Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 8th Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Today John talks to Justin Dyke who placed 6th in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

Check out his transformation pictures:

Justin’s 12 week progress with Adonis Index.

Justin was accustomed to building  his own workout routines; he simply applied the information he read from magazines and online articles.

It wasn’t until he began college that the concepts of diet and exercise truly peaked his interest.

He realized there might be more to to health and fitness than just weight lifting.  Justin even considered the possible advantages of controlling his  food intake.

Rather than focusing on calories, he decided to follow the “healthy eating”  approach.  However, when he began to monitor his calorie intake, he finally saw a difference in the mirror.

What’s interesting is that even though he got some results, he continued to  look for new ways to improve his diet.  He became more and more obsessed with diet and controlling what he consumed.

His obsession reached new levels when he added the  bulking regimen in addition to his healthy diet.

He ate lots of food to gain weight. He was successful in this approach; the only issue was that it was gain of fat and not muscle.

Instead of  moving forward he was actually heading in the opposite direction (the worst feeling ever).

He felt powerful in the gym, but still didn’t have the look he wanted.

Justin was neither fat nor skinny, he maintained normal weight and BF%, but this bulking method ballooned his weight up to over 200 pounds.

The tide began to turn in his favor when a friend of his introduced him to the Adonis Index. Oddly enough, that was a couple years ago and Justin just didn’t believe the program would work for him, so he simply put it off.

It wasn’t until after listening to dozens of AI interviews and podcasts  that he finally decided to give it a shot. He asked himself “What do I have to lose by trying the workouts for 3 months and entering the contest?” when he realized that he could only gain from the experience, he decided to committ to the contest.

He stayed focused by keeping his goals in mind  and used the contest deadline as motivation to get the job done.

How to Slowly Condition Yourself to Eat Less

In a short amount of time Justin went from eating six times a day like a pro bodybuilder to eating just once a day by following Eat Stop Eat‘s intermittent fasting protocol.

So how exactly did Justin do this?

Well, he didn’t do it overnight, he took the slow approach.

During the first couple of weeks he transitioned from eating 6 times a day to eating just 3 times a day.

After he was comfortable with this pattern, he slowly began to skip the other two meals and tried fasting for 24 hours.

As soon as he realized that he is not going to die of starvation, he decided to incorporate fasting into his regular lifestyle.

It’s really just about mentally letting go and then physically conditioning your body to follow these new patterns.

For Justin, it was a tough mental game though. At first he had to let go of the emotional attachment he had to the bodybuilding diet and then start skipping the meals.

Summary of Justin’s Best Tips:

• Keep it simple at all times
• Focus on workout consistency
• Have faith in the process and it will work out for you
• Ignore other outside forces – You will be tempted to change things, so don’t, stick to this one thing and give it an honest try

Links from the interview:

• Main Adonis Index Workout
• Specializations AKA Boosters
• Eat Stop Eat
• If you want to get in touch with Justin, talk to him about his approach and get more tips, here’s his profile in our community

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

I have been working out since high school and never really started taking it serious until my junior year of college when I started concentrating hard on the nutrition side. At this point I didn’t have a ton of nutrition information and I was able to lose a decent amount of fat and get in pretty good shape. From that point I thought I had to change everything in order to gain muscle. I ended up gaining close to 25 pounds …Continue reading here 

Listen to the interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

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Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 8th Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Today John talks to Cristiam Reinoso who placed 9th in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

Check out his transformation pictures:

Cristiam’s 12 week progress with Adonis Index.

After going through different program Cristiam has decided to try the Adonis Index and he followed the program exactly as it’s designed, which is what we always recommend for the best results.

Cristiam understood from his gymnastics background that even though he may not be able to do all the workout programs at the beginning, as he keeps progressing the level of intensity he can handle will increase, it’s all just a matter of conditioning.

He told us that he knew he had it in himself to place in the contest, but he just needed some sort of motivation to push harder, this is when the forum really became a motivating force. Despite the competition everyone was super supportive.

So he decided to stick with the workout plan. He had the energy and as his conditioning was slowly improving he started to add more intensity to his training.

You have to understand that Cristiam is a very active guy. He is basically doing sports or some sort of physical training from five to eleven every day. Apart from strength training his activities include things like MMA or volleyball.

