Earlier this year a group was created on Facebook promoting healthy living for a generation of IT folk who generally are not the healthiest bunch – I don’t really regard myself as being unhealthy, but I certainly do identify with the IT crowd. The concept was cool, so I gave it a go, everyone puts R500 into the pot and the winner walks away with approximately R8,000 (various categories were defined and in total their were around 70 contestants). More details here: http://www.facebook.com/groups/sleekgeek/
I went for the “Get toned/ripped” category, and apparently I came in second… how depressing, 1st loser! LOL. Oh well, I guess it means I need to work harder.
I was asked to submit a testimonial, so below follows my response and pics. There has also been a web site created for the concept and another competition is lined up for a few weeks time, if you’re looking to get healthy, I recommend joining in: http://www.sleekgeek.co.za
1. If you have them on hand then your key starting end measures
Weight: 70.9kg -> 71.5kg (It was not my goal to put on weight, but I definitely have more muscle and less fat now!)
Chest: 96cm -> 103cm (happy to report the flexed state shows much greater improvement)
Bicep: 33cm -> 33.5cm (happy to report the flexed state shows much greater improvement)
Body fat: 18.9% -> 18.4% (probably the biggest disappointment as visually the results are MUCH better)
2. What your plan was? What you did?
I had planned to win! In fact I’m still bummed that I didn’t! It’s first place or nothing in my book!
Unfortunately the first 4 weeks were marred by flu and personal and work commitments. Nevertheless when I got going, I went hard. It was a mixture of healthy living, moderate dietary changes and exercise.
I was on a high-protein diet, regularly swapping my breakfasts and lunches for a protein shake. I think the biggest improvement I made diet-wise was to cut-out late evening snacking on junk food. I didn’t eliminate it completely but I managed to substitute a lot of the chips and ice-cream for biltong and almonds.
I probably could have done a bit better on the eating side of things, I didn’t restrict myself when we had to entertain guests or on the odd-trip to a rugby match, but I regularly chose the healthier options at restaurants. It wasn’t actually as tough as many would think – but then again I could have been a little more strict with myself. I tried to restrict my carbs, but I definitely did not come close to eliminating them.
I had almost no alcohol at all, but this was a lifestyle change I had made about a year before already. When I did drink beer, it was always light beer and in moderation.
On average I hit the gym 3 or 4 days a week and I chose to pursue a muscle building routine focused primarily around large muscle groups. On days I didn’t go to gym I did many push-ups…. Many, many push-ups! It wasn’t uncommon for me to complete 500 push-ups in a day (spread over 10 sets and a few hours). I set myself a few goals:
Complete 100 push-ups in a single set: Achieved, managed a high of 107
Bench press (flat and inclined barbell) my body-weight: Achieved
Push double my body-weight on the dips machine: Achieved
Run 5km: Didn’t put enough effort into this one! Failed
Complete a set of 10 unaided chin-ups without rest: Achieved
Cycle 30km: Did not achieve this, but I’m confident I could if I tried – just didn’t have time for cycling in the last few months.
You can’t ignore diet! And trying to lose fat at the same time as building muscle is very difficult! Without sufficient nutrition muscle won’t grow and you won’t have the stamina to work-out properly, while without a calorie deficit you cannot lose weight… so it’s a fine balance which is sometimes easier to avoid by first losing weight and then adding muscle, or first "bulking up" and then “cutting”.
I don’t believe it is wrong to take supplements like Phedra-Cut or Creatine, at the very least they offer a psychological boost, I tried both during the 12-week period with some noticeable affects. I think I would recommend these products if asked.
I’m going to continue on the same routine, the focus will be to add muscle but this time I’m going to ignore fat loss and rather add a component of getting myself much fitter. I suspect that if I achieve that goal the additional fat will fall away as a side effect. Getting myself in shape for XMAN (http://www.xmansa.co.za) should pretty much match my goals.
7. Your twitter handle (if you have one)
My progress pictures from start to 12 weeks:
And that is my story… pretty happy with the progress, but I have a lot more to do still before reaching my goals.
Thanks to the SleekGeek group of guys and gals, I honestly believe the camaraderie and competition helps a lot.
PS. Here are some pictures of the eventual winner of the competition. Well done Amien!
