Body Transformation Week 11 Update!! 1 More week to go!!

Week 12 of my Body Transformation has almost arrived and not a moment too soon I think. While I have made great gains, I was really starting to slack these last few weeks. Only working out every second day and really cheating a lot with my food. But After next week, when I finish putting up my after pictures so you can see my great abs. (or lack of them), I am going to start a revamp my diet, and start a new workout routine to keep everything fresh.

While my muscle definitions has really gotten better, I didn't pick up a lot of weight, and didn't lose so much fat either. I am sure when I restart my muscle building program that I will see even more gains. Patience is the key, I guess.

So please watch out for my next post, because that will be the one where I grunt and groan and show my muscles and then it's up to you guys to decide if my hard work paid off and how much it did. Until next time then...

My Biceps Exercise videos

I am currently in the process of making exercise videos. I am filming how to do all the different exercises to workout all main muscles. With the video I also give an overview of the exercise, steps how to do it correctly, helpful hints and tips and also some warnings. It's still a work in progress, but I decided to post a few so that I could get some feedback on them.

Here is a link where I do concentration curls for biceps. There are also other videos for biceps, like the video of me doing Standing dumbbell Curls. And then also my favorite exercise, Hammer Curls, which hits your forearms pretty hard too.

There are also some other exercise videos if you want to have a look.

Would appreciate all feedback. Thanks a lot.

Progress - Week 9 of my Body Transformation

My Muscle Building and Weight Loss Body Transformation is going pretty well. Week 9 has just started and can really see the difference in the mirror every week. Where I started by bench pressing 40 kg, I am now bench pressing 60kg. I started my dumbbell curls with 10 kg and now I do my sets with 15 kg dumbbells. My Triceps exercises went from a 6kg weight that I use to 10kg weights. Where I started with 50kg quads press, I now work it at 80kg. Overall, I see more than 35% increase in strength! If haven't seen my before and after photos at week 6, you should take a look at it. And it is all thanks to the super cool Muscle Building Program that I am using.

I do a lot of my exercises right here at home. Going to an expensive gym is not needed anymore, you can buy all your basic exercise equipment for pretty cheap. I came across HelloSixPackAbs's Amazon Store, where you can get great deals on all exercise and fitness equipment and supplements. You should definately check it out if you are interested in working out at home.

So what else have I been up to? I have started to make exercise videos of all the exercises that you can do at home and are starting to upload them with full instructions and tips on my website, Hellosixpackabs.com. I will also upload more after photos of me in a week or 2's time. If you want any additional advice or if you want to give me some feedback feel free to comment.

My Muscle Building Before and After Photos (Week 6))

The end of Week 6 of my Muscle Building and Fat Loss Body Transformation has arrived and as promised I took some photos! Since the start of my body transformation I have gained about 3 kg. I had a problem with the scale in the beginning so I am not sure if my starting weight was right. Although I cheated a lot with my eating, (eating far too fatty foods during lunch and also not enough protein, because I work away from home) I stand by my motto which is that the mirror doesn't lie. I still have tons of work left, but I can definately see some overall improvement in my body.

Well, here are my muscle building before and after photos:



Week 1 -----------------------------------> Week 6



































And no muscle building before and after photo post would be complete without some posing and muscle flexing photos, so here are some of my shots, hehe. You can also see workout videos of mine. See my Dumbbell Curls Video for instance.



Well, like you can see, still a far way to go. Normal body transformation competitions usually give you 12 weeks to transform, so according to that standard, I am halfway through. I will upload muscle building before and after photos again soon after 3 weeks. Until then, see you around, and please feel free to leave any comments or advice that you can give. You can also see my workout routines and exercises with videos at hellosixpackabs.com.

Previous before and after photos:

1. Week 1 Before photos

2. Week 3 Before and After Photos

How to Barbell Bench Press 100 kg (Chest Muscles)

This exercise video is of my friend Os (means Ox in Afrikaans language), and Konstant training in the backyard. They are also following the same workout program that they got from Hello Six Pack Abs. Os is barbell bench pressing 100 kg in this video clip. He just started to workout a few weeks ago, but is naturally strong so he is already using the big weights.

To barbell bench press is one of the favorite chest exercises for bodybuilders. Chest muscles are one of the great show muscles that girls go crazy for. It's also a pretty easy exercise to do, but like all exercises the important thing is to do bench pressing with the correct form.

Chest muscles are also one of the muscles that develops the fastest, so get going and start working those pecs.

This is almost the end of week 5 of my body transformation so I will post pictures again next week. I gained another half a kg and can really see how the working out is working for me.

Keep training!

Body Transformation Week 5 Update and Workout Split Change

Week 5 of my muscle building body transformation and I am still going strong. Or am I? I decided to make some tweaks to my current workout split and get a more effective workout routine. I also changed my diet to get more muscle gain.

My new workout split:
I got my new workout routine from a list of best workout routines. With my new workout routine, I don't over train my triceps and biceps anymore. I do my triceps with my chest and do my biceps with my back and lats. I also moved legs to a totally new Day 4. I also use this day for additional cardiovascular training. After day 4, I take a day rest and then start with day 1 again. I will continue with this routine for at least 4 weeks.

