Dear Fellow Fans,
I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. It's been an interesting one for sure and I'm thankful that this board is still alive and well. Cheers!

This year, starting Thursday, January 6, 2011, I am going to embark on the most challenging physical fitness quest of my life. This is a 4 month program designed to end on May 7, 2011, one week prior to my graduating with an MD. The motivation for this program is partially for my own health benefit and partially as a test for a potential future application in athletic training.

I hope that at least one other person on this site will join me in this 4 month program. In order to participate, you must be willing to do the following. 1: You MUST adhere to a very strict diet that is somewhat restrictive and in all likelihood completely unlike any diet you've tried before. There will be times you find the diet hard to adhere to, it will absolutely limit your ability to eat at restaurants, it may be a bit expensive at times, and it will require you to eat 5-6 times per day. The diet is really the test here, so I really want participants who are willing to follow the diet as closely as possible. 2: You MUST adhere to a strict exercise regimen that requires a time commitment of 2 hours each day for 5 days per week. I will custom design an exercise program for every participant based on what exercise equipment, if any, you have available to you. Preferably, participants will have regular access to free weights, a bench press and a power rack. These are not essential, though, especially for women. Whatever you have will work, but you have to stick to the program I design for you. 3: You MUST be willing to document your progress and share them with me, either privately via the PM service, or preferably, publicly in this thread. If at least one other user agrees to share their progress publicly in this thread, I will do the same. Documentation includes the following: a simple "yes or no" to whether you stuck to the diet and exercise program, if the answer was "no," what exactly you did that was not a part of the program, a weekly weigh-in at the same scale (and I WILL accept substitutions for absolute numbers - such as initial weight is X, at week 2 the weight is X minus 4 pounds), and a weekly photograph in modest clothing (and you obviously may black out your face).

Other than those requirements, anyone and everyone can participate. Although this is a strict program, it is something that everyone can do regardless of prior fitness experience, body shape, weight, etc. Anyone can do this, but you have to be committed.

What is the goal of this program? Remember, this is a test of something I have concocted based on tons of reading scientific literature, so I can't make any promises about results. However, I have a very good, evidence-based idea that this program will, for men, cause you to get dramatically stronger in all your lifts and drastically reduce your body fat, and for women, drastically reduce your body fat and get much better muscle tone and definition. Case in point: I am currently 6'4" and weigh 210 pounds and while I am in good physical shape, I am far from being "shredded" or looking like a really strong guy. By the end of this program, I fully anticipate I will fit both those descriptions.

On January 5th, the day before the program begins, I will post the exact guidelines of the program. Any time between now and then, please reply if you are interested, or if you have any questions before we begin. Trust me, this is gonna be fun and I have a sneaking suspicion this is going to work big time and you will look and feel the best you've ever felt in your life. New Years resolution anyone? Join me!

This post has been edited by Existentialist: Dec 25 2010, 1:49 am

Very interesting and I wish you all the best, but I simply can't take part. Don't have the time.

Best wishes!

Ex, I must get into this thing and first read it all. Will do so after tomorrow. Remind me

I look forward to reading about what's involved, but probably won't be motivated enough to take part.

I'll give some details now. The goal of the program for me is to simultaneously add about 10-15 pounds of muscle and lose about 10 pounds of fat in a 4 month period. This is an exceptionally lofty goal, could be achieved only by a male and I believe only by a male taking certain supplements. It requires complete dedication with a carefully planned diet, exercise routine and supplementation.

I realize that probably nobody on this board has the same goal as me, and I will not post anything about said supplementation because it's not advisable. However, with the diet and exercise alone, people will see great results, I just want to see exactly how great they are and how they came to be. The diet and exercise plans are modifiable to some degree depending on your goals. If you guys send me what exactly your goals are, even if very general, I can put something together for you that still fits within the main tenets of my program.

The main tenets are as follows. The diet is a slightly modified version of carb cycling, which essentially aims to keep insulin sensitivity at an optimal level at all times. To do the diet properly, you essentially keep repeating a 3 day schedule of high carb day, low carb day, and no carb day. The trick is that at all times, carbs can come only from approved sources, which are foods like brown rice and oats, and that even on "high" carb day, carbs are restricted to an amount less than what an average American probably eats on an average day. The biggest drawbacks are that this diet will essentially force you to prepare all your meals yourself, and if you cheat the diet at all, you will risk undoing all of your work for that week.

