Lifestyle Transformations Blog

This is the third book I’ve read so far, on my 8 Week Book Reading Challenge.  It’s a weight lifting program called “Gaining Mass” by Anthony Ellis, a New York City based fitness consultant who specializes in designing fitness and diet program for the “not-so genetically gifted” majority.

The reason I decided to re-read this book (it’s probably my third time reading it by now), is because I’ve set my #1 life priority to focus on my health and bulking up.  I value my health and my body so much, that this year I sat down and set goals for myself to get this area of my life handled.  One of my goals has been to bulk up and gain a lot of muscle mass, then to cut down and be ripped.

This has been a goal of mine for about 3 years now and I’ve made a tremendous amount of progress.  To give you some history, I used to weigh 135 lbs and was a scrawny weakling.  Since I got my hands on the Anthony Ellis program 3 years ago, I’ve managed to gain 30 lbs or so and now weigh around 165 lbs (at 5′10″).  I’m happy to say I’m not a scrawny weakling anymore, and now feel I have an “average” build.

The problem is, I was never really consistent with the program and was off and on.  I took breaks, focused on playing soccer and tennis for several months and travelled.  But, this time I want to do things “right”, which is why I felt I had to re-read the book and buckle down on the program.

Anthony Ellis, who is a winner of the EAS Physique Transformation Challenge, claims to have gained 32 lbs of pure muscle mass in 12 weeks.  He is featured in the Body for Life program, in the video the “The Body fo Work.”  There has been a lot of debate around the internet of whether or not he gained that much, but there doesn’t seem to be much criticism about his actual program or product.

The program works.  It’s designed for “hardgainers”, or “ectomorphs” — skinny guys with an extremely fast metabolism who can’t gain weight.  It revolves around 3 areas: the workout, diet, and rest.

The Workout 

The workouts are simple and pretty basic.  You focus on compound exercises, such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, shoulder press, dips, pull-ups, rows, etc… all of which put a tremendous amount of stress on the body.  The stress forces your body to compensate by gaining muscle mass. 

The time you spend in the gym is only going to be 3 times per week, no more than 75 minutes each session.  The workouts are grouped into three sessions:

Session 1: Chest, Shoulders, Triceps
Session 2: Back, Biceps
Session 3: Legs

Most people think that the more you train, the more you will grow.  But it isn’t true.  You do not grow while working out; you only grow when you are resting.

The reason why you keep the workouts short and as intense as possible, is because studies have shown that testosterone levels begin to peak and decline after 60 minutes of weight training.  You want to keep them short.  Get in and get out.

Diet

This is probably the most challenging part of the program.  Setting up and maintaining your meal plan with consistency is basically a full-time job at first.  It requires a lot of discipline and will-power. 

Basically, you multiply your lean body mass by 18-20 and you determine what your calorie intake is for a daily basis.  So, if I weigh 165 lbs, then my calorie intake is 2970-3300 per day.  Of those 3300 calories, you split the diet into 30% protein, 40% carbohydrates, and 30% fats.  So, you must hit a certain amount of protein, carbs, and fats on a daily basis.  You want to aim for complex carbs and consume EFAs for your fats (Essential Fatty Acids).

The diet I stick to usually consists of protein shakes (whey protein, unsweetened soy milk, Udo’s oil, frozen berries), chicken, ground beef, eggs, whole wheat bread, brown rice, and veggies.  You must eat every 3 hours, splitting the meals up into 6 per day, to provide your body with enough nutrients throughout the day.  Consistency is key.

Rest

Resting is probably the easiest part.  You sleep a solid 8 hours a day, which is when your muscles grow.  The more rest you can get, the better. 

You want to stay away from cardio or any other aerobic exercise, as this will only hinder your gains and change your muscle fiber makeup. 

Again, this program requires DISCIPLINE.  But, I couldn’t recommend it enough.  It has been a great start for me and I’ve decided I’d get back into it.  Everything is set up for you and extremely simple.  It comes with the “Gaining Mass” book, the Weight Training Workbook (consists of each workout with a journal) and the Fat Loss Workbook (for when you want to cut down).  It also comes with a body fat caliper and a tape measure, to record your measurements every week and monitor your progress.

This has and will be my focus for the next few months.  I’m glad I’m writing it up here on my blog, because at least this way I’m holding myself accountable!  My goal is to bulk up to 180 lbs by early May.  I’ll keep you guys updated.

If you’re looking to improve your physique and want to gain weight, then I suggest you check this program out. 

To me, there are so many benefits to being in good shape and having a great body.  I felt like I was plagued by being under-weight my entire life, but now I can do something about it.  It’s something that will immediately increase the attention you receive from women and help you command even more respect from guys.  It’s a major confidence booster, to say the least.

You can check out the program by clicking here.

Stefan
Executive Coach
Lifestyle Transformations

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