Lean to Mean Finale! A Summer’s Worth of Packing on Muscle and Tearing Off Fat. From Bony to Beastly.

Posted by W. Shane Duquette

Lean to Mean was a four month bodybuilding experiment—our ectomorph transformation, as we’ve learned it’s often called. We studied the bodybuilding masters, got help from personal trainers, studied research papers, books, e-books and we meticulously recorded EVERYTHING. We wanted to pit conventional wisdom against cutting edge controversial research and figure out what worked. Well. We still have a long way to go and several really exciting theories and programs to test, but phase one is done!

(update: we’ve come a long way since then. Read the updated story here)

And you might notice the new addition to our two-man bodybuilding crew crunched over off to the right. He started his journey last year when he and I planned out a fat loss program that led to 20lbs of fat loss in one month (more on that here). Willem’s an active and adventurous guy with a body bursting with fast-twitch muscle fibers. He runs, bikes, climbs rocks, plays sports and loves the outdoors. He also has the ability to pop on pounds of fat faster than he can eat a donut—and damn can he ever eat donuts fast! He’s coming at bodybuilding from the opposite side of things and we wanted to include him in the experiment.

Jared and I, scrawny nerdlings that we are, after researching our hearts out, decided to focus on short intense strength training workouts at the gym no more than 3 times a week. Willem spent the summer in British Columbia planting trees. Long brutal days tacked one next to another spent working his muscles harder than they’ve ever been worked. So we’ve got ectomorphs vs mesomorphs, manual labour vs HIIT, and strength training vs rock climbing.

So, what we’ve got here are before and after pictures and before and after measurements. We’ve all gotten bigger. We’ve all gotten leaner. And we’re pretty happy with our results. We’ve gone from bony to beastly (or at least we’d like to think we did) in just one summer.

Billy-Shane “The Beast” Duquette

I’ve been a stick my entire life. As bony as they come. The before picture to the left is actually my best effort of trying to be a beast (mane and all) after sporadically trying to gain weight for years. I don’t mean to say that I was on the most organized or intelligent plan out there. In fact, knowing what I know now, I know that I wasn’t. A couple of years ago I would have seen this BEFORE picture and thought “damn, I wish I could be even that muscular.” Now, after just one summer of training and dieting intelligently, I’m finally well on my way to looking the way I’ve wanted to since I was a kid. I’ve always been an artist rocker sort, but now I can finally go from Sid Vicious to Glenn Danzig. I errr . . tried the devilock in highschool . . . but it didn’t quite do it for me. Or um anyone else, for that matter.

The before and after pictures were taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. No tricks or gimmicks. We didn’t photoshop the pictures, either. The lighting set-up is as identical as we could get it in both photos as well, but there are some large windows to the right of us throwing out different lighting. And the room grew quite a bit along with us.

Neck: 14.25″ to 15″
Shoulders: 43.5″ to 47.5″
Bicep: 12.25″ to 13.25″
Chest: 37″ to 38.25″
Waist: 30″ to 29.25″
Hips: 36″ to 37.25″
Thigh: 18.75″ to 21″
Calf: 13.5″ to 14″

And these guys are the 8 mandatory bodybuilding poses that are done at shows. Similar to the other photos, our muscles and abs aren’t painted on or edited in any way, but we did try our very best for these ones and we used intense processing techniques and lighting. We figured that an empty stomach is the most accurate portrayal for the before and afters, but hell, trying our best is fun too. We’ll shoot another round of these after phase two and see how much we can improve upon them.


Jared “Powerhouse” Polowick

Jared started off with the body of a scruffy but naked Ollie Sykes. A hardcore singer too, it always seemed to suit him. He dressed and looked the part. In fact, Were it not for our matching levi’s black 30″ ultra-skinny jeans and matching In Flames shirts perhaps Jared and I never would have met. Sadly, little Jared wasn’t too healthy. Bigger Jared is. He’s got more energy, more colour, he’s discovered a new trick to boost his vocal performance, and he’s way way better at moving furniture. Our big move would have had to have been much smaller had we all not just put on all this weight. And now Jared’s going from Ollie Sykes to Henry Rollins, the bodybuilder that invented hardcore music. Let’s hope some tattoos join us for the ride.