Because of all the sport activity Cristiam was always within striking distance, but never really ripped before the contest. What he also lacked was any sense of direction. This is one of the biggest down falls of the traditional bodybuilding approach. Most guys never get the body they really want, and their goals get hijacked by stuff like “performance training”, marathons or whatever is adored in the media.

And that’s what happened to Cristiam. He wanted a great looking body, so he tried all the famous programs you see online or in TV, he tried gymnastics, MMA and climbing among other stuff.

He tried eating lots of protein and timing his meals, but as you could guess he never got close to the ideal body.

Let’s take a look at the diet approach that finally worked.

Don’t Eat Your Breakfast

Each morning Cristiam woke up, had his coffee, skipped breakfast and continued fasting. He had a small meal in the afternoon and then something bigger for the dinner in the evening. He fasted for 16-18 hours daily.

FYI this is something that works for most people because it’s simple. Fasting creates an eating window, so you can focus on different things other than cooking and eating. You know you are not eating right at that moment, so you can think of something else and be more productive with your time.

And since you won’t be eating, you won’t get tired and sleepy, but in fact you’ll like feel more energetic instead. (might take a couple of fasts till you adjust and actually have more energy when fasted)

Another thing is that we have less “will power” towards the end of the day, we are more tired and usually have some sort of social interaction in the evening  so it seem logical to eat at this time of the day rather than have a big breakfast and feel sleepy for the whole day like most people do.

Most people eat a big breakfast, spend the whole morning thinking about what they will eat for lunch, then clean the dishes, take a nap and suddenly it’s late afternoon and nothing got done. And when they actually go out with friends in the evening they play the whole “oh I can’t eat that, I’m dieting” game.

No surprise that the conventional eating pattern leads to a lot of frustration.

Just skip a couple meals each day and you will be surprised by how many things you can get done and how amazing you will feel.

Tips from Cristiam:

• Regulate your calorie intake
• Fasting is an eating window, use it
• You don’t have to fast for 24 hours, you can fast for 16-18 hours and do that pretty much every day (drink coffee and water during the day and introduce food in the afternoon)
• Listen to your body and scale things up slowly
• Trying to make it happen faster might result in rebound, you need to be able to hold it, be content with slower progress
• It’s a lifestyle and about moving forward and not about getting overnight results
• If you hate running you can find other activities for “cardio”
• Detach yourself from food – the less you eat, the less you want to eat
• If you get injured back off, rehab and recover, don’t push through pain

Links from the interview:

• Main Adonis Index Workout
• Advanced Adonis Triple Stack Workout
• Eat Stop Eat
• If you want to get in touch with Cristiam, talk to him about his approach and get more tips, here’s his profile in our community

Listen to the interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 8th Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Today John talks to Lou Martinez who placed 7th in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

Check out his transformation pictures:

Lou Martinez’s story is unlike any other we have ever heard and we’ve heard some pretty damn strong ones from our contestants. To find out how he has beaten cancer TWICE and despite his huge disadvantages placed in our transformation contest just keep on reading…

Today’s interview will be written, but it’s pretty short:

1. Give us a brief history of your experience with weight training before you found us.

Flash back: the early 1980’s. Farrah Fawcett was on my wall, Disco was on my turntables and in the corner of my room were dumbbells, a barbell, and a bench with a stack of clothes on it.  Like many guys, I didn’t have a lot of discipline in high school, so the bench made a convenient clothes hanger. Things changed in college and in my early 20’s.  Bodybuilding was the newest trend ushered in by Arnold in Pumping Iron, Stallone as Rocky, and Lou Ferrigno, as the Hulk. I started to work out seriously at Jack La Lanne /Bally’s and I even went to Gold’s and Venice Beach in California to work out where the big guys worked out.

I was always skinny, so I made progress,  gained muscle,  and put some meat on my bones. When I was about 27 I stopped working out because I got tired of the whole gym environment.  I was going through changes in my career and looking to transform myself inside as well.  I had spent too many years focusing on the outside and wanted to nourish the spiritual side of me. I got married a few years later and soon after had 3 kids.   With a wife and 3 kids, the gym wasn’t a priority in my life.

