• Age: 34
• Height (inches): 75
• Weight (pounds): 209
• Occupation: Contractor to Military Intelligence
• Primary fitness goal: Lose fat
• Secondary fitness goal: Gain muscle
• Calories consumed on training days: 300
• Calories consumed on non-training: 200
• Carb grams consumed on training days: 300
• Carb grams consumed on non-training days: 200
• Days per week I train: 5
• The time of day I train is: Evening
• When I train, my gym is: Crowded
• I have access to the following pieces of equipment:

A few things to note:
-Picture #1 was taken about 3 weeks before starting IG3.
-Picture #2 was taken after 1 bottle of IG3.
-I work noon to midnight, I train after work in a military gym in Afghanistan.
-My main goal is to get to 8-10% bodyfat (visually be able to see abs well) and stay there
-I would also like to gain muscle
-I train much to the style of Mountain Dog training
-I'm not strong, I have suffered many many injuries mostly sport related and the current training style has kept me from re-injuring something better than any training I've ever tried.

I see I put bad numbers in for Calories. I really have no idea how to calculate calories here in Afghanistan because I have no idea what is in the food I eat. I eat as clean as possible and I take my peri-workout nutrition.

I got the training from CT last night. I'll be starting tonight. Some things I'll have to change slightly are:
-Flat bench will have to be done at an incline (very bad shoulder)
-I can't do high pulls (shoulder) I'll do overhead shrugs instead
-I'll likely be using pretty light weights for the HF work as my extensive injury history usually does not allow HF work. If my body can handle it I'll move the weight up.

None of my injuries originated with lifting weights. I had some pretty significant football injuries, a bad car wreck, and then a tendon detached from my wrist during strongman training.

At one point I was a muscular 250lbs, I'm about as skinny as I've ever been right now. I was going to keep carbs at 300 but now that I see the plan, I think it best to jack carbs way up. I'll also be doing the ABS Shredder so I'm certian that I will need the fuel for recovery and I certainly won't get fat.

I'm honestly not one to usually change everything I do because of a supplement, but I actually like this plan and out of respect for CT, if my body holds together I'll follow it.

Did the day1 plan from CT last night. I was a lot of pressing! The gym was very hot and humid, no air conditioning. Always fun! I'll be doing the abs shredder after leg days. So tonight I'll get that pain, torture and FUN! Bring it on BABY.

The Abs Shredder was a bitch. I'm sure it will be effective. I don't do cardio, that alone will give me some results. Doing cardio after legs is probably insane, but I figure since it is high intensity that is the best time to do it. Tomorrow I'll take pics in the morning. Pics once a week in the morning is the plan. I don't want to take them when I'm all pumped up in the gym, I want to see what I look like first thing in the morning. Just my preference.

8-8-2011 pics, only a few days since the last pics so not much progress if any.
Pics will be taken every Monday from now on.

8-8-2011 Back

Some notes so far. I have noticed that my waist is much smaller than it was before, I don't know if I've lost fat or maybe just visceral fat and bloat like Chris has been talking about. I am looking forward to seeing Monday's pictures.

As far as CT's training goes, I like it. So far my joints are feeling OK, not great, but OK. I hope I can make it through this training for an entire month. In the past HF training has worked as far as muscle building and body composition but is has been hell on my joints and has inflamed past injuries.

-I do notice an increase ability towards work capacity.

-My face is as lean as I can ever remember it being.

-My waist is smaller.

-I still think that the fat on my abdominals is about the same as it was before I3G.

-I don't notice any significant strength gains.

-I'm eating a shit ton more carbs than I was before and I am leaner as evidenced by my face and smaller waist.

-My carb intake has been 2 scoops (maybe 1.5 cups) of rice with my two daily meals. 2 finibars before training, 2 scoops SWF from beginning of training, 2 scoops Surge recovery before end of training.

*I train right before bed as I work 12+ hours a day and that is why no meal after training, it is all I can do to walk to the shower.

The last two days I've added a meal of rice and MD Muscle. This was recommended by Shugs because I'm leaning out pretty quickly. We'll see if it produces more muscle and if I can stay lean.

I honestly can not believe how many carbs I'm eating. My carbs are coming from rice and occasionally beans. I posted my peri workout nutrition above. Honestly if I could afford it I'd probably eat nothing but Finibars and MD Muscle Chocolate. I don't like the chocolate fini bars though, to me they taste more like black licorice than chocolate.

I have an additional side effect to report: I'm usually a low carb guy to stave off fat. I have always had carbs around training though. A lot of times I would get cravings for sweets and then I'd allow myself a diet soda 2 to 4 times a month to stave this off. I have had zero sweet cravings since starting Indigo 3G. I think part of it is that I'm getting the carbs my muscles desire. This makes the mental aspect of eating clean much easier.

