The reality behind "transforming" physiques (meet Rob)
I’ve wanted to write this post for a while but have held off because I wanted to show a real life example of a client not just transforming their physique through training, but changing their body type.
First some science...
There are three ‘traditional’ body type classifications:
Ectomorphs - people who are thin, find it hard to put on muscle and tend to have a fast metabolism
Endomorphs - people who tend to have a stockier build, gain weight easily and tend to have a slower metabolism
Mesomorphs - people who tend to gain and lose muscle and fat with relative ease, naturally have an athletic musculature.
Very few people are 100% one body type, rather most people lean towards one body type with elements (%) of one of the other body types and associated characteristics e.g. a person maybe have a greater percentage of mesomorph characteristics but gains weight easily and is slightly stockier (Endomorph).
Every client is unique but theoretically speaking, transforming the physique of a client with majority Mesomorph characteristics (neither stocky nor thin, puts on muscle and weight in equal measure) to an athletic, lean and muscular physique is a simpler process as they aren’t changing body shape or type. (This is obviously theoretical as numerous factors can complicate such a transformation).
The real challenge
The more significant challenge is changing the ‘shape’ of a person, e.g. turning a naturally lean, thin client (Ectomorph) who struggles to put on muscle into a broad shouldered, muscular physique...
..Meet Rob
Rob was one of my first clients and he’s a perfect case study for body transformation - what’s possible and what it takes to change your body ‘shape’.
Rob is a natural Ectomorph - over 6 foot, athletic and has considerable gym experience but has always been very lean and struggled to put on muscle mass in his upper body (he’s always had strong legs). Our task was to identify the type of training and nutrition that would enable Rob to build lean muscle, despite his body’s natural tendencies.
Rob’s training
It has taken almost two years of solid training and nutrition experimentation to change Rob’s physique from a classic Ectomorph shape to a muscular, athletic Mesomorph physique. During this time we have experimented with numerous training systems including Body Recomposition, HIIT, pre/post-exhaust training and German Volume Training. We’ve had some hits, some misses, trained outdoors and virtually during COVID lockdowns and learnt a lot.
Back development progressions
How we’ve achieved the transformation
Nutrition & diet - as an Ectomorph with a high metabolism, we discovered early on that Rob required higher carb and protein intake to fuel his muscle growth. Rob’s diet and nutrition has played a huge role in his transformation
Type of training - having achieved a good level of fitness and explored various types of training, we moved onto German Volume Training (GVT). GVT is a highly effective but brutal type of training that involves very high repetitions and weekly progressions. Rob has worked through 3-4 phases of GVT and it has been instrumental in changing Rob’s physique
Dedication - Rob has trained three times a week for 2 years (once a week with me, twice a week by himself) and is utterly dedicated to his training. Without his dedication to training, he would not have been able to change his physique. Like everyone, he’s had good days, absolute rubbish days and everything in between but has kept at it and been determined to train
Keeping track - throughout the 2 years of training, Rob and I have set targets and recorded every single workout he’s done. Knowing what he lifted the previous week and having a target means he’s always pushing himself.
It has been a HUGE learning curve for Rob and myself and I’m so proud of what Rob has achieved with his training. Changing your physique - so it’s a sustainable and longterm change - requires a hell of a lot of effort, time and real grit and determination.
PS. I’m going to do a more detailed muscle hypertrophy case study/post based on Rob’s training regime