What is Home Physique?
See the handsome chap on the right? That was me around October 2010. I was swaggering around at 230lb (maybe more). Beer and Food were my favourite things. All of it.
I used to work out now and then, I can't lie on that one, me and my best mate used to go to the gym and do what is now known as "a Bro Split". You know, Chest day, Arms day, Shoulders day, Back day... and not a single Leg day in sight...
I had a relatively "OK" level of strength back then for the Bro moves. I had never actually properly done a barbell bench press, we always used machines or dumbbells instead. My best Dumbbell Bench at the time was 40kg dumbbells for 2-3 reps. I was just happy with that as not many people in the gym could do it. It didn't really enter my head about trying to improve it.
Squats? What are those? Deadlifts? Sounds like hard work. Never did any of them. On the rare occasion that we did train legs it was a few sets on the Leg Press machine and Leg Extensions. Leg day just wasn't important. Training in general wasn't important. It was just something we did to "get a pump" before we went out on the piss.
On the first day, God created Chub
Home Physique is a project I started back at the start of 2011to show my progress from an overweight, idle boozer to a healthier, active and stronger person.
What originally was just an online log of my progression, Home Physique has developed into a multi media platformed group with a helpful following with which I have shared information with - along with getting information and help in return! As of today, the core of Home Physique's following comes from the YouTube channel which now has over 10,000 subscribers.
That all changed at the start of 2011, when I got the other half to take a picture of me in my kegs and I vowed to change my lifestyle, get lean and get stronger. I said that before I was 30 I wanted to enter a competition.
Ain't nuttin' to it but to do it
So at the start of 2011 I got into action and started my journey from fat to fit. The problem was I had no real idea of how I was going to make it happen, I just figured if I kept going to the gym and listened to the advice in Men's Health magazine I would have no problems... after all, the articles in those magazines told me I could have a ripped six pack in just 4 weeks! Whoop!
I soon found out that it wasn't going to be as simple as that after I spent a good few months just doing what I always did, Bro Splits and a shit ton of cardio... because well, cardio burns fat right?? You have to do cardio to lose fat... it's science. Weights for muscle... cardio for fat loss.
Wrong.
Well, not entirely wrong but if you're looking to build a strong, lean looking physique you don't want to be putting much attention into losing fat through cardio... build muscle and your body will do it for you!
By May 2011 I had discovered the bodybuilding.com forums, a place that is both very helpful and at times, very misleading. The trouble with forums is they are public expressions of opinions and often opinions clash so you can end up feeling torn between what to do.
I ended up set on doing what is known as the Ketogenic Diet. This is a diet that involves eating little to no carbohydrates (the ones that you do eat come from leafy greens mainly) along with a very high fat intake and moderate protein intake. The premise behind it is that your body switches over to ketosis, a state in which your body burns purely fat for fuel (it converts fat into ketones which your body uses in a similar way to glucose).
Sadly, as with most beginners starting out, I didn't get the facts completely right and I ended up what is known to many as "Skinny Fat". Skinny Fat is basically where you don't actually have much muscle mass to begin with, you do a big long cut and you end up losing lean mass along with fat. Basically the worst nightmare of anyone trying to cut down and lean out.
This happened because I wasn't properly educated on the Keto diet. I should have done, at the very least, the Cyclic Ketongenic Diet (CKD). This diet follows the principles of Keto but after a certain period of time you have a refeed day full of carbohydrates to help replenish your muscle glycogen stores, keeping them full and able to train properly. The other method is called Targetted Ketogenic Diet (TKD) which involves consuming a small amount of carbohydrates around your training. Either of these would have helped me.
Whilst doing Keto I was also reading into (and following) what's known as "If It Fits Your Macros" (IIFYM) an approach to dieting that is flexible in it's nature on the premise that it doesn't matter so much where your macronutrients come from; Protein, Fats and Carbs, but more so what quantity of each one you get instead.
I soon realised that if it didn't matter about nutrient intake in respect to weight loss, after all, I had just lost over 40lbs doing a diet that was crazy high in fat, the thing that you are told you must avoid if you want to lose weight. Don't eat fat... you'll get fat!
With this in mind I figured that carbohydrates weren't the bad guy that Keto had me believe as it was total calories in vs calories out the determined weight loss and macronutrient partitioning that determined body composition.
So I ditched Keto and when back to a balanced IIFYM based diet going off of 1g per lb of Lean Body Mass (LBM) in protein intake, 0.4-0.5g per lb of Total Body Mass (TBM) in fat intake and the remaining calories as carbohydrates. A popular video of mine explaining how you can find your own macronutrient values based of your Total Daily Energy Expenditure can be found on my YouTube channel or you can just watch it below, because I've put it there, because I'm nice like that.