I'm not sure if I'm building muscle or not. People around me have been talking about how skinny I am relative to how big and muscular I was. That is because my joints were very beat up and so I was eating less to stave off fat gain. We'll see if the comments start coming the other way.

I'm really hoping to have incredibly cut abs in the next few weeks. If I can gain even a few lbs of muscle with better abs I'll be very happy. I was in front of the mirror last night and saw my forearms, they seem to have cuts I've never seen before.

I'm looking forward to seeing the pics and getting an honest evaluation from Chris or anyone else.

This from Chris Shugart:

"For your purposes, I'd Spike up before the 4 hours begins and sip Power Drive during if you can. Nicotine gym, 2mg, as you check over your test. That latter will only boost mood and cognition for 30 minutes or so, so spend it wisely."

See Jill, I know you're reading this, Nicotine gum is fine! ;) Chris is a fitness freak like me.

Thanks Chris. I'll do that, I'll probably be using Spike and Power Drive during the study days also.

Yesterday was a day off after a complete week of CT's training. That day off was needed, the High Frequency Strength work builds fatigue slowly and my lower back was pretty beat up from the deadlifts. I'll start alternating between conventional deadlifts and Sumo deadlifts from now on. The thing I did not expect was this. From a joint and muscle standpoint I feel like I had two days off but without the general sluggishness and stiffness I'd normally have after two days off. I will most likely do some sort of neural charge training during the day at work for my next day off. I didn't expect to recover so quickly. I went ahead and ate my two FINiBARs last night and I do feel fuller than I have been. I expect a great night in the gym tonight. You never know though, some times I feel terrible and training is great, some times I feel great and training is terrible. Either way, I'm doing work son!

When played high school football two of my best games I had a fever of 102 and 103. I remember Larry Bird writing about having one of the best games of his life after running the Boston Marathon and feeling like complete crap. I have experienced that many times in my life, not running a marathon but extra focus from being beaten down. I love over coming adversity. To the point that I used to seek adversity so I'd have something to overcome. That was not conscious, but something I un-intentionally did. I have recognized that and now I try to avoid self sabotage for a challenge and just take them as they come.

The Iron Game can teach you a lot about life. It can enhance your life, it can help you learn perseverance, it can be your peace in the storms of life. When I can't train I'm a lesser man. I don't think people will ever understand how important training is to me unless they have stood in my shoes. It is hard to relate to others to whom training is not a priority. Sometimes you can relate if folks have something they are passionate about...something other than pop culture.

Live life like it someone will read your story. Live life like you are writing a story. Live a life that makes a book you want to read.

Tonight was Week 2, Day 1 and I had improvements. Slight improvements but improvements all the same. I added 3 sets of over head rope triceps extensions and some back flys to the end of the chest day. The added 10lbs to all lifts in the HFS work was noticed. I did sumo deads instead of conventional today, tomorrow will be conventional. My joints feel decent. I was down to 203lbs, but a different scale so who knows. I will bump food up even more if my pictures tell a story of too much of a loss. I won't like having lost 6lbs and my abs are not any better so far as I can tell. If I show major fat loss that is fine, if I don't calories will be bumped. Actually tonight I ate an additional FiniBar after training. We'll see what happens.

Front 8-15-2011

8-15-2011 Back

What I see:
I see improvement in my shoulders. I think I may had added a bit of lower back fat. Because of the shoulder improvement it is easier to see my left shoulder is certainly less developed.

I've probably subluxed that shoulder 200 times since the age of 15. That is also the side that took the full impact of a head on car accident and it looks like the left side of my back is swollen pretty good. I was going about 60miles an hour and because of the sun could not see a truck parked in the middle of the road.

My left arm was on the steering wheel and it took all the impact, my seat belt didn't even leave a mark on my skin. I didn't have an airbag. I am a big believer in airbags now. I will likely have surgery on my shoulder one day. Anyway the point is that side of my body has a lot of damage and a lot of pain associated with it.

I didn't realize that I stand with my arms out so far. I feel like I keep them in like a normal person.

Looking forward to Chris' assessment.

To give an idea of how much I'm eating to try to eat more carbs and calories here is dinner tonight:
3 cups white rice
2 Chicken Breasts
1/2 cup chili over rice
1 MD Bar
2 FA3 Caps

First meal today:
Zero Impact bar, 3 cups rice, two turkey meat loaf slices, 1/4 cup refried beans, chopped bell peppers, chopped cucumber. I'm absolutely stuffed.

Allergies are kicking my butt making me achy and cranky. Still was able to have a great training session last night. Last night was lats, did the kayak rows better last night, biceps were dead and weak, but lots of volume and I focused on the squeeze/ mind muscle connection.

