Anybody done this program.They show some pretty impresive before and after pics for a 12 week plan.Shoul I believe it?It seems a little short on gym time to me.Only 3 upper sesions and 3 lower sesions in two weeks.
If this has worked for anybody I would love to hear about it.
I think that the book is excellent for beginners. If you can stick to it, you’ll see excellent results. Just make sure you pick the best exercises such as squats, deadlifts, front squats, bench press, incline press, military press and bent over rows rather than a bunch of machine stuff.
Make sure you use progressive overload like the book recommends. Also, you might not need to use the myoplex shakes, you could use a pure protein powder for faster fat loss because it won’t have the carbs that the myoplex have in them.
I did it a few years ago and had great results. I was really out of shape at the time. I lost about 30 lbs and also had big improvements in blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
It was sorta through BfL that I came across T-Nation.
I think the reason BfL works is that it is simple and structured. It works particularly well for someone that hasn’t been weight-training for while. The contest incentive (assuming you participate in the contest) can help people keep on track as well.
T-Nation is a level above BfL. You can choose to do BfL first, then look to expand/evolve with T-Nation programs. Or you could find some simple and structured plans within T-Nation. The most important thing is to eat healthy, lift smart and get some other physical activity in your life. Choose a plan that you feel comfortable with and that you’ll actually do.
Best of luck (& health) to you.
MM
I am a beginner and have been basically training for three months, every other day, alternating upper and lower body. It works for me cause it allows me to do a very intense workout each time with enough rest time before repeating an exercise.
[quote]onewall wrote:
I am a beginner and have been basically training for three months, every other day, alternating upper and lower body. It works for me cause it allows me to do a very intense workout each time with enough rest time before repeating an exercise.[/quote]
Nothing wrong with following it. It’s good to teach beginners the basics. However, don’t ever stop learning and this (T-Nation) is a good place to start as far as continuing your fitness, lifting, and nutritional, education.
Take care,
D
You could do a lot better with a Berardi diet and any of a number of whole body workouts here on the site.
The pics you look at in BFL are real enough, and so are the results. But they are probably not typical. Remember you are looking at the top 20 finishers out of tens of thousands. That said, it is a very good program.
[quote]MrCritical wrote:
The pics you look at in BFL are real enough, and so are the results. But they are probably not typical. Remember you are looking at the top 20 finishers out of tens of thousands. That said, it is a very good program. [/quote]
Ny brother in law did the program. As other posters say, it is not at all bad. On the before and after pictures, you’d be amazed what you can do to make the before look really bad and the after look really good (not Photoshop or anything, just lighting, skin make-up, posture, facial expression, etc. I saw my brother in law’s results in person and they were good, but not as fantastic as the pictures
I cannot say enough good things about the program in the Body-for-LIFE book. Before I got into it, I wouldn’t have known a protein if it ran me down! The nutrition chapter is a mere 15 pages. You read that and the Q and A chapter and then start with the exercises and walla. I started in mid-Jan and am down 35 lbs plus added muscle. It is just wonderful.
Check out their Website and they even have an “unofficial” cruise (meaning it’s not part of their program, just a vacation) that a former champion set up. I also have used their official (it’s optional) as leverage on myself to excel. It is totally wonderful and you can look as good as any picture they show. For me, having been so out of shape and over age 60, it’s taken me more than 12 weeks, but I am almost at my goal now! A hearty recommendation, indeed!! Read the book, do the work, you will see amazing results.
In addition, here’s a neat Website that gives some more info: www.hussmanfitness.org/html/TPBodyforLife.html
John
Thank you people.Great feedback
BFL is all about eating right.
I did it a while back and lost 19lbs of fat and gained 5lbs of muscle. All the while having some health problems that really should have prevented me from making any progress at all. So it was good. To me it is a good beginner program, or a good kick-start for those who have back slid.
It was really the first time I ever heard about eating 5 meals a day. The workouts are more challenging that you might think if you really bust your butt on them like you are supposed to. The suggestions about visualizing and goal setting are really good too.