As many of you know, I’m a two time tongue cancer survivor. It first hit me, out of the blue, in 2004, 2 months after my 40^th birthday.  My tumor wasn’t noticeable at first.  By the time the doctors found it, it was the size of a nickel. By the time I got scheduled for surgery, it would fill my whole mouth. The tumor grew unusually fast and large. The doctors originally wanted to operate, but it became too dangerous, so they decided to do chemotherapy and radiation instead. I had stage 4 cancer and the doctors gave me a 10% survival rate. Miraculously, the therapy worked, the tumor disappeared, and I survived.

My usual weight at that time was about 148. I lost at least 30 pounds if not more. I recovered quickly though because I added tons of herbs to my liquid diet (I had a feeding tube) and could eat some food by mouth. In a few months, I was back at work and in total remission. Two years later, almost to the date, the cancer came back, and they removed my tongue. While I recovered real quickly from the operation, I didn’t recover my weight.  I had lost 50 pounds this time and it didn’t come back very quickly because I could  no longer eat solid foods by mouth. I have been on a liquid diet, via a feeding tube, ever since.

2. Give us a brief history of your experience with dieting before you found us.

With respects to dieting, I never had to diet in my whole life. As a lean guy with a fast metabolism, I could eat whatever I wanted with very little worries. My goal was always to gain weight and get bigger.  As a matter of fact, losing weight was taboo for me, especially after the surgery. It took me about 2 years to gain my weight back to 145.

One of the ways I did this was to go back to the gym 2 years ago. At first I was afraid to work out because of the reconstructive surgery they did in my mouth. They took my right pectoral muscle and used it as a new floor for my mouth when they removed my tongue. They also cut some nerves in my neck where they operated. I was worried to work out because I didn’t want to move things or disrupt anything.  After my doctor gave me the ok, I started working out in my community gym and started seeing some real good progress. I gained my weight back and muscle too.  While my chest would never be the same, I started to gain some serious muscle in other areas and looked better than I did in college when I first started working out.

3. What are your health/fitness/physique goals?

One of the benefits of joining my community gym is that it isn’t very crowded. I originally stopped bodybuilding because I was so tired of that whole world. This gym was a great transition back because it allowed me to really focus on my goals which were to gain muscle and strength without any distractions. It allowed me to go at my own pace without having to look, act, or perform in a certain way. Often in gyms, goals can get lost in who benches the most or who has the biggest biceps. I didn’t have any of that there because it was mostly an older crowd with very few people.

4. How does AI compare to other programs you’ve tried in the past (if any)?

When I stepped back into the gym, I did the things I used to do. I worked out 5-6 days a week, 2-3 body parts per day, and each body part twice a week. Like I said earlier, I made noticeable gains.  After about a year of this, I got bored and started to look on the internet for help.  I tried a few programs, but after a short while, I gave up. One of the things that bothered me was that ALL of them wanted me to have all of these rest days and only work on each body part once a week. Like a good student, I would faithfully follow each program and then realize I wasn’t gaining any muscle or getting bigger, so I would slip back into my old routines.  I didn’t like rest days. Once in awhile I could see a benefit, but overall, it just kept me from growing. With the back and forth between trying different programs and doing my own thing, I really wasn’t making any new progress. I was frustrated and in a rut.

5. How did you find us?

I had read some of your materials last year, but I wasn’t really interested. At that time, I didn’t think that there was any emphasis on the lower body. With a focus on the upper body alone, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice the work on my legs. I inherited a long family trait of chicken legs, so a program with no legs wasn’t the answer. But like I said, I was at a standstill and looking for something.

In April, I was talking to a few guys on a website and happened to come across a post by Shan H.  It had his contest pictures on it and he talked about his journey at AI. I was impressed.  He was around my age, height, and he looked awesome. We started talking about his progress and he mentioned some of the philosophies of AI. One thing that struck me was our conversation on being big. We spoke about how “getting big” or reaching a certain random weight (mine was 160) was really an empty goal.  What were you trying to achieve by “getting big”? This really clicked for me. It made me really look at what “big” meant, on the associations I had, and the values I placed on “being big”.

Soul searching is not new for me. When Cancer rocked my world, it changed my life.  Being so skinny and not being able to eat food, devastated me. Healing from cancer required more than just a physical manifestation. It required me to take a good look at my thoughts, beliefs, and actions: past, present, and future.  Losing all of that weight made me feel like I was back in high school bringing all of my old insecurities with it. Shan’s questioning of what “big” meant to me, was just another road inward on my healing journey.

