Ashley Curry - Shape Up - first blog entry

Early mornings, aching muscles, countless supplements to be ingested, doesn’t sound like the most glamorous and fun competition to have won, but never the less every ache and pain has been SO worth it. 

It is the end of Week 2 and I have already begun to see changes in my body, a new muscle here, slightly less fat there.  These first 2 weeks have all been about adapting to my new healthy active lifestyle. 

I have gone from an average guy, who tried to eat all the right things but was always tempted by delicious food and drinks, which always got the better of me.  I tried to go to the gym 4-5 times a week but a busy social calendar always got in the way.  Now I have committed myself to a healthy high protein, low fat diet and a vigorous weight training program and all the cardio I can possibly fit into my day.

Ashley's before photo

These first 2 weeks have been a real eye opener, I have found it surprisingly easy to change my diet and eat well… a little tip, if you think its bad for you, then it probably is!! Thanks to this new diet, which includes as many vegetables as possible I feel more alert, I’m sleeping better and I have so much more energy.  This increased energy both mentally and physically has aided in my training and I have actually started looking forward to training sessions.  The biggest tip I can recommend when it comes to training is doing as many different types of physical activity in a day as you possibly can.  This keeps things interesting and doesn’t make it seem like a chore.  I am working out in the gym 4-5 times a week for around an hour and on top of this I have signed up to the boot camp classes run by Andrew’s business Life Active, which are so much fun! I also try and ride my bike instead of driving my car and I’m taking advantage of the beautiful weather we are having by running in my lunch breaks.

My friends have always said I could have a good body if I just applied myself, but I always had an excuse ready… it has taken this competition to get me to realise that they were right and all I needed was to be dedicated and have a serious outlook towards my health. Hopefully I can keep on track and navigate the many Christmas parties and celebrations coming up in the next few months.

Remember its true what they say… “Nothing tastes as good as HEALTHY feels!!”

Greg Keith - Lean Up - says hi!

To say the last couple of weeks have been challenging, would be an understatement. At times it has been intense but I know the goal is worth it.

I am finding the detox diet which Andrew has put me on much easier than I thought. The supplements we have been given from ASN are great, even the detox toxin which I have been taking (Cleanse U). Truth is the thought of having to drink a detox herbal mix turned my stomach but is actually quite nice.

Doing weights in the morning I have found a lot easier to do than doing them after work. If I leave it to the afternoon I tend to find it hard to motivate myself, as I’m tired after work and just want to go home and relax. I have also found this with cardio as well, doing it at lunch is easier to motivate myself and I am alert for the rest of day.

The boot camps with Life active are fantastic as they give me variety of exercises I can do outside of the gym, and the Active Release Technique assessment that Mike Badke of Stretch Doctor did has shown me which muscles I need to work on, giving me exercise and treating any damaged muscles.

Will keep you update with my challenges and progress.

Greg

Make Me Hot contest Week 2

Well the hard work has begun, the blood sweat and tears have started flowing - and the aches are a real testament to the effort the guys have been putting in.

Ok it sounds like the beginning of some epic war movie, with entrails leaking out of gunshot wounds and 3 hardy soldiers battling towards a bitter end. In reality, there's no gunshot wounds... yet.

The boys have been doing it tough with their first 2 weeks. It's been a bit of a whirlwind for all, as we went from selecting the contestants, to calling them, arranging as many initial tests and training sessions as we could given everyone's already full schedules - then starting them off in the right direction.

As with any good training program, before we have the guys lift a weight it was important to find out where their previous training (if any) and current lifestyles, had gotten them to. We needed to know strength, fitness, flexibility - and any biomechanical issues they had. Then it was time to analyse diet and make suggestions for meal plans, and work with ASN (www.asn.com.au) to get some great supplements started for the boys. Once the physical assessments were done we had to make sure our contestants were well trained on their programs so they could start doing their workouts solo.

Week 1

There was little time to lose between notifying our lucky 3 contestants that they were about to embark upon 12 gruelling, guided weeks of body changes - and getting them in to do initial assessments and consults at Golds Gym Surry Hills, where they would be basing their training for the next 3 months.

The MMH trainers - Ianthea and I!

In every case, if a person hasn't exercised for a while, or if they've been exercising without any particular focus or guidance, it is important to get an idea of baseline health and fitness. Greg, Ash and Andre all had to submit to an hour and a half of testing each with myself and one of my trainers Ianthea. We measure everything, from hamstring flexibility in 3 positions, to how their squat looks and what this can tell us about how their lower body muscles are working together; to complete strength testing for the upper body. We need to know how the previous lives of these guys have affected their shoulders, knees, backs, hips, ankles - the lot.

