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Give Yourself Permission to Lift Light

May 4, 2012 by

We have talked about the permission to be light a lot lately, especially it comes up in the interviews, because guys are starting to realize that being 200 pounds might not be the answer to a great looking body. You would have to be about 6’2” and train for at least 10 years in order to be lean and ripped at 200 pounds, that’s just how it is, no one will tell you this, but height is an important factor in determining your weight.

Today, we are going to discuss something similar, yet different. We won’t talk about the ideal physique, but rather about the training itself that will be responsible for building you such a physique.

If you have been listening to the last couple of interviews you may have noticed that more and more guys are starting to focus on things like

  • Training rather than on the supplements
  • Workout structure rather than on the high protein diets
  • Mind-muscle connection and muscle contraction rather than on the amount of weight lifted

And this goes completely against the conventional saying: “lift heavy, sweat blood in the gym, take protein shake exactly 3.8 minutes after your workout followed by post-workout meal 30 minutes after that”.

Well, Adonis Index made it’s name on going against the conventional approach. However, it’s also made it’s name on having a string of dozens of successful transformations from guys having 4 kids and 4 jobs or guys with injuries lasting decades, yet despite their condition or lifestyle circumstances or training history, they still achieved their physique goals and honed in on their ideal body shape. And more and more of them as they progress are focusing on this unconventional training approach.

The headline of this article is to lift light. And let’s be honest that just doesn’t sound all that sexy, does it? Chances are this would not get printed in a fitness magazine, yet if you get this concept it might be the difference between gaining 8 pounds compared to 3 pounds of muscle mass in the same time period.

What’s the deal with this mind-muscle connection and workout structures anyway, why can’t you just lift heavy to grow more muscles?

permission-lift-light

Is your training just about lifting heavy or are you really training your muscles and focusing on the contraction?

Well, the truth is that a fare amount of guys that try to lift really heavy, thinking that’s the way to go, experience a loss in their strength.

Have you ever done a really tough workout, but instead of just feeling sore, you felt really weak for several days? Or you may have just noticed that your strength decreased over a couple of weeks.

Well, if that happened to you, you may count yourself lucky, because you could have also seriously injured yourself.

I’ve even seen some serious chest tendon injuries as an immediate result of heavy bench press and testing the “max”.

Let me tell you something, if you are a guy that can’t do a bench press without someone else helping you with the bar and your whole body is shaking and almost dancing on the bench while you are lifting the bar up, you may want to reconsider your training style. Not only that your friend can do a biceps curl on his own without you lying under the bar, but you alone are not training instead you’re simply stroking your ego by attempting to lift more weight than your current body can.

Best case scenario – you will simply just look dumb, worst case scenario – you will get injured and won’t be able to work out for months or years.

Not only that lighter weights are bearable on your joints and CNS, but with lighter weights you can do something that you just can’t with the heavy weights.

What it is?

Well, you can actually focus on TRAINING the muscle.

If you are lifting so much that you are only thinking about putting the bar down after the first two reps, you are not really training.

Workout Structure Should Dictate the Resistance

What really drives me nuts, well apart from the whole fitness industry, is when somebody comes up to me and says: “Hey how much do you lift on bench press?” or “How strong are your biceps?”. This just doesn’t make sense and just shows that you have no idea what you are talking about if you ask a question like that.

Most people do the 3 set-8 reps-rest until fresh type of training that they’ve heard the first day of their workout life from some trainer. Some people will do that for the rest of their lives.

The truth is that there is no universal way to train, every workout type is different, so asking about the weight without mentioning the other variables of your training is kind of short sighted.

If you asked me how strong I was in the middle of the 2nd workout in the week 7 of the IXP on my biceps, then I would tell you. However, this is a completely different question, you are being specific and we both know what type of training structure are we talking about.

Let’s elaborate on this a bit.