Neck: 13.75″ to 14.125″
Shoulders: 38.75″ to 41″
Bicep: 11″ to 12.5″
Chest: 33.75″ to 35.25″
Waist: 27.5″ to 29.25″
Hips: 35.5″ to 37″
Thigh: 18.75″ to 21.875″
Calf: 13.75″ to 14.875″


Willem “The Machine” Shepherd

This before picture might look a little out of place. This handsome man on the left (with surprisingly poor posture for someone with such impressive core strength) is the already lean Willem. Willem lived with Jared and I for almost two years and has just now packed up for BC and Australia. He’s a mesomorph sort of guy with a couple of endomorph characteristics. I’ve been to the gym with him in the past, and it’s a little disheartening watching him do the exact same program as I am and having his muscles double in size while mine barely seem to change at all. It’s also pretty damn exciting. Seeing the abs come out from under the flabs blew my mind, and living with this not-so-little monster helped inspire me to grow once and for all. While his before picture is still quite a bit larger than our after ones, his after picture really takes the cake. After four months of gut-wrenching tree planting he’s certainly gotten leaner and meaner, so he fits right in. He’s also growing out his hair, which makes me happy to no end. I’m ecstatic about having someone to share my pain in hearing “____, you should really get a haircut. I liked it shorter. You were so handsome once!”

Neck: 14.25″ to 15″
Shoulders: 45″ to 46″
Bicep: 14.25″ to 14.5″
Chest: 38.5″ to 38.25″
Waist: 32.75″ to 32.75″
Hips: 39.75″ to 39.25″
Thigh: 22.5″ to 21.5″
Calf: 15.5″ to 15.25″

Alright so we’ve shown you the results. How we did it should follow, I know, but the research, methods, tips and tricks we’ve uncovered and put to the test could fill books. We’ll share as much as we can, as soon as we can. My next post will feature the rapid fat loss tips that allowed me to drop 10+ pounds in 3 weeks while improving my strength and having me feeling healthier than ever. They’ll work whether you’re buff or a chubster, an ectomorph or an endomorph. Similar techniques helped both Willem and Payam lose 20 pounds in 30 days although with less attention payed to muscle retention. Jared’s 5′ tall girlfriend lost 12+ pounds and shrunk out of her clothes faster than she could replace them. I’ll share both sets of techniques so you can decide which better suits your needs.

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Saturday, September 4th, 2010
55 Responses to “Lean to Mean Finale! A Summer’s Worth of Packing on Muscle and Tearing Off Fat. From Bony to Beastly.”
  1. Brent
    September 4th, 2010
    10:12 pm

    Hey, first off I want to say great work from all of you. What type of workouts did you guys follow? I look like Shane does in his before pic. Im about to start a strength training program just curious on what you did.


  2. W. Shane Duquette
    September 4th, 2010
    11:22 pm

    Hey Brent,
    We switched our program every month and made tweaks to our diet throughout the process, so I can’t give you just one answer. We had great success with our first month’s workout plan, though, and we spell it out in a video.
    We’ve documented everything we’ve done and we’re analyzing the data constantly to see what’s giving us the best results. Soon I’m hoping we’ll be able to come out with a full-fledged program that includes everything.
    Here are some quick basics to our program:
    A) Heavy strength training. 1-7 reps on most exercises.
    B) Big lifts are the most important: squats, deadlifts, bench press, chin-ups & standing military press.
    C) So far a triple split has produced the best results. Legs one day, back and biceps next, then chest, triceps and shoulders last. Three one-hour workouts per week. We’ll be experimenting with a four day split, and two full-body workouts per week as well. We’ll see how those go!
    D) Explosive contractions with good form with a slow eccentric motion. 1/0/3-5 tempo. We’ll be experimenting with slow and super-slow lifting soon.
    If you want workout tips, we’ve written our five best ones here.
    If you have any other questions I’d be happy to answer them. The more specific the better!
    You’ll be big in no-time!

