How i gained 10kg in 1 month... Part 1

Hello everyone,

The first version of this blog was massive, too big to be considered a light read. So i have made it into 2 parts for easier digesting (and more blog visits!).

Throughout my time in Bahrain i have heard the sentence which included "...moved to Bahrain and gained 10kgs". Ironically, during the past month that exactly what I (we - me and Lou) did. We took the idea from a book (Tim Ferriss's best-selling 4-hour body) called "the geek to freak program" and went against everything we understood about gaining size and strength and put our faith in a guy who had experimented with himself and got an amazing result.

Possibly the best book i have read.

A quick word on "the 4 hour body". Timothy Ferriss is a modern day genius, read his amazing story and you will agree. In creating this book he spent over a decade experimenting on his body to find out what really happens when we train, eat, sleep, etc. If your looking for a new book to read, this is an absolute goldmine of information on the human body. It de-bunks a lot of the myths we have believed about training for years. From sleeping to sex, from fat loss to weight gain... it's amazing read from start to finish. If my brother is reading this, i am sending him it for his birthday (so wait 2 weeks!).

My start weight on Tuesday March 1st was 80kg and as i write this (April 5th) i am 90kg.

How did we do it? By sticking to a system and seeing it through.

How much of this weight is lean body mass (LBM) and bodyfat %? Its always difficult to be 100% accurate, my honest opinion would be 60/40 in favour of muscle (based on bodyfat measures and calculating LBM) so that means i may have put on as much as 6kg of LBM in one training month.

I quickly research this on the internet. Google "how much muscle can i add in 1 month?"

From Vince Delmonte (a fitness professional - who has great knowledge and products)

"There is not a chance in heaven that you will gain 5 or even 10 pounds of dry muscle in one month or even 3 months - not even close. I hate to be the messenger of this bad news but unless you are using growth enhancing drugs... it's IMPOSSIBLE".

So, i guess thats it? I'm full of shit.

Possibly the angriest kid in the world?

Not really, Vince goes on to talk about glycogen weight, water weight and storage in the full answer http://www.ironmagazine.com/viewarticle-3995.html read it and make your own mind up. It is plausable that dry muscle weight is added over the longer term and glycogen/water weight fills the muscles in the shorter term. Vince mentions that "consistency" is essential in gaining dry muscle, Im totally behind that.

Vince added an impressive 41lbs to his then skinny frame in 6 months using a training program of 4-6 sessions per week. We just added 22lbs in 1 month training in 10 full body weight sessions. Thats just 10 hours of training!

In my opinion (btw you can never be wrong if you start a sentence with those 3 words) Timothy Ferriss has found a better system of gaining size and weight than VDM. VDM is the sort of guy who would already be trying tim's program so i expect i will hear him endorse it soon.

*I guess we can say that LBM can be compromised of dry muslce mass, glycogen and water. Only when an individual is truly ripped (4-6% bodyfat) would you get a more accurate picture of dry muscle mass.

Check out VDM's top quality long-term muscle building program

The goal

To add as much weight as possible in approximately a month (ours ended after 34 days and 10 training sessions). Even though a higher % LBM in the overall weight total was preferable, our fundamental goal was weight gain.

The results

Nathan Williams         +10kg (80.5kg - 90.5kg) - previous heaviest ever weight 86kg
Lullu Murali                + 8kg  (63kg - 71kg) - previous heaviest ever weight 67kg

Impressive numbers which are made even more unbelievable when you consider that we both smashed through our heaviest ever weights by a considerable amount (kg) in such a short space of time.

The training

See Part 2 of this blog


Nutrition (calories) and supplements

The aim of each day is eat excess calories in order to create a calorific excess which will be used in muscle building and recovery. The aim of the supplementation and 'damage control' is to shuttle the calories taking in towards muscle and not fat gain and also to lower cholesterol.