If you do the regular Adonis Index Workout, then most of your training will be around 5,8 and 13 reps with around 90 or 120 seconds rest. However, if you decided to follow the IXP protocol, you may be doing three supersets in a row with no rest in between. So, this means 6 sets in a row, back to back, no rest. Do you think that you can lift the same weight in both of those training protocols in a given exercise?

Of course not.

Just like with look, weight itself tells nothing, because it’s all about proportions and shape, and the same applies here. If you said just how much you lift, you gave a number that holds no meaning, because nobody would know whether you did 3 reps or 21. And that’s a pretty big difference. Not speaking of the fact that in that given workout day, you may have been doing the exercise as a first one, while normally you do it as a last.

Here is test for you.

Take one routine you normally do, change nothing, just add three sets of 10 reps with 90 sec rest of pull-ups. In the first week, do this exercise as the first exercises of the day, so before you start your regular routine. Next week once you are fully recovered, do the same routine, but this time do the pull-ups as the last exercise, after the your routine.

You see where we are going with this?

There is just so many variables that will translate into you changing weights all the time on the same exercises.

Here is a short list of the stuff that will dictate how heavy you will be able to go:

  • Sets, reps done in the exercise (3×21 vs 6×6)
  • Rest after each set (30 sec vs 90 sec)
  • Regular sets vs Supersets vs Pyramids and other types
  • Frequency of your workouts and frequency of you training each muscle group
  • The sequence in which you will do the exercises in your workout
  • Sleep – how much you got the night before, the quality of that sleep

There might be a few others, but the point is to show you, that it’s important to detach yourself from the number on the plate or on the dumbbell and choose based on your workout structure.

A smart choice of the weight will help you stay away from injury and allow you to train your muscles properly. Which brings us to the last part of today’s lesson.

You Can’t Expect Your Muscles to Grow from Lifting

Not only that most guys believe that protein intake is the trigger for muscle growth, but they also think that the lift itself gives your muscles incentive to grow.

Well, not really. Your muscles don’t know how much you lift, what workout you use, how many reps you do, only your mind does.

The only thing your muscle feels is the repeated contraction against greater resistance, which makes it grow.

Big difference.

So, next time you are in the gym, make sure you don’t pick the heaviest dumbbells in there, thinking how amazingly strong you are going to look to everyone around you, but pick a reasonable one and focus on doing the motion with perfect form and really feeling the muscle contracting and working.

If you apply this advice you should see results in both strength and look.

Summary of Today’s Lesson:

  • Leave your ego out of this, preferably at the gym’s entrance
  • Try to detach yourself from the numbers on the plates and focus on feeling the muscle working rather then lifting some specific weight
  • Realize that muscles grow not because of protein intake or weight lifting, but because you are repeatedly creating strong contraction against greater resistance…weights are just a tool to create resistance
  • Understand that there are different workout structures and they will determine how heavy will you be able to go
  • Focusing on mind-muscle connection, feeling the muscle, contracting it in the fullest way possible is way more important than lifting the heaviest weights you can manage…form ALWAYS trumps weight…ALWAYS
  • Try several different workouts like AI 3.0, ATS or IXP to understand this concept in more detail, you will learn all this by experience
  • There is a difference between lifting and training, ask yourself: “Do I want to be a weight lifter or be in killer shape, what’s more important for me?” and act accordingly
  • Of course you still need to lift a reasonable amount of weight, doing curls with pencils will not get you anywhere (I know, stupid, but had to be said)

Talk to you soon,

Vaclav Gregor

Filed Under: Greg's Lessons, Muscle Building, Workout Design Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

The Most Powerful Adonis Transformation Story Yet

April 30, 2012 by

Today we have an interview with Phil who won the latest Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Check out his pictures:

Phil_AT7_Transformation_1stPlace

If Phil can win the Adonis Index Transformation contest while having four kids and four jobs, why couldn't you?

Phil started lifting weights after graduation, he didn’t think he had favourable genetics, but he had the “hard work genes” as he says.

