

AT11 12-Week Transformation Winners Announced

The AT11 results are in and the transformations our guys made are simply amazing! This was the largest contest we’ve had yet… The competition was fierce and the contestants were judged in a total of five equally weighted categories:

1- Weight Loss (LBS) – 20%

2-  Adonis Golden Ratio (AGR)  Transformation Change -20%

3-  Final AGR Score- 20%

4- Muscularity- 20%

5- Aesthetics/Photogenic Quality – 20%

Congratulations to everyone who entered and completed their transformation goals! Here are the winners:

 Michael B. – 1st Place

Michael B. - 1st Place - Front Before/After Photos

Michael B. – 1st Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Michael B. - 1st Place - Back Before/After Photos

Michael B. – 1st Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

Michael B. - 1st Place - Side Before/After Photos

Michael B. – 1st Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

 James Tonda – 2nd Place

James Tonda - 2nd Place - Front Before After

James Tonda – 2nd Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

James Tonda - 2nd Place -  Back Before/After Photos

James Tonda – 2nd Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

James Tonda - 2nd Place -  Side Before/After Photos

James Tonda – 2nd Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

 Lance Quenneville – 3rd Place

Lance Quenneville - 3rd Place - Front Before/After Photos

Lance Quenneville – 3rd Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Lance Quenneville - 3rd Place - Back Before/After Photos

Lance Quenneville – 3rd Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

Lance Quenneville - 3rd Place - Side Before/After Photos

Lance Quenneville – 3rd Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

 Timothy Olson – 4th Place

Timothy Olson - 4th Place -  Front Before/After Photos

Timothy Olson – 4th Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Timothy Olson - 4th Place -  Back Before/After Photos

Timothy Olson – 4th Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

Timothy Olson - 4th Place -  Side Before/After Photos

Timothy Olson – 4th Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

 Mark Kiser – 5th Place

Mark Kiser - 5th Place - Front Before/After Photos

Mark Kiser – 5th Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Mark Kiser - 5th Place - Back Before/After Photos

Mark Kiser – 5th Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

Mark Kiser - 5th Place - Side Before/After Photos

Mark Kiser – 5th Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

 

William Heinrichs – 6th Place

William Heinrichs - 6th Place -  Front Before/After Photos

William Heinrichs – 6th Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

William Heinrichs - 6th Place -  Back Before/After Photos

William Heinrichs – 6th Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

William Heinrichs - 6th Place -  Side Before/After Photos

William Heinrichs – 6th Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

Daniel Carbonel – 7th Place

Daniel Carbonel - 7th Place - Front Before/After Photos

Daniel Carbonel – 7th Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Daniel Carbonel - 7th Place - Back Before/After Photos

Daniel Carbonel – 7th Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

Daniel Carbonel - 7th Place - Side Before/After Photos

Daniel Carbonel – 7th Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

Jacob Hahn – 8th Place

Jacob Hahn -  8th Place -  Front Before/After Photos

Jacob Hahn – 8th Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Jacob Hahn -  8th Place -  Back Before/After Photos

Jacob Hahn – 8th Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

Jacob Hahn -  8th Place -  Side Before/After Photos

Jacob Hahn – 8th Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

Henry Tom – 9th Place

Henry Tom -  9th Place - Front Before/After Photos

Henry Tom – 9th Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Henry Tom -  9th Place - Back Before/After Photos

Henry Tom – 9th Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

Henry Tom -  9th Place - Side Before/After Photos

Henry Tom – 9th Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

Oscar Ramirez – 10th Place

Oscar Ramirez - 10th Place -  Front Before/After Photos

Oscar Ramirez – 10th Place – Front Before/After Photos

 

Oscar Ramirez - 10th Place -  Back Before/After Photos

Oscar Ramirez – 10th Place – Back Before/After Photos

 

 

Oscar Ramirez - 10th Place -  Side Before/After Photos

Oscar Ramirez – 10th Place – Side Before/After Photos

 

If you are wondering about what program(s) they used then check out the Adonis Index systems that all of them followed. You can also look forward to their interviews coming up later this month. Again congratulations to everyone, outstanding job.

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