12 Week Challenge

So I entered into this body transformation challenge 3 months ago. The competition was open to members of the online Vegan Bodybuilding online community. I set some pretty lofty goals when I started.

Goals (not really in priority order):

1. Win the competition! (what are the point of goals if they aren’t big? )
2. Gain 1.5 pounds of lean muscle per week [+18 lbs]
3. Lose 8% bodyfat, from 15% on July 1st to 7% [-12 lbs] my previous low was 4% back in 2003
4. Finally get the six pack (…not the Miller Light variety)
5. Perform 25 pull ups nonstop (current personal best is 12)
6. Perform 75 push ups nonstop (current personal best is 54)
7. Master Yoga inversions (headstands, handstands)

Well, my goals were indeed very lofty and I did not manage to beat them…though I did make great progress and am psyched to continue with another 12 week challenge. One thing I learned is that my body will adapt, but more slowly than I previously thought. I’m willing to put the time into it. Comments on the above goals:

1. They haven’t done the voting for the contest yet. I’ll let ya’ll know how I did in a few weeks when it is decided.
2. I ended up at 155lbs at 10% bodyfat (dropping from 15%). So I gained about 10 pounds in lean muscle mass in 12 weeks. Not a bad gain considering I was on a mostly raw food diet for a couple months during the contest!
3. I lost 5% not 7% bodyfat as I planned…oh well
4. no, I did not get the six pack…this will surely take quite a while…perhaps a year to get there.
5. My personal best was 12…but at the start of the contest I could barely do 8 pull ups. Last week I cranked out 15! Almost a 100% improvement!
6. My previous personal best was 54, but at the start of the contest I could do about 45 at most. Last week I did 64!
7. I did not master yoga inversions. My overall yoga practice improved a lot, but I didn’t have time for the 1 on 1 instruction to learn headstands and handstands….I’ll keep this on my goal sheet for next time!

I’ll write another post with key learnings from the last 12 weeks, and how I will change my workout/nutrition plan going forward.