A few days ago I posted pics of my 2010 - 2011 transformation. If you missed it, here’s the *Shocking* before and after pics, that have made ALOT of people’s jaw drop.
RECAP: If you could remember I gained 42lbs in 4 months which occurred back in 2009’ish. But going into 2010, I lost it!!! And the pics on this page are of my 2nd transformation I underwent after that DRAMATIC drop in weight from 2010 - 2011.
Then (175 - 180lbs) and NOW (217 lbs)
Unfortunately I don’t remember EXACTLY how much I weighed back in Feb ‘09, so I had to GUESS-TIMATE. (I know! I’m still kicking myself too, because that would’ve have been some good information to know comparing the “OLD” Rich to the “NEW” Rich)
But in all honesty even though that 2nd transformation was challenging and I did have to put ALOT of effort into it, building muscle almost became a joke this second time around.
Why?
Because of my SECRET WEAPON
So what is my secret weapon?
Is it.....
- The latest and greatest protein supplement? ... NOPE
- The hottest TV gizmo on the infomercials? ... NOPE AGAIN
- Special “Weight Gain” pills you see on the Internet? ... NOT EVEN CLOSE
The truth is My Secret Weapon isn’t a “WHAT”....... but rather a “WHO”
That’s right my secret weapon is a “Person”.
Yep, the reason why building muscle is almost like a joke to me now is because of my Training Partner / Weight Lifting Coach / Dietitian / Personal Trainer / Friend named Jimmy.
My Secret Weapon: Jimmy
Current Height: 5' 7"
Current Weight: 184 lbs
A few quick facts about Jimmy:
1 - Jimmy is probably one of the biggest Mets fans I know.
2 - He LOVES craft beer (Jimmy can’t stand main stream beer AKA “nasty” beer (i.e. - Bud, Coors, etc) with a PASSION).
3 - He’s also a Certified Trainer
4 - And lastly he’s a BEAST when it comes to working out and putting on muscle. (I tell him, he’s like the Jackie Chan of building muscle)
How I Met Jimmy:
Back when I was 226 lbs about 2 years ago (after my 1st transformation) I used to see Jimmy in the gym, working out with some of his friends, who were BEASTS in their own right, but we never used to say anything to one another because we were too busy attacking our workouts in the gym.
So, last year (after I lost all the muscle) I moved into a new house off campus with my friend and a bunch of other guys and coincidentally that’s where Jimmy lived.
When I first moved into the house and saw Jimmy the first thing I said was “Hey, I know you, you used to workout at the gym on campus?” He looked at me up and down and said “Nooooo, I don’t think so, you don’t look familiar”. Then I told him that I used to be much bigger back then but I lost all the weight.
He looked at me up and down again. And then his eyes almost POPPED out of his eye sockets when he realized that the weakling that he was looking at (my before pic) was that 226lb guy he used to see in the gym a few months ago.
All he kept saying was “Dude, what the *&%$ happened, you used to be huge?”
Once, OK.
Twice.... Alright
After hearing him repeat it a 3rd time I was like “OK, I get it!!!!” After that moment it finally HIT ME just how skinny I had gotten.
Well after that encounter, I told Jimmy that I was looking to get back to 226 lbs and he told me he was actually looking for a new workout partner, and in all honesty ever since that day the way I go about putting on muscle has NEVER been the same.
Throughout my transformation Jimmy has been a God Send. It’s like he has some kind of muscle building encyclopedia implanted inside his brain.
Jimmy’s helped me:
- Push myself further than I knew I could go
- Correct my form on virtually every exercise
- Build my under developed body parts
- Learn variations to tons of exercises that help build muscle.
I’ve learned things on all aspects of muscle building from Jimmy like:
- Dieting : What to eat, when to eat, what to avoid, how often to eat, pre workout nutrition, post workout nutrition.... (the list goes on)
- Exercise: What exercises put on the most muscle, how many reps you should be doing, how your form should be so you’re not wasting your time, which exercises are ESSENTIAL for each muscle group.... (the list goes on)
- Supplements: What supplements you NEED, which ones you don’t, what to look for when you’re buying supplements, what to avoid, which ones are a waste of money … (the list goes on)
- Cardio: How much cardio to do when you’re building muscle, how much is too much, what type of cardio you should be doing, which type of cardio will eat away at your muscles (the list goes on)
It’s MIND BOGGLING the WEALTH of knowledge I learned from Jimmy over these past few months.
So if you’re an impatient person like me, I’m pretty sure you’re like “Ok that’s nice Rich but WHO CARES??”
