I don’t usually put clients on my blog. There are a 1001 reasons but mostly it is because people want their privacy. Accountability is one thing, having your face plastered on a popular health and fitness blog is another. I take pride in my discretion. While I would love to name drop sometimes to further my career, the truth is it isn’t proper. Most of time it is done in a very tacky manner. My favorite pet peeve of the moment is professionals who don’t even train famous people but are tacking up their “programs” online. Reading a magazine interview does not mean you are their trainer, sorry. But I digress…
Destination Abs
Kevin Larrabee and I have decided to do the reverse of what I normally do and take accountability to a whole new level. Every week (or two weeks depending) we will be updating this blog on how Kevin is doing with his “Destination Abs” program. Some of you might remember we worked together some previously and helped Kevin knock off a good chunk a few months back. Like it always does, life got in the way and we decided a break was good. Well, the break is over.
This is a snippet from Kevin’s Blog on why he is being so public about things :
From Kevin’s Blog – I am getting some extra support and ACCOUNTABILITY (that is our word of the year folks) from Leigh at her site LeighPeele.com. I am going to be posting these blogs on her site as well as TheFitCast.com each week. Sometimes you just need that extra push so you don’t let people down, even if you don’t know them except for the e-mails you get every so often.
Accountability is HUGE. we have discussed this in the past but I need to mention it again. I know how to get someone down to 6% body fat for a competition, I can get the average Jane or Joe the down to body fat % where they see abs for the first time. Trust me, I have done it before. But when it comes to training yourself, that is sometimes a different story. Walk into a fitness club or gym anywhere and you will see overweight out of shape trainers and coaches. Are they just stupid and don’t know what the hell they are doing? Most of the time that isn’t the case. They just don’t practice what they preach.
Where Kevin is at now?
This is Kevin currently. He maintained his loss good from the last cut. The real issue which remains is the amount of muscle he carries. Kevin is strong, but Kevin isn’t loaded with muscle. He came from an overweight childhood met with a sedentary lifestyle. This is a vicious combination which leads to rather small muscle growth. The average adult male is dealing with Kevin’s muscle base (if not worse).
In order for Kevin to see his abdominal muscles and have clear definition he is looking to lose at least 30lbs of fat. A lot of you may look at Kevin and think he needs to gain muscle and while this is true, it doesn’t quite work that way for optimal results or look based on Kevin’s frame.
Cool Technology
Here is Kevin at roughly 160-165 pounds while maintaining or slightly increasing LBM.
We have been working on these “pre-after” photos for clients. It not only encourages them by giving them a visible possibility of what they can achieve, but helps them come to a better understand of what muscle showing does for a look. I always remind people Bruce Lee was only 135 pounds. On average people do not understand how low they need to go in weight to achieve their goals.
The Plan
I am covering Kevin’s nutritional program and he is working on the training, but with advice given on my behalf.
The nutrition is an aggressive cycling program based on lower caloric intake on cardio and rest days (as well as starch carb restriction). On lifting days there are higher calories and higher carb intakes, specifically on starch based carbohydrates. This is a very simple set up and one I use often. The optimization comes in when to adjust upwards, downwards, and by how much. I am not providing actual numbers for Kevin simply because this is for Kevin and not for everyone else. His intake could be completely wrong for you. I have assessed his lifestyle, training, history of eating, etc.
The Ultimate Plan
Ideally I want Kevin to be able to eat, really eat, and lift. There is a restriction on Kevin’s behalf to do this because he does not want to gain more excess fat. Ultimately we will get him extremely lean and then he will work off of the guidelines of what I discuss here for optimal and realistic muscle gain.
Why this will work
Let’s be blunt. It is one thing to post on your own blog about my programs. It is another to bring your ass over to my blog to be featured with me putting my name behind it. If he doesn’t succeed in compliance to what he is doing it makes me look bad. If I don’t help him every step of the way it makes me look bad. I don’t like to look bad.
This isn’t a matter of losing fat, that will happen. It is a matter of sticking to the program because this is NOT a short program.