Pasta was my 'go-to' food for over-feeding over the past month

Typical day

Breakfast (6.30am) Metrx meal replacement drink with added creatine and glutamine
2nd breakfast (9am) Baked breakfast croissant with coffee (and fries! or side salad)
Lunch (12noon) Turkey sandwich/Jam on toast/pasta  in lunch box, glass of milk, apple
Snacks - almonds/cashews/brazil nuts/seeds
Pre workout - NO explode
Post workout - Metrx meal replacement with added creatine and glutamine (sometimes a muffin)
*Evening - Chicken/tuna/eggs with Quinoa/Pasta/Potatoes
Bed time - Metrx meal replacement or glass of milk with Creatine/Glutamine

*When eating out i tried to stick with steak, baked potato and veg but generally had what i fancied that day. I ended up eating a lot of chips which was pretty poor really.

Supplementation guide

I will just give a list here, you can check the book out for exact details:

Creatine (5-15g a day)
Glutamine (pre program loading phase from Charles Poliquin)
Policosanol (at night)
ALA (every meal)
Chromium (every meal)
Niacin (had really bad flushes so stopped using after about a week)
Vitamin D (my own inclusion)
Cinnamon tablets (in morning with black coffee)
ZMA (my own inclusion)
NO explode (pre training)

Damage Control

Here comes the interesting bit... Have you ever heard of GLUT4 activity? of course not. In a nutshell... it involves exercising or movement after eating a meal.



Austin Powers... in a nutshell

The chinese had an ancient saying which translated to "walk 100 steps after each meal and you will live to 100 years old". Even a thousand years ago the chinese were onto this theory (I remember my brother doing the same when we were kids, not sure where he got that from?). They believed that moving around after each meal would assist the body to better digest and use the nutrients in the food, It turns out they were on to something. Reda more on GLUT4 activity in the book.

If you're a nerd read this http://www.jbc.org/content/269/20/14396.short for more GLUT4 stuff.


Sleep

When you read below in the pro's and con's columns you should see sleep in both. Of course quality sleep is essential for recovery and muscle growth but being tired to the extent of having low energy throughout the day is not good if you have an active job. Throughout the past month I noticed 3 distinct times of the day where i was really tired:

a) On waking - i found it hard to get up, often hitting the snooze button several times before being able to rise. When i did, i never felt fresh in the morning.

b) 1-3pm - yes, its a naturally low time anyway, but the large lunch carb feedings left me really drousy and struggling to stay awake in the afternoon.

c) 9-10pm - i was very tired getting into bed. Again this isn't a bad thing if you are physically tired, but i felt more full from food than anything else

Late night carbs left fido KO'd!

You can make your own mind up, i had some of the best nights sleep in years and some really nice afternoon naps but i realised that im not really in to wasting my daylight hours sleeping; its boring and a bad habit to get in to. Once my diet changes i will enjoy my new energy and get more done.

Geek to freak (G2F) Pro's

Sleep/napping - promotes growth, recovery and repair
Massive recovery time between sessions
All body parts done in one session
(depending on individual) No "cardio" needed
Amazing energy and enthusiasm towards each session (due to infrequency of sessions)
Eating up tp 6000 calories a day allows your diet to go anywhere you want (cheat foods)

Time saved to do other things - let me dwell on this point for a second:

If i just put 10kgs on in 34 days training just 10 hours.

...and a typical Gym member will spent 5-6 hours a week, training each bodypart 2-3 times resulting in 1-2kg gain (normally a great result) in 25+ hours a month...

What the f*ck have we been doing all this time???? training too much and wasting time? it looks like it.



There are few things in life that waste more time than a tricep machine, ARRRGGH!

Before you message me all sorts of crazyness and abuse, remember i'm talking about weight gain which represents a small % of gym members goals but secretly is what most guys are looking to do. Tim Ferriss also has a minimist approach to fat loss in the book, but you got to buy it to find out.

G2F cons

Excessive sleep/napping - unproductive and boring
Same session each time (We loved the training but i realise some people would get bored)
Eating 6000 calories per day is a massive commitment
The 'damage control' exercising is hard to keep up when you eat out
The supplementation protocol is difficult to stick with 100%, you have to be disciplined
Drinking a lot of milk made me feel sick at time

Thats the basics, in part 2 (which i have annoying named part deux) I will take you through the training program, the adjustments we made and what i would do differently. Until next time.

If you want to check out a great new fitness page on facebook, Bahrain-based trainer Leigh Withers has created a great page which includes tips on all things fitness, check it out and leave a comment!

