Quick Intro:
I don’t usually do “client spotlight” posts, but this one is just too good not the share.
This transformation deserves a mention is because of the following reasons:
- The speed of the transformation is quite impressive
- It shows clearly that you CAN gain muscle while losing body fat (many people believe otherwise)
This is Jack
Jack walked in the door after being referred to me by a member of the gym where I work. We sat down to chat about his goals and with a stern look of determination he said “I want 6 pack abs”. I nodded and said “its definitely possible, but you’ll need to work for it”. Great transformations do not happen overnight and he had just walked in the door with the classic “dad bod”. We lined up a plan of attack regarding training, nutrition and lifestyle and set to work.
Brief Side Note Regarding Body Recompositions
Many people believe there is not much point trying to do a “body Recomposition”. The classic body building dogma often states: you are better off doing a CUT, or a BULK. I’ll admit, I do believe this to be MOSTLY true, but not under all circumstances… It is more-so true for ADVANCED and ELITE level lifters.
A good body Recomposition (lose body fat WHILST gaining muscle mass) is possible at ALMOST any weight, but it will usually be slower than attacking a specific goal such as SHREDDING BODY FAT or BULKING. However, under specific circumstances a body recomp can be AMAZING.
Below are some of the circumstances which can make a body recomp amazing (without spending 1000 words on explaining each)…
- The athlete is rebuilding lost muscle (muscle memory)
- The athlete is not properly provoked their genetic potential with the correct nutrition or training (improper diet routine or bad training stimulas)
- The athlete is not achieving the appropriate amount of calorie intake relative to their goal (improper energy intake)
- The athlete is not properly following a high quality training routine that is designed for stength and muscle development.
When these factors are all aligned, you can make amazing body recompositions!
Just look at the results:
Breakdown Of The Planned Process
Mindset & Goal
The goal was to get a six pack for the first time in his life. He was very focused on this and it helped fuel his momentum. We set the goal to get around 10% body fat (the requirement for visible abs) and work on building muscle mass whilst losing the body fat.
There no doubt that Jack has a strong mindset and determination to his goals. Being a dentist he is highly educated and able to push himself through tough times (such as 8-10 years of continuous study). He was very focused on this DESTINATION point of the transformation, rather than focusing on being disenchanted by his current situation.
Training
2 x per week Personal Training – Squats, Deadlifts, Bench press, Rows, etc The proven routine I get the majority of my PT clients to follow who are only training 2x per week.
2 x per week Boxing / HIIT Training
Nutrition
His nutrition plan was written up according to his goal. He followed a Intermittent fasting structure with 3 meals per day. Each day he would FAST for 16 hours (consuming only black coffee and tea) and then consume his meals within an 8 hour window. This is a common shredding / maintenance dietary structure we use here at Found My Physique.
Adherence
Jack’s adherence to the program is why his results are quite rapid. He was around 95% strict with his nutrition and did not miss a training session. His numbers increased every week as according to the plan.
Basic Report On The Results
The usual situation with transformations is that you will lose a bit of weight even if you are building muscle mass whilst losing fat.
You mite be thinking, WHY?
Well, because losing 5-10kg of body fat does not take very long… So if you lose 5kg you would need to be building that much muscle mass / lean body mass to maintain weight.
USUALLY there will be a weight loss unless the client is gaining muscle at a decent rate. As I mentioned – it can happen if some of the factors listed above.
Saying that, Jack’s weight did not drop much (see weight tracking below). We kept a close eye on his progress via body scans each month and photos every 8 weeks. His weight in the week 1 photo was 71kg and his weight at week 16 was 69.5kg. The weight actually only started dropping the last few weeks (as initial muscle gain slowed and we reduced calories to finish off the SHRED)
Weight Tracking
Week 1– 71kg
Week 4– 71kg
Week 8 – 72kg
Week 12 – 71kg
Week 16 – 69.5kg
Starting Strength
Deadlift: 40kg x8
Squat: 40kg x 10
Bench-press 35kg x 10
Ending Strength
Deadlift: 120kg x 1
Squat: 90kg x 5
Bench-press 70kg x 5
Long Term Result - 12 Months
Jack still continues to follow the same dietary structure. He also taught what he had learnt to his father (who lost 15kg and reversed his diabetes type 2) and his mother (lost 12kg).
RELATED: 3 More Body Recomp Transformations
Transformation 1: Christopher - 120kg
As I mentioned earlier – a recomposition can happen at almost any weight. Below is another client who did a recomposition at 120kg. Thats right! He lost body fat (9.1kg) and gained the same amount back in lean body mass… Whilst being 120kg!
Transformation 2: Priyank - 76kg
This badass Doctor decided that he wanted to live as the healthiest strongest version of himself. He maintained weight and has lost close to 7kg of body fat (at the time of writing this post)
Transformation 3: Simon (myself) - 74kg - 2017
This is one of my personal transformations. I maintained weight and lost 6.7% body fat in 8 weeks. I regained a lot of lost muscle mass and trained very hard during this time period.
Want help making a transformation?
Found My Physique was created to help you improve your body composition using science based nutrition and training. Check out the Nutrition Coaching service to see how we can help you fuel your best life and make jaw dropping results in record time.