Grab a chair
It may seem short but guess what folks, we are going to be here for months and months. Reality check - Kevin doesn’t need to lose muscle as much as possible. Kevin has a lot of fat to lose. Kevin is going to be here for a while. If you are checking in thinking you are going to see him done in 6 weeks on some WiCkED FaT LoSss program, think again. This is real fat loss for those who have to work 12 (physical) hour days and don’t want to go off the deep end.
In the end he will have the body he wants and you will be here to see it.
—
Question of the Post – Did you think Kevin had that much to lose?
well, this’ll be fun to watch!
- Etana
love the pre-after concept (and execution).
Does the software calculate how much fat need to be lost to achieve the pictured look ?
good for you KEVIN!
And leigh i love that PRE after photo, now that is something to put on the fridge and keep you away!!!!
Oh and to answer your question NO i would not have thought 30 pounds.
Definitely will be interesting to see. Nearly fell off my chair after seeing that he still has 30 more lbs to lose.
I would have never guessed that Kevin that 30 pounds left to lose.
I would love to create my own pre-after photo. Any tips on how to do that?
There is no way I would think he has 30 lbs to lose. That means I’ve probably got more than 30 to lose!
I think it’s great that he’s allowing himself to be posted like this, because it’s going to help me and many others. We Fitcast listeners know that Kevin is a real person who struggles the same way we do, or at least I do!
How do you do those pre-after photos…I want one!!!
Nope! Never would have thought he had 30 to lose!
On that note, I think its great that you are showing us what it really takes to be lean, and just how much it takes.
Ok I have to admit, the first time I read the estimated timeline to get Kevin to his goal back on the first part of Destination Abs I was floored - but it was exactly what I needed to hear because I have some pretty big goals and I needed to understand the time it takes to get there. So out of all this, if I have learned ANYThing, it’s that it takes time AND fat loss. I’m excited to see the progress, and wanted to say congrats to Kevin for being so brave and finally, Yahoo Leigh!! Yahoo just for being kick ass
If I were Kevin’s friend I would tell him he looks perfectly fine and instead of spending months focusing on losing 30 pounds he should do something else. Really.
Wow, I would LOVE to have some pre-after shots! How are you guys doing that/ with what software?!?!?!
And another wow at the 30lbs… looks like I have a similar amount to go. I have a May/June 2010 figure competition in mind, and this is a FANTASTIC reminder that it’s going to take me about that long to get there, AKA, I don’t have room to derail during the holidays. Got that, self?
Good luck Kevin
Leigh I really like your approach. It is no bullshit all the way. No professional tells it how it is. This shit takes time and you are real about it.
Millie: You realize you are on a blog about fat loss right? Go the fuck away if you don’t like it. Show some fucking support for people who are putting themselves out there.
Way to go Kevin. It takes some serious guts to put yourself out there. I also like that this is a realistic transformation. It is easy to pick guys who already have a lot of LBM and need to just remove a little fat. It is another when you are the “average guy” and this gives me loads of inspiration.
Can you PLEASE do the “pre-after” photos again and if I pay you can you do it on me!?
Good luck Kevin, you already are a cutie but you are going to look HOTT!
Thanks for all the comments guys, I go in more detail here: http://thefitcast.com/destionation-abs-redux-day-3
Leigh, I want to make it clear that I do not always agree with you. In this case, however, I completely agree with you. Everything from Kevin being in this for the long haul to the fact that he needs to lose another 30 lbs in order to be lean and “ripped” enough for abs and definition are correct.
Making Kevin’s story public is much needed to contrast the unrealistic stories of the outliers that make rapid and drastic (but often short-lived) changes and representing real world healthy changes in body composition.
I look forward to updates on his progress!
So his target weight is 165#… does that mean his current weight is about 195#? Just curious his height and his beginning weight.
Go for it Kevin! You rock Leigh.
Millie, some people want more for themselves than “perfectly fine”. I think holding ourselves to a higher standard in all aspects of our lives keeps us striving towards goals so we don’t stagnate.
For those that disagree about how much (or how little) a person needs to weigh for a certain look, just turn on the MMA fights. You see a guy who looks super muscular and strong and you think, wow he looks big, and they say he weights 145 lbs.
I don’t disagree with how much Kevin has to lose, but fighters are a bad example. Many fighters cut weight (mostly water) to get to a lower weight class, so their numbers can be a little deceiving if your just looking at getting to a lower body fat.
