|
Name: Jad Haidar
Before:
After:
I was living a very unhealthy lifestyle, playing video games over 5 hours a day and eating McDonalds, Taco Bell and Domino's Pizza several times a week. This led me to think about my future and how it would be much smarter to get in shape at an early age, than to sink ship and have no will power to do so later in life. There was no sole reason as to why I wanted change. Surely, getting an attractive and fit physique wouldn't be my only drive to succeed. I wanted my back to grow stronger, pushups to be child's play, and a core strong enough to transfer my younger handicapped brother around the house with ease.
  Click Image To Enlarge.I Was Living A Very Unhealthy Lifestyle.
Between November of 2008 and June of 2009, I simply focused on weight loss through cardio and an unhealthy, low calorie diet. I was consuming a mere 1300 calories while doing some form of cardio 5 times a week. This led to rapid weight loss, consisting of fat and muscle. But for my transformation from June of 2009 to November of 2009, hard work in the gym and calorie counting really did it for me.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Hard Work In The Gym And Calorie Counting Really Did It For Me. Nearing the end of June of 2009, I came across Bodybuilding.com, its forums and articles mainly. I learned about compound exercises, ways to train for a specific goal and how to go about making a routine. I put together a simple routine, exercising a certain muscle group once a week and put focus on making lift progress in the gym.
Meal 2: Meal 3: Meal 4: Post Workout Meal 5: Meal 6:
Tuesday: Upper Back, Traps And Biceps
Wednesday: Lower Back And Legs
Thursday: Abs
Friday: Shoulders
Saturday: Rest Sunday: Core
For those not looking for a "bulking" or "cutting" mentality to reach their goals: I really recommend focusing on lift progress in the gym, almost all the time, one will see progress looking in the mirror when they are progressing in the gym, strength-wise. Also, I wouldn't recommend a bulking plan for a person new to lifting, I truly believe that a person wanting to achieve a leaner and/or stronger physique can make steps towards his or her goal by experimenting with caloric intakes at maintenance/slightly below maintenance, at first. What I mean by this is, see how far your body will take you on a reasonable caloric intake, so that there is no need to pack on the extra baggage in an attempt to make strength progress. Instead of jumping fences, an average male may eat at 2200 calories instead of 3000 and only up his intake once his lift progress slows down.
 Click Image To Enlarge.One Will See Progress Looking In The Mirror When They Are Progressing In The Gym. For me, I ate around maintenance and gained muscle and lost fat for a good 4.5 months (June 09 - November 09), and still doing so. I was at 2000 calories at the start, and reached a plateau at a mere 170 pound squat, but by then, I had already added 75 pounds on my squat on that same 2000 calorie diet. And that's when I simply upped the calories to 2300 and continued making progress, breaking that plateau. And around that time, I was looking leaner, was stronger and I didn't need 3000+ calories to make progress. So to sum it up, my suggestion is, experiment with calories, be consistent, eating the same amount of calories per day. Then when the lift/strength aspect hits a wall, eat more. Get the best bang for your buck. If you don't plan on buying lean meats so often, whey protein may be what you are looking for. When choosing a type of bread/wrap/tortilla, look for the brand that offers more protein to calorie ratio. Same applies with cheese, beans, and lentils. Cardio is a great way to stay healthy. But do not hurt your gym performance with too much cardio. I didn't do cardio for 3.5 months, looked leaner and was stronger. Surely my endurance took a hit, but what I am saying is, if you do a lot of volume on your leg exercises on a certain day, don't wake up the next morning with sore legs and go up and down a basketball court. But cardio can speed up DOMS (Delayed On-Set Muscle Soreness) if done properly without the risk of injury.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Get The Best Bang For Your Buck. Consistency I think is the most important thing when it comes to making physical progress, shape or strength. If you want your muscles to grow, you can't exercise that muscle only once every 3 weeks, so plan out a sensible routine; one that fits your goals. Diet too has to be consistent, 20 grams of protein 1 day and 200 grams the next day isn't something you should be doing. Take care of your body, give it what it needs when it comes to nutrition. Teen Transformation Of The Week Recommend this article to a friend by e-mail here!
Related Articles
|
Sign in for more FREE features and tools!
|
|
Give Us Feedback:
Report A ProblemSite Feedback |
Follow Us:
|
Bodybuilding.com Newsletter
Receive exciting features, |
