For 100 days I put myself through the wringer to see what kind of body transformation I could achieve with laser focus on my nutrition, workouts and mindset… and the results were surprisingly good.
There’s a common misconception that at 40 it’s all downhill. You move slower, you lose hair, you go grey. The throws of life begin to beat you down… but that’s all BS, as I’m sure you know if you’re reading this.
After recently being handed a sh*t sandwich by life, I decided to put the hammer down and see what I could achieve with my personal fitness. I was fit but lacked definition. Skinny fat, some might call it.
After countless F45 classes, I was still missing all the ingredients of a sick rig. So I picked the meanest-looking bloke in the gym to be my trainer: Ben Hansaker is a former sales gun turned bodybuilder and personal trainer in Bondi. Ben spent half an hour with me before I signed up to ensure we were both on the same page.
‘What’s our ideal weight, body shape, diet, etc’. He went through it all, looked at my past training routine, food and how mental health challenges played into my approach to getting ripped.
I told him Brad Pitt in Fight Club was the goal. Not too big, but clearly in very good shape.
What was the 100-day workout program?
The approach was very simple. 12 weeks, 2 programs. Same exercises every week but changing reps to keep the muscles guessing. All supersets, in some cases giant sets. No bench press, no shoulder press. Nothing you would expect, everything new and in some cases very confusing…
Phase 1: First 6 Weeks
- Day 1 – Chest / Back / Abs
- Day 2 – Legs
- Day 3 – Arms / Shoulders / Abs
- Day 4 – Rest
- Day 5 – Chest / Back / Abs
- Day 6 – Legs
- Day 7 – Rest
Phase 2: Second 6 Weeks
Phase 2 moved into progressive overload with some big rep days.
What supplements did I take?
I’ve long been a protein shake-every-morning kind of guy, but taking on this challenge made me look closer at the benefits. In short, consuming protein shakes during weight dropping phase was often unnecessary calories, so a few changes were made to help with the fat-burning process.
| Supplements | Dosage |
|---|---|
| Oxyshred | 2 scoops each morning / sometimes the non-caffeinated version in the evenings |
| AG1 | Every morning |
| BCAA | Every morning with my Oxyshred |
| Protein Powder | Clean Lean Protein (plant-based) |
| Black Coffee | Intake went quite high to keep hunger away |
Diet & nutrition: the hardest part
When people say diet is 80% of where you make the most progress they’re not wrong. The biggest challenge is changing how you eat, especially if you’ve been in the same pattern for many years.
During the first 10 weeks of the program, the approach was simple. The daily calorie intake was 1,900 calories. As 188cm and roughly 88kg, this was doable, provided I didn’t continue to smash 2 Kitkats every day as I had been. I aimed for 240 grams of protein per day, keeping fat to a minimum and carbs up with sweet potato, potato and brown rice.
Ben’s goal here was to help me slowly drop caloric intake but ensure I was feeding my muscles with enough protein.
Breakfast
8 egg whites (salt and pepper)
Vegan protein shake
Lunch
3 tins of tuna (lite)
125g of brown rice
Dash of sriracha sauce
Dinner
200g fillet steak / chicken breast
Sweet potato
Salt and pepper
- Snacks were mostly low-fat natural biltong and other low-carb, high-protein things to keep the numbers up.
- I recommend Paul’s Natural Protein Yogurt.
- Massively reduced the amount of olive oil in cooking by using a spray version.
The Shred
At the very end of the 12 week period came the final “shred”, aka the hardest 2 weeks of my fitness life. Roughly 1,000 calories per day. 3 meals, no snacking, and 4 litres of water. As you can see from the graph below, it’s incredibly effective for dropping body fat.
Without a doubt, not snacking was the hardest part of the final phase. No Chobani, no nuts, nothing fun. The diet consisted mostly of white fish, chicken and egg whites with asparagus and broccoli. The goal was to maintain 220 grams of protein per day.
The results?
As you can see from the photos there’s a fairly big change in terms of lean muscle mass. I’m not saying it’s a lot bigger everywhere but places such as chest and shoulders definitely got a bit bigger.
Body fat dropped from about 18% down to a low 12%, this was mostly achieved during the hard caloric restriction weeks in March.
My posture definitely changed a lot, this was thanks to building strength through the back. Lots of pull ups and back work to reduce the forward shoulder roll you often see with guys who do too much bench press. I was guilty of this, but not really achieving much in the process.
Ben gave me a much-needed total training reboot.
What about having fun?
To be honest, I was strict with alcohol. I kept booze to one or two drinks per week. Chocolate went bye-bye for the most part. That said, New Year’s and Christmas were a blowout.
My mum kept stocking the panty with Woolworths Chocolate Chip cookies which are like 250 calories per cookie. Damn, they’re irresistible.
Overall, alcohol and sweets are the biggest barriers to my fitness goals. There are so many empty calories in all the fun stuff. If you can moderate it, then it makes the task easier now and in the future.
Smashing a bag of Cob’s Popcorn every night or hitting Messina is a thing of the past. Maybe once a fortnight, but not every couple of days.
Biggest lessons from this experiment?
Everyone has a different approach to getting into shape and I can only share what worked best for me. In no particular order here are my tips.
- Training intensity – Working with Ben two days a week (Monday and Wednesday) meant I was held accountable for having big workouts. The type that you want to spew afterwards. The workouts would often go longer than an hour too.
- Ditched the classics – No more bench press, no more shoulder press.
- Mindset – Start your morning with a few hallelujahs, hail marys or whatever your vibe is. It will get you ready to rock out in the gym. Cold showers and 80s music were my go-tos.
- Supersets – These shatter your muscles. I was often sore for days after some exercise. Can’t recommend these enough.
- Sleep – Big workouts need more sleep. Putting my phone away early in the evening meant I was tired and able to sleep until 6am and train again.
- Weekends off – Little secret here. Having weekends off gave my body time to rest and grow. Made sure I walked 10,000+ steps these days.
- Back fat – Hangs around more than any other fat. Even at 12%, I feel flabby.
- Diet was 80% of the success – Sticking to a plan and avoiding snacking was key. Hard to do but worth it in the long run. Whole foods are where it’s at. Avoid too many nuts, chocolate and anything sweet. Reduce olive oil in your cooking.
- Alcohol is the silent killer – Try and avoid it as a couple of drinks will most likely throw your caloric intake off.
If you want to know more head over to Ben Abstacker’s website.