What’s his height/weight? At 5′11″ and 255, I thought I had about 75 pounds to lose to look the way I want to, but it may actually be a lot more than that. That’s kinda scary, but it’s good to know the truth.
Leah, it’s true that there muscular MMA fighters who fight at 145 or 155, but it depends on their height. Urijah Faber comes to mind. He’s listed at 5′6″ and fights at 145. Taller, muscular guys will typically fight at 170, 185, or above. GSP is about 5′10″, extremely muscular, and he fights at 170. That’s still very light, though! lol. Also, they weigh more on the day of the fight, so guys like Faber or GSP are probably 10+ pounds over the listed weight. But overall, you’re right, most of these guys don’t weigh that much.
Kevin needs to put on mass not cut down. This is bullshit. You are just going to slow his metabolic rate.
Jack-
In case you’re not being sarcastic…..ever think that maybe Kevin wants to cut down? I don’t think he’s doing it due to Leigh holding a gun to his head.
If Kevin wants abs, the best plan of attack right now is cutting down, not trying to add mass and taking on the inevitable grip of fat that’ll come with it.
Adding substantial muscle then dieting off the added fat on top of this “last 30lbs” to reach his current desired look, is going to take – 2 years.
Whereas if he cuts now, he can reach his look in maybe 5-6 months.
Aside from MMA fighters, another example would be Floyd Mayweather. He’s is in pretty damn good shape for only being what, 155lbs?
Also, no one here believes in G-Flux?
Wazzup – No, this is a digital anatomy modification. The estimated loss is my own thoughts and formulas and just that, an estimate. The picture is based off a preserved structure of the underlying muscle. Right now there are a lot of limitations when the parties are at a higher body fat percentage and their facial structures. .
Brent – I am thinking of taking on some guinea pigs for the photos. On a really simple level though try and find someone who matches your frame best possible at a lower body fat level. For example Kevin’s frame lines up with with lower weight running backs for football. So when he moves into gaining mass he can expect to see that type of look with lean gains. So look at what lines up along side your frame best you can.
Millie - I think you are in the wrong place. We want extraordinary goals here and we go after them.
Robert – Thanks, and open for a debate anytime
Don – Correct he is roughly in that range and 6 feet tall.
Jack - Sorry, but it isn’t the case. First off on extreme cases of atrophy contribute to a slow down in metabolic rate. Kevin is not carrying a large amount of mass and the mass he does have will be protected best possible in this deficit with proper training and protein intake. If I could point to what Mike said below, it is 100% correct. Sorry but your are just all Bro and in the wrong place.
Mike - Well said.
Neil – G-flux means what? Move more and eat more. You still have to be in a deficit to lose the fat. I base caloric intake off of an estimated calories needed for the day (maintenance). Kevin is training and working 12 hour days. He is as fluxed as he is going to get with life. Sometimes moving more just means burning out and stuffing yourself with more food.
If you sit all day, you eat less food. If you move all day, you eat more food. More movement means a higher caloric intake will equal a deficit for you. That is it though.
G-lux is just a fancy term for “I move, therefore I burn calories.”
I think Kevin’s doing a great job, and he’s lucky to have you to help him.
…and to those who think Kevin already looks fine, they are right. Sometimes we want to look better.
As to spending time focusing on something else, fitness is Kevin’s business, and walking the talk is an investment in himself and his business. Besides, how much effort is it to eat less food? Shouldn’t it save time?
I mixed my metaphor. How embarrassing!
Leigh Peele says:
November 21, 2009 at 7:09 pm
“G-flux is just a fancy term for “I move, therefore I burn calories.”
I’m not sure I agree it can be dismissed so easily like this, a higher energy expenditure surely allows one to eat more while still being in a negative energy balance. This can only lead to increased nutrient partitioning, increased micronutrient intake and maybe most importantly it’s psychologically easier to be in a 500kcal deficit at 3000kcal intake a day than it is at 2000kcal for example.
The MMA guys named above, Floyd Mayweather, the football running backs, they’ve all built their physiques training ten plus hours per week and eating a huge amount of food i.e “G-flux”
I think one of the biggest fallacies of the fitness industry is the promotion by some that one can have a body like these guys in three 45 minute sessions!