However, the issue was that he was doing the same exercises and routine for the next 20 years. And it wasn’t until the Adonis Index that he realized you can do more for your biceps than just a curl.

When you look around in the gym, you will notice that people are doing the same stuff over and over again, then they go drink some protein shakes and do the magazine promoted post workout things etc. This doesn’t change throughout the years, the issue is that they just look the same year after year. However, they believe that what they are doing works and this approach is what will get them the results. Phil was exactly the same way until he started training with Adonis Index.

However, let’s take a look at his rather unbelievable story before finding the Adonis Index.

Phil started working out and was in the gym on and off throughout the years, but not having any workout program wasn’t the biggest thing.

At first it started with his career getting too crazy which led to being a bit sloppy with his workouts. And when you don’t have any consistency in your workouts, thing will go into a downward spiral. Next thing he knew was that he started gaining weight and at being 6 foot tall he would get to 190 pounds by 2006.

Then his wife got pregnant with not just twins but with quadruplets! This resulted in a massive stress, because the doctors were telling them that she can’t make it and the other two kids were too weak to survive.

Unimaginable stress.

After this was over, the economy crashed and for somebody who relied on Real Estate and Hollywood jobs, this meant massive life problems. Another insane stress in his life, almost unbearable.

And like it wasn’t enough, one of Phil sons was diagnosed with Leukemia and they almost lost him.

Just ask yourself, what would you do in his place?

Maybe your struggles aren’t so big when you compare them to other people. Just because your boss yelled at you, you had to stay at work for an hour more and got stuck in traffic for 30 minutes afterwards doesn’t mean you can’t go to the gym tonight.

At this point he felt like he had lived a life of a 60 year old, but in reality he wasn’t even 40.

It was a time for a change.

Phil got all the way up to 212 pounds, he decided that if his son has to work hard to survive, he should start working hard on himself too.

At first he tried the zone diet, running and got back to weight lifting, which worked to some extent.

While his son got better, Phil stalled at 180 pounds and couldn’t figure out why, which frustrated him.

Frustrated with Your Results? Change Your Approach…

At this point Phil finally decided to do some research online. One of his jobs was in Hollywood, so he decided that he wants to build a body like Brad Pitt had in his famous movie Fight Club.

He wanted to know what he has to do to build a shape like Pitt.

Here comes the shocker, he found out that Pitt was only 150 pounds at 6 foot. This got Phil thinking, being 6 foot too no wonder why he wasn’t satisfied being 30 pounds heavier than Pitt.

After doing even more research on various workouts and fitness programs, he found Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat, which ultimately lead him to Adonis Index and the free podcasts. He downloaded every single podcast and started listening right from the beginning. And we are talking about years of recording podcasts, so that took some time to get through, but the advice Phil gained was priceless.

As he told us, everything was broken down to simple terms. And this ‘nuts and bolts’ approach of talking about fitness without sugar coating anything helped him understand how this really works and this ultimately gave him the roadmap to build a body of his dreams.

He calculated his calorie intake and when his bodyweight came down to the 150’s he could finally see his abs. He felt like a completely different guy. Phil achieved something he did not think was possible. Before the transformation, he felt like an old man, he had stomach and knee issues and never thought he could look like this and feel like he does now.

Then he decided to invest in the Adonis Index workouts and that took his transformation to the next level and won him the first place in the Adonis Index contest.

Phil looks great, today he looks even better than Pitt in this movie. He super passed his initial goals. Now if he wants to look like Brad Pitt from fight club, he just needs to start smoking and get into fights!!!

One of the important things this transformation gave to Phil is that if he ever gains weight, he knows how to lose it again, so he can easily and quickly get back in shape, if some challenges arise, there is nothing stopping him from overcoming them.

Today Phil has four kids and four jobs to support his family and despite all this, he still manages to find time to work out EVERY day.

The approach he is following now is different, he is doing things he has never even seen anyone else do in gym and he is working out hard. After his workout he’s done no fancy post workout rituals, while other guys run to take a protein shake, because there is supposed to be some “magic window” after the workout.

