Another great result in this week from LEP Fitness member Ben. Over the last eight weeks, Ben has built some impressive muscle mass, boosted fitness, and improved his posture…and we’re only just getting started! We’ve still got two months left! 

Ben has lost body fat while simultaneously building muscle, and he looks great for it! 

He’s gone from…

Lifting 6kg dumbells on a flat DB press to now lifting 17.5kg in each hand! 

He’s gone from…

Holding the plank for 30s to now being able to do 90s!

He’s gone from…

Five push-ups… to now being able to do 30! 

In this article, I thought it would be cool to share some of Ben’s workout secrets and what we’ve done to achieve a great result in such a short space of time.

#1 Resistance Training 

Ben has trained with LEP Fitness 2x per week and also worked out at the gym 1x per week. All sessions are weight training focused. 

During our sessions, we’ve focused on a specific exercise for each muscle, for example:

• Chest: flat or incline DB press
• Upper back: One arm row or bent over BB row
• Upper back (2): Wide grip pull-ups, chin-ups, and DB pullover
• Shoulders: DB press or side raises
• Biceps: chin-ups, DB curls
• Triceps: Push-ups, tricep pushdowns
• Core: Sit-ups and plank 
• Legs: Split Squats and Romanian Deadlifts

With nearly all of the above exercises, Ben completes between 8-15 reps and completes 3 total sets per exercise. The first set on each exercise is a medium weight, BUT then the last two sets are intense training, pushing to full intensity! 

Each week since we’ve worked together, we’ve either added resistance or more reps (sometimes both!). Ben has continued to get stronger by gradually adding more stress to his body each week. 

The key to getting bigger muscles is what’s called Progressive Overload…

This is where you place enough stress (resistance) on your body to cause muscle damage. Over time you keep adding more weight or reps to each exercise. As you do this…the body adapts to the new stimulus – muscles get stronger your muscles get bigger! 

If you keep gradually adding weight and getting stronger over time, there’s no limit to how much muscle mass can be built. It’s just being consistent and gradually adding more and more stress to the body.  

#2 Carb Cycling & Protein Intake 

The other thing I’ve done with Ben, which I don’t do with every client, is what’s called ‘carb cycling‘ – In a nutshell, carb cycling is where you restrict carb intake on rest days, BUT then eat plenty of carbs on training days, for example.

• Monday – LEP training (high carb day)
• Tuesday – Plays squash (medium carb day)
• Wednesday – Rest (low carb day)
• Thursday – Rest (low carb day)
• Friday – LEP training (high carb day)
• Saturday – Gym Workout (high carb day)
• Sunday – Rest (low carb day)

Carb cycling is ideal for building muscle while mitigating fat gain (Which can happen if bulking up isn’t done correctly). 

You need carbs to build muscle, and also for energy so that you can train hard. 

Alongside the carb cycling, Ben has increased protein intake, consuming high protein meals 2-3 times per day. Protein is essential for building muscle – I talk about this in more detail in Leyna’s recent transformation story 

More LEP Fitness Success Stories:

To read more LEP Fitness success stories please check out the LEP Blog.

Take Ben, who lost 20lbs of fat, built lean muscle, and improved his mental health through diet and exercise – read the full story here. 

Or…

Emily, who lost 13lbs of fat, toned up and went from never being able to do a pull-up… to being able to do 11 full pull-ups and 60 push-ups! read Emily’s story here 

Thanks for reading,

Nick