We give to you yet another transformation from one of our clients, Miguel Graça. A you can see from the picture below (before he started working out), Miguel classified as an ectomorph. An ectomorph needs to ingest more daily calories to maintain or gain weight (along with hypertrophy training) than other people with different body types. These calories will contribute to oppose his fast metabolism. This accelerated metabolism comes from higher or faster secretions of thyroid hormone, or from insulin resistance.

SEE ALSO: MYTH- FLEXIBLE DIETS ARE POOR IN MICRONUTRIENTS!

Since Miguel has always had difficulties in gaining lean mass, he contacted us after having worked out for a year (picture below). Despite already training for a year, Miguel only managed to be consistent in his training and his nutrition thanks to our methods, because he was unaware of the importance of allying smart nutrition with a custom workout plan that matched his body type.

24 weeks have gone by (6 months) since we started working on Miguel’s transformation and we made him enter the flexible dieting world, where we got him to gain 4kg. As you can see, this weight gain was mostly lean mass, because despite having increased his body weight, Miguel is seriously leaner. We were only able to do so because we set these goals for a 24 weeks time frame. This way Miguel learnt that after we are introduced to the world of macro nutrients where we learn what protein, carbohydrates and fats are and understand that the caloric value of food can be quantified and monitored in a way that allows us to have greater control over our body composition. The only things that stop us from reaching our goals are time and inconsistency.

Miguel follows a flexible diet where he can eat his favorite foods with moderation and zero restrictions. He can eat what he most likes (once again in moderation) and has an extremely diverse and flexible diet, which makes him never feel the need to give up his journey. This is the secret to his success, because thanks to this he was able to be consistent for 24 weeks, as you can see from the results in the picture bellow.

As you can imagine when we can eat our favorite foods on a daily basis, we don’t get cravings to eat them until we get sick, because we are able to have a diet based on our personal preference. With this being so, all our clients ate authorized to eat, within moderation, whatever they wish (as long as they reach the goals we set in terms of macro nutrients and fiber). So, we can think of flexible dieting as playing Tetris with food, because all we have to do is to know how to fit them into our daily macro nutrient goals.

SEE ALSO: GUILHERME’S 10 WEEK TRANSFORMATION

On the other hand, in order to gain lean muscle mass, despite it being essential to consume more calories than we burn, it’s equally important to have a custom workout plan. In Miguel’s case we decided to increase training frequency of most muscle groups throughout the week because Miguel, like most people, followed a traditional training plan where you work 1 or 2 muscle groups per day, training most muscles once a week. We also took into account progressive overload, because if we manage to increase the loads on the exercises we perform (without sacrificing form and execution), it’s a sign we are building strength and muscle mass.

To get to know our work methodology and to know what you need to get started on your transformation, get in touch with us through our Contactos page.