Day 300: Time For Massive Change In Strategy...And Some Muscle!
G'day,
Well, it is Day 300 already! Time flies when you are having the time of your life!
A Massive Change Of Strategy
Today is a momentous change in strategy for me. Day 300 marks the first time I have radically changed my workout and nutrition program since I started this journey on Day 1 - November 8, 2006)
As you may know I have been faithfully following Metabolic Surge: Rapid Fat loss Training System for my workout program. (Click Here for Surge Day 75 Blog Post)
During this time I have also followed and referred countless times to Burn The Fat, Feed The Muscle a.k.a. BFFM for deigning and adjusting my nutrition program.
(Click Here for BFFM Day 166 Blog Post)
When I first started this journey I was focused on rapid fat loss, however I have now decided to focus on building muscle for Phase 2 of Mission 3, as I close in on Day 365.
The Difference Between Losing Fat And Building Muscle
When you focus on building muscle everything changes!
My nutrition plan, my workout plan and my mental approach have all been re-designed from the ground up.
The core reason why you must change your approach is a simple matter of human biomechanics!
Actually it is not that simple but I do know this, the root of how our physique transforms is due to calories - caloric intake and caloric expenditure.
When you are on a fat loss mission you must create a caloric deficit in order to lose weight. When you are on a muscle gain mission you must create a caloric surplus in order to gain weight.
Again, that is a very simplified explanation of fat loss and muscle gain, but I will elaborate a lot more on muscle gain as I will document my experience in real-time throughout Phase 2 of Mission 3.
Truth be told I am little anxious about this "muscle gain phase" as this is the first time in my life that I have deliberately tried to put on weight!
As you can see my "7 Year Journey" picture slide in the nav bar I always been overweight when starting a physique transformation challenge.
After Much Deliberation I Have Chosen A Muscle Gain Program!
Anyway, after much deliberation (and buying heaps of different eBooks!) I have finally settled on a "muscle gain program" to follow throughout M3 Phase 2.
The ebook I have chosen is mind blowing due to the amount of quality information contained inside. Quite honestly, the author of this eBook has forgotten more about building muscle than I have ever known about it!
The author stacks up well in the real-world as he has lots of testimonials from real people who have gotten results from his program. Included with the eBook is also a vibrant online community who go out of their way to help other people on their journeys. Trust me, this aint a place where "muscleheads" and "roid ragers" gather, the people in there are real people on their own physique journey.
Here Comes The Pitch...Not!
By the way I'm talking this program up you may think I'm about to give you a link to go and buy it (and give me a commision!). Well, sorry to disappoint you but that is not the way I operate.
I'm very selective about the products I recommend and I only do so once I have achieved success by the following the program exactly as it is spelled out in the book. For proof of this you will note that it wasn't until Day 75 when I wrote about my experience with Metabolic Surge (even though I had been following it for a full 75 days).
However, what I will do for the next 65 days is document my workout and nutrition plan in real-time as I go through this muscle gain phase. I will give a brief overview every single day of my experience with this program.
However, I won't go into absolute specifics like weight increments, rep counts, rest periods, exact caloric intake and meal plans, etc. because I believe in respecting other people's intellectual property and sweat equity.
Today's Workout: Core 5x5 Upper Body
Ok, so how was my first "day at the office" on this program. In a word, awesome!
I completed the Core 5x5 workout for chest and back. I was actually surprised at my strength for both chest and back.
This is because I have been following Surge for so long where the rest periods are sometimes as short as 10 seconds. While great for losing fat, these short rest periods do not allow you to build up much raw strength and power.
Core 5x5 is different because the rest periods are 5 minutes! It felt so weird to have that long a rest between sets, like I was cheating or something! However, the proof was in the pudding as I was able to maintain my 5 rep max. throughout the duration of barbell bench press (for chest) and pull-ups (for back).
For the record, my current 5 rep max. for barbell bench press is 75 kg's and I can currently complete 8 unassisted pull-ups. I look forward to increasing these numbers throughout M3 Phase 2.
Ok, time for me to get some all-important rest.
Catch ya,
Adam Waters, NESTA-CPT
P.S. Below are my Day 300 pics for Day 6 of M3 Phase 2.