As Phil admits, the Adonis Index workouts are special. Not only because you have a certain body shape to shoot for, but your muscles will be shocked by the workout structure and will be forced to do stuff they have never done, leaving them with no choice but to grow.

After years of doing the same over and over, this was unbelievably refreshing.

Dudes Are Supposed to Be Big…Eh, Are They?

Not only that Phil was pretty surprised that Brad Pitt was only 150 pounds in his fight club, but he also found out that in the Rocky movies the weight they say “Rocky” is in the ring is actually almost 40 pounds more than Stallone actually was.

Phil basically found out that the dudes he thought are heavy and big are actually much lighter.

And this comes down to the simple concept of: permission to be light.

Most guys have this believe that we should be enormous and anything below 200 pounds is girlish. Well, if you are not at least 6’2” you are not going to be ripped at 200 pounds. Well, at least not without any “extra” help.

So, it really comes down to whether you wanna be big or look good, which one will it be?

Once Phil realized this fact, there wasn’t any barrier standing between him and his physique goal.

Advice from Phil if your life is too stressful for you to even think about fitness:

  • You can do it, it’s not your circumstances, but your excuses that prevent you from achieving the body you want
  • If you want to eat, stop for a moment and ask yourself whether you really want some food or if it’s not just your reward system trying to get something tasty in you
  • You don’t need any insane cardio plan, it can help, but usually a few hours walking per week is enough, diet is the key
  • Don’t tell other people what you are doing, they will discourage you, most won’t believe you and will try to hijack your goals or tell you that what you are doing is bad for you
  • The best way to reset and calm down your reward system is to either go to sleep or go to the gym
  • Sugar free candies, coffee, diet coke can help you with cravings
  • You can eat virtually anything as long as you limit the amount
  • Do a water deplete before the photoshoot to better show your body
  • If you want to be ripped you have to overcome your limiting beliefs about weight and give yourself permission to be light
  • If you want change in your life, your body has to change too
  • Keep yourself busy and focus on your work rather than food, you will be productive and lose weight, that’s a win-win outcome
  • No matter what happens in your life, or what you are going through, you can and also should get in shape
  • The physical transformation will translate into being a better person overall
  • When it comes to achieving a good looking body, it’s really all about achieving a quality lifestyle
  • Listen to the podcasts, implement the advice, figure out what suits you the best and keep doing it until you get your desired results
  • The way you will see yourself after the physical change will be remarkable
  • Lots of people eat out of boredom and use it for entertainment, realize this and avoid it
  • Just do it

Links from Phil’s interview:

  • The main Adonis Index Workouts – Here are the original workout plans that have been responsible for some of the most amazing transformations online.
  • Eat Stop Eat – Diet and lifestyle protocol that will help you stay on track with your weight loss while enjoying social eating events at a same time.

Read Phil’s experience with Adonis Index in his own words:

I thought the best years of my life were behind me.  In retrospect, it was one decision, one month prior to my birthday that truly changed my life.  I decided that I didn’t want to turn 37 feeling like a “chump.” That decision would begin a research process that would land me square in the middle of what I would come to know the Adonis Lifestyle.  The following is a sample of what I learned…

Click here to read the rest of the story

Listen to the interview here:

 

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Filed Under: Contest, Podcasts, Stories, Transformation Tagged With: , ,

AT7 Contest Winners Announced

April 23, 2012 by

The 7th Adonis Index contest is complete and it’s time to announce the winners.

This time we have three divisions – the good old transformation,Open Level 1, and newly the Open Level 2. Anyone who placed in our previous open contests was eligible for the level 2 contest.

As always, you must use the Adonis Index Workout.

Now it’s time to reveal the Winners.