Some input on CT's program. I'm learning to squat right again, in fact with squatting 5 times a week my form may be the best it has ever been. I'm tall so my focus has been on single let exercises and hip sled. I started doing this after a knee injury and became a bit squat phobic. I'm over that now. The volume per workout is less than what I'm used to except for the fact that 5 times a week I'm benching, squatting, o.h. pressing and deadlifting. The exception is the biceps training. I'm doing more volume for biceps. I now know what it will take to get my biceps to grow. I feel like my biggest weakness is my arms.

Fat loss continues despite absolutely stuffing myself every meal. I was going to eat a protein bar after training last night, but I was the walking dead and for half a second even thought of not showering. That quickly passed as the very thought of not showering after working in 100 degree plus temps, being covered with dust and training in a tent with no air conditioning suddenly gave me a dose of reality.

I hope what ever is in the air that is kicking my allergies up soon subsides.

One person I know has now bought IG3 because of my results. I think more are going to after their vacations.

The recovery aspects of IG-3 continue to amaze me. I'll be completely fried before my day off, think all day on my day off how I'll never recoup in one night and then wake up feeling like a new man. It isn't all training. Honestly I don't think that the Hypertrophy Base 2 is all that high of volume. A lot of it is that their is no way for me to get more than a maximum of 7 hours of sleep a night and it is usually around 6. That coupled with the fact that I train after work is a giant factor imo. Lots of stress here even though this is a mild base, it is dealing with the B.S. I deal with on a regular basis, life issues back home, kids living without their dad around ect. I laugh when people think they need to have everything in order before they can train. If you want something you do it. You stop bullshitting yourself you harden your mind like steel and you fucking do it.

I have no life outside of work and training. I train like my life may one day depend on it and always have. That has nothing to do with being in Afghanistan. It has everything to do with mindset.

One very refreshing thing about the Indigo team is that mind set. A lot of what I write may seem like complaining. I'm not complaining. I'm trying to give an example of over coming. I'm not over coming things that others have not overcome before. I'm simply a man. The indigo experience is probably partially as successful as it is because people are paying a lot of money for an admittedly great product. You put your pocketbook where your heart is. If you want to get better you are willing to pay for it.

DO WORK SON!

BTW Batman is my favorite superhero. Why? He had no superpowers, he was successful, wanted to help others, was just slightly above the law and had a dark side. I believe I'm a lot like batman. I'll never be bad ass enough, but I'll be hardening myself until the day I die.

Cool log.

We have some of the same challenges. I've got all sorts of shoulder issues as well (lax ligaments plus years of sports and the injuries just add up), but at 37, I don't care if I lift anything heavier than a 5lb dumbell as long as it gets the job done.

Love your comments on mindset above. Couldn't agree more.

I wake up in the middle of the night and when I roll over, I think to myself, "holy shit, I am destroyed and there is no way I'll be able to train again tomorrow."

And in the morning, I wake up and just CRUSH my workouts.

Great progress as well. Pretty quick fat loss.

Serge,

Yeah bro, I feel you. I think a lot of people look at me and say what a wuss! That guy should be lifting way more than that. I could probably still push some big numbers but that would take me out of the game rather quickly. For years I refused to change my training from a powerlifting/strongman style. Now I feel and look better by doing more bodybuilding/constant tension work. If found little tweeks that make an exercise harder and I focus on keeping tension in the target muscle. I'm sure you do the same.

You are looking really jacked dude, you must be doing a lot right. I'm pretty jealous of your shoulder bi/tri tie in! Phenominal. I just recently learned how to properly train shoulders and it has made a huge difference in a short amount of time. I can thank John Meadows for that.

Thank you for reading, I'm honored someone would want to hear what I have to say. Thank you for writing, it is nice to hear what others are going through to get progress.

Thank you for the compliments.

Last nights training was awesome. I had more energy than usual and was able to add some shoulder and tricep work at the end of training Chest. I've been able to do all but the deadlift portion of the HFS at work recently and that seems to help me loosen up during the day and also have more strength at night. For three nights in a row I've taken 2 grams of GABA which has significantly increased restful sleep and nervous system calming.

Pictures are tomorrow and I don't think that any new leanness will be seen although I do think that my legs are hardening up quiet well. I'm hoping a bit of size is noticeable, but I honestly don't notice any.

I was 209 when starting, at one point got down to 203 and am back at about 207 now and leaner so my guess is a few lbs of muscle gain and a few lbs of fat loss. Not bad.

Sounds like you are seeing some good results. No way not to with all you hardwork, IG-3, proper nutrition and you have A great attitude. You are doing good things - keep after it :)

n8tive,

Thank you for stopping by. I appreciate the kudos. Things are looking good on your end, the hard work is paying off!

StandTall: Thanks for the positive comments. At least I now know someone else who understands the challenges of working out on a military base. I feel your pain bro! Keep up the good work...it's paying off.