It also sparked my curiosity and gave me an excuse to take a second look at the AI materials.

6. What made you decide to try out AI and join the contest?

In May, I went back and looked on my computer because I knew I had an AI pdf somewhere. It was an intro to the Adonis Index manual. I read it and was hooked. I really wanted to get a V-taper and a six pack. I figured if it helped Shan, it could certainly help me. Yet getting the actual workouts wasn’t easy. At the time, you guys must have been revamping the website because it took me about 25 minute to actually find the website to buy the workouts. Every time I googled it, I kept getting the Adonis Index and I wanted the workouts.  At first, I thought it was a sign that I shouldn’t do the program, but I prevailed and I finally got it.

I joined the contest for a few reasons. I thought it would be fun, it would give me accountability, and it would help me overcome a big issue I had about my body. While the surgery was a success, it left me with a feeding tube, no pec, and slightly disfigured.  I was very embarrassed and ashamed at how I looked. I never took my shirt off in public, not even in front of my kids. I wanted to heal all of the judgments I had about my body and to feel more comfortable in my own skin. I knew that posting pictures would be a challenge for me and an opportunity to let go of the shame. I was right on both accounts.

7. Explain what the experience was like going through the 12 week contest.

Because I liked the philosophy, I immersed myself in the workouts and the podcasts. I really enjoyed the online community too because it was great to be able to post my thoughts, questions, and resistance!! I had been so indoctrinated in the “classic” way of seeing bodybuilding and weightlifting, that it took me some time to integrate the new way of doing things. I had to totally rearrange my mind when I got on here. For example. When so many of the guys on here started talking about losing fat to start seeing abs, I freaked out.  I was thinking, “Danger, Danger, Will Robinson! Are you guys crazy!  I don’t want to lose weight.  I just want to see my abs. Isn’t there a ton of crunches I can do?  I didn’t sign up to lose weight. I did that involuntarily a few years ago.” My weight was precious to me. I couldn’t just start losing it for abs.

Needless to say, it took awhile for me to trust the program mentally. I mean, I never stopped using AI 3.1, but my mind needed time to catch up and it did.

One of the things I really liked about AI was the freedom. It was great to be supported to do as many workouts as I wanted to. I didn’t have to have mandatory rest days. This was awesome to me because I already knew that my body worked well with 5-6 workouts per week. Another thing that really sold me was the simplicity when it came down to food, supplements, and calories. I tried a workout program a few months before this one that I really liked. The program emphasized form and taught you how to train with proper form to get maximum results.  The problem with the program was that it was extremely supplement heavy. It also continued to indoctrinate its readers with the whole 6-7 meals, tons of protein, and to exactly time your supplements. I had to stop because it got too rigid and time consuming.  When I failed to do things in this specific way, I started believing I would not get any gains.  After awhile, I stopped because it was too stressful and expensive.

8. What did you think of your results?

I am really happy with the results and the program. Blogging about my progress has been extremely supportive. I’ve met some really cool guys on here who have really helped me with the rough spots. I liked the workouts in AI 3.1.  They were challenging and the change in reps and focus made things interesting.  I was never bored. It took me a little while to get used to a program that was a bit unconventional.  Most programs have the same standard workouts: bench 3-5 sets for 10-12 reps, squats 3-5 sets for 10-12 reps, etc. The different 4 week focus of each module plus the mixing up of exercises really excited me. BTW I thought the podcast about how the workouts were organized was super helpful.

I really enjoy my look. I have a 4 pack for the first time since high school and I know a 6 pack is on the way. My muscles look great, I’m strong, and besides a tweak with my shoulder, things have been smooth.

I was really able to work through the emotional process and issues I had with my body.  As I embraced my new look and started seeing my body differently in the mirror and through my pics, I was really able to let a lot of the shame go. I could appreciate and acknowledge the progress I was making and my size and development. While this was part of my personal journey and not officially part of the program, having the AI community as another part of my already existing support system of friends and family, was an added bonus. Many of the guys could relate to what I was going through even though their situations were not the same. This built up my confidence and increased camaraderie.

