Christopher Ashford had exercised diligently for years but never achieved any serious results until he took charge of the finer details and became who he always wanted to become, we have the ins and outs of his transformation below.

 

Vital Stats

Before:

Age: 27

Height: 5’9

Weight: 171lb

Body fat: 18%

 

After:

Age: 29

Weight: 141.2lb

Body fat: 3%

 

Moment of Change

I’ve always been into fitness, especially running and swimming and I also hit the weights room from time to time, but lacked any clear direction on how to actually train and what to eat. I even thought I knew what I was doing, but I didn’t really have a clue. We had a work sport event which was filmed on someone’s phone. When I saw the footage I realized I was completely out of shape and hated the way I looked. I was ashamed and I knew I had to change.  Shortly after, I found Kaged Muscle on bodybuilding.com and tried Kris Gethin’s 4 weeks 2 shred, I went all in and left nothing on the table. In particular, Michael Wittig, one of KM’s athletes really resonated with me.  He has some wicked programs, which I’ve tried several of, and his daily nutrition and motivation massively kept me on track and motivated me. I’ve had some really amazing results from his work and it was his Diamond Cutter program that really sky-rocketed my transformation.

 

Finding Support

One of the hardest challenges for me, was getting my friends and family to understand what I was doing and why. To really change your body you have to change your lifestyle, which can be hard for people to understand. They might laugh or they might question you when you’re not staying out late, drinking alcohol or when you order the super-food salad at the restaurant rather than the burger. Only when you start to show results a few months down the line do they begin to understand. Instead of asking why you’re doing it, they start to ask how you do it.

 

The Hardest Part

Nutrition was very difficult. It took me a while to actually understand how my body worked and what foods worked best for me. As my macros changed, so did my diet and it was a constant learning process on how to modify my diet to get to my goals. However, once I figured this out it went from being a limitation to a weapon. In an effort to get results I also pushed myself and suffered through injuries. I had a minor tear in my lower quad and one in my calf, both of which took me out of training for some weeks. I quickly learned that warming-up properly and training progressively were the keys to limiting the chances of injury.

 

My Training Plan

Day 1: legs

  1. Squats: 4 sets 6-8 reps
  2. Leg press: 4 sets 4-6 reps
  3. Leg extension: 3 sets 12 reps

4a. Seated leg curl: 3 sets 10-12 reps

4b: Sissy squats: 3 x 15 reps

  1. Standing calf raises: 3 x 20 reps
  2. Seated calf raise: 20, 15, 12, 10 reps

15 mins steady state cardio

 

Day 2:  back, biceps and abs

  1. Weighted pull-ups: 3 sets 8-10
  2. Close grip pull-downs: 3 sets 8-10
  3. Seated row: 3 x 15 reps
  4. T-bar row: 3 sets 8-10 + 2 drop sets
  5. E-Z bar curls: 3 x 10-12 reps
  6. Incline dumbbell curls: 3 x 10-12
  7. Hammer curls: 3 x 15

Complete 3 rounds total with 60 seconds rest between giant set.

8a. Hanging leg raises x 20

8b. Swiss ball crunches x 20

8c. Hanging knee raises x 20

8d. Swiss ball crunches x 20

HIIT: 7 rounds of battle ropes.  30 secs on – 30 off.

 

Day 3:  chest, delts, triceps

1a. Incline dumbbell fly: 3 x 10-12

1b. Incline dumbbell press: 3 x 15

2a. Flat uni-lateral dumbbell press: 3 x 12

2b. Flat uni-lateral dumbbell fly: 3×12

3a. Dumbbell pull-over: 3 x 20

3b: Dumbbell tower press: 3 x 20

4a. Cross body dumbbell extensions: 3 x 12

4b. Side lateral raises: 3 x 12

4c. Seated dumbbell press: 3 x 12

 

5a. Cable upright row: 3 x 12

5b. Straight bar pushdowns: 3 x 15

5c. Overhead tricep extensions: 3 x 12

15 mins steady state cardio

 

Day 4: Legs in reverse, Abs.

  1. Smith machine calf raises: 3 x 20
  2. Seated calf press: 3 x 30,20,10
  3. Hack squats: 3 x 8-10
  4. Lying leg curl: 3 x 15
  5. Leg extensions: 3 x 10-12
  6. Goblet squats: 3 x 20

Complete 3 rounds total with 60 seconds rest between giant set.

7a. Crunches x 20

7b. Spears x 20

7c. Bicycle crunches x 10 each side

7d. 60 seconds plank

7 rounds HIIT.  Bike sprints.  30 seconds on, 30 seconds off.

 

Day 5: upper body

1a. Wide grip pull-downs: 3 x 8-10

1b. Bent over dumbbell row: 3 x 8-10

2a. Machine chest fly: 3 x 20

2b. Decline press-ups (put feet on bench): 3 x 20

3a. Dumbbell lateral raise: 3 x 10-12

3b. Scott press: 3 x 8-10

4a. Triceps pushdown: 3 x 20

4b. Bench dips: 3 x 20

  1. Squat cable curls: 3 x 20
  2. Hammer curls: 3 x 15

15 mins steady state cardio.

 

Day 6:  Home HIIT

Tabata-style workout.  Chose 5 exercises for 40 seconds on, 20 secs off.  Complete twice for a total of 10 minutes.  An example:

  1. Sprints (on the spot).
  2. Jump lunges
  3. Crunches
  4. Burpees
  5. Up/Down planks

 

Advice To Others

Pick a plan, work out your nutrition and just have the courage to do it and most of all be consistent. Results don’t come overnight, so be patient and work hard and don’t give in to temptations.

 

 

Success Hacks

  1. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Keep it simple and focus on classic, basic moves when you’re starting out. Form and technique is everything and will give you a solid foundation to train with.
  2. Plan ahead. I count my macros for the following day the evening before and make sure my food is in the fridge or freezer ready to grab in the morning. All I then have to worry about during the day is eating it at the right time.
  3. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. No matter what level you’re at, you’re still learning. Ask as many questions and find out as much as you can so you can make the best decisions to support your training.  With lots of knowledge, you’re sure to find something that works for you.  Once you’ve found that, stick with it.
  4. Sleep is everything. If you aren’t clocking in at least seven, ideally eight hours of sleep a night and you can’t function without a coffee then you aren’t sleeping enough. Your training will suffer and your nutrition will likely suffer too. Sleep is recovery, which is growth! To help this I use BLUblox Sleep+ lenses in the evening and their computer glasses during the day when using computer screens.