AT7 Adonis Index Transformation Contest Category

Adonis Index Transformation Contest AT7 1st Place Winner: Phil S

Adonis Index Transformation Contest AT7 2nd Place Winner:Jeremy Inabnit

Adonis Index Transformation Contest AT7 3rd Place Winner: Vivek K

Adonis Index Transformation Contest AT7 4th Place Winner: Robert Robinson

Adonis Index Transformation Contest AT7 6th Place Winner: Todd Burgette

AT7 Adonis Index Open Level 1 Contest Category

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 1 AT7 1st Place Winner: Ross Goldsack

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 1 AT7 2nd Place Winner: Gabrielle Lazzari

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 1 AT7 3rd Place Winner: Andre Jacques Daames

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 1 AT7 4th Place Winner: Adam Murphy

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 1 AT7 5th Place Winner: Carl Thomson

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 1 AT7 6th Place Winner: Johannes Platz

AT7 Adonis Index Open Level 2 Contest Category

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 2 AT7 1st Place Winner: Allen Elliot

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 2 AT7 2nd Place Winner: Kidafi Byer

Adonis Index Open Contest Level 2 AT7 3rd Place Winner: Andrew Tullio

Congratulations to all winners you’ve just raised the bar even higher.

John

p.s. Don’t forget that you can pick up the classic AI Systems and enter the next contest that starts May 7th!

Filed Under: Contest, Transformation Tagged With: , , , ,

Has Bulking Ever Worked for You? Try the Opposite

March 5, 2012 by

Today we have an interview with John Jordan who placed 2nd in the latest Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Check out his pictures:

Adonis Index - John

This is how you gotta show up to get second place.

Adonis Index - John

You don't have to pay for a studio and a professional photographer if you don't want to; you can take great pictures at home.

John’s transformation was quite impressive and he has a reason to be happy and proud of himself.

At first he wasn’t sure what to expect, but since he worked out really hard, followed his diet plan and did everything he could to show his hard work in his photos he placed second in the transformation contest.

And it’s absolutely natural to have doubts about your progress and not be sure how you are going to end up. Especially if you have never done anything like this and you really have no idea how well you will look once you lean out and get a tan.

The only way to find out is to do your best, take the pictures and see.

You can’t really tell a lot at the beginning, you may start seeing some minor changes about a midway through, however most people see the results right at the end in the final week.

And if you don’t have much to go, maybe just a couple of pounds to lose, build a bit of muscle and basically get photoshoot ready, you won’t necessarily notice any changes on daily basis. You see yourself in the mirror all the time and those daily changes will be subtle and require patience on your part.

…But when you take the final pictures after 12 weeks that’s when you get blown away by the overall change.

One of the few metrics or tracking tools you’ve got that can help you determine whether you are building more muscle or not is an increase in strength. Strength usually comes first followed by a change in the size/shape/look of your body. You can be strong without necessarily gaining more muscle at first. Gaining strength means that you are on the right track and will ultimately translate into visibly more muscle mass.

John says he didn’t feel any change at the midway point of the contest…then he noticed some really good strength improvements in the gym.

That feeling of strength helped him stay the course and push through to the end of the contest.

The Illusion of Being Bigger

How many pounds did John gain?

Not how many pounds of muscle, but how much heavier do you think he is in his after pictures?

Really…pick a number before reading any further, you might be surprised by the actual answer.

So, how much do you think?

10, 15 pounds?

And remember we are talking overall weight, not muscle alone.

Well, whatever number you had in mind, it was wrong.

Why is that?

Because he didn’t gain any weight, not a pound. John actually lost several pounds to get to this shape. That being said, it doesn’t mean he didn’t gain any muscle at all.

The point is that to look really good, you need to gain only few pounds of muscle, not 20 or 30 like some supplement claims say, which in most cases is impossible without any pharmaceuticals.

A few pounds of real muscle gained in the right places and in the right proportion will make an incredible difference. Most people don’t even realize how much or how big one pound of muscle can actually be or look like. Little note, next time you go to a grocery store, take a pound of steak and put it next to your arm to really see this.