    Subscribe (bottom left of page) and we’ll keep you posted when we get all our workout information out there.
    -Shane


  3. Fail
    September 6th, 2010
    1:58 pm

    great job guys. glad to see some hope for ectomorph guys. yet i’m full of admiration and envy at the same time.

    8 months ago, when i first started working out, i was 5ft10 148lbs. i could barely manage 2 pullups, and my max for bench press and deadlift were roughly 70lbs and 90lbs respectvely.

    now, i can do 9 deadhang pullups, 130lbs bench, and 180lbs deadlift. and my weight? still freaking 148lbs! after 8 months of hard work, i freaking look exactly the same as when i first started! to make things worse, i’ve hit a plateau for the past month and i can no longer go any heavier or improve my pullups.

    am i a gonecase? i pray you tell me there’s still hope…


  4. W. Shane Duquette
    September 6th, 2010
    3:40 pm

    Haha you aren’t a ‘gonecase’!
    A) The scale is a good tool to use to determine if you are getting heavier, but it isn’t the best tool out there to figure out if you are getting more muscular. Even scales with BIA don’t do too good a job of figuring out the difference between water weight, muscle weight and fat weight. The mirror is a better tool. I mean, do you really care if you weigh 175lbs? Or would you rather look the way you want to look?
    B) Sounds like you’ve had amazing progress in the gym! Some of this can be attributed to getting accustomed to the exercises. Generally you can go a few weeks with a new exercise and improve drastically each week. My leg press results are still going up by 30+ pounds a week but my legs aren’t actually getting that much stronger, they’re just getting used to the new exercise. It takes a while for them to do it at full capacity and for me to figure out how hard I can push myself at it.
    C) If you aren’t gaining weight turn to your diet. Eat more! And eat well. Lots of lean protein, lots of EFAs (olive oil, flax oil, almonds, avocados) and lots of healthy carbs (legumes, whole grains, oats, vegetables). I’m sure you’ve heard it before and I know it’s not as simple as it sounds. Progressively cut out the bad foods you eat while at the same time steadily increasing your calorie count.
    D) Make sure to avoid overtraining. Go to the gym and give it your absolute all, but only do it a few times a week. 2 times if you’re doing full body, and 3-4 if you’re doing splits. Keep the workouts short, too (under an hour). What might be happening is that you’re spending too much time in the gym (breaking up the muscle) and not enough time building the muscle.
    There’s definitely hope! You’ll be big in no time.


  5. Billy
    September 13th, 2010
    12:09 am

    These pictures remind me of the old pictures of men in the 50s who wore those bathing suit shaped body builder leotards.

    You have two more months of getting bigger and then its back to skinny, yeah?


  6. W. Shane Duquette
    September 13th, 2010
    5:19 pm

    50′s men in leotards? While that imagery is pretty damn cool . . . we aren’t wearing leotards and the pictures are in vibrant colour! You’re crazy, Billy :)
    We have as many more months as it takes, but our next major milestone is at the end of December. We’ll have another major shoot then. Back to being skinny? We aren’t planning on reversing our results!


  7. Billy
    September 15th, 2010
    2:47 pm

    “Back to being skinny? We aren’t planning on reversing our results!”

    This is news. I guess you forgot to mention when you changed your mind.

    “You’re crazy, Billy”

    It’s because of the poses, I think. I haven’t ever seen like recent body building competitions because they are frightening, so I associate it with those old black and white videos.


  8. W. Shane Duquette
    September 15th, 2010
    3:26 pm

    You don’t think my head would look good on Jay Cutler’s body? ;)


  9. Matt
    September 17th, 2010
    9:03 pm

    Hey guys, amazing and inspiring results. I’m almost 19 and I’m 146lbs at 5’10. I’m just about to start university and joining the gym. I consider me an ectomorph but I’m not too skinny just quite slim. My metabolism is cray and I can eat well over 2600 calories without gaining weight! Looks like I’m going to have to stuff my face…


  10. Matt
    September 17th, 2010
    9:05 pm

    Oh I forgot to say, my body is almost exactly your starting body Shane.