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/JLWithersPT

Share with friends on facebook, make comments and look out for Part Deux very soon!

Bonus Blog: 4 ways to F*ck yourself up in under 2 minutes!

Hi all,

A few blogs ago i wrote how you could f*ck yourself up in under 5 minutes, The extension of that blog became another short post and shows how you can do it in around 2 minutes.

If your still reading and want some further carnage to end your workouts then i have put 4 of the best 'finishers' we use at the end of sessions.

Disclaimer: These finishers will elevate your heart rate. If your heart actually stops at the end of 2 minutes, it's not my fault. Always know your heart rate or be confident in your fitness levels before attempting these challenges!

1. 400m sprint

Why? Dubbed "Hell on Earth" for one reason, this max effort sprint is too long to be comfortable. At 45 seconds, a normal human should build up to lactic threshold and start to burn. Expect to puke up if you push it too hard.

How? Find a running track (200m x 2 or 400m x 1), start your timer and run as fast as you can for that distance

Don't say it's easy if.... you cant do it in less than a minute. If your not seriously out of breath at the end then you did it wrong. Try again without half-assing it.

400m is an absolute bastard

2. Body Matrix

Why? Because it hurts so good and you love that. If you want to give your legs a lactic shower before hitting the showers do this little 2 minute leg-blaster.

How? 24 speed squats, 24 speed lunges, 24 jump lunges, 24 jump squats.

Don't say it's easy if.... you can't do 24 on each move and you do not have good technique on all them. Half-rep merchants need not apply!

Great tits, i mean... tekkers.

3. Texas push up Challenge

Why? To test your upper body strength and muscular endurance and to say you can do it to other gym members

How? 1 full push up, stand up... 2 full push ups, stand up... 3 full push ups, stand up... continue to 10 push ups.

Don't say it's easy if.... you can't complete it under 2 minutes and you cant do proper technique push ups.



No matter your age, there is a no excuse for shallow push ups.

 

4. DB thrusters & Jump/Burpee (1 minute each)

Why? Because we did this in our recent program (weeks 2 & 3) and everyone hated me for it. Expect to feel like your in the "hurt locker" after 90 seconds. Try another set if you really hate yourself or your clients.

How? Place 2 dumbbells on your shoulders, perform a deep squat and push press the dumbbells up when standing up (repeat for 1 minute). Find a space (preferably 20m long) and perform a standing long jump, then perform a burpee and repeat this for 1 minute. If you still have the will to live, repeat this for one more 2 minute set.

Don't say its easy if.... You cant deep squat or put up aleast 10kg DB's. Also if you can explosively jump and keep going for the 2 minutes!

Enjoy these, well... enjoy would be the last word to describe some of them. But put these on the end of your strength training and get a quick cardio blast that will maximise conditioning while minimizing muscle loss, a genuine win-win situation.

Try these out and share comments on the discussion wall below. As always share with FB friends and spread the word :)

Training Longevity

Hi all,

Its been a crazy last month to say the least. One of my work colleagues mentioned today that i was looking tired. Apart from the fact i had just woken up (30 minutes earlier) and was in work only to pick something up, i suddenly felt it. During the past 28 days i have clocked an impressive 9 flights and visited 6 different places - 50% business 50% pleasure. So i think im entitled to look a bit tired.

To top all this travel off, i have returned to Bahrain as i left it - a war zone! I dont want to get involved in the politics of my most recent adopted country on this blog but the situation is looking more messy with the outbreaks of violence again this week. Its a shame to see a really friendly place break down as it has, which leads me to the biggest bombshell of them all - im leaving!

I have decided to take an opportunity to work in Singapore starting some time in the near future. I have been mulling over a new destination for about 6 months now and the chance to live in an exciting region like the Far East was too good to turn down. Recently, I have been moving further away from the 'gym floor' in my role as a manager and decided to return to what i love to do - train people.

Singapore... not too shabby, eh?

I will leave Bahrain with a heavy heart as i have made some good friends here who im sure i will remain in close contact with. There are honestly too many people to mention and i dont want to leave anyone out here by writing a list (so i wont bother). I must say thank you to every client i have trained over the last 3 years, even the ones that were absolutely rubbish (don't worry, they wont be reading this blog!). We have enjoyed great success together and i can honestly say my top 30% dont actually need me at all anymore - i guess that's the whole point of hiring a PT?