Once you see that that pound is the size of your whole biceps you will understand that expecting to gain 30lbs of muscle is a bit ridiculous and the only people that can gain so much are in their teens or early 20’s and have never worked out before.

And since John got totally shredded he had to lose several pounds.

Without boring you with the math now, when you’d calculate this he actually LOST WEIGHT to get to the shape in his after pictures…even though he looks significantly bigger and most muscular.

This is the illusion of leanness and well-proportioned muscles. Once you get in shape and really lean…six pack lean, when other people will see you without your shirt they will constantly guess that you weigh more than you do. The goal isn’t to actually BE heavier, it’s to LOOK heavier.

Just Do It

The concept of a fitness contest was completely new to John, but he was so impressed with the transformations of the previous winners that he decided to jump right in and give it a try.

In the entire 12-week challenge he never missed a workout.

He understood why he was doing what he was doing.

He always woke up at 5am and did the workout first thing in the morning, so he couldn’t make excuses about being tired later in the day.

He followed the Muscle Building Foundation from Adonis Index Workout, trained from Monday to Friday and took the weekends off.

Before AI, John had no rest time incorporated in his workouts. This time he had a pretty specific program and like he said he did way better on a fully designed workout that gave him exact amount of seconds in between sets, so he wouldn’t rest for too long.

He improved week after week, and for the first time in his life he viewed the time spent in the gym as “training” and not just a workout.

At the end he showed everyone his pictures and got great feedback from his friends and family. His mother told him that she is glad he is doing something healthy for himself. His sister noticed he lost weight, was really impressed with his results and wanted to know how he did it.

Take home message from John:

  • Get a program that has a good structure, is specific about what you should do, has exact set/reps/rest scheme laid out
  • Focus on building a specific shape, don’t just aim to get big, you can actually create an illusion of being big by being ripped and having proportioned muscles
  • If you have a program, you have to be consistent and stick to it
  • Early on you may not see dramatic changes but stick with it and they will come later
  • Take your measurements weekly so you have some objective data that you can compare and analyze
  • Believe in what you are doing
  • There is a difference between the look you have shirt on and shirt off
  • Keep it simple, goal oriented, know why you’re doing this and JUST DO IT

Useful links:

  • Adonis Index Workout – Here are the original workout plans that have been responsible for some of the most amazing transformations online.

Listen to the interview here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Filed Under: Contest, Podcasts, Transformation Tagged With: , ,

Save Yourself Years of Struggle and Learn about This Now

February 27, 2012 by

Today we bring you an interview with Kerry Hopkins who placed  6th in the latest Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Check out his pictures:

Adonis Index Contest Kerry

Calorie optimization combined with a good workout program can have magical effects.

Adonis Index Contest Kerry

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.

Adonis Index Contest Kerry

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?

Let’s make a quick test. Do you know when you’ve actually learned something? Little hint, learning is not just accumulating knowledge.

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.

And then on the weekends since it was easier to overeat while he was out eating and drinking with his friends, he would eat back up to maintenance.

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:

Listen to the interview here:

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Filed Under: Contest, Podcasts, Transformation Tagged With: , ,

You Might Be Just Two Contests Away from Your Best Shape

February 20, 2012 by

Today we have an interview with Al Sandoval who placed 6th in the Open category in the latest Adonis Index Contest.

Check out his pictures:

Adonis Index - Al

You can take a picture like this at home, you don't need to hire a photographer and pay for a studio.

Adonis Index - Al

Do you want to have pictures like this? It's not as hard as you think.

And in case you forgot how Al looked when he originally started, check this out:

Adonis Index - Al Before

Compare these two photos with the pictures above.

This was Al’s second contest. He won the transformation category in a previous contest.

There really seems to be a pattern in this. It looks like guys get rid of a few pounds, get into a contest, get lean and then they focus on building more muscle and moving towards a specific shape.

If you’re like Al, you might actually be just two contests away from your ideal body shape.

