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  #1   ^
Old Mon, Mar-29-04, 17:07
tholian8's Avatar
tholian8 tholian8 is offline
Ex-Patriot
Posts: 3,364
 
Plan: CAD-ish
Stats: 232.5/199/168 Female 5'2"
BF:no/earthly/clue
Progress: 52%
Location: London, UK
Default BFL C1 Evaluation

As promised, the first part of my BFL evaluation. I'll add to this later tonight, or more likely ('cause it's late here) later in the week. Most of this post is in my journal also, but I thought I'd repost it here since it's so topical.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Program

I. Muscle Gain

I was, frankly, quite surprised by the amount of muscle I apparently gained--about 9 lbs if I've been accurate with the calipers, and at least 6 lbs even in the worst-case scenario. Since I've been training for years (albeit not consistently), I thought I'd missed my "golden chance" to lose fat while gaining muscle.

But I had never gone on an intense and focused training program such as BFL. I think that made the difference. The BFL pyramid lifting system is the most effective system I have ever been on, in terms of increasing muscle size. I have done more efficient strength work, but never more efficient bodybuilding work. And BFL is plainly a bodybuilding program. Mr. Phillips makes no secret of that.

My routine is in my gym log for all to peruse. Suffice it to say here that I did the BFL pyramids as written, trying to keep to the recommended rest intervals as closely as possible. I am lucky enough to belong to a very fine gym with plenty of free weight equipment (a bit rare in the UK unless you go to a bodybuilding-specific place, which mine is not), and I took full advantage of the setup, you can be sure!

In general, I lifted absolutely as heavy as I could, and my goal was to go to failure on the high set of each pyramid. This meant that I could not raise the weight on the pump set very often. In fact, I never did manage to raise it on my Triceps--because I was very aggressive with my Skull Crushers, my Pulley Pushdown stayed at the same weight for 12 weeks while the Crushers kept increasing.

I was used to power training, with many fewer reps, so it was a little strange to get used to the rhythm of bodybuilding training. In fact, I must admit that I hated it at first, and cursed Bill Phillips roundly. His ears must burn with all the people cursing him when they discover how hard some of the BFL program is!

My top lifts went way down at first, because of doing so many reps before my high set. I was so pissed off at this, but I got less angry as I saw muscles growing where I had never had visible muscle before despite being able to lift significant amounts of weight. And by the end of the Challenge, my top lifts had caught up and surpassed my previous high marks--especially on Squats. My top squat used to be around 110 lbs; I achieved 154 x 4 reps on my last day of BFL. I'm delighted with this progress, especially since it was achieved on a weight loss diet. I really didn't think that was possible.

II. Fat Loss

I was pleasantly surprised to hit my fat loss goal, despite missing my pounds-lost goal by 50%. And the loss certainly showed in my clothes and, to a certain extent, in my face.

I would have been more pleased if I could have achieved this without massive hunger...a degree of hunger which brought me to tears on more than one occasion. However, I must take the blame for some of that, as I was doing extra cardio and counting calories in an attempt to speed up the fat loss. Perhaps the hunger was the price of that effort, and if so, then fine. But if I ever do a BFL Challenge again, I will not try to speed things up. I will do it by the book and see what happens.

III. Cardiovascular Fitness

This is the big surprise of this Challenge for me. I already knew I was good at lifting, and with the proper training and eating program, could make substantial gains. But I thought I was a lost cause as far as cardio was concerned. I considered it a necessary evil and hated every minute.

This BFL cycle changed all that. I can actually run at a respectable speed for most of the 20 MAS, ending in an all-out sprint. I know I've said this previously, but I'll say it again--before I started experimenting with BFL methods in September 2003, I could not reliably run for a bus, and hadn't been able to do so for years, despite making a living as a professional horn player for my entire adult life. (Not that professional music, even classical music, is a particularly "healthy" lifestyle. But you do blow a lot. )

I found the BFL method to be the most effective cardio I have ever done. Whether it's purely psychological ("I can do anything for one minute") or whether there's a physiological advantage to it, I don't know. What I do know is that I will continue to incorporate 20 MAS and, when I get strong enough, other forms of HIIT into my fitness plan. Cardio will never be my favorite thing, but the results make it more than worth the time and energy investment.

Cost/Benefit analysis to come later tonight, or possibly tomorrow.

~E.
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  #2   ^
Old Tue, Mar-30-04, 14:54
kmac11962 kmac11962 is offline
Registered Member
Posts: 40
 
Plan: bfl
Stats: 232.5/218.0/140 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 16%
Default

Thanks for sharing. You've made some remarkable changes!! Truly inspriational. What horn do you blow. My uncle plays trumpet (he's pretty famous around the jazz circuit here...http://www.johnnysouza.com/....

Kristen
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  #3   ^
Old Tue, Mar-30-04, 16:02
Arnie_g's Avatar
Arnie_g Arnie_g is offline
Contributing Member
Posts: 555
 
Plan: Atkins
Stats: 186/160/160 Male 68 inches
BF:?%/15%/10%
Progress: 100%
Location: Vancouver, BC
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Thanks for taking the time to write this. You've done great. Congratulations.
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