Daniel America, Then And Now

[markos]

At the 2012 GPC Nationals, Daniel America totalled [email protected].

Two or three weeks later, Dan had his bodyfat % tested, it was 14.5%

December 16, Dan competed at my novice comp, he went [email protected]

He tested his bodyfat % and it was 7.2%.

Two and a half weeks earlier, he was [email protected]%

Here are the before and after photos, he did zero cardio

Edited December 26, 2012 by markos

[R31Nismoid]

So June to Dec is the before/after pics? (looks like more than 14% BF?)

Mighty impressive, but then he already had the base built to trim. Very well done regardless if that is indeed 6 months.

[markos]

22 weeks between pics. His pinch test was done on the same day at the same time by the same guy, every week.

Dan is 2 x World Kickboxing Champion, WKBF and IKBF in 2005

[markos]

Dan has been competing at Powerlifting since 2010

He fought at 88kg, his heaviest bodyweight ever was 113kg

He is looking at 700kg for Nats in either the 100/110kg class

[markos]

Edited December 26, 2012 by markos

[TTT]

and to quote his post...

At the risk of boring everyone, I wrote a little article that will go up on my website for my gym, and for my clients to read and understand the mentality and process I went through. This was a pretty dramatic shift for me and a tremendous learning experience so the article is a little personal reflection on my experience if anyone feels like a read

Background:

It was right after the GPC state powerlifting (PL) championships that I finally accepted it. I actually came to the realisation that fighting, the thing I had done nothing but (sporting wise) for the better part of 20 years, was not my sport anymore. Despite all of my achievements, and my best efforts to become re-enthused with the training, trying to find the spark, the passion for the sport I had always lived for, had well and truly gone. I just didn’t WANT to anymore. I had fallen in love with a new sport and I was ready to commit myself to it. The only difference was, unlike kickboxing, I didn’t have to beat anyone else.

For me, this new sport is the ultimate challenge of MYSELF, where I am ALONE on the platform, and winning means beating my own personal bests. Also unlike kickboxing, I know that I will never be the world’s best lifter, I’m simply not built for it, but I know if I do it right, I can achieve some wonderful personal goals. So I set about refocussing my sporting aims, with the goal of ‘rebuilding the machine’ for a different purpose. No longer a fighter, I had to decide the best course of action to turn my body into that of a lifter. I had never worried about food too much, or even my body composition before, I just worked on being fitter and more skilful in the ring, so this was all going to be a completely new mindset for me. Here is how phase 1 went:

Long term (2 years) goal:

Achieve the highest possible PL total @ 100kg weight class. (I have a specific number I want but I’m keeping that to myself for the time being…)

In order to do this:

Phase 1, 6 Months: Lose as much bodyfat as possible. Aiming to be somewhere under 8%

Phase 2, 18 Months: Slowly add muscle while keeping bodyfat low. Aiming to be back at about 105kg under 8%

Starting Point:

Whilst I have always eaten quite healthily, I have spent a LONG time training. In fact, I’ve spent the better part of the last 15 years training twice a day, and thus, have managed to justify to myself that I can eat pretty much anything because I trained my ass off and my performance didn’t suffer. I was wrong.

The reality is, that for my whole life, I’ve been the chubby guy. I’ve trained for 20 years, and while I’ve always been extremely fit, and pretty strong, my physique never really reflected all of my effort in the gym. I have won 2 WORLD kickboxing titles, and 2 AUSTRALIAN boxing titles, so I know a thing or two about hard work. A week before the 2010 national powerlifting titles I ran a half-marathon. I’m actually a pretty good all-round athlete!

While my nutrition knowledge is great, and I get fantastic results with all of my clients, in practise I REALLLLLLLLLLY love food, so a lot of the time I don’t adhere to my own rules regarding types of food and portion sizes. My physique reflects that. At the leanest I’ve ever been, when I won my first world title, I was about 12% bodyfat, and my abs were ‘barely’ visible. Time to change that.

I have only ever had kickboxing coaches, but for powerlifting and nutritional programming, I have always done it on my own. There are a couple of issues with this: a) by the time I have written programs and diets for all of my clients, I simply cant be bothered to take the time to do it for myself. B) When you DO write a program for yourself, its very easy to lose your objectivity. Your own perception of whether the program gets results is often skewed by your own bias, things you do/don’t like etc.