Al’s Insights from His Second Contest

Al was very proud of his final pictures and incredibly impressed with his first change. He wanted to take some time off, but convinced himself to do next contest.

What is is like going from one contest to another one?

Hard, but doable.

He says motivation was tougher this time. Which is understandable, because putting so much energy and focus into this for so long without any break is really tough.

It doesn’t mean that you will do just one contest and then you are done for the rest of your life, no not at all, you obviously will have to maintain your look and will still have a lot to work on, but getting ready for a fitness photoshoot requires way more energy and attention, which is why most guys don’t do two back-to-back contests.

When you take some time off and just work out and eat to stay where you are, your desire to take your physique to the next level and compete gets bigger.

But Al decided to give this a shot and showed up with some amazing pictures.

During the preparation for the first contest he would look at his before pictures and at his “hate handles” as he calls them to keep himself motivated and to stick to his diet plan. This time he knew he looked good, so there was the temptation to slip a bit, since it wouldn’t do any damage.

And that’s exactly it.

Just because you get from overweight to a decent shape, it doesn’t mean all of your life problems and everything will be solved. No, that’s not how it works.

Once you get over one challenge the next one will appear and so on, this is how you move forward and with a bit of determination you can get some amazing results. Most people will give up after a while, even if they get past the first few challenges…and with that said “most people” don’t have extraordinary results and don’t live extraordinary lives, do they?

Once Al got in shape, his new challenge to face was finding a reason why he should continue when he already looks good, what goal should he aim for.

He decided that he want’s a six pack, because that is something he never had in his life and that’s a goal worth pursing. And even now he is still on track and determined to get to that goal.

The Leaner You Get, The Harder It Is to Lose Weight

To get decent muscle definition and a six pack, you need to be willing to persist and take it further than most people.

This is a point where we are seeing similar feedback from pretty much all the contestants. The leaner you get, the harder the fat loss actually becomes.

When you have to lose 50 pounds, it will be quick and pretty easy compared to slow progress of going from average/lean to ripped/shredded.

Water plays a huge role in this. When you are overweight, your body retains literally pounds of water that wouldn’t normally be there. Second reason why it’s easier at first is because your body has enormous energy storage that it can use. When you get to about 12% bodyfat, this changes. Suddenly there is very little bodyfat on you, your desire to eat increases because your body wants you to eat at your energy expenditure and it’s really hard to limit your calories intake.

On top of that when you get lean, certain metrics like the scale or waist measurement suddenly become useless.

This doesn’t mean it’s impossible to get ripped, it just means it’s a bit harder and there are different challenges you will face along the way.

You may have to reduce the hours of your fasting, you may have to optimize your calories on eating days closer to your maintenance and probably use exercise to create the deficit.

It will take a longer time and will be harder to measure, but you absolutely CAN get there.

Another thing that goes hand in hand with this is the idea of maintenance. Once you go from overeating to eating for fat loss, the only way of eating you need to learn is eating in a way to keep you where you are. Sounds simple, but is tricky.

There will always be some ups and downs, however the idea is to be in striking distance to your contest body.

If your waist is 34, but for the contest was 32,5, you should be able to get there in 4-5 days if you were going to the beach or vacation.

Maintenance allows flexibility in your diet, enjoying more food on a few days and limiting yourself on others a bit.

Take home message from Al:

  • Maintenance is a work in progress, a way of living your life
  • Muscle takes years to build
  • You can get your weight under control in a matter of weeks and months
  • Diet should help you condition your body for less food and bring your appetite to its optimum
  • After contest aim for staying in ‘striking distance’, meaning you should be able to get to that exact state in several days
  • Your new you will be incredible and awesome,  you are gonna be happy with yourself once you transform
  • You can still enjoy the food you like, Al still eats ice cream, chocolate, just keep the amount in a healthy range

Useful links:

Listen to the interview here:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Filed Under: Contest, Podcasts, Transformation Tagged With: , ,
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