TommyJam
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I just finished a 10 month cutting phase with coaching from @Meetketchup, and I wanted to make a post to document the transformation.
I am in my early 40's and I have been active in the gym most of my life. I started lifting in Jr. High, when I wrestled and played football throughout my school days. I joined the Army right out of high-school and spent my entire career on active duty in the infantry. During my sports days and military career, strength training was always a part of my fitness plan, but the goal was never aesthetics. I trained for strength and explosiveness, lifting was always a tool to improve my performance in sports or on the battlefield. I retired from the military a few years ago and suddenly found myself without the same sense of purpose in the gym. My training suffered and I regressed. I began to find a passion for bodybuilding and lifting for aesthetics, but the transition was not easy for me. I really struggled to adapt to a hypertrophy style of lifting, and I continued to eat the same as I had while on active duty even though my activity level and calorie expenditure was, at most, 1/4 of what it was before I retired. The results were predictable, I spent a couple years making no progress only maintaining my muscle mass, and gaining lots of fat every time I tried to grow.
It was a big ego check for me to accept that even with 2 decades in the gym I was lost and needed help. I swallowed my pride and hired a coach.
TLDR: I retired from the Army & got fat so I hired a coach
Here are the results from 10 months in the slow-cooker with Coach Ketchup.
I am 5'10 and my starting weight was 242 lbs, we reversed out yesterday at a fasted weight of 200lbs .................. moving into growth phase one of my major goals is to correct some pretty large imbalances I have in my quads and lats from prior injuries and major knee and shoulder surgeries. I also want to bring up my biceps. I had a high school wrestling coach who taught me "biceps are for show, and pulling strength comes from the back", as an impressionable kid that stuck with me and I spent 20 years doing zero bicep isolation work. I really regret that now as I am trying to transition into BB.
I am in my early 40's and I have been active in the gym most of my life. I started lifting in Jr. High, when I wrestled and played football throughout my school days. I joined the Army right out of high-school and spent my entire career on active duty in the infantry. During my sports days and military career, strength training was always a part of my fitness plan, but the goal was never aesthetics. I trained for strength and explosiveness, lifting was always a tool to improve my performance in sports or on the battlefield. I retired from the military a few years ago and suddenly found myself without the same sense of purpose in the gym. My training suffered and I regressed. I began to find a passion for bodybuilding and lifting for aesthetics, but the transition was not easy for me. I really struggled to adapt to a hypertrophy style of lifting, and I continued to eat the same as I had while on active duty even though my activity level and calorie expenditure was, at most, 1/4 of what it was before I retired. The results were predictable, I spent a couple years making no progress only maintaining my muscle mass, and gaining lots of fat every time I tried to grow.
It was a big ego check for me to accept that even with 2 decades in the gym I was lost and needed help. I swallowed my pride and hired a coach.
TLDR: I retired from the Army & got fat so I hired a coach
Here are the results from 10 months in the slow-cooker with Coach Ketchup.
I am 5'10 and my starting weight was 242 lbs, we reversed out yesterday at a fasted weight of 200lbs .................. moving into growth phase one of my major goals is to correct some pretty large imbalances I have in my quads and lats from prior injuries and major knee and shoulder surgeries. I also want to bring up my biceps. I had a high school wrestling coach who taught me "biceps are for show, and pulling strength comes from the back", as an impressionable kid that stuck with me and I spent 20 years doing zero bicep isolation work. I really regret that now as I am trying to transition into BB.