Like I said, posting my pics online has been really helpful.  This summer I took my shirt off at the pool and even at a water park. I wasn’t self-conscious. I didn’t worry who saw my tube or what they thought.

9. What are you goals moving forward?

One of the things I want to work on is my back/lats. I noticed in my pictures, it was really hard for me to get the width I wanted. My back looks cut up, but I really want that V pop. While I was watching the posing video with Eric Daye, I really liked how his Lats popped. He is my height, so I thought I’d use him as model or example.  My goal is to make my back thicker and continue ripping my abs. I want to make my 4 pack a 6 pack.

10. What advice would you give to other guys who want to get in shape?

Trust the workouts right away, do them, and let your mind catch up. The AI transformation is not just physical; it is a mental/emotional one as well.  I like to understand everything for full buy in. Because the info on here is not the standard workout info, it took me some time to really grasp the philosophies.

My advice: Listen to the podcasts.  They were extremely valuable in really integrating the philosophies while I continued to do the workouts. Realize that as your body changes, it might bring up some old issues, thoughts, and habits that you might have believed your whole life. Get the support you need to deal with any emotional/ mental issues that come up to be healed.  It’s all part of the process.

Don’t be afraid to ask questions until you get an answer that satisfies you.

Use the freedom on here to work out in ways that work for your body and your goals, even if that means to lift light or lose some weight. With that said, follow the programs as they are written. This is a tricky balance to follow.

The community is awesome and the guys on here are real supportive. Use it!

Have fun, be patient, and give yourself time to reach the goals you want have. Muscles don’t build over night.

And here is Louis’ essay from the contest:

…The mind is harder to change than the body. The bottom line is that my body doesn’t look like other men’s. That’s ok. I can confidently embrace what I have and build it to be the strongest version of me. There has been…Continue reading here

Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 8th Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Today John talks to Richard Tesorio who placed 8th in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

Check out his transformation pictures:

Richard’s 12 week midterm results.

Here’s Richard’s story…

Richard graduated high school at 115 pounds soaking wet.  Naturally skinny, he was constantly trying to bulk up.

He always wanted that big, ripped defined body.

So one day he started working out  with a friend who had him been involved in some badass tactical operations. However, as awesome as that may sound,  he couldn’t even walk home after his first workout.

Something needed to change…

Richard decided to get a new trainer, however this guy was Somalian and just freakishly strong. Even though he got some results, there was no end goal to his training.  It was at this  time Richard hit an all-time low; he simply stopped going to the gym.

Finally, with a renewed vigor  he resumed his workouts, still chasing his dreams of attaining the ever so elusive ripped physique.

He knew of the Adonis Index System as early as 2008, but busy with life, he never applied himself to the workouts.

Before fully committing to AI, Richard tried running, cardio and insanity workouts…he was stuck in a cycle of hopping from program to program, not getting any results.

To make matters worse, although he recovered from a thyroid issue, he made no changes to his diet which ballooned his weight from 115 to 140 pounds; his weight gain finally leveled off at 159 pounds.

Now burdened with the unwanted bulk from his weight gain, Richard tried a few diets, but hadn’t yet learned the concept of calories in and out.

He also had no understanding of body shape, he would lose weight, only to become a smaller version of himself and not the better looking version, as he hoped for.

He was very unsatisfied with his physique, however, since he was still getting the Adonis Index emails and had the program, he finally decided to commit and try this Adonis thing.

Patience Will Help you Win the Game…Rushing Will Only Backfire your Progress

Richard’s initial approach to the Adonis Index workouts was very smart.

At first he was like everyone else comparing himself to other people, but you know you shouldn’t do that, and like Richard said, looking back most of these people don’t even know what the hell they are doing.

Once he figured out that he needed to focus on himself, he started learning the moves and focusing on the lift with lighter weights. He basically gave himself a permission to lift light at first. By learning the proper techniques he progressed quickly without getting injured in the process.

Richard starts his mornings with water and black coffee and performs his Adonis Index workout; he then fasts until 5:30PM.

This routine is in accordance with most people’s schedules so he is able to remain social at events that normally occur in the evenings.

A typical diet normally involves some sort of restriction, but most people try to restrict too much, because they strive for quick results. Sadly, this is a proven method for failure. The goal should be to make that restriction feel as minimal as possible.

