Introduce Yourself: If you've never Posted, Post here please...

[Scott Stevenson]

Hello IBB/FT forum members! My name is Chris and I am 41. I have been training in some fashion since around highschool while playing sports up to my 2nd year in college. This is where I made my first mistake if jumping on a cycle while not knowing how to train or eat properly. Ran a 'bro split' for a few years but ultimately only kept about half of the progress I made while on cycle. Over the next decade I trained many different programs, never really paying attention to diet, however I always kept a log book and tried to make progress. I ended up actually making the best gains running the old Leo Costa program 'big beyond belief' 6 days a week, level 1 training while eating Dr Mauro DiPascuale's anabolic diet. Fast forward to age 35, i decided to get into powerlifting with a few air force buddies i made in a local gym. I go for my 2nd cycle, test and NPP this time, this time a bit more educated on diet and training. Ran Wendler's 5/3/1 for quite some time before ultimately separating my shoulder (grade 1) performing (way too) heavy dips. Rehabbed it without surgery, never really got back into it seriously after that (having kids plus my career was ramping up impacted that decision as well). On my 40th birthday I decided enough was enough and I was going to man up and do what I need to do. Built a full kit in my basement so I would never miss a workout if Gym was closed or too busy, and started training consistently either before the kids woke up, or after everyone was asleep. On Jan 1st 2020, i signed up on Jordan Peter's site and started training his push/pull/legs style from reading all his athletes logs, and I signed up for Redcon1's 'readiness trials' which was a online transformation challenge. For those 12 weeks, every calorie was counted and tapered down, cardio every morning 5am fasted walks and weights during lunchtime or at night. I shifted from a sloppy 225 to 202 and for the first time in my life I was able to see my abs outlined and finally started to see the amount of hard work you really need to put in. The crazy part was all of my lifts progressed, which tells me I could have definitely dropped cals (or increased steps) even more if I wanted to continue to lean out.

So why am I here?

After reading about FT training on Jordan Peters forums, I purchased the FT manual and Be Your Own Bodybuilding Coach. My next goals are to compete in masters division once NY opens stuff back up, maybe looking at something around 2022. I made great progress on JP's style (higher frequency/lower volume) and had already experienced good progress on Costa's BBB routine. FT makes even more sense for me given the extra recover days which line up perfectly with my kids sporting events as well. I have read (and re-read) the FT manual many times, as well as consistently listen to podcasts/interviews with Dr Scott during my morning 'cardio' walks. Listening to Dr Scott along with the FT manual info, and so much of it lines up with what I have learned from JP's athletes, it has finally made a little light bulb go off and give me that 'aha' moment. I plan on starting FT tomorrow after deloading last week and will run basic volume tier 1 for a 6 week blast, cruise from there and re-evaluate based off recovery. I have a feeling this might 'feel' like way less volume than JP's stuff I've been running, but it is an extra day of stimulus per muscle group per week.

Cheers and thank you Dr Scott for all the great podcasts & interviews.

Chris!

You're welcome, man, CONGRATS on the great progress so far (way to get back on the horse!) and thanks for the thorough intro!

Would love to see pics of your 12 week transformation!

-Scott

P.S. You get a free subscription with the e-book, so feel free to cancel that (via PayPal - I can't do it) and message me so I can hook you back up. (Also we keep the PED talk to a minimum here - really only if doctor prescribed or health related for those using in countries where it's legal.)