Q & A With Anthony Ellis - April's Muscle Transformation of the Month

 

 Anthony Ellis, the author of Gaining Mass!, meets Bill Phillips after winning his division of the Body For Life transformation contest.

For April's muscle transformation of the month, we're traveling way back to 1997.  That was the year that Anthony Ellis won his division of the Body For Life transformation challenge. 

I had to add Anthony's transformation to this part of the site because in my eyes it's one of the best I've seen.  This guy was as skinny as they get when he started.  A real hardgainer... And somehow he managed to pack on an almost unbelievable 32 pounds of rock solid mass in only 12 short weeks-all naturally. 

Anthony's before and after pictures are quite incredible, and if you haven't seen them already I strongly suggest that you check them out on Anthony's website.

Now, without further adieu, here is Q & A with Anthony Ellis...

Q:  The before and after pictures on your website are impressive to say the least.  How long did it take you to accomplish your transformation, and exactly how much weight did you gain?

A:  I trained for a total of 12 weeks, which was the duration of the Body For Life Challenge.  By the end of the 12 weeks, I had gained a total of 32 pounds (135 Lbs. to 167 Lbs).  At the same time, I was able to lower my body fat about 4%.

I didn't stop there though.  I continued training for another month after the contest, and was able to gain another 3 pounds of muscle, and lose another 1% of body fat.  Before the contest I weighed 135 lbs and had a body fat percentage of 11%.  By week 16, I weighed 170 Lbs., and had a body fat percentage of 5.7%.

All of my transformation pictures are posted here (scroll to the middle of the page)

Q: You must have eaten like a horse to pack on so much mass in such a short period of time.  Can you tell us a little about your diet?

A:  Maybe not quite like a horse, but I did eat lots of food.  I really didn't do anything out of the ordinary.  I'd eat a decent sized meal every 3 hours, every day.  It took a while to get used to doing this, but after a couple of weeks I became accustomed to it.  I had to plan my meals ahead of time and make sure food was readily available.

As far as the foods I ate, I ate high quality proteins like eggs, chicken, lean steak, and complex carbohydrates like brown rice, and vegetables.  I also relied on meal replacement shakes or protein bars for some of my meals to simplify things. 

Q:  Can you give us a sample meal plan?

A:  I was in school at the time, so I was usually on the run.  Here is a sample meal plan of a typical busy day:

8am:  Egg sandwich (3 eggs) - I'd eat this meal while driving to school.Anthony Ellis Before & After
11am:  2 protein bars or a shake - This was during school
2pm:  1/2 chicken, corn yams
5pm:  Meal replacement shake and some nuts - This was my post workout meal
6pm:  Workout
8pm:  Lean beef, brown rice, string beans - This was a post workout meal, which I tried to make the biggest meal of the day.
11pm:  Meal replacement shake with flax oil 

This was a pretty typical week day.  My meal plans were a bit different on the weekends, but still consistent. 

Q:  What if any supplements did you use throughout your transformation?

A:   There are a handful of supplements that I take regularly, and recommend other to take also.  The supplements I took are:

  • Multi-vitamin & Minerals
  • Antioxidants
  • Creatine 
  • Whey protein bars/powder
  • Meal replacements

I consider antioxidants and multi-vitamins essential.  Your body needs these to repair and rebuild muscle tissue.  As far as the other supplements go, they are very helpful but not essential.

Q:  Can you give us some weight training tips?

A:  Sure.  Here are some of the things I recommend to anyone trying to pack on muscle: 

  • Use free weights instead of machines - This helps keep everything balanced, and works the smaller stabilizer muscles that support your joints.

  • Train with multi-joint compound movements - This will fatigue as many muscle fibers as possible, which is exactly what you want.

  • Stick to basic exercises - Don't get fancy, especially when you are starting out.  I recommend the following exercises:
       
    Bench press (chest)    
    Military press (shoulders)
    Pull-ups & barbell rows (upper back)
    Squats (upper legs)
    dead-lifts (legs, back, shoulders)
    Bar dips (chest, shoulders, arms)
 
These exercises are extremely important, and must be a part of your weight training program.  I consider    these the "core" weight training exercises that must be a part of your training routine.
  
  • Use heavy weight - In order to build muscle, you have to lift enough weight.  8-12 reps is the sweet spot, and anything less will target strength, while anything more will target endurance.  Heavy weight stimulates the most number of muscle fibers, and more stimulation equals more mass.

  • Avoid over-training! - This is a very important one.  Since lifting heavy weight is very stressful for your body, adequate rest and recovery is crucial.  If you train too often without enough rest, over-training will result, and you will begin to have serious trouble making any progress. 

Q:  Tell us a little about the Gaining Mass! program that we all hear so much about.

A:  After my transformation everyone wanted to know how I accomplished my goals, and I wanted to help other frustrated hardgainers. 

This lead to me designing what I call the Gaining Mass Program, which is a step by step guide to gaining mass for hardgainers.  Everything that I learned while accomplishing my goals is included in this program.  I also offer full support, as well as software along with the program to make the entire muscle building process as simple as possible.

 

 

Comments (1)add comment
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written by Allen P. , April 12, 2008

32 pounds in 12 weeks seems almost impossible to me. Hard to believe it was done naturally in my eyes, but I give the guy plenty of credit regardless.
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