We’ve been getting a lot of great comments and support from our viewers lately. I can’t express to you guys enough how much we love hearing from everyone. It’s awesome when we get viewers contacting us about their great stories.
Meet Joe, a man behind this month’s kick-ass success story that needs to be shared with the world. Joe has been following us since the near beginning and wanted to share his awesome transformation. Joe told us that 2011 was a life changing year for him, and that a lot of things happened that were the catalyst for leading him down the positive path.
These stories are what keep us motivated to push you to success. So, we sat down with Joe to find out what kept him going. If you have a story to tell, we would love to help you tell it.
What exactly happened to set you down that positive path you’ve been telling us about?
Last summer I got hit with 3 things that turned my world upside down : The band I had put a lot of time, effort and energy into (and had dreams of going places) broke up. I got pretty severe bronchitis and got put on heavy-duty antibiotics for a chest infection, breathing was an issue for a while and I had a cough for 4 months. Then to put the icing on the cake my relationship with the girl I had been with for just over 7 months (and thought would last a hell of a lot longer) also ended spectacularly. In the meantime too many heavy nights out on the town and eating badly was taken a toll on my body, I made my mind up that as soon as I shook off the illness I would change my lifestyle and try to get fit, in Autumn I was ready for action.
Sounds rough, how did you push yourself to get started?
I started my workout regime and changing my lifestyle changes on the 1st November 2011, at that precise period in time I weighed 225 pounds, which for my 5 feet 10 inches of height was not good at all. Luckily I own a really good weight set and bench plus a pair of trusty running shoes, I started doing something active everyday and planning out my weekly workout schedule in a Diary. For the first month I was doing all body weights workouts and running 2 to 3 times a week, starting at 20 minutes and then trying to run a little longer each time I went out. For that first month I also gave up bread in exchange for more quality carbs and I also didn’t drink alcohol for that month either.
Looks like you started in the right direction.
I like to believe that I did! I decided that making fitness my lifestyle was the way forward, I was happier and more confident thanks to losing some weight and my daily workout gave me something to focus and start my day on a huge positive as I always train in the morning when I wake up before work.
Being a fan of boxing and in admiration of the athletes involved in the sport and inspired by the way some would lose weight to compete in lower weight classes, my big goal for the new year would be to try and drop from being a heavyweight to a cruiserweight by the end of March. At the start of January I weighed 214 pounds and so had a stone to hit the limit of 200 pounds for Cruiserweight, I thought that was possible and setting such a specific goal really focused me. I was doing 2 to 3 days of weights a week finished off with rowing, a 10km every week (hoping to be under an hour by the end of 2012) and I started adding bodyweight and medicine ball circuits into my schedule as well as 20 minutes of sprint intervals a week.
In January alone I shed 12 pounds to get down to 202 pounds and my body was starting to look a better shape.
That’s quite a feat. How did things continue into the new year?
Thanks. A couple of weeks into February I had hit my target of cruiserweight weighing in at 200 pounds and in half the time I anticipated that I could do it.
In March, I decided to stick to the winning formula of Free weights, 5km runs, Sprints and Circuit training but threw in some shadow boxing, focus pads and skipping into the mix too to keep things fresh and to add some fun in to the equation also. I decided I would try to get from 198 pounds down to between 195 and 191 pounds by the end of May. I hit 193 pounds 2 weeks into March which surprised the hell out of me and then 188 pounds by the 1st of April, a couple of weeks into April I actually started going to a gym instead of training at home.
Wow! What kept you motivated?
I would say my enthusiasm for fitness is infectious and what with the transformation I have undergone in the last 6 months I have had a lot of friends come to me for advice and help in trying to do something similar and the ones who I have helped who have put the work in have got the same results. I also write a blog on the subject of fitness and self-improvement which is a mixture of tips and articles as well as an insight into what I am doing training and lifestyle wise at the time.[/quote]
What has been your diet during your success?
Nutrition wise I have a high protein diet, eat plenty of veg and aim to eat quality carbs. I don’t eat carbs after 3pm and when I drink alcohol it is on occasion instead of a lifestyle choice. I have a blow out day every sunday after I weigh in where I eat pretty much whatever I like, maybe indulge in some junk food or a big sandwich. It is important to have a reward day, as long as it is just a day and not the whole week!
What would you suggest for our readers on the same path?
Cardio wise, I believe that the key for weight-loss is to keep it short, no longer than 30 minutes and is all about those bursts of anaerobic activity tempered with Aerobic low intensity recovery periods. I do this on the Rowing machine, when I am having a sprint session, doing circuit training or even by doing 5km in intervals.
Weights wise, I swear by doing a couple of big compound lifts every session that incorporate the big muscle groups, I always pick 2 different ones per session and do them in a superset. 6 reps and 5 sets is the magic number here for calorie burning and hypertrophy. I then usually end the session with compound moves and isolation moves done in a circuit, 10 to 12 reps for 3 sets, no rest between exercises and around 90 seconds to 2 minutes between sets.
Whether its cardio or resistance training I try and change up the variables every 3 weeks, tweak things. Like the amount of distance I sprint and the recovery period or with weights changing up the exercises or the amount of reps and rest. I’m constantly looking at my workout every week and seeing where I am improving or how I perform and trying to think of ways to push it to the next level. I do the same thing with what I eat, the types of veg or protein I have. The one thing I don’t change is getting no less than 7 hours sleep a night, aiming for 8. I think all of the above is why I am consistently hitting my targets and goals and have not plateaued yet.
So would you say you’re more conFITdent now?
I do! Inspiration and motivation wise I am always on the ConFITdent website, it gets me through my working day at the office and keeps me thinking about what I can do to keep getting the best out of myself, I have even printed out and stuck up a lot of the motivational quotes on the website round my apartment as a reminder and to keep the fires burning.