Fit Fam! I started thinking about how much I procrastinate following through with that horrible four letter word..DIET. Who the hell likes to diet? NOT ME! As much as I hate it I know that a conscious, healthy diet is key to obtaining the physique of a Greek God. Everyone has that "Vegas Trip" that "wedding" to go to, that first day of summer, a hot date to go on or anything in between where all we want is to magically be in better shape instantly.
I cannot count the number of times I had an event or trip planned and I procrastinated getting in shape and prepping/dieting 3-4 weeks before to ensure I looked like I wanted to. So I started talking with one of my best friends and college football teammates Chris Gronkowski about how long someone really needs, to slim down and be "beach" ready if that person was already in decent shape. We decided that we were going to both participate in a small experiment and diet and train for one week. No excuses, no BS, just straight HARDWORK! We were going to follow our own personal diets and hold each other accountable and see just how much the body could change in 7 days. The #7DAYSHREDCHALLENGE
Now let me be clear about some things, I normally workout 6-7 days a week and I am "considered" in shape. I am currently 6' 230lbs. The goal of the challenge is to try and get in the best shape possible in just 7 days. Both Chris and myself will be doing our own workouts and setting up our own diets so that we get two very distinct workout regimens to dissect at the end of the 7 days.
I am not a certified personal trainer nor am I a nutritionist to any extent. My workouts and diet are 100% designed by me.
MY PLAN
1) I will be working out every morning around 7am. Training will be for an hour and a half.
2) I will be doing fasted HITT cardio and fasted workouts for 7 days. I will not eat anything in the morning before I workout EXCEPT for on leg day.
3) I will be carb cycling for my diet. Monday/Tuesday-LOW CARB, Wednesday-HIGH CARB, Thursday/Friday-LOW CARB, Saturday-HIGH CARB, Sunday-LOW CARB.
4) I will be drinking at least a gallon of water a day.
LETS GET IT STARTED!!!
DAY 1 CHEST DAY
The first thing I do when I wake up is take my Muscletech SX-7 preworkout and one Muscletech Hydroxycut fat burner. Of course I have my ICESHAKER to shake everything up! ICESHAKER is the best protein shaker on the market hands down! I will take this every morning throughout my 7 Day Shred!
Its 6am Monday morning and I woke up weighing 230lbs. Time to get this shred challenge going. Crushed an entire chest workout and did 15 mins of HITT cardio. Video above will show you all the different exercises I did.
Incline bench-->Cable Flies-->DB Flat Bench-->DB Incline Flies-->Machine Decline Press
After my workout I came home and made a protein shake with Muscletech Whey Isolate protein. Just added water and mixed it in my IceShaker.
(8:30am) Breakfast-->This is my first meal of the day. 5 scrambled eggs with low fat turkey, half of an avocado, mushrooms and onions all mixed in, omelet style.
(11:15am) Protein Shake.
(1pm) Lunch-Spinach chicken salad
(4pm) handful of almonds
(6pm) Dinner-->10oz steak, cup of steamed broccoli, cup of assorted vegetables
(8:45pm) Protein shake.
Every night I will be doing 200 sit-ups before bed. BE A BEAST!!
Day 2-BACK DAY
Good morning! WOW I dropped 5lbs! I am pretty sure its all water weight but that still gets my HYPED UP! Lets get the day started!
Warm up with light LAT PULL DOWNS. Sorry for the video being sideways. Pull from your back, imagine that your hands are just hooks and try not to pull from your arms.
Medium weight Dead-lifts. Make sure you are 100% warmed up. Those hammies need to be warm and ready to go to war. Come up from the deadlift and sqeeeezzzzee your back! LESSGOOO!
T-BAR Rows
Single Arm DB pulls. Don't lift with your EGO, lift a weight you can control. MIND MUSCLE CONNECTION!
I HATE CARDIO! But if being a BEAST was easy everyone would be JACKED! DON'T BE AVERAGE!
THE PUMP WAS REAL AND I FEEL GREAT!
Today was exactly like yesterday in terms of after my workout...Its not rocket science.
(8:30am) Protein Shake
(8:30am) Breakfast-->5 scrambled eggs with low fat turkey, avocado, mushrooms and onions.
(11:15am) Protein Shake
(1pm) Lunch-Spinach chicken salad
(4pm) handful of almonds
(6pm) Dinner-->10oz steak, cup of steamed broccoli, cup of assorted vegetables
(8:45pm) Protein shake.
Don't forget about the NIGHTLY RITUAL! 200 every night!
DAY 3 BOULDER SHOULDERS!
