Tag Archives: bodyblitz

So, you've made the decision to enter BodyBlitz? Are you looking to win the monthly prize...or even the yearly grand prize? If so, you've come to the right place.

In 2005, I won the male Australian BodyBlitz competition, run by Australian Ironman. Australian Women's Health & Fitness run the female version of this competition (both magazines are owned by the same company, Blitz Publications). To give you an idea of my change over 12 weeks, here are the before and after photo's:

Yes, these photo's are legitimate and were good enough to play a role in winning the 2005 title. So how do you obtain a similar result to give yourself every chance at being crowned winner?

First things first - if you are serious about winning Bodyblitz, you need to give this 12 week period one-hundred percent effort. As a fitness professional, I do not recommend this approach for just anyone. If you have struggled with your weight for years and cannot adhere to a basic exercise/dietary routine, it may be wise to opt for a less demanding and sustainable approach. By all means, you can still enter the BodyBlitz challenge as a powerful motivational tool. However actually winning the competition means that you need to put in that little bit more to surpass the transformations of everyone else.

One hundred percent effort requires dedication to both an effective exercise and nutritional programme. It requires you to remain accountable to yourself and give every workout everything that you have. It means intensity, dedication and consistency. This is very important to understand before you begin the BodyBlitz challenge. If you enjoy a challenge, then this approach is for you!

In addition to this, you must also understand that there is no particular "way" to win BodyBlitz. The prior winners (myself included) have all followed an approach that is optimal for their own body's. This article is not about what exercises you should perform, nor what foods you should eat; as this will vary from individual to individual based on your goals, preferences, genetics, training experience etc.

Now that we have established the premise of this article, we can discuss how you are actually going to win the competition. I would strongly recommend that you obtain at least some training experience prior to embarking upon this challenge. It is important that you understand how your body works, how to exercise safely and effectively. This is not a necessity - many winners have had no training experience in the past. I do however feel that this personal experience will only aid you in your endeavours.

It is also important to determine your specific goals. It is not sufficient to think that you want to lose some weight. You need to be specific and measurable when developing your goals. Furthermore, you need to write them down and set a deadline. You may be interested in reading an article that I published on goal setting.

Next, a plan is necessary. How are you going to accomplish these goals? Over a 12 week period, you have a very limited amount of time. You cannot afford to waste a single workout, so you need to ensure that every cardiovascular and resistance based workout is fine-tuned for maximum effect. You also need to plan out your dietary approach to ensure maximum results. Also, how are these plans going to change over the 12 week period? Of course you cannot plan every little detail out before you begin the challenge (plans change and you need to be flexible), though it is important to have some idea of how your training and nutritional plans will be adapted over the course of the BodyBlitz challenge.

Part of planning is planning your supplementation strategy. For maximum results, you may consider the basics; protein powder, creatine, dextrose and vitamins. Glutamine and weight loss supplements may also assist you in accomplishing your goals. Ensure that you purchase all of your supplements prior to beginning the challenge - there is nothing worse than running out and minimising your results! Of course, these are very general recommendations and your supplementation strategy will vary greatly depending upon your goals.

As you progress through your challenge, you need to measure your progress objectively. Measure and weigh yourself weekly. To compliment your measurements, take fortnightly photographs and assess your physique visually as objectively as possible. If the figures are not changing in the desired manner, you need to make some changes to your approach. You must also analyse your progress with your resistance and cardiovascular results. If you are stuck in a plateau, there may be something wrong with your training and/or nutritional approach.

Ultimately with the BodyBlitz challenge, it comes down to your photo's and your essay. If you do push yourself during this period of time, I promise that you will learn A LOT about yourself. The changes that your body undergoes will be a physical manifestation of how you matured on the inside. This will show through in both the photo's and the essay.

