March 2010 TSM: carguy

[John Stone]

For the March 2010 Transformation Spotlight of the Month I've selected forum member "carguy" (Mike). A few years ago Mike was a classic "skinny-fat" ectomorph: years of eating whatever he wanted and no exercise left him pudgy and with very little muscle mass. After losing the fat through diet and cardio alone, Mike finally discovered the weight room and started packing on the mass! Mike has been part of the JSF community for almost a half-decade, and over the years he has been a major source of inspiration for other ectos who feel that putting on muscle is next to impossible.






Why did you decide to make a transformation?
Back in 2005, at the age of 51, my older brother had just lost some weight and was looking great. My dad, closing in on 90, was also active and the picture of health. I had always been the “thin” brother, and suddenly, I noticed I had a bigger waist than my brother!


How had this happened?
Being tall and (too) thin, I had gone through life never having to worry about my weight or exercising. I could eat whatever I wanted (junk food and desserts were a favorite) and I still looked good in clothes. But starting at age 35, I seemed to put on 10 pounds each ten years. At 6’ tall, I was about 155# at 35, 165# at 45 and 178# in my 50s. It happened so gradually. We were going on a cruise and I needed some new dress pants and I had to get a 36” waist. This was not looking pretty.


What sort of planning did you do before you started?
The only thing I did was to buy a Body For Life book and a treadmill. I am so competitive, I thought I could take a before picture and an after picture picture and win a bunch of money and get onto the book jacket. I started on Jan. 1, 2005, at the age of 51 doing the BFL diet and exercises as best I could. I was doing this at home, so I didn’t have a good set of weights. My ecto background kicked back in and in 3 months I lost 25 pounds. Bamm. Having started at 178#, I was now 153# of skin and bones. Sad thing was I thought I looked good. Around April of 2005, I found JSF quite by accident. I was intrigued and joined. It was here that I found that I was missing a major component of my transformation: weight lifting.


What were your initial goals?
I wanted to get in shape and maybe have the type of body that I would feel comfortable with with my shirt off. After losing the weight so quickly, I’m pretty sure I was skinny-fat to the max. But JSF convinced me to join a gym and get access to actual weights. I used a trainer initially, but discovered I enjoyed working out alone more. That first year, I made the newbie gains and really started to see some improvement. I got into a friendly competition with some members here on a bulk. My weight got up to 190#. After losing a little of that, and getting down to about 185#, I decided to do the SGX program with Chris “Swolecat” Januz (RIP). This taught me to eat properly and the weight program was great. I got down to single-digit body fat and added more muscle. I still use the 4-day split from this program today.


What was your diet and supplement intake like?
While doing SGX, I used the supplements he proposed and they worked well. But once I was done, I didn’t want to take so many, so today I just use whey protein, creatine mono, and a good multi vitamin.


What was your training like?
A standard 4-day split, plus I teach BodyPump twice a week, a Les Mills group class that I became certified in after having been a student for many years. I take off one day a week.


What obstacles did you encounter, and how did you overcome them?
In the beginning, I had the “you’re too thin, you need to stop” comments. I came around to actually believe them and that spurred me on to allow myself to “beef up” and become more heavier and more muscular.

I’ve been fortunate to not have any major injuries to have to deal with. But I also don’t go super-heavy with the weights so I can avoid injury.

I found out that I can’t do much running or cardio because it causes me to lose too much weight and muscle. The moderate amount I get by teaching my class is plenty. Which is good, because I don’t like running much. When the weather is nice, I still like to walk long distances.

But all is not perfect. I have high blood pressure, high cholesterol and low testosterone levels. My diet, exercise, medication and HRT are able to keep all in check.


How has your life changed?
Definitely for the better. I feel healthy. I don’t have aches and pains. Considering how long the people in my family live, I feel like I am doing all I can to enjoy all the coming years in health.


How did JSF and the JSF Forums help you?
This site has been a major part of my transformation. I didn’t know anything about fitness before I found JSF. I had never been in a gym. I never played any sports in HS or college and had never picked up anything heavier that a bowling ball (I was that skinny geek in the marching band and the library club). Knowing that I could get advice here gave me the confidence to try new things in the gym and the feedback was always positive.


What advice would you offer to others?
I think there are 3 areas where I can offer advice.

You are never too old to start a fitness program. As I said, I was 51 and flabby and out of shape and turned myself around.

Tall, skinny ectos can put on muscle. Hey, I did it and so can you.

Get in a routine. I’ve spent at least 5 days a week working out since I started. Make it part of your life and your life will improve because of it. Being fit doesn’t have a start date and an end date.

And to you 20-somethings, what are you waiting for? Start a healthy diet and exercise plan NOW. I should have been doing this all my life.


What are your future plans?
Although I play around with bulks and cuts, I am basically just maintaining a healthy body shape and size. I would like to keep fit as long as I can. I enjoy working out so I can’t see this changing anytime soon. As for my diet, I make the healthy choice when I can, but I am not counting macros anymore. I am easier to live with because I’m not keeping track of everything. There is a place for this when you’re getting there, but if you keep up your training and eat a healthy diet, maintaining can be fun.


Any closing thoughts?
Although God and family still come first in my life, fitness has been a great addition. I laugh at the fact that, in the beginning, if someone commented that I had nice looking delts or my traps were growing, I’d have to look it up because I had no idea what they meant. I’m a little more versed now, but still no expert. I can try to motivate people to stick with it, but can’t really offer and real fitness advice because I still know so little. But it’s good to continue to learn your whole life. In all things. Education is the key. Keep learning and pursuing your dreams.









Thanks for your time, Mike. Congratulations on your awesome transformation!

[mastover]

Congrats Carguy!!
Glad to know you buddy!! You deserve this award!!

[Paddy]

congratulations and best wishes going forward. your success is very inspiring.

[Jedi]

Whenever anywhere on the web i read about skinny dudes saying they can never put on muscle I just think of you and your success. You look just awesome and are a great inspiration to us.

[Maya]

Congratulations Mike!! Man, you look amazing!!

[Foley]

Well deserved carguy.

[BJ]

Way to go

You definitely deserve it... thanks for being an inspiration!

[Sea2Sea]

Awesome job Car Guy !

[Merk]

Congratulations!!! You are a HUGE inspiration my friend. Keep up the good work

[dejavued]

i ur story, mike.

a true ecto gone beefcake! no easy feat, by any means.

always an inspiration. bravo!

[Reno_1ted]

Well deserved spot, congrats and again, awesome transformation.

[tbuck]

Congratulations.

[leftyx]

The "Guy" is one of my favorite people on JSF. He is very good, very nice, and very smart. I've asked him for advice but he usually defers to others, being very modest about his transformation. Good on you guy.

[JoeSchmo]

Looking great CG -- Congrats!

[dbfield]

Congrats! Well deserved!

[k3vb0]

Thanks for being the role model for all us tall ectos and showing that it's never too late to change.

[Seltzer]

Congratulations Mike on your well deserved recognition!

[Ectomorphic]

An ecto!

Carguy!

Originally Posted by John Stone

What advice would you offer to others?

...

Tall, skinny ectos can put on muscle. Hey, I did it and so can you.

...

It's true . Definitely one of my own inspirations.

[george mavridis]

Congratulations there carguy. You are an inspiration to us older generation who think "yes I can" hmmm where did I hear that recently? some show from overseas??

I feel I am in good company here with many other baby boomers gaining success and showing it's never too late.

[henderjr]

Congrats Mike. Great story!