  11. W. Shane Duquette
    September 19th, 2010
    3:21 pm

    Hey Matt,
    Nineteen’s a great age to start! Get your ideal muscle mass now and it will stick with you for the rest of your life. Up your calories by 200-500 calories per week until you’re gaining the weight you want to weekly. 0.3 pounds of muscle per week, depending on genetics, is a good amount to shoot for. 1-1 muscle-fat is a good bulking ratio, so 0.6 pounds per week may be enough. When just starting to train though you can put on muscle much quicker—it’s affectionately called “newbie results”—so you can aim for an even higher number. Up to 2 pounds per week. I wouldn’t go higher than that.
    Good luck! Be sure to take good before and after pictures and update us as you go!


  12. Billy
    September 20th, 2010
    11:24 am

    I didn’t know who Jay Cutler was but, I looked it up and now that I do I can honestly say that no, it would not. Since when has the decision to stay big and muscley been anyhow? Is it because you feel healthier/enjoy the lifestyle or because of aesthetics? I’m just surprised.


  13. W. Shane Duquette
    September 20th, 2010
    11:41 am

    I’ve always wanted to be bigger, Billy! Did you read the blog post?
    I was kidding about looking like Jay Cutler. We’re aiming for Ryan Reynolds/Brad Pitt.
    We do feel much healthier, stronger, more energetic and we quite enjoy the challenge.
    Having a goal and going for it I find really enjoyable.


  14. Brendan
    September 28th, 2010
    8:12 am

    The lack of hair on your bodies is disturbing.. haha


  15. W. Shane Duquette
    September 28th, 2010
    9:20 am

    Believe it or not, I didn’t shave. If you look closely you can see a couple of chest hairs.


  16. Billy
    October 4th, 2010
    3:23 pm

    The coveted 15 chest hairs.


  17. W. Shane Duquette
    October 4th, 2010
    3:40 pm

    I’ve been trying to maximize my natural hormone production (testosterone, HGH, etc). At first it gave me a bit of acne, but that soon passed. More importantly, it’s increased my chest hair count. I’m up to at least 20. Sadly still not enough to create a rug that’s visible from the pictures.


  18. Marthy
    October 11th, 2010
    5:21 am

    Talented creative professionals with ripped, buff bodies? You’re everything I ever wanted to be! Dang!


  19. Matt
    October 18th, 2010
    5:48 am

    Hey guys, it’s been a month since I’ve posted and I’m settled in at university now, I’ve been on a new bulking diet for a week now and been going to the gym 3 times a week. So far I’m getting so decent results early in. I fell ill only 10 days ago and lost some weight (not good for my body type) I looked terrible. After my recovery even after 3-4 days I’d regained my lost weight and then a week after on my new diet and weight training regime I’ve put on about 2lbs and I can tell. My arms are wider and my chest is more pronounced… it’s so much effort counting calories and macro nutrients but it’s well worth it.

    Your blog/video was my inspiration for starting my bulk journey. I hope to keep it up and I’ll try post here every month or so.

    All the best,

    Matt


  20. W. Shane Duquette
    October 18th, 2010
    1:02 pm

    Awesome Matt. We recently got sick too, actually. Managed to keep on most of our weight and went back to the gym stronger than ever. Definitely set us back though. Glad to hear you’ve recovered well.
    Calorie counting is a pain, yeah, but eventually you’ll get good enough at it that you’ll have all of your regular meals memorized. And then it’s really easy. We count calories every now and then to make sure we’re still on track, but we mainly do it intuitively now and manage to hit our marks.
    Make sure to take before pictures! You’ll regret it if you don’t when you’re all bulked up. Grab yourself a gravatar too!
    Looking forward to your next update!


  21. Jared Polowick
    October 18th, 2010
    6:32 pm

    I’m sick (again) and going to the gym seems to make my immune system temporarily not as strong, so I’m taking a few days off. Glad to hear you’re back at the gym though and seeing some real progress Matt.