During the past 3 years, I had clients who:

- Climbed Mont Kilimanjaro

- Swam PB's in the Asian Games

- Knocked 30 minutes off marathon times in 12 months

- Became qualified TRX instructors within 6 months of starting training

- Returned from heart problems to be in their best condition ever after 12 months

- Lost 20+ kgs

- Too many 40+ housewives deadlifting bodyweight to mention

- (Female clients) performed proper pullups

- (Female clients) banged out 25+ push ups

- Learned to move their bodies at the ripe old age of 65

- 2 young brothers (aged 7 & 10) who lift, box, TRX and smile every minute doing it!

- Had 'incurable' back trouble that i helped to fix

- Added 20-30 yards to their golf shots

- turned up for a warm smoking a cigar (very funny)

The list goes on.....

I must however go on a short rant (my blog really wouldn't be complete without one short rant would it?). Although i think some days i have the greatest job in the world (honestly i do... look at the list above and tell me how many jobs can help achieve results?). But some days i have the most frustrating job too. People are generally... well, frustrating. My short rant is this...

"Buying PT sessions alone does not or will not help you lose weight/fat/get strong, etc".

After buying a block of PT sessions, the client then must commit to turning up every session and change eating habits. That means not cancelling for coffee mornings or because they have a sniffle or because the gardener didn't water the flowers today so the stress of the the whole day led them to arrange a coffee morning with other ladies of leisure (who think you've gone to skinny anyway since training with that damn welsh PT!)

Coffee mornings... All fun and games until one day you wake up with a massive ass!

I will go on record right now to say that there is a relationship between coffee mornings, missed training sessions and bodyfat. They all help each out in making people a little bit fatter each day.

Some people over the past 3 years have had the audacity to blame me for their short-comings in the gym, apart from being really annoyed with them - i found it quite funny at the same time. I meet all different kinds of people and i have come to recognize these individuals that dont take responsibility for their themselves. Ultimately, you decide what you look like by making a choice on the foods you eat and the activities you perform every day.

I have had clients who (on average) turned up 1 x week, often too sick or weak to train anywhere close vigorously. Who then also admitted to eating poorly and drinking alcohol every weekend. But still complained about me and was actively looking for another trainer to get the results they wanted.

Seriously? Im a trainer not a f*cking magician! Rant over.

Even Paul Daniels would struggle to get results for some of my most difficult PT clients!

Training Longevity

Today's blog will cover the topic of 'training longevity'. Personally i have found myself at the crossroads of my training in recent years. I used to love the 'balls-to-wall' training programs and the sessions where i would crawl out of the gym with my legs shaking. Don't get me wrong - i still do. Its just when you see new PT clients coming in who have been doing the same thing and their bodies are ready to break, i now wonder:

"Is it actually worth it?"

Take a moment to assess your personal goals for using the gym.

Done? Does any of the crazy, brutal training contribute to anything relevant in your life or move you towards your goals? If it does, I would be surprised.

Example: Client X wants to gain upper body mass to go out on the weekend to impress the ladies. Sorry, thats my goal! we'll use it anyway...

Client X is really getting into olympic lifts and wants to ramp up his clean and press (for reasons he is not clear about - maybe to drop some number in a conversation to impress fellow gym monkeys? as it certainly wouldn't impress the girls he would like to attract). Client X is getting strong and tries to lift 90kg. Client X tears his levator scapulae (neck) and his trap/shoulder wont be the same again.

Should client X have stuck with strict seated DB shoulder press for time under tension (TUT) of 60 seconds to elicit hypertrophy for his shoulders? After all, that was his goal... and he could have better avoided a major injury. Its the kind of crazy logic that is seen every minute of every day when you look around a gym. High risk moves that do not yield much reward.

In case your wondering Client X was me in 2006.

Making changes

I recently spoke to my friend and training mentor Patrick Dale about changes in his training and he was loving his new regime of TRX and flexibility work, saying that he was starting to feel better than ever and felt in great shape. That's an area where i see ex-sports people/athletes/heavy gym users moving towards - restorative training. If your smart about your own body then you need to look at the (training) big picture, look at the years ahead not just the months.