So I enlisted the help of powerlifting/bodybuilding/nutrition guru Damon Hayhow, who developed and runs the highly successful RECOMP system of BODY RECOMPOSITON. Perfect for me! His ideals are to add muscle, lose fat, and have your body working at its OPTIMAL levels at all times. A very good friend of mine, Nick, sees Damon regularly and has achieved some phenomenal results. I know Damon through the PL community as well, so I trust that he can help me on the right path to my PL goals. 3 days after setting a PB total at GPC Nationals in Caloundra, I went to see Damon to get started!

First Meeting:

Weight: 99.2kg

Bodyfat: 14.5%

Lean Mass: 84.8kg

Fat Mass: 14.4kg

Lifts at Nationals: 210kg Squat, 147.5kg Bench Press, 255kg Deadlift (612.5kg Total @ 100kg B/W)

Worse than I thought actually…

All of the skinfold measurements would be taken at the same time each week, by the same person, using the same set of callipers. The highly monitored and measured system ensures that we are constantly making progress, and can work out exactly what does and doesn’t work as we go. By taking all of the random elements out of the diet, training, and measurement. We GUARANTEE that the results will come, because we can see the exact result of every adjustment.

The Goal: 8% bodyfat

Training plan: Get stronger in the gym. Get leaner in the kitchen.

No cardio! Whaaaaat…..? Nup, none at all. Just lifting heavy things 4 days per week. Training to beyond complete failure every session, then spending the rest of the time recovering for maximum muscle development. Every rep of every set is accounted for and compared to an estimated 1 rep max. Strength is the only objective of every workout, and this enables up to monitor progress in the gym.

We would be working in 4 week blocks. Training in one particular style for one cycle, then completely changing the training style in order to shock the body into maximum adaptation. Damon is renowned for his training intensity, and I knew that in order to achieve the extraordinary results he demands, I was going to have to push myself beyond any mental limitations. I was determined to break new ground with my mindset and intensity in the gym. Time to think like a fighter again….

The diet:

The cornerstone of my program was the diet. Every GRAM of food needs to be consistent and accounted for. This means eating the same food, at the right quantites, every day. No cheat meals. No processed foods. No sauces, marinades or additions. Plenty of carbs. Just a whole lot of good quality nutrition. Only herbs and fresh rock salt to be added. We are not after taste, we are after performance and progress.Taste makes you fat. Think about it.

The meals were comprised primarily of oats, steak, chicken, rice, almonds, eggs, protein powder and vegetables.

The progress:

We started at around 3500 calories, and for the first 6 weeks, this was enough to drop me to 10.4%, a loss of 4.6kg of pure fat, and already leaner than I’ve even been in my life!

3500 calories is actually quite a bit of food, and adhering to the program was easy because I was never hungry! I always tell clients how much good quality food you can eat and still get leaner, and this was exactly right. Doing it easy!

While we did play around with the macronutrient ratio a little bit, we found that a simple 40:40:20 split of protein:carb:fat was working the best, so stuck with that.

At around the 10% mark though, is where a lot of people seem to hit their first plateau, and this was true for me too. There were still small decreases, but not at the rate we were after. Damon dropped out a few calories, down to about 3000, and adjusted the ratio to a 50:20:30 split. We were getting a small amount of muscle loss, but there is a little collateral damage that we expect when dieting down, so I wasn’t too concerned about that.

By week 15, I was at 8.2%, abs clearly visible. This was a drop of 7.2kg of pure fat, eating 2800 calories and not really suffering at all.

Actually, the thing that I learned the most through this process is that once you have made the decision to make your nutrition a lifestyle, it’s permanent. Its not difficult, its just a process you go through daily of preparing food, and sticking to a plan. Its actually a lot more simple than people think. Just keep your hands off the doughnuts!

I digress. Once I hit 8.2%, I decided as I often do, that this was not quite where I wanted to be, so I decided to aim a little higher! My friend Nick hit a nice round 7.5%, so I figured that was a good number to aim at, but I wanted to go a little deeper, so I set my sights on 6.5%. This is a number that not many people ever actually get too, so with my competitive fire well and truly roaring, I carried on!