    If you get sick again, just try and keep up with the number of meals and make sure to get a lot of Vitamin C which I’ve read is recommended to have at least 100mg a day when you’re training (and even more when you’re sick).

    I hope you measured and took some pictures as Shane suggested, it really does help motivate you and makes for a good story when you show friends.

    Good luck with the rest of bulking!


  22. sergio
    January 24th, 2011
    10:12 pm

    hey i’m portuguese but i’ll try speak in english, first, congratulations about your great job. I am ectomorph too and I’ll try your 1st month workout plan and I have some questions to you: in your workout movies you usually spoke about sets but never about reps, why? Then how many repetitions should I do? And why you change workout plan every month?
    p.s Shane you are looking much better :o


  23. Breonna
    February 2nd, 2011
    8:46 am

    Looking good boys. The oily bodies are a plus.


  24. Joe
    February 9th, 2011
    4:03 pm

    Did you find when you started doing deadlifts that your lower back was aching more than your legs ? I dont know if its down to my form but my backs always worked alot more than my legs


  25. W. Shane Duquette
    February 10th, 2011
    12:53 am

    A heavy deadlift should look like this. If you’re worried about your form get one of the people that works at the gym to come take a look. I wouldn’t worry about your back being sore though. If you watch that Youtube video you’ll notice that he’s obviously putting a lot of work into flexing his back. The deadlift is, after all, primarily a lower back exercise. It should feel sore in the same way that your pecs feel sore after you bench. If your form is pretty good don’t stress about it.


  26. altie
    February 15th, 2011
    4:03 am

    Would be interesting to see how an overweight person would end up on the same plan.

    Grats on the progress


  27. W. Shane Duquette
    February 17th, 2011
    9:54 pm

    I’m curious as well! I’ve heard that massively obese people have tremendous success gaining muscle while losing fat, because their situation is so extreme. For people that are moderately overweight it’s often best to pick one goal or the other—cut then bulk or bulk then cut.


  28. Nick D
    March 3rd, 2011
    9:42 am

    Great work. How tall are you guys and how much weight have you gained?


  29. W. Shane Duquette
    March 4th, 2011
    1:54 pm

    Jared’s an even 6 feet. He went from about 141 to 155 during the four month period. He’s at 166 now.
    I’m 6’2. I initially started at 141 as well, but by the time we started this program I was 152. My before picture is at 152. By the end of the four months I was 162. Now I’m at about 171.
    Tough to judge based just on weight alone though. We both ended up with much less fat than we started with, so our muscle gains are probably several pounds more than the simple difference. Hard to say.


  30. Aaron
    March 12th, 2011
    1:20 am

    Wow you guys give me alot of motivation, my body type is just likes shanes but skinnier, im 6’3 and 138. I hate being this skinny i wish i could put on weight i just need a gym account, you guys should let me move with you for 1 year. im a cool dude


  31. Dan
    April 7th, 2011
    12:47 am

    Great site, guys. Amazing information on gaining muscle and losing fat. But once you’ve reached your goal, I was wondering what you’ve come across as the most efficient diet and exercise to maintain those gains? And what are you up to now?


  32. Alex
    April 10th, 2011
    2:14 am

    Shane,
    I think I’m in love with you.


  33. B.
    April 17th, 2011
    10:30 am

    Hi Shane and Jared,

    Thanks so much for posting these; you guys really are an inspiration! I’ve been scrawny nearly all of my life.

    In January I started following the Freak to Geek protocol in Tim Ferris’s 4HB, and I was seeing some good gains, but I started getting a pot belly!

    Do you have tips for gaining and cutting? Or a reference where I can read more? I’m a complete newby, so even just the titles of books I could read.

    Thanks again!