Well the reason I’m telling you this is because I have some AWESOME news.
When Jimmy found out, that one of the reasons I was busting my butt so hard was because I wanted to teach others how to do it (partially because when I first started out I didn’t have anyone to teach me) he was somewhat intrigued.
Then when I told him, I was running a blog with a few thousand subscribers, he became little more interested but for some reason he still didn’t feel like joining me.
Well, to make a long story short, it took some arm twisting, some name calling (ALOT of name calling actually) and a probably a case of some GOOD craft beer for Christmas but WE GOT JIMMY.
Even though, I called Jimmy ALOT of “sissy-girlie” names to get him to join in, I think its when he realized that he used to be a “REALLY” skinny guy himself and how hard it was for him years ago to find the right information and the right people willing to share it, that made him get AMPED UP to help this movement..... of Changing the lives of naturally skinny guys like us by training, inspiring, and motivating them to transform their bodies and boost inner confidence...... I call it: THE BUILD MUSCLE CHALLENGE (sound familiar? - more on this "movement" that later).
Right now I want you to do yourself a favor and read Jimmy’s quick bio. I’m certain you’ll find a few things in common with Jimmy. See what mistakes he’s made, how he overcame them because odds are they’re probably the same mistakes you’re making right now.
Click here to read Jimmy’s quick bio
Once you read it, you’ll come to see why I like Jimmy so much. And it’s because he’s a tell it like it is, kinda guy. If you’re slacking, he’ll let you know, if you’re not putting in the effort he’ll let you know, if you’re wasting his time..... he’ll definitely let you know.
So here’s how you’re going to benefit from all this in a BIG BIG WAY.
I told Jimmy that I get tons of emails on a weekly basis from guys telling me about all the things they’re doing and want to know why they can’t gain weight.
I MEAN, I GET ALOT OF THESE EMAILS.
Which is 100% ok, because it shows me that you guys are still fighting and making an effort to reach your goals. It also showed me that there’s ALOT of questions out there that you guys NEED answered. And since you don’t know the answers to these BURNING questions, it’s almost like an invisible MOUNTAIN that you can’t quite see, but you know it’s there blocking you from getting the results you want.
So me and Jimmy talked it over and one of the things we’re gonna be adding each week is a “What Am I Doing Wrong???” segment.
This is where YOU tell us EVERYTHING you’re doing, what your meals look like, how often your eating, what your workouts are like, how often you workout, your daily activity level.... etc. and we’ll break down EVERYTHING you’re doing wrong and most importantly we’ll give you an Action Plan on what you NEED to do to start seeing results fast.
When we sat down and hashed this out we knew we came up with something that is going to help ALOT of guys start seeing results almost immediately.
What’s cool about this is each week, we’ll post your questions and our responses on the blog so not only can you guys learn from us but you’ll see what’s holding other guys back (so you can learn from each other as well), which is what this entire community is about.
If you’d like to find out what your doing wrong and why you aren’t building muscle and gaining weight and you want us to answer your most burning questions when it comes to building muscle and give you a STEP BY STEP action plan on what you NEED to be doing to start seeing results FAST then click on the link below to fill out our quick “What Am I Doing Wrong?” questionnaire:
Click Here to fill out your "What Am I Doing Wrong???" Questionnaire ASAP
IMPORTANT: Please don’t wait to fill out your “What Am I Doing Wrong?” questionnaire..... WHY?
1 - Because I have over 6000 subscribers on my mailing list, who just received the same message you just received who are probably filling out the form right now as we speak.
2 - Jimmy and I are EXTREMELY busy, Jimmy’s a Grad student working on his PhD and I’m a full time student and have a part time job in between classes which means realistically it can be a while for us to get to your questionnaire if you wait too long to fill it out.
Trust me you’re going to be kicking yourself if you don’t take action now.
So with that, all I can say is 2011 is gonna be a FUN FUN RIDE. Let’s start it off strong.
Til next time,
Rich
P.S. - Don’t wait to fill out your quick “What the heck am I doing wrong?” questionnaire. This can literally be EXACTLY what you need to break through whatever obstacle you may be facing right now. Over 6000 guys just like you are going to see this message and Jimmy and I are SUPER busy, so don’t let someone else take your spot.
Click Here to fill out your "What Am I Doing
Wrong???" Questionnaire ASAP.
P.P.S. - If you haven’t done so already, do yourself a favor and read Jimmy’s story. See what mistakes he made, how he overcame them (they may be the same mistakes you’re going through right now).
Click here to read Jimmy’s quick bio