Not saying you’re suggesting this at all Leigh, just that from my own personal experience “G-flux” is so important.
Paul – I get what you are saying and I was oversimplifying my statement so if you really want my honest opinion of it…
G-flux is certainly not of a Berardi origin. While this post may seem like a shot at him, it is merely discussing the issues. I am not personally attacking Beradi but I am discussing my disagreement with his principle of “Glux.”
This is the original paper it was discussed from.
http://www.iop.org/EJ/article/1126-6708/1999/08/023/jhep081999023.pdf?request-id=b3048032-31a1-43a0-b860-6c0b9249459d
Berardi is claiming that the average athlete or training person can hit these types of training levels in order to have these types of conversion. It isn’t true. Even a lot of high level Olympic athletes can’t maximize this level or training/recovery combo. Using high level athletes as your “case studies” doesn’t matter to the general population, no matter how much a gym goer has delusions of grandeur. He is telling people to train themselves past realistic points of what they can take compared to athletes training since very young childhood and perhaps using drugs.
The average person can not take near this amount of volume, even with a high amount of food. Overtraining isn’t just undereating. It isn’t realistic. You will end up running into more problems than if you keep a “train smarter not dumber/harder” principle.
Partioning has to do with genetics first and foremost. If it CAN be manipulated it them has to do more with body fat levels and the timing of lifting and eating macros over than anything else. Frequency/duration is going to be very low on the level it affects things outside the norm.
“I think one of the biggest fallacies of the fitness industry is the promotion by some that one can have a body like these guys in three 45 minute sessions!”
Actually that can be or it can’t be true. It depends on where you start. It isn’t about the conditioning. You can’t get their CONDITIONING in 3/45 min sessions but their bodies, possibly. It is about genetics, diet manipulation, and lean body mass.
Corey Hill trained in a week more than most work and you know what happened to his leg. Any male anorexic could repeat this look with half the training time and minus the broken leg.
http://www.yorkblog.com/mma/CoryHill_FIGHT.jpg
Now is there anything wrong with moving more and eating more? Training a little harder and eating harder? No. However, to the degree it could really affect and manipulate things on someone it isn’t healthy for the average trainee and to be honest isn’t even the best theory anyway if you take into account a real examination of recovery time versus the value of these types of things.
So final verdict on the REAL g-flux and what is promoted – I don’t agree.
Final verdict on moving more, eating more, and training properly with intensity – I agree and promote.
See the difference?
On a final note, I can’t count how many people failed to come even close these type of calculations based on extreme caloric burn estimations. It has left man men and woman gaining many pounds of fat because it so overly estimated their energy intake. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to go by a calculator that said I could eat 500 calories more a day than I deserve but I don’t welcome the 1 pounds of fat a week I would be gaining.
You can also look at this study as well
http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/content/full/103/5/1613#T3
Leigh, if you ever need a guinea pig: ME ME ME
In a way I KIND of get what Millie was saying though. I mean, in a “we’re not on a weight loss blog” kind of way. Like I would never look at Kevin’s picture and think, “Yeah there’s 30lbs of fat to be lost there.” In fact, I would go. “Are ya mad!” However – I am not a professional, I am not Leigh [and I am not Kevin], and therefore [ergo? hence?] I defer to those who know. Because they know. It does open up your eyes to what is acceptable, what is achievable and what is doable and Leigh presents that to EVERYONE.
Seriously Leigh, me, guinea pig, anytime
Leigh your last comment deserves a standing ovation. I gained so much fat going at it the “g-flux” way and burned myself out. Brav-fucking-O.
Good luck Kevin, you have some of the best help in the business in your corner.
Update is posted: http://thefitcast.com/destination-abs-redux-day-10
What body fat % (percentage) is Kevin starting at? And what is the goal.
This is not mentioned anywhere in the post.
Thanks for all u do.
Kevin,
Keep chasing the lion of trying to get lean. It takes courage to vow to a group of people that you want to achieve certain goals. Keep the focus and carry on. Are you lifting heavy for short bouts since you are restricting your diet.
Jimmy
http://fastyouthathlete.blogspot.com
I’m lean enough to be a guinea pig for your photos! Please let us know if you decide to go through with that!
