I have been hitting the gym hard the past year and I have seen great results. I went from roughly 15% body fat down to 8% while increasing muscle mass. There are a lot of nuances to get your body on a full transformation schedule, but as I contemplate my journey,  I always come back to three basic foundations.

Weight training. I loved to run, cycle, and swim. But the older I got, the more muscle I lost with a cardio-only exercise routine. While training for a marathon, I got so thin that I looked like a starving zombie. It’s not the look anyone is going for. I found that for a significant body transformation, resistance training with weights is a great way to prevent bone mass loss as well as to increase muscle and give me an overall healthy look. And I feel better than I’ve felt in years.

Proper diet. I see people who work hard at the gym only to waste most of that effort on empty calories later. You know who they are: people you see day after day, year after year, and they don’t look any better, only worse. Maybe that’s you. It used to be me as well. It wasn’t until I started eating to fuel my muscles with the proper nutritional ratios that I started to see results. The right combinations of foods and quantities is important. If you can’t afford a nutritionist, find a personal trainer who can help tweak your diet for optimum results.

Supplementation. Years ago, supplements were seen as a less-than-honest way to achieve your fitness goals. Truthfully, without them it’s virtually impossible for the average person to get all the body needs to fuel growth. After all, our engineered modern food lacks a lot of the nutrients our body needs to perform at its best. I drink 2-3 protein shakes a day in order to get enough protein in my diet. I could not imagine having to eat all my protein intake. Not only is it  practically impossible (I consume between 250-300 grams of protein a day), but it would cost a fortune in lean meats, fish, and poultry. Other supplements as creatine and glutamine help build and sustain muscle growth. Good supplements are essential if you are going to succeed in a body transformation program.

Have you gone through a physical transformation? How did you do it?