With the test results we could start developing tailored programs for each.
    * Greg needed a lot of shoulder press work, supplemented with shoulder stabiliser strength. Previous injuries meant that using heavy barbell lifts on chest, shoulders, or legs, would be potentially unbalancing.
    * Ash had good fitness, but needed more glute and back strength so as not to develop poor posture, back pain or overuse injuries. His upper body showed a need for more back and shoulder work too to balance out chest.
    * Andre had a number of imbalances through shoulders, upper back, glutes and ankles. Whilst we could give some initial corrective exercises, it was time to send the boys on for further testing and Active Release Technique work with Mike Badke and Stretch Doctor at City Clinic in Sydney - an essential service for getting the most out of Greg Ash and Andre as soon as possible!

Andre Olves - Bulk Up contestant - Says Hi!

First of all just to introduce myself. My name is Andre, I am 20 years old. I am half Norwegian and half Swedish. I applied for the ”Make Me Hot Competition” because I thought it could be a huge opportunity for me to ”make me hot” so to say haha. My confidence is not the best in the world (!) and I did not think I would make it. When Andrew called me and told me that I was in the competition I was so thrilled! I felt so incredible lucky that I got the chance to transform my body. And that I would be featured in DNA! However, I soon realized it was going to be a hard road to success. I thought my biggest challenge was going to be first of all eat healthy, but also eat enough food to build muscles. The most challenging part to me is to avoid the social drinking. How can you avoid alcohol when you go out? I haven't figured that out yet, but I just have to try!

The first week started off with a before photo shoot and I sprayed tanned myself which shows how low self-esteem I have lol. I was like all orange, but thought I would look better haha. I know that I didn't look very hot in those photos and am a bit ashamed showing my body like that to Australia, but I will work my ass off so I can show you all my new body!

We all have to see a chiropractor which is Mike Badke at City Clinic. He is helping our bodies to perform at its best by doing whatever he is doing! My body is insanely stiff and he is really helping me out. I don't think I could be able to workout so efficiently without his help.

We meet every wednesday at 7 am (!) for a group workout. Except for the group session I workout three days in a row, then one day cardio and if I have some ”spare time” left I get a day off :P I have take lots of supplement and I have to eat A LOT ! My body feels sore at all times, but who am I to complain. I have a huge chance to not only transform my body, but also be a role model for all you out there that wants to achieve the same as I want; overall health and fitness and of course a hot body!

You can also transform your body while following my journey to a hotter body (:D). Join me and transform into a better, healthier and sexier you. Haha that sounded like a TV-ad for some poor training machine that's definitely not going to do any good to you what-so-ever! The only thing that stands between you and whatever you want to achieve is yourself and lots of hard work! 

Don't just think ”I wish I had a hot body”. You make sure it'll happen! It WILL, just get started and you're on your way!

I'll keep you updated with my progress and share with you my training programs, diet and supplements so you too can start working out!

DNA Make Me Hot competition begins!

Mid summer’s closing in and it’s time once again for the DNA Make Me Hot challenge! What started in 2008 with Lawrence Ridley, a skinny twink that had always struggled to put on muscle – and who ended up a side of solid British beef – has now come around again in 2011 with 3 new contenders for the title of ‘biggest transformation’.

A few months ago we opened up the contest to readers of the DNA e-newsletter (another reason to subscribe to the mailing list). Applicants had to be available for 12 weeks over October to December, in Sydney, for personal training, nutrition and supplement advice by Life Active, my body ‘transformation’ business.

This year we had 3 categories, with one final challenger in each vying to achieve the best they can in each common goal area:

• Bulk Up
• Shape Up
• Lean Up

We had a number of fantastic applications, which was actually quite a fascinating insight in itself into our readers! We had by far the most number of applicants in the ‘Shape’ category – indicating that a lot of you out there already do something for your health and fitness, but aren’t quite sure exactly how to get the results you want.

And that’s where following this contest is going to give you a leg up! By signing up to the DNA & Life Active Make Me Hot mailing list (www.dnamakemehot.com) I’ll be sending out health, fitness and transformation tips plus exercise programs that we’ll be using with the guys.

It would be awesome to see if you can achieve the same or even more than our MMH boys by following their programs and supplements on your own!