Macclesfield Muscle Experiment: Day 1

For those of you that don’t already know I recently did an article on how before and after photos are created using the tricks of the trade.

Here’s the photo and you can click here to read the article:

1 hour body transformation? - Macclesfield Personal Trainer weight loss tips

I wasn’t overly happy with the ‘after’ photo as I felt I had taken a slight step back over the last few years.

This is me one year ago:

So, as my two sons are on holiday with their mum for two weeks, I’ve decided to use this week and next week to use every little trick and advanced technique I have ever learned to see how much change I can possibly make in a fortnight.

I’ll keep you updated as to what I’m doing and how I’m getting on every day or two.

If you are a ‘hard gainer’ (someone who struggles to gain quality muscle), I’m sure you’ll get some useful tips out of the emails.

####################################################################

Last night I took my ‘starting measurements’.

I weighed 91.6 Kgs.

And was 7.9% body fat.

This is my ‘Day 0’ photo:

Macc Muscle Experiment: Day 1 — 18/08/13
91.6Kgs
7.9% body fat

Last December I was 89.0 Kgs and 5.9%.

Which means I have gained 0.6 Kgs of muscle but also 2 Kgs (4.4lbs) of body fat since then 🙁

My target by the end of the programme is to be at least 95 Kgs whilst maintaining (or hopefully dropping body fat.

This will equate to 3.4 Kgs (7.5lb) of muscle gained.

This is an ambitious target, to be sure, but it gives me something to aim for.

####################################################################

So, what will I be doing?

####################################################################

Technically my gains will be over 2 1/2 weeks.

The programme I have designed will run from today from next Saturday and I actually expect to be in worse shape by then.

But the 5 days after that (when I rest and recover) should see some amazing gains.

####################################################################

You what?

####################################################################
You read that correctly – I expect the training itself to leave me with slightly increased body fat and decreased muscle mass.

It is tactical use of ‘over-training’ that should produce a huge hormonal shift and put my body into a ‘muscle growth’ state.

The programme is three full body workouts split over two days (ie: Monday AM, Monday PM, Tuesday day, etc).

So I will have 48 hours rest until I repeat the same exact workout and as little as 8 hours some days before I train the same body parts again.

This flies in the face of much of the advice you will received (including from us) about ‘over training’.

But it a purposefully designed stimulus designed to cause a specific reaction from by body, which, coupled with optimal nutrition and supplementation will cause be to ‘grow before your eyes’ in the 5 day rest period.

Because of the level of over-training I’ll be doing I expect, as well as getting slightly fatter and losing muscle, that I will:

Be thoroughly depressed by about Wednesday
Struggle with sleep
Find it hard to eat from about Thursday till the end of the next week.

I’ve made a pact with myself that I’m going to get through it and that the result will be worth it.

Wish me luck 🙂

P.S. If you’re not already on the list, you can be kept up to date with what I’m doing and my progress by entering your details below:

Jon Hall