Leigh is on target in all she says. Kevin is doing great. I think achieving a less than 10% body fat level is incredibly difficult which is where I think his goal is. And losing 30 pounds of fat doesn’t mean losing 30 pounds. It will mean adding lean body mass and gaining muscle weight while letting the fat disappear. Very hard work, and yes Kevin is looking good at this weight and fitness. But it is all a matter of goals and desires. And as a professional, Kevin is also working on experimenting and experiencing the changes that some of his clients may need help with.
Now, for me, I’m both getting regular cardio 5 days a week and strength training 2-3 days per week. But I think to finish what I’d like to do, perhaps I just need the software to melt away the next 10% of Fat and then have a nice photo to use as my Twitter avatar
Forgot to add a link to one part of one fellows story on another website of losing weight and body fat while working on first getting in shaped and later detailed preparation for competition. The individual went from around 289 or thereabouts down to 175. It took a few years for him to finish his transformation, but it certainly was an interesting story. Some of the photos on the linked page are of his trainer, but a detailed page of photos from too big down to ripped are easy to find:
http://www.wannabebig.com/interviews/an-inspiring-interview-with-forum-member-unholy-part-3/
Just wondering how much cardio is necessary to achieve this goal. Is it possible with only diet and strength training? Curious as to your thoughts on this, Leigh. Bravo to Kevin for being willing to share this!
Mandla – Kevin is roughly at 14-15 and I would like for him to end at somewhere around 6% so he has some real breathing room for his lean gains.
Steve- Always great to see you stop by.
Nicole – I will make sure to keep everyone updated on it
Don - Currently there is no need for structured cardio for Kevin given his active work lifestyle. Since Kevin is a trainer he gets a lot of movement day in and out at his training facility. Me and Kevin want to focus on lifting as much as possible right now and have the luxury of his job providing a large amount of caloric burn.
However, if this was an office worker or someone who led a more sedentary lifestyle I would implement a cardio routine which would be fitting to their situation. Just remember it always depends when looking at how much you have to do in your training. For some it can be 3-4 times a week with lifting and diet focus only. For other it takes a lot more. Not because of “slow metabolism” but because of slow life.
Leigh, did anyone really reference the first article you mentioned, “M theory, orientifolds and G-flux”? It is all about string theory, supergravity, and super symmetry. I think to make it work we’d have to put Kevin in the CERN cyclotron
. I looked at Gflux pretty much the same way you do. In simple terms it seemed to just be an attempt to increase what has long been termed “futile cycles”.
. But, I’d bet almost everyone here knows that too!
I view the basic science as deriving from futile cycles. The article with the most amusing title on futile cycles has to be “Leucing Weight with a Futile Cycle Cell Metabolism, Volume 6, Issue 3, Pages 155-156
S. Fried, M. Watford”. Still an interesting article with a pun on the amino acid leucine.
Another article is:
Stochastic amplification and signaling in enzymatic futile cycles through noise-induced bistability with oscillations. PNAS February 15, 2005 vol. 102 no. 7 2310-2315 PNAS Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Michael Samoilov†, Sergey Plyasunov,Adam P. Arkin. http://www.pnas.org/content/102/7/2310.full
Probably more than anyone wants to know. But I’m sure you’ve read more than I have about this! It’s been a while since I looked at literature on this.
I’d highly recommend getting Body By Eats, listening to the Fitcast and reading Leigh’s other material instead of trying to translate the science into English
Great article and kudos to Kevin for putting it out there. I wouldn’t have thought he’d have 30 lbs to lose a few months ago, but I just saw my brother-in-law go through a pretty similar cut (I haven’t seen him without his shirt, but based on how his clothes hang and his face, etc., I’m thinking he’s pretty darn lean right now. He weighs less–though probably is carrying less muscle–than when he was playing high school and college baseball and says he’s feeling more fit. So yeah, I can see 30 lbs to get to where he wants to go, especially as a trainer who is a walking advertisement for his skills (aside from the difficulties of training yourself). I’ll be watching and cheering him on.
Oh, and GWF arrived and is going well. I’ve been losing decent water weight this week so far, so yay!
Actual fat is next! 
Leigh, Kevin is lucky to have you working with him. I know from experience that you know what you are talking about.
Terry