This video is one of the more frequently used videos I send to people when they have questions about "If It Fits Your Macros" (IIFYM) and how to calculate their own macronutrient values.
Lift. Often.
Nutrition is a big part of any successful transformation. The saying "Abs are made in the Kitchen" is very real. It doesn't matter how many crunches, sit ups, planks or whatever ab exercise the latest fitness magazine is pushing you are doing you will not, I repeat, will not see your abs unless you have dropped your body fat low enough. Having a balanced and controlled diet is by far the easiest way of achieving this.
Now as I said, diet is a big part but it's not the only part. You have to train too. If you want to look like models in the magazines chances are you'll never get to that stage without a little bit of "assistance" whether that be from photoshop retouching or from drugs. I say chances because it's unlikely that most people have the commitment required to reach that level naturally. However, you can god damn be sure you can most certainly get to a similar quality of physique on your own merit if your nutrition and training is on point.
So back to me. Back at the start of 2011 I was just doing my bro split workouts. It was around about May / June time that I came into contact with a guy called Ryan Miller, founder and owner of Growth Stimulus Training. Ryan set me up with a routine which was based on the four big lifts; Squats, Bench Press, Deadlifts and Overhead Press. It is actually set up as Squat, Pull, Push, Lift but all those lifts get some lovin'. I had never done squats, OHP or deadlifts before, as mentioned I had never really done barbell bench press either. But I wanted to. I wanted to learn the lifts, develop them and become stronger, knowing that these lifts would help me transform my body.
I got stronger whilst doing these lifts, however, it was only really until after I ditched Keto and went back onto consuming carbs regularly that I really saw my performance take off. Another big step for my training was the move from a commercial gym to home gym, what at first was fairly basic but over the years I have developed it into a very sufficient base for training.
Keeping an online log of my training was a great way to stay motivated as I met other like minded individuals who were quick to offer help and assistance if needed along with criticism that I might not have realised I needed if I had just kept to myself in my home gym. For example, when I first started squatting, I squatted higher than giraffe pussy (love that saying) and if I never posted my videos to the forum I most likely would still be doing that today.
Thankfully, I don't.
The real progress came once diet and training was on point and I started seeing some really substantial changes in my body. I was loving it and was finally seeing the results that I thought would just come from just eating right and hitting the gym. Men's Health promised me this remember?
By around October 2012 I had gotten myself in the best shape of my life. Nearly two years of consistent hard work through training and eating got me in the kind of condition that makes everyday people think "holy shit". Unfortunately, I wasn't happy with that anymore. I wasn't as ripped or as big as the people I spoke with on the forums. Younger kids rife with testosterone lifting weights far heavier than me, whilst being in much better shape.
I thought I was ripped... these people were SHREDDED!
2010 vs 2012
People Change
From 2012 to present, I went through numerous changes in both my physique and my mental state. At one point, I had gone a little bit "balls deep" with it all. My life was the gym, training was my blood, diet my air... I needed nothing else.
There was a stage where I had gone that batshit with it all that it caused a bit of tension between me and my other half, I couldn't get my head around just why she didn't want to be the same as me. Why on earth didn't she want to train in the gym, watch what she ate, achieve a solid, healthy physique and be strong? Why? I just couldn't get my head around it.
I'll tell you why. It's because not everyone shares the same passion for something that you do and you should fucking respect that. After that little wake up call I have never let that happen again. I feel a complete dick for the way I was but I think it's a common thing that people on weight loss / body transformation journeys will go through at some point.
Around this time I had entered an online competition for BodySpace, a part of Bodybuilding.com. The competition was a 12 Week Transformation, in which the participants from all across the globe had to have the most impressive body transformation. I decided I would enter it and get myself to my very best. Like I said, I went balls deep with it and dedicated myself to the cause. I ended up with the lowest level of body fat I have ever been at and again, a physique that had people in awe and at many times, I was accused of using performance enhancing drugs to achieve it.
Let me tell you now, there is NO requirement for drugs to get how I got in the video below. In the later stages of the cut (mine lasted 16 weeks, the first 12 was the entry to the competition) I used a supplememt called Yohimbine HCL by Primaforce. This product in a nutshell makes it a bit easier to shift the last remaining areas of fat when you are already fairly lean. It's not something I would advise using when you are above 15% body fat as it is already easy to get leaner and you will waste your money.