  34. W. Shane Duquette
    April 17th, 2011
    7:13 pm

    Hey Dan, good question. That was a big concern of ours when we first started, but after our four month program we found it relatively easy to maintain and improve upon our gains. The most important thing is maintaining a relatively good diet. If you starve yourself your body will be forced to get rid of muscle, but otherwise even hitting the gym twice a month is enough to prevent muscle atrophy.
    That said, Jared and I find we feel better if we go to the gym more regularly, so we’ll go 1-3 times a week, depending on the program. Every month we commit for a new month and then re-evaluate afterwards and adjust accordingly. We have alcohol fairly regularly, we have lots of cheat meals, and we’re much more casual about everything — although we always eat a protein packed breakfasts. We’re still slowly growing, getting stronger and experimenting. The maintenance part is a breeze if you can get through the dramatic change part :)


  35. W. Shane Duquette
    April 17th, 2011
    7:45 pm

    Hey B. 4HB is an incredible book, but even though it seems like it’s supposed to be, it didn’t seem to me like a beginners book. I’m guessing that your pot belly is due to one of two things: too many calories, or an improper diet. It could be both. Jared and I are planning to put together a guide for people like us. There isn’t one up to date source that covers everything properly. I’m not the biggest fan of Tim’s sarcoplasmic hypertrophy routine. Jared and I responded dramatically better with more of a strength based program that resulted in myofibrilar hypertrophy. If the workout part is going well for you though, the cure to the pot belly will come from the nutrition side. Scrawny to Brawny has a great nutrition section. I’d grab that.
    As far as cutting goes, I wrote a blog article on it! It should have everything you need. Combine it with your current workout regimen so that you can maintain and monitor your strength as you get rid of the fat.


  36. W. Shane Duquette
    April 17th, 2011
    7:51 pm

    Alex, that’s an issue we often encountered during our Lean to Mean program. We haven’t found a solution for it yet! ;)


  37. Harsha
    April 18th, 2011
    2:04 am

    Wow! This is SO AWESOME! Thanks guys for doing your homework as well as mine :D

    When does Phase 2 start eh? Can’t wait to see a bulkier form of Jared :D


  38. Arthur
    May 7th, 2011
    11:02 am

    Very impressive results to the three of you.

    Questions:
    1) Would you list the supplements you took?
    2) How is it all going now?
    3) This is more of a comment in response to an earlier comment of yours: The data does not completely support the theory that soy protein reduces testosterone levels. In fact, a 2004 double-blind study sponsored by the US National Dairy Council (they wouldn’t have been happy) found that there was no difference in the effect of whey and soy protein on lean muscle mass and testosterone levels in a sample of male participants after 12 weeks. Casein on the other hand is known to be a carcinogen in rats, promoting rapid tumour growth, which may be worth keeping in mind.


  39. W. Shane Duquette
    May 7th, 2011
    12:04 pm

    1) It varied from month to month. We tried to experiment with all the arguably effective/legal ones. We almost always have whey on hand and caffeine, while not directly related to muscle growth, we have now and then. Glutamine we’ve gone on and off of. Jared notices reduced muscle soreness. I can’t tell the difference. We tried creatine as well, which also worked great for Jared. I’m a non-responder so I wasn’t using it.
    2)Things are going great now! We’re more muscular than ever, feel great, have lots of energy, no food cravings, and our lifestyle is really easygoing. We go out, drink, party and travel and our bodies hold out fine. I feel way more confident and happy with myself too. I like how I look and I’m so glad I made the change. Maintaining and slowly improving is easy and enjoyable.
    3)I knew about the casein study, but with the amount of casein they were feeding the rats I don’t really trust the results. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for new studies though. About the soy protein… Interesting. I’ll look into that. Thank you for the heads up! I believe the main concern with soy though is not decreased testosterone levels but rather increased estrogen levels.


  40. Robert
    July 17th, 2011
    1:25 am

    Hey! We want to see mooaar! Updates!! I’m sure it’s not news to you but I, and I think many others, discovered Foxhound purely because of your Lean to Mean videos/articles/etc… keep it up!

    I’m about to start my own transformation this week, so I thought I’d let you know that you guys have been a huge inspiration in my decision to do so. It’s a relief to have people who seem real and trustworthy to observe and learn from. Right now I’m 5’11″ 142 lbs and looking to change that. Wish me luck.