If, after reading this post, you feel that you are ready to give the BodyBlitz challenge a real serious go, then I would strongly recommend that you read my book, written as a "how-to" guide for the BodyBlitz. The paperback book spans over 200 pages and discusses every aspect to this challenge. For more information, please check out How to Transform the Average Joe in 12 Weeks.

An interview with Jay Bonaretti on his Australian BodyBlitz win!

At the end of the day there are no tricks or gimmicks - it all comes down to being educated and applying this theory effectively.

Making the initial eating habit changes was not easy - I gave up a number of less healthier foods in my diet and relied heavily upon lean meats, fruits, vegetables, oats/muesli and flax oil/LSA mix.  However once I made these changes, not only did I feel SO much more energetic - I actually realised that these foods can also taste great!

Secondly my exercise regime was also extremely important in order to compliment my eating.  My major goals were to lose body fat, gain muscle mass and increase my fitness levels.  This required a sound cardio and resistance training program.

By integrating both a healthy eating lifestyle and an exercise regime I managed such a change in 12 weeks.  Now, a year later, I am in even better condition, simply because this is a new lifestyle - it wasn't a 12 week "diet".  However during my challenge, I can't say it was "easy" - if it was easy to make such significant lifestyle changes then everyone would have a 6 pack.  What is important to remember is that:

• You need to educate yourself
• Your lifestyle needs to be changed - permanently
• Looking after yourself must be your number one priority
• You need to remain focussed, continually set goals and reward yourself upon achieving those goals

There are many of us that aren't happy with who we are, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, or a combination. I was one of these people - yet making such a drastic change in myself required much more than lifting weights.

Hi Suzikatz!

Assuming that you are in sound medical condition, I am a big believer that ANYTHING is possible if you put your mind to it.

I think that surgery is too often referred to as a 'safe alternative' to getting in shape by leading a healthy lifestyle.  It's quite simply not a magical cure.  Surgery should only be considered after ALL other avenues have been exhausted.

Consider what you have done so far in regards to your health and fitness.  Ask yourself the following questions:

Do I KNOW how to eat properly?

Have you done your research?  Do you know what foods are acceptable and what aren't?  Do you know how to read food labels?  Do you know how many grams of fat, protein and carbs to consume in a day?

Diet is obviously a very important factor here - it will make a HUGE difference to your weight concerns.  The beauty about these 12 week challenges is that by being consistent with your diet for a number of weeks, you form a completely new eating habit.  No more yo-yo diets or magical supplements - as far as I'm concerned, THEY DON'T WORK.  You must ensure that this eating lifestyle is healthy and something that you can live with.

Do I KNOW how to exercise effectively?

Exercise will of course make an enormous difference to your physique.  What I learnt from my challenge is that, prior to my research, I never knew how to exercise effectively.  Knowledge is power - and with that power you can reap some amazing results.  There are two types of particular interest, cardio and weight training.

With your cardio training, you don't need to run for hours on end to lose fat.  This can become boring and time consuming - you can lose interest VERY quickly.  By increasing the intensity of your cardio workouts, you challenge yourself whilst expending more calories in a given time.  Not only that, once you get off the cardio machine, your metabolism will be raised for a longer period of time - which means you'll be effectively burning fat even after your workout!

Your resistance training will also increase your metabolism.  The more muscle mass you have, the higher your resting caloric expenditure.  But don't be scared to get in there and challenge yourself with the weights either!  Higher intensity here will produce some great results.

With your exercise, it is important that if you are unsure of how to train, enlist the help of a professional to show you how to achieve your goals.

How much time and effort have I invested into improving myself?  Is this enough?

Ask yourself if you really have put in 100% into your transformation.  At the end of the day we have to accept responsibility for ourselves.  Put yourself right at the top of your priorities.  Remember, this is not selfish - you NEED to look after yourself.  Once you look after yourself you can then look after others.

 

There's a lot of information on this website about all of the topics discussed above.  Because I can only go into limited detail here, if you're unsure of anything please visit our forums - we have a whole section dedicated to women's training.