Day 1:
- 7 Minute warm-up
- Chest: 3 Exercises - 3 Sets - 8-12 reps
- Triceps: 3 Exercises - 3 Sets - 8-10 reps

Day 2:
- 7 Minute warm-up
- Shoulders/traps: 4 Exercises - 3 Sets - 8-12 reps
- Abs/Core: 4 Exercises - 3 Sets - 12-15 reps

Day 3:
- 7 Minute warm-up
- Back/Lats: 4 Exercises - 3 Sets - 8-12 reps
- Biceps/forearms: 4 Exercises - 3 Sets - 8-10 reps

Day 4:
- 15 Minutes Interval treadmill training
- Legs: Leg press 4 x 10, quads 4x10, hams 4x10, calves 4x10

How did I change my diet?
As you know I make use of the awesome fat loss guide, Fat Loss 4 Idiots, for my eating needs. I have picked up lean muscle and lowered my fat percentage, but I decided I am going to concentrate more on bulking now, so I am going to increase my food intake. I am taking an additional protein shake per day. I also try to take in more meats and I realized that I am not taking in enough carbs, so I upped my carbs intake, but still try to use only brown carbs and vegetables. Hope this will speed up my muscle gain.

I hope these changes will help, if you have any comments or advice on these I would appreciate it a lot!


Articles you may also like:

1. Before Photos and Week 1 of my Body Transformation

2. Photos and Progress report after Week 3 of my Body Transformation

3. Full Workout Routines and advice for Muscle Building

4. Best Exercises for Chest Muscles

Workout on Caffeine? Good for you?

New studies show that consuming caffeine (Get Prolab Caffeinefrom Amazon) before a workout increases your endurance and it also delays fatigue. Having a few cups of coffee after an intense workout has also been proved to reduce muscle stiffness and soreness. And me being on full steam with my body transformation workout program decided to put these studies to the test...

First a few facts about caffeine use for workouts and exercise:

• Delays fatigue
• Slows the breakdown of muscle glycogen, which means your body has more fuel to keep going
• Enhances endurance
• Keeps you more alert
• Can reduce muscle pain during exercise
• May lower perceived exertion, making exercise feel more comfortable

Unfortunately caffeine is also a stimulant which means that it could have some side effects:

• Increased urination
• Stomach upset
• Trembling or shaking
• Trouble sleeping
• Increased anxiety
• Headaches
• Nausea

Right, so it Day 4 (week 5) of my workout split (that I got from Workout Routines at hellosixpackabs.com), so today I was doing only legs and decided I am going to consume a lot of caffeine (+- 4 cups of coffee) before I go workout and that I am also going to do some heavy cardio to see if the caffeine will increase my endurance for the cardio (running) and leg exercises (hamstrings, calves, upper legs, squad machine).

After I downed my huge cup of coffee, containing 4 teaspoons of concentrated coffee and honey, I could feel my heart rate go up, muscles starting to tremble and I started to talk a lot. (My girlfriend wasn't impressed) I knew that my ultimate caffeine rush has started, and off I went to the gym.

Full of energy and ready for anything I started on the treadmill. Usually I run on speed 10 for about 3 km, before my legs start hurting and my lungs start aching, but today, I started off at 10.5, and soon upped the speed of the treadmill to 12, (caffeine obviously working) running and maintaining my speed for 2 km, and whereas I would normally be too tired to go on, I still had a lot of energy left. I increased the gradient to 3%, setting my speed to 11, running uphill for more than a km. After this I was sweating like a pig, but still had energy left for the rest of my workout, whereas normally I would be pooped by this time.

Already realizing that a workout on caffeine works, I set off to the weights and machines section of the gym, having a 3 minute rest in between, and started with my leg workout. I did 3 sets of leg presses, 10 reps each. After that I moved on to the hamstrings machine, doing 5 sets of 10 reps each. I do all my exercises at about 80% of my max lift. Then I did the quads machine, 4 sets of 9 reps, followed by some quick super sets on the ass machine and inner thighs machine, 3 sets of 15 reps each. Finally I ended off with some calves exercises on the stair master machine, running flat out on my toes for a quick calves burn. It felt really good and I stumbled out of the gym on my way home, really feeling my legs aching all over, my legs total jelly. (Guess my caffeine level downed after the workout, hehe)

The verdict?
I could do all the exercises I usually do on a normal day and do them more intense. I ran faster, I increased the incline of the treadmill, still having enough energy after wards to give a hard workout at the weights and leg machines section. Even after a heavy leg cardio session, I increased my leg lifts by 3 kg and added a few additional sets, that I don't usually do. So, yes, I think workout on caffeine definately DOES work. It increased my endurance and speed and intensity of my workout.


Negative effects of taking caffeine? [added next day]
My muscles doesn't seem more stiff than usual. Surprisingly good actually. I did however struggle to sleep. Don't know if it could be related to the workout with the caffeine. I did take 4 coffees, so maybe that could still be in my system 3 hours later. Didn't feel any nausea or any of the other effects mentioned.

Will I go workout on caffeine again?
I will try this again, for sure, it definately worked. Caffeine rushes are awesome for exercise! I am sure it isn't very good if you take in too much caffeine at a time, so next time I will just lower my caffeine dosage, or get some real caffeine capsules like Prolab Caffeinefrom Amazon.com.

You can check out some good workout routines that I posted in a previous post, if you don't know what workout routine to do. As I have mentioned before I use a very good workout program from renowned bodybuilder Vince DelMonte. So far I have been having really good gains and I can really recommend it. It is called No-Nonsense Muscle Building and you can also read a review of this muscle building program if you want to make sure if this program is the right one for you.




Articles you may also like:

1. Before Photos and Week 1 of my Body Transformation

2. Photos and Progress report after Week 3 of my Body Transformation

3. Full Workout Routines and advice for Muscle Building

4. Best Exercises for Chest Muscles