The exercise is just as rigorous. If you have free weights, you'll be lifting 4 days a week for a minimum of 45 minutes per day. If you don't have free weights, you'll be spending the same amount of time doing intense body weight resistance exercises like push ups and pull ups. In addition to the strength training, you'll have to do HIIT, or high intensity interval training 4 times per week. This workout changes every single time you do it, but generally involves alternating maximal cardio exertion for 30 seconds with minimal cardio exertion for 30 seconds, for a total of about 20 minutes.

I know this all sounds extreme, and it is, but truly this is what it takes to achieve the goals I've set. If you have lesser goals, I will design a simpler program for you that follows these principles but requires less commitment. However, even with lesser commitment this is going to be hard. Any takers? I promise this'll be fun. Challenging, yeah, but the results will more than pay for it.

Ex this sounds pretty damn awesome, but probably a little intense for me. However I am going to try once again on what we talked about pre my trip to the US, the low carbs thing plus stepping up gym work. My knee has actually been in really good shape the past couple of months and I'm feeling a bit more confident on giving it a better shot in the gym with some cardio.
My friend also recently has done a stint on low carb and the results were pretty awesome I gotta say, he looks a million bucks after only a couple of months.
I'm waiting until New Year is over as I have a few things coming up which would clash with it .. after that I can plan outings and such around my diet.
I've bought a couple of books with heaps of good looking low carb recipies, I've already thrown out any coke I had left in the house. Junk food shall not be eaten from now on.

My only qustion now is how to go with beer .. obviously regular beer is out .. but looking at a can of low carb beer before and per 1 can it has just under 3 carbs in it. If I'm at a social event and can afford a few carbs for that day before going over the 20carb or so a day limit then will this be a diet killer and undo good work by have 1-3 cans? Bare in mind that this would not be an every day or even an every weekend thing, looking to cut it back a lot .. but next month for example I got 3 gigs coming up and the Australia Day holiday.

I'm looking forward to getting into it and hopefully seeing results quickly.

I won't be doing this, but I offer you both my full support. Also, on a personal note and, after a period of inactivity at the gym, I'm going to get back into it once I go back to university. Wanting to concentrate on running, surprisingly. And maybe some abdomen stuff. Three times a week is the goal, but dammit I'm so scattered I often let my gym schedule slip.

These low carb beers are an interesting part of the low carb diet. I'm not sure anyone really knows how much of an effect they have. The proper answer to give is that all carbs are not created equally, and even though you can cheat and have a piece of a candy bar or a few beers and still come in under the amount you desire, you still are sabotaging your work by eating any carbs from an unhealthy source.

As for the low carb thing and staying under 20g per day, I really don't think this is advisable but it depends on what your goals are. If you stick to less than 20g per day for an extended period of time, you will undoubtedly lose a shitload of weight and a higher percentage of the weight lost will be fat relative to a diet that just restricts calories. However, you also will lose some degree of muscle mass, which to me is not acceptable, and there is a lot of evidence that once you return to a normal diet which you will eventually have to do, you will gain the weight back easier than you otherwise would. I highly recommend carb cycling to still get the benefits of a low carb diet, but without these undesirable potential effects of going super low carb all the time.

Seriously, my program or not, you and Merica both should tell me what your goals are and I'll be happy to help. Working out and dieting properly is something I've researched extensively in my almost 4 months off, and I'm now a big believer in the importance of proper technique in addition to hard work in achieving your goals. Holla back!

This post has been edited by Existentialist: Dec 27 2010, 11:52 pm

Hi Ex.

Basically... I'm looking to become a fitter / slightly bigger built individual. We're not talking ready to run a marathon, or ripped like a muthafucker. Just a bit sounder overall.

I want to make running a decent part of what I do in order to stay trim (I'm trim now, but I fear getting some kind of podge!) and feel fitter overall. I'd like to do a nice balanced workout with weights and machines to slowly bring up my arms, chest, back etc... I used to go and alternate my days by doing triceps and chest one day, back and biceps next time I went. Always starting with a ten minute run. Sometimes a set of 500m rowing on the machine, too.

I also know I should eat better so advice here is welcome. Bare in mind, though, I'm pretty poor, and tight as well. I also can't cook too much, but obviously I'm willing to learn. And I'd really rather not be one of those people who has to have a protein shake all the live long day. Probably just my own ignorance, but I find all that a bit wanky. Can't stand those huge blokes who walk around the gym looking like shit but thinking they're THE shit, chugging back the protein shake while they work on themselves like the useless loggerheads I imagine them to be. The gym is too important to those guys. *shudders* Sorry, little topical rant, there.

