If a guy dropped 23 lbs, burned off 8.1% body fat and cut 5.5 inches off his waist… IN ONLY 49 DAYS.. becoming a body transformation contest winner… at age 52…wouldn’t you want to know how he did it?

This is one of the most exceptional 49-day body transformationswe’ve ever seen in our of our Burn the Fat Challenge contests…
So I wanted to know he did it, and so did thousands of our readers, customers and Burn the Fat inner circle members, so I grabbed Gary Vollhoffer, winner of the most recent Burn the Fat Challenge transformation contest, earlier this week and got him to spill the beans on how he burned so much fat in so little time…
Here’s what I asked him:
“Gary, when you think back to what you did to get your winning Burn the Fat Challenge results, what were the most effective strategies in each of these areas, that you think were the most important of all in allowing you to get such rapid results: 1) mindset, 2) nutrition and 3)training, and 4) feel free to add any other random advice if there’s anything else you think was critical to your success that would help our readers get results like you did. Thanks!”
Here’s the new champ’s advice:
1. Mental. I made a commitment to myself to complete the challenge. I put my commitment in writing. I visualized my success from the start. I used a picture of Mike Mentzer’s abs and visualized them as my own. I visualized myself on the beach in Maui with warm sand between my toes, the sun warming my tanned six pack abs; I could taste the salt in the air carried by the gentle breeze. I could hear the powerful sound of the ocean as the waves crashed along the shore line. .
I felt emotionally charged and energized. I listed all the reasons I wanted to complete the challenge, six pack abs, better health, lower blood pressure, more energy, having clothes to wear that fit. I thought about how I would feel after all those changes had been accomplished and how proud I would be of myself.
Instead of becoming overwhelmed at all the changes I needed to make, I asked myself if I could follow this plan for one day. I said, sure, one day shouldn’t be all that difficult. So the times when self doubt crept in, or when I was hurt, sore, hungry, angry and whiney, I would tell myself it was only one day, and then I would repeat the mantra I created to snap myself out of it: “Do you just want to compete, or do you want to win?” I would look at the picture of the abs and review the reasons why I was in the challenge and then carry on.
2. Nutrition. Before the challenge, my diet was terrible. Before the challenge, my three staples were sugar, salt and fat. If I wanted a shot at winning the challenge, I knew this would have to change. As a metaphor, I said I was going to treat my body like a rocket ship. Therefore, I would feed it only rocket fuel! I found Tom’s food guide and I decided I would only eat A+ and A foods and for liquids I would drink only water and green tea!
Even though the 7-week competition included my birthday and the holidays, nothing else entered my body. I made no exceptions to my nutrition plan and I did not have any cheat days. I measured and weighed all food and counted all calories. I then posted my calorie intake online.
I did have cravings, especially in the beginning, and my wife and kids continued eating ice cream, popcorn and chicken wings in front me. I used NLP techniques, mostly visualization, to associate things I didn’t like to the foods I craved! I continually used my challenge mantra to drive me. “Do you just want to compete; or do you want to win!”!
3. Training. I admit, my training was kind of crazy, but this WAS a challenge – it was a competition and there’s only one grand prize winner. In fact, I know I over trained because I ended up losing a little strength. When I do another challenge, I will change my routine and give my body more time to recuperate between weight lifting sessions. For the Burn the Fat holiday challenge, I had 27 weight lifting days over the 49 days, 15 upper body and 12 lower body.
I injured my back during one of my leg work outs and my legs were not recovering from the cardio, so my decision was to add more cardio and drop a few leg work outs. On upper body days, I performed 4-5 sets of chest, 4-5 back, 3 for shoulders and 2 each for both triceps and biceps.
I used a variety of techniques including supersets and drop sets and I always worked to failure. My upper body workouts lasted about 90 minutes, which I now know was way too long, but again, this was a challenge! My leg and abs day lasted about 60 min. For cardio I had over 100 sessions during the challenge, broken into three fairly equal categories of slow (Walking), moderate (Jogging, swimming, bike, elliptical, treadmill), and intense (sprints, running, stairs, hills, swimming).
4. Other advice? My advice to anyone thinking about doing a Burn the Fat challenge would be to make a commitment to yourself in writing and list all the benefits you will receive as a result of completing the challenge or reaching the goal.
Don’t reinvent the wheel – the info and resources you need are right here. I joined the Burn the Fat challenge the night before it started, I had no idea what the Burn the Fat inner circle was about. I found the resources; articles and interviews within the inner circle helped me get started on the right track.
The fact that I chose to post to the forums here when I had questions, concerns or frustrations was THE main reason I succeeded. The responsiveness, support and help were truly overwhelming! I’ve built so many friendships over the challenge. Everyone shares so openly, I think I know more about many of the people in the inner circle than I do about some of my own friends or family!
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