  41. W. Shane Duquette
    July 18th, 2011
    7:54 pm

    I’m so so glad that you find this inspirational :)
    Good luck! Be sure to take before pictures. You may soon forget how thin you used to be! I know I can barely even believe that I haven’t always been this way.
    If you have any questions we’d be more than happy to help in any way we can. Comment on the blog or shoot us an email!
    And we have a few half finished blog posts that we’re pretty excited about that should be coming out soon :)


  42. Dan
    August 22nd, 2011
    10:17 pm

    Nice gains guys! I’m just wondering though, how did you workout the sets/reps?


  43. W. Shane Duquette
    September 6th, 2011
    8:43 pm

    Hey Dan,
    We posted a semi-instructional video after our first month of training (during which we saw tremendous gains) that explains what we did in a fair amount of detail. Check it out and if you have any specific questions I’d be glad to answer :)
    My best,
    Shane


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  46. Frank Hernandez
    November 21st, 2011
    9:59 pm

    Nice job guys. I myself have lost about 50 lbs this past 10 months. I used P90X and just am now finishing up INSANITY. Diet is a HUGE part of the equation. Keep rockin it out guys.

    Oh and by the way……..AWESOME job on the site you guys built for me. You definitely ROCK for sure.

    All the best,

    Frank


  47. W. Shane Duquette
    November 23rd, 2011
    7:12 pm

    50 pounds?! Woah that’s awesome! Congrats!

    And we’re really glad you like it :)


  48. Mr. Kita
    November 30th, 2011
    1:54 pm

    The muscular guy. I want to be like them :D


  49. marketbie
    December 14th, 2011
    2:16 am

    A good block. Everyone should exercise the same muscles for you.
    Yes, I like


  50. gabriel
    January 3rd, 2012
    1:18 pm

    Inspiring pics. I´m 49 years old, 5´10″ and never weighted more than 115 pounds… My stable weight is 110 so figure out… your begining pics are fat compared to mine!!! I´ve done about everything being in good health as I am but seing your results I´ll try again. Congrats!


  51. shingi
    January 3rd, 2012
    6:40 pm

    guys i just wanna know what was typical day diet ? and your weeekly workout routine ? i just started gym and i wanna pump hard for summer time . just need your help
    thank you


  52. Love Hissom
    January 5th, 2012
    2:02 am

    It’s good to see someone else who thinks like I do. With so much ignorance in the world these days it’s nice to know there’s someone out there who isn’t an idiot.


  53. will
    March 30th, 2012
    11:51 pm

    hey
    found you guys off bodybuilding.com and i wanted to see if willem had any tips for me before i go planting in bc. i wanna maintain my mass…planning on taking BCAAs before i head out each day along with glutamine and whey and probably some extra snacks…i have a high metabolism and im an ectomorph so i dont want to loose all my hard earned muscle!

    thanks hope to hear from ya


  54. Willem
    April 1st, 2012
    9:43 am

    Hey Will.

    I guess one of the first things is that you compensate the amount of physical labour you are doing with the amount you eat. This means eating a LOT. From my experience, I was eating between 6-8k calories a day!.

    There should be a lot of food at camp, and take advantage of that. Definitely extra snacks are great, because you’ll find as much as you can eat, your body will be loving to burn off anything it can. I took whey for about 2 weeks but found it easier to just get seconds of camp food (we had a great cook).

    I know this doesn’t really fully answer your core question, how to MAINTAIN mass. Honestly, you will be doing a lot of sustained high level physical labour, so eat like a bear, drink water like you were born a fish, and worry the most about staying healthy and balanced.

    A big opportunity that tree planting can give you is to take that hard earned muscle and also convert any and all fat you have to make you a lean, mean, muscle machine.

    On a tangent, when I was planting I ended up making a list of gear to bring, its pretty extensive, even to to the point of a little overkill, but its a great reference:

    http://sweetyams.ca/2010/03/planting-gear

    Happy Planting!


  55. Bony to Beastly – Our Lean to Mean Experiment from 2010
    April 3rd, 2012
    2:20 am

    [...] gains through solid and natural workout and nutrition plans . We blogged about the process on our design studio blog as we progressed and got a lot of attention. Fast forward nearly two years and we’ve [...]


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