Over the next 7 weeks, I managed to hit an all time personal low of 6.7% before reaching a plateau. Being the first time I’ve ever dieted down so low, my body just became a bit resistant to go any lower. I had set a date of December 1st to end the cutting phase, and by this stage the skinfolds were just skin and empty fat cells, and the measuring became very sensitive because the numbers were so low. The actual food part was quite managable, except for the last 2-3 weeks where we had dropped out a little more food to just try and eke a tiny bit extra out of the last couple of weeks to try and hit 6.5. During this bit I spent a lot of time quite hungry, but nothing that made me break my program.

During my 22 weeks of cutting, I ate 924 meals. The only meal that was outside of the weighed and measured food quantities was the steak, a couple of bread rolls and desert that I ate at Roshan and Megan’s wedding. I reckon 924:1 is a pretty good ratio after 22 weeks, and for that fact alone I’m pretty proud of myself! In the last couple of weeks, on low calories, I decided it would be interesting to see how I went in a full PL comp without a big re-feed or carb up of any kind. While my energy depleted VERY quickly, and my lifts were less than spectacular, I was really proud of myself for walking around with my chicken and big container of salad, and sticking it out. Even when all the other lifters were hanging it on me (friendly of course) for eating like a rabbit on comp day!

The results:

I’m sure when you look at the pictures, you will agree with me that the results have been pretty dramatic. I don’t even recognize myself!

I’ve known Markos from PTC Frankston for about 3 years, and when I walked into his gym a few weeks ago he actually introduced himself because he didn’t realise it was me! It’s a really great feeling to put in such effort, and get an appropriate result!

Before I started this process, I had resigned myself to the fact I was never going to be ‘shredded’. I was genetically disadvantaged, and while I have always been a pretty good athlete, I would never look the part. I would just be the slightly chubby guy, fit as hell, pretty strong, but always managing to have a ‘legitimate’ justification as to why I ‘didn’t need’ or ‘didn’t want’ to look a certain way. But when I stripped back all of the excuses, and just concentrated on sticking to my goals and following my plan, all of the excuses disappeared and I got the results I really wanted.

Most of the people that will read this know me. They know how much time, energy, and dedication I put into my training, and helping my athletes do the same. I am very proud of the things I have learnt over the last 6 months, putting myself through the rigours of it has made me a much better coach and mentor for the people I train too. Its great to see the flow-on effect that my personal goals have had at KLS.

I’ve always told my athletes, ‘I would never ask you to do an exercise that I haven’t done myself a million times before.’ Unfortunately for them, there is a new level of performance that I can ask of you now, in and out of the gym. A lot of them have already adopted a new mindset…

Do as I DO. Not as I SAY.

While the journey to becoming an elite lifter is NOWHERE near complete, this first phase was the beginning, and I am very proud and pleased about how it went and what I accomplished. The goal now is to keep the bodyfat under 7.5% while slooooowwwwly adding muscle back up to 105kg. Should be pretty damn strong by then! Then I’ll set the next goal….

Thankyous:

I want to take this opportunity to thank a few people that have helped me along the way for the last 6 months!

Sara and my little lion cub Lucas: who have watched me, daily, preparing my meals, eating separately from them, out of plastic containers instead of off a plate, and missed out on dad’s famous pancakes on a Sunday morning so that I can achieve my own personal goals.

Damon Hayhow: The guru! My mentor and guide as an athlete embarking on a new sporting career. Damon is the most uncompromising high achiever I have ever met and he expects the same relentless pursuit of excellence from his athletes. No excuses, no BS, just do the work! Plus he’s a hell of a nice guy too! Thankyou for changing the way I look at training and life.

Nick Rankin: The guinea pig who went through it all before me, making sure I knew was was coming next, and cheering me on as I went. Still the best knee wrapper in the business on comp day!

Final Numbers:

Weight:

Before: 99.2kg After: 86.4kg (-12.8kg)

Fat Mass:

Before: 14.4kg After: 5.8kg (-8.6kg)

Lean Muscle:

Before: 84.8kg After: 80.6kg (-4.2kg)

Skinfolds:

Before: Chest 13mm, Ab 18.2mm, Thigh 10mm After: Chest 3.4mm (-9.6mm), Ab 5.7mm (-12.5mm),Thigh 6mm (-4mm)

[DJBarnstar]

_{I call Avanar.}

[TTT]

I smell jealousy

[Trozzle]

I smell fire, and someone forgot their flame suit didn't they?

