1st Phorm Bodybuilding Transformation: The Squirrel Project

I recently completed a 1st Phorm bodybuilding transformation project, and it was a major success. The subject was a friend of mine by the name of Jerry, also known as: “the squirrel”.   You may wonder how a bodybuilder like Jerry would end up with a nickname such as this. Jerry got this nickname a few years back when my training partner Brian and I were working out at American Family Fitness in Pontoon Beach, Illinois.  Jerry was a regular gym-goer who had a reputation of training every body-part, every workout, in a very disorganized fashion.  Brian goes “Hey Brett- look at this kid!  Just watch him training for a minute- he looks like a squirrel in winter gathering nuts!”  Sure enough, there he was, jumping from one machine to the next in a hasty manner.  It was a hilarious sight and after that, we nicknamed him the squirrel and the name stuck amongst us.  I’m not sure Jerry knew that was his nickname until just recently—but being a good sport, he is able to laugh about it now!

Jerry had always talked about competing, but for a long time it was merely talk.   I’m not sure what turned the switch but he finally decided he was ready and asked for my services.  I obliged—but there were two major stipulations.  The first was that if he was going to work with me, he was to listen to me and only me when it came to diet, training and competing.  It seems that whenever a rookie is preparing for his first show, everybody becomes an expert.  You won’t believe the jokers who come out of the woodwork to offer their opinion on someone’s contest prep when you announce you are doing a show.   My second stipulation was that he empty his supplement cupboard of substandard protein and supplements and use only 1st Phorm products.  From experience, I knew that the 1st Phorm product line was just what Jerry needed to give him the competitive edge in creating his ultimate physique. It was also my job to instill the “Never Settle” attitude and turn this squirrel into a grizzly bear!

Jerry had chosen the show he wanted to compete in and we started contest prep process 21 weeks from the show.  Prior to the initiation of my pre-contest diet protocol, I had Jerry start a 6-week mass building program in order to get his body weight up to a personal best of 205lbs.  At 5’7”, this was a weight he had never seen on the scale.  He was making awesome gains with a mass building diet, using Level-1, Phormula-1 and Ignition.  I overhauled his training program, and had him train 6 days on followed by 1 day off.   He ate close to 5000 clean calories a day with cheat meals scheduled every third day.  Cardio was kept to a minimum.  Believe me, there would be plenty of this to come once we cracked down and began the cutting phase.
At 15 weeks out, I started him on the following meal plan:

On top of 1st Phorm supplements, Jerry also took a multi vitamin/multi-mineral, glutamine, ZMA and flaxseed oil.  At this phase in the transformation, I had Jerry start taking 1-Db° and Thyro-drive to increase his metabolic expenditure and aid in fat loss.  Jerry said that he noticed a tremendous increase in mental focus and energy with the addition of these two products.  I have used many fat burners in the past during contest dieting and in my own experience, the 1-Db° and Thyro-drive stack is far superior than anything else I have tried.
Jerry followed the following training split during this phase of the diet:

Cardio sessions were implemented immediately post training using the step mill at level 5 or the treadmill on a steep incline at a brisk pace.  We started with three 30-minute sessions after training except for leg days.  Fortunately for Jerry, this was all the cardio he needed initially since he is blessed with a good metabolism.
Jerry and I met weekly for progress meetings so that I could evaluate his progress.  At 11 weeks out from the show, his weight had dropped to 194 lbs and he was leaning out nicely.  Our goal was the middleweight class, which meant he needed to come into the show at a lean 170-175 pounds.  I made some small changes to his meal plan by changing the beef for tilapia and by increasing his cardio sessions to 45 minutes, 5-6 days a week after training.  When we got to the 4-week out mark, Jerry was within 5 pounds of his goal weight and I changed his diet one final time as illustrated below:

During the last week leading up to the show, Jerry began the carb manipulation phase that bodybuilders go through to prepare for the stage.  Along with water loading by drinking 2 or more gallons of water a day, Jerry cut his carbs very low.  During the last two days, Jerry began to decrease his water while simultaneously increasing his carb intake.  This helps to fill out the muscles for the best physique for the stage.  In the end, Jerry weighed in on the day of his contest at 172 shredded pounds.  He earned a second place finish in the middleweight class at the NPC Midwest Bodybuilding Championships.  Here are the astonishing pictures of his transformation:

Before: 21 weeks out, 205 pounds

After: Day of competition, 172 pounds
2nd place finish, middleweight division

I am so proud of Jerry’s 1st Phorm transformation.   He truly worked his ass off and the results show.   As for me, I have been working hard in my offseason to overcome injury and build up my physique. I did a photo shoot a few weeks ago for 1st Phorm and as you can see from some of the pics it was no walk in the park!

I will be taking a break next week as I am headed off on a much needed vacation with Gillian to Puerto Vallarta.  After that, I will begin dieting for my next show.  Please stay tuned as I prepare for the IFBB North Americans, in Cleveland, Ohio on September 3rd and 4th. I will have detailed blogs with pics of my ongoing journey. Until next time be consistent, and stay balanced!

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