Is this an impressive before/after?

[buffcow]

I tested how much muscle I could gain in 90 days, but purposefully NOT going hardcore "fitness freak" where I do everything perfect. I wanted to only workout/eat/sleep like the average person who isn't willing to devote their entire life to fitness.

Is 90 day transformation impressive?



More details:

I was in a car accident and di some physical therapy for a months afterwards, and ended up not doing ANY exercise for 13 months. Seriously, the most activity I did was carrying groceries. I then was cleared to workout and took that before picture.

Now, I used to be obsessed with fitness, and would do anything non-illegal/risky to health to gain muscle. But now, I just want to look good with the minimal time investment possible, so I can focus on other things in life.

So I thought I'd test out how much muscle I could gain with all the knowledge I've accrued over the years, within a 90 day window. But within what a "normal person" would be willing to do.

Here's the comparison between ideal muscle gain conditions and what I actually did:

- Eat 3,000 calories a day plus (500 above maintenance)

NOPE! I ate only 3 meals a day, usually totaling only 2,000 calories

- Eat your bodyweight in grams of protein per day (155g/day with starting weight)

NOPE! The protein from 3 meals a day totaled an average of 75g a day

- Eat breakfast to stop your body from eating away muscle

NOPE! I am not a breakfast person. I'm never hungry until 1pm. So I did what the normal person does: eat when they're hungry! first meal everyday wasn't until around 12 noon. I ate "breakfast" then and then ate when I was hungry the rest of the day, which usually ended up being 3 total meals for the day, occasionally 2.

- Split up body parts into separate days for your workouts!

NOPE! I did a 1-hour total body workout, 3 days a week, and 15 minutes of each of those workouts was high intensity interval training on a stationary bike

- Don't drink alcohol!

NOPE! I love alcohol probably too much, and would have some drinks a few days a week, sometimes even as soon as I got home from workout, because some social situation was happening and I felt like having a drink.

- Take this and that supplement, like creatine

NOPE! The only supplements I took was a tablespoon of fish oil each day, and after workouts I had some whey protein, 1 scoop. And actually, halfway through the 90 days, I stopped whey protein and just drank milk.

Basically I did what the average person (myself included) is willing to do:

Eat 3 meals a day when they feel hungry
Not force themselves to eat more protein than comes naturally in a reasonable diet
Drink when they feel like it
Not take a bunch of supplements
Not workout more than 3 hours a week

So...given that I didn't do any fitness freak stuff, is this an impressive 90 day transformation?

[Boss Man]

Hi Buffcow, good to talk to you.

That's not bad and eating 2,000 calories a day is not bad, but you need to make sure that micro nutrient intake is reasonable, as it's also to an extent about what is in your food not just the calories and protein.

Also muscle splits don't need to be the way so you doing TBT was not a problem. Some might think TBT is just for beginners, for people to get used to weights, but the real truth is it's not, it's beneficial long after that or when you want a change from a split system.

However split systems have their place and do work, as long as there's enough volume, correct technique, and no risky / unnatural movements like behind the neck stuff and wrist curls. So even people who've been adapting to weights for 4-6 weeks can do splits and get results.