4 years.

My health has increased dramatically. My wife now calls me a "hunk". My bodyfat went from 19% to 7%. My body weight went from 85kg to 76kg and then increased again to 80kg as my muscle mass increased. Bodyfat stayed nearly constant between 6-8% year round.


4) How has this success changed your day-to-day life for the better?

There truly is no comparison to my life now and how it was. I don’t want to go into all the boring details, but my spiritual changes made me a new person that I now actually liked. Plus, having a body that most guys envy really makes me feel young again, ready to take on the world. Add a loving wife and beautiful baby boy to the mix and well, that is what I call happiness!


5) Did you experience any setbacks along the way? If so, what were they and how did you get past them?

As I mentioned earlier, the stakes were very high for me and failure was not an option. But there were days that I really did not feel like lifting weights. My body ached and I had no energy. When the aching was really bad, I might take a painkiller to help. To overcome these difficult days, I went through a set of motions. I always had a short meditate/prayer session before I started exercising to focus my mind on the important things. I then put on my favorite rock tunes (LOUD) and focus on just the first set. I did not think about what was lying ahead and had to be done; I just focused on what is at hand and finish it. Rep by rep becomes set by set and before long I had completed the whole session. It might not have been my best session, but I’ve DONE it. I NEVER skip a day. There is no excuse worthy of canceling my session.


6) What type of training plan has worked best for you?

MAINTENANCE AND BUILDING

I do a maintenance program for 3 months and then switch to an intense building program for the next 3 months and then repeat cycle.

During the maintenance program I lift slightly lighter weights (sometimes with slightly more reps) but generally still stick to the same program for both maintenance and building.

During the 3 month building period, I increase the lifted weight on all exercises on a weekly basis, forcing the muscles to respond and grow - kind of like a shock treatment.

TRAINING PROGRAM

All exercises are done using 4 sets. I do 8 reps per exercise (unless otherwise noted) with muscle failure occurring on the 8th rep.


MONDAY - pecs & abs

bench press
incline bench press
decline bench press
cable pec machine
3 different crunches (lying on floor with legs in air, sitting on bench in v-shape, exercise ball crunches)
* Abs are done in 3 sets with 15 reps per set. Feel the PAIN, if there is no pain then you are simply NOT squeezing those abs hard enough! Abs are like any muscle group and they must be trained with low reps to the point of failure to grow.


TUESDAY - shoulders

(Note: some people prefer to switch the shoulders and leg routine around so that legs is on Tuesdays and shoulders on Wednesdays.)

lateral raises
front raises
military presses
upright rows
shrugs


WEDNESDAY - legs

leg extensions
squats
leg extensions
squats
calf raises


THURSDAY - back

straight bar pull down
flat bench barbell raises
straight bar pull down
seated rows


FRIDAY - biceps & triceps

(biceps and triceps exercises are done in supersetting mode without resting in between.)

seated bicep curls (alternating, dumbbells)
triceps extensions
barbell curls
triceps cable extensions
standing hammer curls (alternating)
triceps dips
concentration bicep curls
triceps extensions


SATURDAY - rest


SUNDAY - rest


7) What type of nutrition plan has worked best for you?

First I must state that I have never struggled to lose weight. The main reason for my low bf% is that I eat VERY little carbs (like in VERY little!). I try to eat a fair amount of good oils (flaxseed oil, extra virgin olive oil, etc.) with every meal.

Again, lots and lots of water is critical for a fat loss environment. High water consumption WILL speed up your fat loss dramatically.

NO carbs after 6pm! Your last meal just before bed MUST be a casein slow release protein shake containing near zero carbs.

Eating every 3 hours (from waking up to going to bed) means your metabolism is firing continuously, which in turn means you are burning alot of energy. Do not underestimate these frequent meals for fat loss.

Some people have done severe damage to their metabolisms through fad diets. For such people, it might take 1-3 months of frequent small meals just to correct their metabolism. You won't see any benefit until you have aligned and corrected your metabolism.


8) What muscle building and/or fat loss supplements have you used? Which ones worked for you and which ones didn’t?

45 minutes before training I take 5g BCAA's on an empty stomach.
15 minutes before training I take a whey isolate with Glutamine (plus NAC and ALA).
Lots of water while training.
Immediately after training I take whey isolate with a banana and Glutamine (plus NAC and ALA).

Creatine was a waste for me. I only get a runny tummy and no muscles.


9) What are your future fitness goals?

To be on the cover of Men's Health? LOLl – as long as my wife appreciates me, I am happy. Right now however, I aim to increase my muscle size slightly more.

10) What are the top 3 tips you would give to others who are interested in beginning a muscle building and/or fat burning program?

Alot of beginners ask me what they should do to grow as quickly as possible. I am no guru on bodybuilding, but I have learned my fair share as time has progressed. So here follows some of the truths that I have learned:

My suggestions to guys new to bodybuilding is always the same. You will not grow, no matter how hard you lift if you do not get the train/eat/rest pattern sorted.

1) Do NOT overtrain. This is the easiest way for your muscles to shrink - literally! The best growth usually occurs when you work a muscle group intensely only once a week. You have to rest about 2 days a week. Your body MUST have time to grow and recover. Muscles do NOT grow in gym (they actually get torn down), they grow outside the gym while you are sleeping/recuperating/resting. Overtraining is by far the biggest mistake people new to the sport make.

2) No matter how hard you train, if you do not eat correctly, you will NOT grow. Diet determines 80% of your bodybuilding success. Eat 7 small meals a day. Each meal must have a good protein source. First meal must be when you wake up (protein shake) and last meal when you go to bed (slow release protein shake).

LOTS of water. You must also use a potent Multivitamin.

3) The type of exercise you do is not that important. What is important is that you do the exercise with a heavy enough weight so that you reach muscle failure by rep 8. If you focus on slow controlled movements, forcing the muscle with intensity to failure at rep 8, you WILL grow (if you rest enough and eat right).