Alright so I am down 8lbs in three days!! I feel great other than my muscles feeling flat. Not many carbs in your diet will do that. Its OK though because today is a HIGH CARB DAY!
Nice and smooth with a comfortable weight. Its not about how much weight you're pushing its how well you push the weight! NO EGO LIFTING!
Shoulder raises is a very common shoulder workout. Make sure to lift your elbows up first to engage that back part of your shoulder.
Cardio Done!-TIME FOR CARBS! Today I get to enjoy some nice complex carbs.
(8:30am) Protein Shake
(8:30am) Breakfast-->3 scrambled eggs with low fat turkey, avocado, onions and a half cup of oats.
(11:15am) Protein Shake.
(1pm) Lunch-Turkey Burgers (no bun) with a sweet potato and broccoli
(4pm) handful of almonds
(6pm) Dinner-->Grilled Chicken, cup of steamed broccoli, cup of assorted vegetables and half of a sweet potato.
(8:45pm) Protein shake.
(10:30pm) Night Ritual-200 Situps
The video below is after my workout and my breakfast. Feeling LEAN!
DAY 4 LEG DAY!!
Needed some more energy today so I ate (1) blueberry muffin before I went and worked out. Time to make this booty grow!
I setup my workouts based on my diet days. I knew that if I was going to kill legs I needed a little more energy than normal. This is why I had my HIGH CARB day yesterday. All that energy was much needed and appreciated this morning. After my workout I got back on my LOW CARB diet.
(6am) One blueberry muffin for extra GAINZ!
(8:30am) Protein Shake
(8:30am) Breakfast-->5 scrambled eggs with low fat turkey, avocado, mushrooms and onions
(11:15am) Protein Shake.
(1pm) Lunch-Spinach chicken salad
(4pm) handful of almonds
(6pm) Dinner-->10oz steak, cup of steamed broccoli, cup of assorted vegetables
(8:45pm) Protein shake.
Don't forget about the NIGHTLY RITUAL! 200 every night!
Day 5 ARMEGEDON
I am enjoying this process. I can already see and feel a huge difference. Can you guys tell!? Lets GOOO! I am ready to kill this workout! ITS ARM DAY BABY!
I super-set a lot of my lifts, especially when I do arms. Make sure you really concentrate on the muscle you are working. The muscle mind connection is KEY during any lift but I find it more beneficial when your smashing arms! Nice and steady and have the muscle do all the work!
CAUTION!!!!!!!!!THERE IS A BEAST IN HIS NATURAL HABITAT BELOW!!!
(8:30am) Protein Shake
(8:30am) Breakfast-->5 scrambled eggs with low fat turkey, avocado, mushrooms and onions
(11:15am) Protein Shake.
(1pm) Lunch-Spinach chicken salad
(4pm) handful of almonds
(6pm) Dinner-->10oz steak, cup of steamed broccoli, cup of assorted vegetables
(8:45pm) Protein shake.
Don't forget about the NIGHTLY RITUAL! 200 every night!
Day 6-THE PUMP DAY
Woke up at 6am on a Saturday to continue this process and keep pushing my body to get the best results possible. My body is fatigued but I feel great nonetheless. The PUMP DAY is my day to go to the gym and just throw some weights around. No workout planned I basically just hit a full body workout and enjoy THE PUMP!!
Decided to go lay by the pool and soak up some rays.....JUST KIDDING I WANTED TO GO SHOW OFF THESE GAINZ!!!!!
Feeling amazing and extremely satisfied with the results from this challenge. Today is day 6, one day left!
Its Saturday night and my HIGH CARB day so I decided to eat like a KING!
DAY 7! GO ALL OUT!
Last Day! My body is sore and fatigued but I have been pushing my body pretty hard the last six days. I want to get out of my element at being in the gym so I am going to go get a workout outside. Stay tuned....
Lets get it! Nothing like strapping on the cleats and hitting the field in the morning!
Will you be a LEADER or a follower?
FINAL CUT-222LBS! (Loss of 8lbs!)
The 7 day shred challenge has come to an end. I feel amazing and I may just continue this diet for another week or two. I started this journey 7 days ago weighing in at 230lbs, today I weigh 222lbs. If you scroll up to the very first video you can see how bloated I was compared to my last video. 7 days is all it took for me to see a significant change in my body, CRAZY!
Thank you to everyone that followed me through this process. I hope I can be of some motivation to anyone out there looking to change their life and start living a healthier lifestyle. You have one body, why not do everything in your power to keep it running like a machine. Be better than you were yesterday and always remember...if it were easy EVERYONE WOULD BE JACKED! Now go out there and earn it!
