While my digestive system has returned to full power following my 1 week in the Dominican Republic, unfortunately, my Inbox has NOT.
I was buried under a lot of emails.
Bills. A bunch of questions. Back and forth between software developers working on powerDOJO features and upgrades. Numerous requests from a Russian girl named Olga who wants to be my friend.
I should get back to her.
And there was some really cool stuff, like this email I got from Donavin Hawkey, a mixed martial artist from South Africa:
Good morning Eric
I have been a bit skeptical regarding training programs in the past as I have always battled with weight cuts for fights due to the walk around weight being too high and my body just not adapting to diets. I’ve tried various diets and programs and to be honest none have got the results that I did with the 8 week Ripped program. I started prepping 2nd Jan for an event in march and implemented the program in my second week of training.
My starting weight was 97kg (214pnds) with my goal weight being 89kg (195pnds) 1 week prior to weigh in, leaving a final cut (water cut) of 5kg (11pnds) for the final week.
1st 2 weeks I was down to 93kg (205pnds) which I maintained for a further 2 weeks. Weeks 4-6 I dropped down to 88kg (194 pnds) which was my initial target weight.
I was left with the option of simply allowing my weight to alter accordingly or increase my intake to maintain. I went with simply allowing my weight to alter accordingly.
Final week soon approached and my weight was sitting at 86kg (189pnds) which meant a simple salt bath on the day of weigh in and probably the easiest cut I have ever done.
By far the best program I have been through and definitely 1 I will repeat in future.
Total weight loss in 8 weeks = 30pnds
Many thanks for the awesome program.
Donavin Hawkey, MMA Fighter
Durban, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa
Awesome stuff Donavin!
He was also cool enough to send me this pic (I added the Before and After text, as any good internet fitness gUrU should):
.
This is great and Donavin’s results are on the more successful end of the range, but not out of the ordinary…
But if you’ve been hanging around here, listening to me rap about MMA and S&C and all that jazz, you know that I’m more about performance than anything else…
So I emailed him back asking about his performance results.
Peep our conversation:
—–Original Message—–
From: Eric Wong [mailto:xxx@xxxxxx.xx]
Sent: 14 March 2013 04:45 PM
To: Donavin Hawkey
Subject: RE: MMA Ripped update.
DUDE – awesome results and thanks for sharing!
I’m wondering if you’d mind me emailing out about your results?
And if you could share any of the fitness results that’d be awesome.
And how did the fight go? Do you have a video?
I’d love to see it, win or lose.
Thanks for the feedback Donavin.
——————————
Eric
Yeah Cool no problem at all.
Resting heart Rate 60bpm down to 48bpm
Body fat 17% down to 9%.
Video are available on www.EFCAfrica.com . Fights will be premiering on CSI Sports in the States soon.
Fight went well but unfortunately opponent had superior Jits and I got caught with a reverse arm bar. Strength was definitely at another level and was evident in the clinch.
Deadlift Max 2 reps @ 418pnds to 4 reps @ 460pnds
Bench Max 2 Reps @ 260pnds to 2 reps @ 308pnds
Because I’m a Chinese, let me mathematically break down a few of Donavin’s performance #’s for you because, well, I can’t help myself.
Hold on a sec while I bust out my abacus…
OK let’s do this:
Resting Heart Rate Reached 48 bpm (Down 12)
This means he surpassed the resting HR ‘Pro level’ I specify in the CAGE Cardio PDF.
Brilliant.
Cardio?
Check.
Body Fat Down 8%
That’s 1% a week, which is awesome.
But this is even awesome-r:
214 lbs x 17% = 36.4 lbs of fat and 177.6 lbs of lean muscle
189 lbs (because he cut 4 lbs of water) x 9% = 17 lbs of fat and 172 lbs of lean muscle
36.4 – 17 lbs = 19.4 lbs of fat dropped
177.6 – 172.6 lbs = 5 lbs of lean muscle dropped
Waaaait a minute – he lost muscle mass? That’s not good!
From the calculations, it looks as though this were true.
Now this might be worrisome, but it must be taken in context, specifically, the context of strength and cardio:
Deadlift Max 2 reps @ 418 lbs to 4 reps @ 460 lbs
Bench Max 2 Reps @ 260 lbs to 2 reps @ 308 lbs
He was already strong, but check out how much more strength he gained in 8 weeks!
Plus with the Resting HR improvement, it’s clear that that he improved both his strength AND cardio at the same time.
Last but not least, MMA is a relative strength sport, so improved strength combined with decreased weight is a GOOD THING, regardless of where that weight comes from.
No point in hanging on to muscle if it’s not going to do anything for you and just use energy.
The other thing to note about body fat calculations is that they’re not always 100% accurate, so the calculation could’ve over-estimated his starting lean mass, while under-estimating his ending lean mass. I’m guessing that happened.
This is the important lesson…
When you’re tracking your progress, whether you’re a fighter or you’re just interested in having a lean, ripped and athletic physique, you must take various measures.
Don’t put all your Easter eggs in one basket, you silly wa-bbit.
Measure your body composition.
Measure your strength.
Measure your cardio.
These are all important factors to both health AND performance.
And these are all things I show you how to measure in the MMA Ripped program.
We go through it all and I walk you through the process step-by-step.
But I don’t just show you how to measure these things. I show you how to take them to the next level.
Like I said, Donavin’s results are on the higher end of the scale, but they’re not out of the ordinary.
Even if you achieve 50% of what he did, think about how much farther along you’ll be?
Exactly.
So get off the fence and join Donavin and the hundreds of others like him who have completed the 8 Week MMA Ripped Training Camp.
In 8 weeks, you’ll emerge a NEW, stronger, better conditioned, and leaner man.
