Today we bring you an interview with Kerry Hopkins who placed 6th in the latest Adonis Index Transformation Contest.
Check out his pictures:
Calorie optimization combined with a good workout program can have magical effects.
If you want pictures like this, make sure you take action and do what you hear Kerry talking about in the interview
Kerry started working out when he was 16. However, his workouts lacked any structure and it was just about working out rather than really training. And there is clearly a difference between just showing up in the gym and lifting some weights compared to going there with a specific goal, a good workout plan, and training with some dedication.
Unfortunately most guys in the gym usually end up chatting with other people, boosting their ego on the bench press and pumping their ‘mirror muscles’.
For Kerry it was always about doing just a few sets here and there two times a week.
And after a while due to a lack of motivation he stopped going to the gym all together.
Kerry's back shot.
…Then He Found Adonis Index
For about a year Kerry was reading all the blog posts and listening to all the podcasts here at the Adonis Index, because he loved the science behind it and the simple approach. Everything made sense to him.
However, it still took him a year to really get on board and take action. It wasn’t until he saw some previous contest winners that he realized he needs to take action…just reading about this won’t be enough.
And this is really important, if you don’t take action based on what you read about then you can’t expect any results, can you?
You haven’t learned anything if you can just cite pages from a book, it’s when you change your behavior and take action on that knowledge.
You learn when you change your habits, take action, start acting differently and put the theory in practice.
After a year of working out Kerry noticed that not much had changed, so he decided to take action. He tried the contest and was unsuccessful due to a few set backs, he didn’t even bother submitting pictures, because he knew he didn’t change.
He made several mistakes like following the advanced Adonis Index workout the Triple Stack while he was on a very low calorie diet. As a result he got burnt out after a month.
That’s when Kerry learned that you can’t pull off a big caloric restriction when you are already pretty lean while following a really challenging and tough workout.
He decided to get back to AI 3.0, which he found worked the best to cut and build at the same time.
Kerry fasted once or twice a week, had just a coffee in the morning maybe with a piece of chocolate. Later on he would eat half of the dinner with his family and that would be it for the day.
He just didn’t want to sacrifice his social life, so he decided to save his calories during the week and enjoy his weekends with his friends.
The point is to have a social life and still look good.
Then after 12 weeks he took the after pictures and just couldn’t believe what he saw. And here’s the thing, in a mirror you can see some new lines and may notice some improvements along the way. Day to day you will seem to look pretty much the same and it’s hard to tell how much you’ve really changed.
However, when you put the before and after pictures side by side that’s when you can actually see a big difference.
Kerry is around 9% bodyfat (just a guess) and like he said the model body doesn’t seem unattainable anymore. It’s just about building a bit more muscle. As long as he is consistent with the workouts the muscle will continue to come.
Since he still has juvenile muscle growth on his side he can build some significant muscle mass over the next few years.
Luckily for him he found Adonis Index early on in his life and was spared all of the crap like bulking and cutting, eating six meals a day or overdosing protein supplements. So, he can actually spend his best years being in shape rather than bulking up and being fat.
Patience Is the King
Kerry would receive skinny comments at the beginning, his mother would worry about whether what he was doing is healthy and he even failed in his first attempt to place in the contest. However, he didn’t give up and decided to stick to the program and be patient.
Sometimes it just takes time and people don’t want to believe it can take longer than they expected and wanted.
Especially at this early age patience is not very high priority skill we want to learn.
And once you don’t see results the next day you are wondering if you should try something else, or whether the grass isn’t just a bit greener on the other side of the fence.
But if you can push through this feelings of doubt and be patient and consistent then your hard work will pay off.
Dealing with this is important, because patience is the key in gaining muscle without excess fat.
Most guys want quick results so they fall for supplements, high protein diets, bulking and all sorts of crap.
Ironically every experienced guy who has successfully built a great Adonis Index will tell you that following these ‘shortcuts’ will end up taking you much longer to get the body you want.
Take home advice from Kerry:
- Sometimes you do things you shouldn’t, that happens, just get back on track, don’t stop
- Stick to the plan, you will get there eventually
- Talk is cheap…Stop talking about what you are ‘going’ to do or ‘want’ to do…shut up and do it! That’s when you really get the results
- If you are skinny and young just hang in there, it’s worth it to stay lean and build muscles, don’t fall for the idea of ‘bulking up’
- Your body and the pics are the pay off, which come from your hard work and patience
- For the young guys…if you get the right program now, you will save years of struggle and won’t have to correct any bad habits in the future
- If you don’t take action nothing will change
Links from the Interview:
- Adonis Index 3.0 and Muscle Building Foundation (aka MBF) – The basic Adonis Index workouts that are responsible for the best online transformation.
- Adonis Triple Stack Protocol (aka ATS) – An advanced version of Adonis Index workouts.
- Anything Goes Diet (aka AGD) – Diet program without any rules. Eat anything you want, anytime you want, anywhere you want.
Listen to the interview here:
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
About Allen Elliott