SUPERHUMAN SHREDZ
Guinness than I should have, and I didn’ t watch my weight at all. Having previously been shredded my entire life, I eventually started to acquire unwanted body fat. I used that term‘ bulking’ as an excuse and yes, I was lifting heavier, but most of that was probably psychological. The problem was, I didn’ t stop until I’ d gone way past my comfort zone body fat wise, and at my biggest I weighed in at over 230lbs! My wife gave birth and I knew I had to take a long, hard look at myself in the mirror and do something about it,” he says.
As a means of ensuring he stayed on track, Jamie decided to produce a video blog of his journey back to leanness.
“ From January 2014 on the very day I made the decision to get back to my old self, I documented everything,” he says.“ I took videos of myself from all angles and filmed myself working out. I did this not only in the hope of inspiring others at the end of it all, but also for my own records. It can be easy to lose track of your progress and slip back to the start if you don’ t have visuals to show you how far you’ ve come,” he explains.
Despite the enormous amount of dedication and effort he put into his vlog, nobody could have anticipated the overwhelming response Jamie’ s YouTube channel would receive.
“ When my video reached a million views I was astonished,” Jamie recalls.“ It has now received almost 6 million and I think it’ s because it’ s raw and honest and that people can relate to it,” he continues.
Jamie believes multiple outcome goals are the key to long-term success.
“ If you know it’ s going to take you a few months or even years to reach your target, you need to set goals along the way,” he advises.“ It doesn’ t matter what your end goal is- you need to be able to pat yourself on the back as you reach certain milestones. So for me, I started my shred in January and set myself a first goal of feeling comfortable enough to wear swimming shorts for a holiday we had booked in April. After that, I wanted to look good enough to attend BodyPower in May in a tight t-shirt. Finally, I set myself a third and final goal of stepping on stage as a muscle model in the WBFF worlds. I made steady progress because I was consistent and committed.”
Despite giving himself a strict diet and fitness regime, Jamie attributes much of his success to the power of the mind.
“ I lost almost 50lbs of fat in six months and gained a large amount of lean muscle at the same time,” he says.“ Why was I so successful? Let me introduce you to the lobster theory.”
‘ HOW DO LOBSTERS GROW?’
“ Kind of a strange way to explain a training methodology but hear me out...“ I was listening to a talk by a Rabbi who says lobsters are a mushy animal that lives in a rigid shell.“ That rigid shell does not grow.“ So how does a lobster grow?“ When it starts to get uncomfortable it breaks away from its shell and hides under a rock until it grows a new one.
“ So what’ s the lesson here?“ The stimulus for the lobster to grow is that it feels uncomfortable.“ A lobster will do this up to 25 times in its lifetime.“ You, on the other hand, are not a lobster.“ You do not have an exoskeleton …“ And when people get uncomfortable they don’ t push past it and grow.
“ Fortunately, I’ ve got the answer for you...“ It’ s called the double rep method“ And like the lobster’ s shell, it will help you grow.“ Provided you embrace the discomfort!”
Double Rep Method? Lobster? Confused? Here’ s how you smash your way to becoming a pillar of lean, muscular perfection. On the following page is an example of leg day using the DRM( double rep method).
PHOTO CREDIT: i STOCK; TIGATELU
APRIL 2018 / MUSCLE & FITNESS 1 3