You can have sweets and cupcakes, it doesn’t matter as long as you restrict calories and have some balance in your diet. However, be prepared for some resistance. Because it looks crazy if you are eating “junk food” in public, it doesn’t make any sense to them that you could be eating like this and be following a supposed fat-loss diet. In the grand scheme of things. that donut is insignificant; no one knows you fasted for 16 hours and will finish with a medium-sized dinner. They’ve had their two meals already and plan on having another two, so if they ate a donut they know it might be too much fattening food for them.

In conclusion, although Richard’s Journey was filled with many peaks and valley’s, his lessons learned in consistency and accountability led him thru a successful 12 week Transformation.

Tips from Richard:

• Set boundaries and live within them
• Find a text buddy for encouragement (FYI you can use the forum for that)
• Find an app to hold you accountable with going to the (Richard shares a name of that app in the interview)
• Learn about the concepts of the Reverse Taper Diet
  • You need to get used to the idea that the progress will get slower, don’t get attached to the speed that happens at the beginning, we all want it quicker, but that’s why people rebound when they try to make quick progress.
  • Ask yourself this: “Do you want quick results or permanent transformation?”
  • It has to take long time in order for you to learn how to keep your new body – Accept the slower result
  • You wanna keep looking good so make it a lifestyle, make it sustainable
• Everyone proved the Adonis index workouts work, so just follow them
• Keep going even if nothing seems to be working, you will get there eventually and once you are on a right path it’s just a matter of time
• Don’t let anything (or anyone) discourage you
• Find your best time to work out, work out when you have the most energy or when it best fits your schedule
• Photos and measurements are really important, but don’t worry about the scale
• Listen to the podcasts, find people you can relate to and learn from them
• Filter and ignore other advice (this should be #1 tip of any coach), it will help you keep on track, if you let any advice come to you, you will never get any results

Links from the interview:

• Andrew Peter’s interview and pictures – Commitment Equals Results, So Are You Committed Enough?
• Reverse Taper Diet (for men) – Diet protocol designed to prevent you from rebounding and yo-yo dieting
• Eat Stop Eat – Diet Lifestyle protocol designed to help you to lose fat and regain freedom in your food choices

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

I first heard about the Adonis Index back in 2008 through Brad Howard who was doing some dating advice for men with a guy named Scot McKay. So in November 2008, I signed up for the Adonis program, got beta access to the forums and workouts. But, I put it away because I was busy with life at the time.

Fast forward to January 2012 & I was at a point where I wanted to get my life in order. I had tried other workouts…Continue reading here

Listen to the interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 8th Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Today John talks to Tommy Lacaprucia who placed 2nd in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

Check out his transformation pictures:

Tommy is our youngest contestant.

Tommy isn’t even 17 years old yet, so he is by far our youngest contestant.

For only a 12 week transformation, his progress is outstanding.

Tommy admitted that growing up he was always on the chubby side and he  deeply desired to get in shape. As a result, he turned to a popular TV fitness program.  However, with this program he was constantly overtraining and under eating. His motivation was spot on, but the process he followed didn’t yield the results he wanted.   After all, his goal was  to be in shape yesterday…

No fault of his own, as this is what we all want. But during a transformation patience is key.

Sadly, Tommy  ended up losing muscle mass, and became what we call “skinny fat”.  To make matters worse, he even began to receive comments from his family concerned about his health and appearance.

Before doing this crazy TV finess program he at least looked good with his shirt on, but  mentally, this program really screwed him up.

Thankfully, the tide turned in Tommy’s  favor in January of this year when he discovered the Adonis Index system. He agrees that this was a game changer for him.

He used our regular workouts with a few booster specializations, accompanied with the Reverse Taper Diet and Pilon’s Eat Stop Eat.

Standing at a height of  5’10” he went from 163 pounds to 144 pounds, gained muscle and lost significant amount of fat.  His new look landed him a more aesthetic body shape with visible abs, just scroll up for pictures.

Keep in mind, this is only after 12 weeks, just imagine what Tommy can look like after 12 months or 12 years. It’s amazing what can happen when you find a program that works and stick to it.

Experience Cannot Be Bought

Do you remember your very first workout?

