I just started the Body for Life program (I've only been lifting for about a month, so I'm still a total beginner). It seems sensible to me -- 6 small balanced meals a day, weight training, interval cardio.
Does anyone here have any experience with this program? I get the impression that it's kind of looked down on in some circles, and I'm curious why. Everything in it looks perfectly reasonable to me, other than some of the outlandish "before" and "after" photos, and I'm enjoying the program so far (just one week in).
My dad is doing it right now. I dont have real strong thoughts on it but it seems ok. Some of the volume seems kinda high. But then again it mainly for weight loss not specific sports prep.
It is a good, yet simple program. I would recommend it to any newbie to the weight training, fitness game.
Nothing special but, probably good for the average Joe IMO. Bill Phillips is a marketing machine...
If it weren't for marketing machines, I'd have never got into BJJ in the first place. :P
Body for life. omg what a concept. A healthy diet and exercise.Who'd a thunk it.
The lifting, while basic, is okay. Most of the progress people make is from the diet. Whoda thunk it, cleaning up your diet and eating right helps you lose weight?
I tried the original version "back in the day" when it was called The Physique Augmentation System. I made great gains on the program. Simple, yet effective.
I used it just after I finished playing ball in college. I went from a bulky 205 to a very lean 185 in about 4 months. The nutrition stuff is pretty straightforward, balance carbs & protiens, keep fats down. The lifting volume was more than I was used to, and the cardio really, really kicked my butt.
I have since given up most weight training, and use Scrappers bodyweight stuff. I am still lean, and right at 180, but I have a lot more endurance when I roll.
Aloha,
Dogg
Good for losing weight and the average JOE. A lot of REPs.
Not that great for sports athletes.
Right now I'm the average Joe only if you catch me on a good day ... combination of injuries, asthma, and psych meds have left me pretty loopy for the last year or so.
I grew up doing only bodyweight stuff, and a lot of it, because I grew up in the South back when Herschel Walker was a big deal and I heard that's all he did, so that's what I did. Decades later, I've realized I don't have Herschel's genetics, so I'm trying to establish a decent strength base before I worry too much about muscular endurance. I do love Scrapper's stuff, though. His workout stuff I mean.
Thanks for the responses ... I'm really pretty clueless about workout and nutrition, I got by in sports for years on weasel-muscle and fast metabolism, both of which have suddenly deserted me in my early 30s. Sorry if some people think this stuff is too obvious. :(
Hey. I used his program for a little while and had good results with it. I lost about 15 pounds in about 1.5 months. I don't care too much for his excercise program, as I pretty much use Scrapper's stuff and roll, but the diet information is good. Not totally original or anything, but eating six small, balanced meals a day really does help. Also, I am not a big advocate of Myoplex, which is sold by EAS, which is owned by Bill Phillips. It contains aspartame, which I am not too thrilled about. However, when I was following this plan I just subbed whole foods (i.e. a small, balanced meal) for Myoplex and it worked fine. Good luck!
TheAdonis,
I do agree about the before and after scam. That's the one thing I did not like about it. I've never been a lifter or bodybuilder myself, but I train with and hang around with plenty of folks who are, some with gear and some without, and I found the whole array of pictures and "results" to be silly. "Gained 20 lbs of muscle," etc.
The Adonis has smacked the bitch of correctness.
Hate the game not the player! :) Bill Phillips IS a genious, but I don't think he is P.E. guru.
Way back when he started his magazine, I remember the ads for "The Physique Augmentation System" like Damion said. But back then there weren't any real instructions on what to do, just requirements for contestants to be eligible for the prizes. The big one was that contestants had to write down EXACTLY what they did during their 12 weeks to get their results. This is the genious part. Bill had thousands of people sending him what worked and what didn't work. Bill then found the common threads in their stories, and started to put together "Body for Life". I don't consider the program to be invented or even thought up by Bill Phillips, but still, props to him for organizing and packaging it.
I have done it about 3 times with dedication, and have never been in better shape than during those times. Too bad I haven't done them consecutively, if I did I wouldn't yo-yo so much. I am a typical ectomorph(6'1" - 150lbs - BF12%), those numbers are with no training for extended periods, my baseline of laziness. With BFL, I typically gain 15-20lbs and drop 3-5% in BF. It's not impossible to gain like that in one year, I've done it in 3 months. Sadly, I return to my baseline if I don't keep it up. Such is life right?
The before/after pics you see are the amazing few out of hundreds of thousands of people. I'm not exagerrating the numbers either, tons of people do this program and send their pics in. I think they recently passed the 1 million mark in completed programs(they call them "transformations"). Out of that many people for sure there are gonna be some genetic freaks that respond REALLY well to it. Those are the pics they show of course.
I like it and would still use lots of it, but Scrapper, Sonnon, Taku, etc.. have my interest right now. I'm just not worried so much with how I look next to how I move on the mat.
If interested in more, here is a community that uses BFL and some other programs to get to their goals.
www.bodychangers.com