See thats the exact things im worried about when you mentioned loss of muscle mass, Ex. I am actually quite a skinny guy. I have a skinny upper body, skinny arms, skinny legs .. my problem is it seems I used to be able to eat whatever the hell I wanted and not put on any weight and in the past year my stomach alone just got bigger. So i look like a pregnant Kate Moss. My face is also much puffier than it was. So I'm not an all over massive fatty, just tummy and face needs to go. So losing overall muscle mass is probably not a good thing considering im quite skinny in other areas. But I need it to be a 2 prong effect where I want to develope a bigger upper body. I don't need to be He-Man, but a more developed chest/pecs and biceps would be nice.

But really need to lose the belly fat, the eye opener was not being able to comfortabley fit into jeans that I could 12 months ago. that shit is unacceptable. What would your carb limit per day reccomendation be?
I think im comfortable in the weights I need to do to build the upper body. But it's the diet part I find hardest, I know there is the obvious bad shit (soda, chips, chocolate, candy) to cut out, but as far as quicker weight loss other than that I'm not sure.

Once I lose a nice amount I am also concious of falling into that trap of putting it all back on twice as fast. I am quite confident that once I see some real results it will give me more motivation to not go back to so much bad food. when you look down and see a big fat tummy you find it much easier to say "ah fuck it, a mars bar now wont hurt too much since the fat is already there". Same with cardio .. its a fucking horrible feeling to be running and feel fat jiggling around while you do so and makes you not want to run to avoid that feeling. its a feeling ive never felt my entire life until this year. so i am hoping once i kick its ass that I'll be a lot more inclined to do more cardio to keep it off when running and such is more comfortable.

It's just getting to that stage of seeing results happening and waist size decresasing!

My goal is to build some upper body strength, but I'm pretty sure that is damn near impossible. I fit the stereotype of "weak girl" exactly and can't even do a pushup! But, as much as I would like to have some strength, I am not motivated enough to do much outside of strength training.

I don't want/need to lose weight so your plan isn't for me, but it is very interesting and I look forward to following this thread! Maybe I will pick up some tips that will help me

Janine has the lucky advantage in that she is hot so everything else should just fall into place!

Ha! I wish!

Here is the best way to become fitter and slightly bigger. First, continue with your splits of triceps/chest and back/biceps if that routine works for you. However, you really need to work out your lower body as much as your upper body. I would add an entire lower body day to your regimen, or at least add squats to your upper body days. Also, make sure you are using excellent form, don't do more than 5 reps per set, and use a weight that makes it a struggle to do the last rep.

Second, I would eliminate the 10 minute run and replace it with HIIT after your weight training. A prolonged run fosters the development of slow twitch muscle fibers, which are great for being a long distance runner but unfortunately are not bulky muscle fibers. The bulky muscle fibers are fast twitch fibers, which develop by training in short bursts of high intensity exercise. Follow my HIIT routine below and you'll not only get a better cardio workout than the prolonged run, but bulkier leg and core muscles too.

Finally, as for the food, you don't need any protein shakes but you should prepare most of the meals yourself. I'm a little puzzled as to how you are poor and tight but apparently eat a lot of meals out. Just about all the food I describe below in my routine requires just a pan and a stove and anyone can figure that out. Adapt it however you need.. good luck!

I hear you on the belly fat. Most men, including us, tend to selectively store fat in the belly. While lipo works wonders for evening out the fat distribution, anything short of that requires long term dedication to cardio and strength training. I emphasize both because the cardio is necessary to burn the fat, while the strength training is necessary not only to burn fat, too, but also to keep you from looking too thin in other places after the belly fat is gone.

Follow my regimen below and keep in mind that I am 6'4 210lbs and have a daily caloric requirement of about 3,200 calories to maintain weight given my activity level. Go to one of the online calorie requirement calculators and figure out your daily number, subtract about 400 calories from that number and eat, on average, that number of calories each day. To describe the entire carb cycling system is too great, but a simple way to get a good one would be to look at my routine below and simply adjust portions to meet your caloric demands.

The main key is to stick with it, even if you have setbacks or a day or two where you cheat. These things happen, it's impractical to follow any diet absolutely every day, but don't let one or two cheats get you down. Just make sure they are as minimal as possible. Trust me, you can do this - I did it this past year taking my waist size from 40 to 34 in 6 months. You just have to hold yourself more accountable than you have been in the past, and when you start seeing the results you have to use that as further motivation. Seriously, consider doing this program and posting your pics up here if you want the ultimate level of accountability. Good luck!