You probably felt endless amounts of pain the next few days after your workout. That’s because your body wasn’t used to the physical stress; you were probably sore for a week just from one workout.

But as you probably also remember this changed pretty quickly and in no time you could handle 3 workouts like that in a single week.

But there is one more thing we haven’t mentioned yet. Once you get over this “muscle learning curve” you can handle as many  workouts as the older, more experienced guys.

Why is that?

This is partly because when you are new to weight training, you can’t use the workout in it’s full potential like somebody with let’s say with 20 years of experience.

Younger and less experienced guys just can’t generate the same amount of intensity with training.

Tommy’s solution was to was add SEVERAL boosters to the main workout module.

If you recall the interviews with Vivek and Adam, you’ll recall that they both trained twice a day!

Sure you might get sore, but if it’s not an injury, why not suck it up, train more often and get double the gains?

This is something you might wanna consider and experiment with.

As long as you have the energy and time, there is no reason for you not to add more training volume and sessions to your regimen.

Links from the interview:

• Eat Stop Eat – Diet Lifestyle protocol designed to help you to lose fat and regain freedom in your food choices
• Reverse Taper Diet – Diet protocol designed to prevent you from rebounding and yo-yo dieting
• Muscle Building Foundation – Workout plan focused on building muscle mass
• Booster Specializations – Bonus workouts for improving the areas of your body you are unsatisfied with
• Adonis Index Original Workouts 3.1 – Workouts responsible for the most amazing transformations online

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

I’ve been following AI since January 1, 2012 and I absolutely love everything about it!

Currently I am following the RTD and fasting twice a week. While doing so, I still eat large meals and I am always feeling satisfied, even while being in a caloric deficit. With this approach I’ve gained a tremendous amount of muscle and strength, while simultaneously losing BF.

This has not only transformed my physique, but it transformed my life in many ways also! Being in high school, it’s…Continue reading here 

Listen to the interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

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Here’s your new interview with one of the winners from the 8th Adonis Index Transformation Contest.

Today John talks to Anthony Rivest who placed 5th in our last 12-Week Transformation contest.

Check out his transformation pictures:

Anthony’s 12 week mid term results.

Anthony was very proud of the progress he made in his 12 week transformation.  His next goal is to achieve his “ideal” AI numbers.

However, it’s his amazing pictures that we’d like to highlight in this blog post.

The phrase, Do it yourself (DIY) refers to building, modifying, or repairing something without the aid of experts or professionals.

Surprisingly enough,  Anthony didn’t hire a professional photographer nor did he did do anything crazy for his photo-shoot prep.

It was all homemade, just a bed sheet, mild water depletion, and a short fast.

The result? No pressure, no money spent, and zero stress.

Anthony even had cake and fajitas on the day before the shoot!

While there are several different approaches to arriving “photo-shoot ready”, most of them are essential only if you are well-developed  and taking performance enhancement drugs; otherwise not really.

Let’s Uncover the Mystery Around Dieting

Since Anthony is a bit taller than most people his BMR is significantly higher and so is his appetite.

This means that when he eats, he eats a lot of food at one sitting. Let’s break down his approach a bit and maybe you can incorporate some of his techniques into your lifestyle.

For the most part it’s based on the principles of Eat Stop Eat and Anything Goes Diet, it also happens to be an approach that lots of people in the Adonis community have incorporated.

The thing is that apart from the many flaws that the traditional approach “eat every three hours” has is that if you eat light meals all the time you will never feel satisfied and that can lead to some serious binge eating.

This is why it makes more sense to have fewer, but big meals.

You will also spend less time on cooking, eating, cleaning the dishes.

Not eating AKA fasting not only saves time, removes the thinking about food, but it also helps you stay more focused and productive.

Anthony also told us that fasting helps him with school, he even credits getting better grades because of it. When all the students get back from launch break to class, they feel tired, but Anthony is full of energy and he is able to concentrate.

And it’s not just that skipping lunch helps, skipping breakfast is the same. You have to realize that as soon as you have at least a medium size meal you will feel tired and sleepy, definitely not like learning or working.

Most people say that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, well what it seems that actually skipping the breakfast and eating food later is the best thing you can do.