As a tip, take advantage of the toll free “speak to a fitness professional” number that is listed on the BFL website. The people I spoke to were really knowledgeable and helped me to dial in the nutrition part a little better.
Also – go on the website and order the BFL DVD’s – very motivating, and you basically pay 5.00 shipping for the set of 3.
Also here is a website w 16 pages of interviews and before and afters of a bunch of “non-winners” who did really well on BFL – not updated anymore, but plenty of good motivating stories.
GOOD LUCK
Body for Life is excellent if you’re a beginner, you will see excellent results when you follow the program. It also introduces people to a good fitness routine and gets them accustomed to it.
At a certain point, you will want to tweak your routines more in order to get more fine-tuned results, and t-mag is a cornucopia of information for that.
[quote]backer wrote:
Anybody done this program.They show some pretty impresive before and after pics for a 12 week plan.Shoul I believe it?It seems a little short on gym time to me.Only 3 upper sesions and 3 lower sesions in two weeks.
If this has worked for anybody I would love to hear about it.[/quote]
I lost 6" around my waist on my first 12 week challenge. I know a lot of the folks who do BFL and trust me…they are all real.
No matter what program you choose to do, you are only going to get back what you have put into it.
Best of luck on any program you choose to do!!!
Am I reading this correctly? On the upper body day you do five bodyparts, two exercises per body part, six sets per exercise, for a total of 5 x 2 x 6 = 60 sets? On lower body day there are only four bodyparts, so only 48 sets. Isn’t that a lot?
[quote]onewall wrote:
Am I reading this correctly? On the upper body day you do five bodyparts, two exercises per body part, six sets per exercise, for a total of 5 x 2 x 6 = 60 sets? On lower body day there are only four bodyparts, so only 48 sets. Isn’t that a lot?[/quote]
No, you aren’t reading it correctly.
You do two exercises per body part, yes.
But you do a pyramid of five sets of the first exercise, and then only one set of the second exercise – for a total of six sets per body part. . .for example:
Chest –
Flat Bench
Set 1 - 12 reps
Set 2 - 10 reps, increase weight 10lbs
Set 3 - 8 reps, increase weight 10 lbs
Set 4 - 6 reps, increase weight 10 lbs
Set 5 - 12 reps, decrease weight 10 lbs
Now without any rest, immediately do one set of Cable Flyes x 12 reps
(and of course you can and probably should vary your exercises each time you work out – they give you a list to choose from)
Indeed leg day is shorter than upper body day, but that is the day you also work abs and do hyper extentions.
Hope that helps – it is confusing to read about it.
I did it 3 years ago and went from 235 to 198. The best thing is that it taught me that nutrition is VERY important. Though I do eat more than the 1900 to 2000 cals. recommened for men.
I started it again 5 weeks ago, but have changed the weight training part to Chad Waterbury’s Total Body Training.I’m down about 7 lbs. so far.
WOW! I’m surprised the mods let this thread post. I posted some BFL stuff a while ago and got a notification that it was inappropriate for this forum. Something about competing companies.
Anyway, BFL is the best all-round program out there. Here’s what I mean:
- It’s simple.
- It includes an easy to follow eating program.
- It introduces you to high intensity workouts.
- You can log on to the BFL website and actually correspond with the people you see in the book and ask them questions.
- The Eating For Life companion cook book is fantastic!
- It establishes habits that will carry over after the initial 12 weeks.
- You don’t need to buy a bunch of fancy unproven supplements like many other programs advise. Unless you are competing for the Grand Prize, you really don’t need any supplements.
- It freakin’ works.
I did it and got down to 10%bf. Had visible abs for the first time in my life. The key is eat right and exercise with intensity. I recommend it to everyone how shows interest.
My gym just got a new nutritionist and i thought I’d give him a try. He came up with some crazy-assed program with tons of expensive supplements that HAD to be taken at specific times and Type I and Type II carbs and blah, blah, blah…WAAAYYYYYY too confusing for me. BFL is simple. The first two weeks are rough, but once you get over that and really start establishing new habits it’s fun and you see results EVERY WEEK.