[TTT]

People in 4 door skylines are used to being burned

[tweety bird]

interesting read.

has he put up details of his workout during this time?

[TTT]

not specific details..

but it's all based around strength training.

Damons programs are usually high volume from what I've seen in another clients training log.

it's all based around the big lifts, but there are sessions on leg press for example.

There are no DB flys, forearm curls, calf raises, tricep kickbacks etc etc

[markos]

Daniel trains at PTC now, even though he has owned a gym for 9 years thats 15 minutes away. Not that its anybodies business, but Daniel didnt take any drugs.

He totaled 612.5kg at Nats in June, then bombed at ProRawFour.

He was very ripped at ProRawFour, he only squatted 190kg and missed a 135kg bench press 3 times. Anyone that knows anything about Anavar knows its awesome for strength. He got much weaker.

Now that he's 16kg heavier he has squatted 240kg and benched 165kg, not really earth shattering lifts for a 103kg lifter.

He didnt touch clen or ephedrine. Remember this wasnt for a comp, he was doing to prove to himself that he could.

These results were from food, exercise and discipline, and he did it for himself. His lifting went backwards during this period, but it was something he wanted to do.

[SRS13]

Any detail on his routine and diet? They are tremendous results.

[TTT]

Google Damon Hayhow

he runs a business that does this.

business means money

I'm sure you understand people won't just dump all the info online.

But Markos posted the high level detail above..

Food, exercise and dicipline

[markos]

The training is irrelevant, its what I've been trying to tell people for years now. It was the diet that changed his appearance, not the reps/sets or exercises he did.

If you train to get stronger and eat to get leaner, and do it with no f**k ups, you will improve your appearance.

Fact is Dan got weaker on the program he was doing, but getting stronger wasnt the goal. He measured at 8% body fat this week, but he is now back doing a pure powerlifting routine, has been for the past few weeks, hence why his lifts have skyrocketed, and his added calories have resulted in good weight gains.

Train for strength eat for lean. Its been done that way for decades.

For those of you that still think there is a magic routine, Dan squatted, benched, inclined, deadlifted, seated pressed, leg pressed, skull crushed, curled, dipped. He pretty much went to failure each set. There was lots of volume and he trained around 4 days a week.

[jangles]

The training is irrelevant, its what I've been trying to tell people for years now. It was the diet that changed his appearance, not the reps/sets or exercises he did.

If you train to get stronger and eat to get leaner, and do it with no f**k ups, you will improve your appearance.

Fact is Dan got weaker on the program he was doing, but getting stronger wasnt the goal. He measured at 8% body fat this week, but he is now back doing a pure powerlifting routine, has been for the past few weeks, hence why his lifts have skyrocketed, and his added calories have resulted in good weight gains.

Train for strength eat for lean. Its been done that way for decades.

For those of you that still think there is a magic routine, Dan squatted, benched, inclined, deadlifted, seated pressed, leg pressed, skull crushed, curled, dipped. He pretty much went to failure each set. There was lots of volume and he trained around 4 days a week.

where's his situps? Couldn't of got abs without them...jks

Seriously though, this is the exact reason I avoid answering people's questions about 'how'd you do it?' they expect a miracle.

This guy is a beast!

[tweety bird]

The training is irrelevant, its what I've been trying to tell people for years now. It was the diet that changed his appearance, not the reps/sets or exercises he did.

If you train to get stronger and eat to get leaner, and do it with no f**k ups, you will improve your appearance.

Fact is Dan got weaker on the program he was doing, but getting stronger wasnt the goal. He measured at 8% body fat this week, but he is now back doing a pure powerlifting routine, has been for the past few weeks, hence why his lifts have skyrocketed, and his added calories have resulted in good weight gains.

Train for strength eat for lean. Its been done that way for decades.

For those of you that still think there is a magic routine, Dan squatted, benched, inclined, deadlifted, seated pressed, leg pressed, skull crushed, curled, dipped. He pretty much went to failure each set. There was lots of volume and he trained around 4 days a week.

thanks for that, can you recommend some videos that show the proper technique for these exercises? (i've noticed everyone has there own way of doing some of these).

[TTT]

There is a PTC gym in almost every state.

Sydney is in Lidcombe. Go and do one session there and ask the coach to check your form.

It'll cost you like $25 or something bit it will be worth it.

[TM7GTR]

Still awaiting a PTC Canberra...