It’s literally breaking the fast, so try to move it as far into the day as possible. …And my guess is that you aren’t even hungry when you wake up, just thirsty and need to drink some water, so maybe you are mistaking hunger for thirst.

If you are not ready for a full fast yet, try to gradually move the first meal of the day further ahead.

If you wake up at 6am, regularly eat at 7am and want to benefit from the intermittent fasting, try to move your first meal to 10am.

Once you are comfortable with that you can move that first meal to 2pm and then try to do the full 24 fast. Just give it a few weeks until your body gets used to it.

It’s better to start your day with a coffee and if you are like Anthony, you would start your day not only with coffee but also with your workout.

If you do your workout in the morning, you have the rest of the day to do whatever you like. However, if you planned the workout for the afternoon,  chances increase that you may skip it.

This may sound non important but this is one of the reasons people don’t get results – they just skip the workouts…and there is always an excuse…

• I’m too tired
• I need to finish my work
• I have stuff for school
• I’m going out with friends
• I’ve just eaten
• I’m hungry, I need to eat
• There will be too many people (and meatheads!) in the gym

…and so on.

Set the conditions in a way that your success will be inevitable.

In the morning it’s usually easier to get things done, you have more energy, you are fasted, there is less excuses to choose from, there is enough time, you have more will power and nobody is bothering you, because most of the people are still sleeping. Simply nothing comes up in the morning.

On the other hand some people prefer working out at noon because that’s when they are the strongest.

Try both for a couple weeks and go with the option that feels the best.

Are You Overtraining?

Anthony never wanted to be a big freak that everyone is staring at (in reality it’s mostly guys who stare, women  think it’s disgusting).

What Anthony wanted was to build a good looking body and become a guy who projects leadership and confidence. And since you are reading this my guess is that you have a same goal. Anthony was using the main AI systems and the boosters (not just one, but several) and he was training 7-10 days straight without any break.

You may think that this could result in overtraining, but this term is overrated, misunderstood and misused a lot in the fitness industry. You would have to be a professional athlete or military to reach your limits and experience true overtraining. If your training seems too much it’s because you are under-conditioned.

Stop Focusing on Weight and Trying to Impress Other Dudes in the Gym

Anthony had to give himself a permission to be light and permission to lift light.

This is important and a lot of guys struggle with it. Stop trying to impress that big guy in the gym.

Realize that athletes or models,  are outliers with amazing genetics and lots of them are using various drugs.

And it’s not like you are walking with a weight label on your forehead, nobody gives a sh*t about how much you weigh. The only time weight would matter would be if you were competing in a sport with weight classes, i.e. boxing.

As far as people in the gym are concerned, nobody cares how much heavy you are or how much heavy you lift, everybody is doing their OWN thing. We can be very self-conscious and self-absorbed, just think for a minute, the gym is basically a room full of people just staring at themselves, so why would you work to  try to impress them?

What’s Your Goal Really? Find Your “Why” and You Are Half Way There…

You need to find your why, what is it that drives you? To feel comfortable around women? To become a better boyfriend? – these are all great reasons and will work well as your motivation.

For Anthony it’s becoming a great model and actor. There are a lot of reasons for you to want to improve your physique.

Remember, if you do the work, the results will come.

Tips from Anthony:

• What works for me is having two big meals a day, when I eat I like to eat big
• I really like to sit down and enjoy food, but I do this at the end of the day, so I can be more concentrated when needed
• Most people will do better pushing the first meal further back in the day
• Every single morning I wake up and get my AI workout done, I know when I wake up and take action; I’m one step closer to  my goal
• You don’t need supplements, I took no supplements during the contest, honestly I just started taking creatine a couple weeks ago
• Visualizing and doing affirmations in my head helped me stay focused
• You need to have a big enough “why”
• It takes time, patience is get results

Links from the interview:

• The “Photo-Shoot Ready” Recipe – Article from Allen Elliott about preparing for a photoshoot
• Eat Stop Eat – Diet Lifestyle protocol designed to help you to lose fat and regain freedom in your food choices

My young Adonis Journey started April 12th. The real dedication to work towards one of my greatest goal, have the most aesthetic physique possible naturally, at my height of 6’3.5”. The Adonis philosophy is the best thing that happened in my life so far. I love to… Continue reading here

Listen to the interview here, and please “like” it when you’re done:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS