Body For Life
 

I started the Body for Life program on the 4th of Jan. This along with the swimming 6 miles a week and now I have started biking 3 times a week, I have lost 15 pounds since then! I cant wait to get down to under 220! Not trying to boast, just happy

BFL is an excellent way to get fit. I used it to drop 30 pounds last year. And I've kept it off. Once I hit my target weight, I've adapted the program to fit my needs. I've carried over the 6 meals a day, but since I run a lot I've upped the carbs significantly. I no longer do his lifting program either, but I still lift a couple times a week. My wife dropped 50 pounds doing BFL after our last kid. She sticks with those routines to this day.

Congrats Coach. That's impressive for only a couple of weeks

SteelBlue, tell me about your lifting program? Do you use a body-part split or total body program?

With BFL I used a combo of the two, he has you lift Upper Body then Lower Body then upper again with the next week bringing Lower 2x and Upper once. Right now I mainly focus on upper, occasionally doing some lower. I spent a lot of time injured from running last year and was hesitant to lift for fear of having to wait longer to run. My goal this year is to do lower body equally, and hopefully prevent future injuries.

If I had the time, I'd do split body because I like spending the whole hour on chest/triceps etc... but I'd never do it right.

On the body for life program did you drink the shakes as well?

I did Body For Life one time in college. I did pretty well with it, losing 5ish pounds and gaining back a bunch of muscle that I'd lost. My boss in college did it and his before/after picture was absolutely insane. He looked just as ripped as any of the examples in the BFL book.

The shakes aren't important at all, and frankly EAS/Myoplex stuff is way overpriced. Protein shakes are convenient, though, and there are good choices out there if you want to do shakes. I'd recommend just packing a bunch of actual food with you, but that might not be practical depending on your situation.

I'm working out a bunch right now and lost 6 pounds last month and gained a bunch of muscle, but am not doing BFL. The ol' "burn more than you consume" plan works pretty well, although 6+ meals a day is still a good idea.

Well, if you want advice on how to injure yourself lifting instead of running, I am sure I can help out. I mean running injuries rarely have the potential to leave you permanently deformed. I am sure your wife would be much more impressed by a serious lifting injury.

My wife did BFL and loved it. She has now broken away and does her own program (a mix of BFL and other training she has received from nutritionists). She even used a version of the diets while pregnant. Gained 24 lbs. and dropped back to pre pregnancy weight 10 days after birth.

They are completely unnecessary. I did a full cycle without them and there was no difference than when I did a full cycle with them. What's nice about the shakes is that you can use them at work and you don't have to cook. Beyond that they're no better than eating a regular meal.

And that's all he ever claims that BFL is. It's basically a bodybuilder's cutting plan. Three months before a contest they start dropping fat and trying to lose as little muscle as possible in the process. So, they eat 6 times a day and keep a balanced protein/carb mix. They also only do about an hour and a half of cardio a week, but it's intense. The plan puts you just slightly in the negative calorically and you lose 2 pounds a week like clockwork. Once you reach your target weight, you can adjust to your liking and it's fairly easy to keep the weight off using the basic principles.