"Use training programs that manage stress not accumulate stress"

There will come a time in everyone's gym career where the  *1-Dimensional, repetitive training will actually start to hurt. My time has come and gone (shoulder problems for the past 4 years) and it has left me far smarter about what i would and would not do in the future.

*I had originally inserted the word "bodybuilding" here but that is completely unfair. Bodybuilding style training, when done correctly (balanced programming) and with adequate nutritional support can yield excellent results with minimal injuries. The main problem is that most guys using BB programs will target 'mirror muscles' which leads to inbalances and eventually pain and injury. I grew up and started my training love affair with bodybuilding - but unfortunately i didn't have the knowledge I do now regarding program design, nutrition and recovery so that i may have avoided some of the shoulder issues i have had to deal with over the past few years.

TRX seems to be a great training medium between strength and mobility

My short time at Cressey Performance in 2010 showed me that "corrective training to unlock performance" is the smartest way to train, and that is something i try to acheive with every single PT client i train. Identifying weak points and working on them towards a balanced physique is definately the best long-term goal for general fitness clients who want more muscle and less fat.

Common mistakes

I just recently had a 2 new clients who have similar goals and strengths, They:

1. Have a fundamental goal to lose bodyfat and look leaner

2. Have a great work ethic in the gym

3. Have a natural passion and talent for training

4. Have spent the last year annihilating themselves with 'Crossfit' style torture.
5. Have some of the worst flexibility issues i have seen in females since becoming a PT.

Point 4 is the most common problem with general gym goers - they think more is better and no pain is no gain! Yeah right. I wont go into the clients' individual details here but one of the recent new clients had stayed the same weight for the past 12 months, within 10 days of training with me she was down 3 kgs.... how?

History: Previously she had been weight training, quite heavy, sets of 10, eating moderately well with some cheats and occasional alcohol on weekends. So her behaviour was actually supporting weight gain or at the very least weight maintenance.

Whats the fundamental goal? I want to drop some weight.

Tactic: 3 x targeted full body metabolic session (light resistance/high reps) coupled with a strict GFD diet for 7 days.

Result: 3kg Weight loss. New behaviour to match the desired goal = result. After week 1 was done we started to use corrective training to unlock performance and the client is still consistently progressing both in strength and fat loss each week for the past 8 weeks. I believe this is a common case in most people who train without professional advice; muscles get too tight and stressed to recover and improve. Which leads to a lot of frustration, wasted time and could easily lead to serious injuries in the future.

Conclusion

Buying PT sessions from anyone is a 2-way commitment. I see too many people wasting their time in the gym and using PTs as accessories. There is nothing more annoying than turning up to a session (as a PT) with a great program planned out only for a client to no-show - not cool. In an ideal world, PTs should not be afraid to be honest and clear with clients who aren't keeping up with their side of the agreement. This, however (due to commision based industry) is quite rare and takes real courage.

Every person who trains and uses a gym needs to first write down their fundamental goals. Im not talking about "fat down/muscle up" you need to get more specific. E.g. I want to lose 20lbs of bodyfat in the next 12 weeks. Then work out what it will take to acheive that goal. Too many people are training towards results that they do not want. Take your average evening gym user who gets on the X-trainer for 45 minutes - they are doing that because they believe this is the best way to lose bodyfat and get in shape. As a fitness professional, im saying there are more efficient ways to burn bodyfat, cardio training is just one tool you would use... and not necessarily for that length of time. If you dont know what your doing, hire someone who does.  

Have a long-term training plan. If  your goal (like mine) is to train for the rest of your life then you need to get smarter with training intensity, plan recovery and take foot off the gas once in a while to increase your training longevity.

Lastly, I think moving on is healthy in life. In my job i really believe a good trainer should move gyms or location every 18-24 months to keep things fresh and aim to re-educate and spread the fitness message to another group of people. I am proud of my time in Bahrain and am excited about the future in Singapore. I hope my blog readers will follow me there :)

I hope Bahrain can bounce back from its current situation very soon.

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