Eat, Sleep, Train, Repeat
So if you watched that video above you will have noticed I was kinda tubby again at the start. That is because over the duration of my transformation I have bulked and cut several times. There's a thing called lean bulking, where you get lean, then you very, very slowly build lean muscle by controlling the rate at which you gain weight. I've never done that. I come from a previous binge nature and when I do I do, it is something I try to control but hell, I have come to accept that I like food and drink, I just find I can get rid of the "damage" when needed.
Weight gain is an inevitable part of bodybuilding or strength training / powerlifting. Weight gain isn't always fat gain. Muscle is heavy you know! I know many people who have been through what I have; lost a load of weight through fat loss and then as they have started to gain muscle (along with some fat, this is normal) they start to panic because they're nearly back where they started! Damn you scales!!
I have come to accept now that some times of the year I will be heavier than others. It's a strong psychological barrier you may need to get by on your own weight loss journey. The truth is all that matters is how you feel in yourself. If you aren't really worried about what you weigh but you aren't happy with what you see in the mirror then you need to do something about it. Only you can make anything change.
I mentioned earlier that when I started all this I vowed to enter a competition before I was 30. At the time the competition was going to be a Bodybuilding show. Since then, I have been to a show and I didn't like it. I didn't like the whole thing of parading around on stage in your undies, all bronzed up whilst a room full of middle aged men watch and judge you.
No thanks Jeff.
I had already been training the main strength compound lifts for a good while now and was finding I enjoyed the process of getting stronger more than I did the idea of perfecting my physique for aesthetical appearance. Not to say I don't want to be "in shape" because I do, just the whole 4-6% body fat thing doesn't really appeal to me any more.
I am now fully devoted training wise into competitive powerlifting. I plan to have my first powerlifting meet under the IPF ruleset by around Feb-March 2015. I'll be 30 on June 21st 2015... clock's a ticking.
This new pursuit hasn't been without it's problems. Around Summer of 2013 I began to suffer with terrible pain in my back and right shoulder. Pains that turned out to be partial tearing of a deep back muscle, which then lead to minor disc bulging. My shoulder was so beated up that I couldn't sleep on that side for almost a year, with it randomly waking me through the night with painful spasms. There was a bried interlude in the injuries where I was able to train again but it was pretty short lived and I soon found myself back on the sidelines, twiddling my thumbs, doing nothing and getting fatter.
All my hard work over the years was being undone. I couldn't train. I felt weak. I felt fucking sorry for myself. I ate. I drank. I binged. My precious abdominal muscles had long gone, hidden away under a cosy blanket of blubber... never to be seen again. I was ready to give up.
I was fed up of being in pain constantly. My shoulder hurt when driving, when sleeping, fuck, just wiping my arse was painful at times. My back caused me no end of pain, whether it be from walking, sitting, standing or even lying down at night to sleep. A dull, constant pain with dashings of jolting, hot bolts every now and then. Sublime.
I figured I just wasn't cut out for this hobby, my body wasn't built for this physical torture and I had almost convinced myself that the reason I was the big, fat lazy fuck that I was before I started this journey was because that's what I was made for. I was made to booze, eat and slob about.
Almost.
Yep, almost because like this shirt from my sponser Forged Iron Training says: "I Refuse To Quit". I love the lifting game and I love the feeling of making progression, so much so that I did whatever I could to work around and rehab the injuries until finally I was able to get back at it full speed.
I Refuse to Quit
So there you have it, the story so far. Just an out of shape bloke that decided he was going to change that and show that with hard work and persistance it can be done. If you have made it down this far and you feel inspired, that's great, feel free to share this article with the hopes of inspiring others. You can also get in touch with me via YouTube or by emailing me directly.
Remember when I first started this journey I had a very limited (and I would say slightly misguided) idea as to what needs to be done to transform my body into what it is today. The sole aim of this site is to inspire YOU to make the move to get started and with the videos, articles and links I have created / compiled over the years I am 100% certain that anyone would be able to make similar progress to me if they are willing to put the required work in.
This has been a 4 year journey so far.
4 YEARS.
Not 4 Weeks like certain magazines will promise you. The media is focused on making money and they know that us humans are a sucker for a "quick fix". They have to put out different routines with crazy new exercises each month to make sure that you keep buying it, because the reality is, if they told you the truth, the truth that you just have to stick to the main, tried and tested, best bang for your buck compound exercises like the Squat, Bench, Deadlift, Rows and OHP they wouldn't have anything new to publish... along with the fact that everybody would be making so much good progress they wouldn't NEED to read about "quick fixes and shortcuts" anymore.
Good luck people, only you can make it happen.