Justin Flowers, Age 26, 5'10"
Starting point: 180 lbs. 22% bodyfat: 39lbs.
fat, 141lbs. lean mass
Fittest point: 178 lbs. 9% bodyfat: 16lbs. fat, 162lbs. lean mass
*21lbs. of lean mass was added & 23 lbs. of pure fat was lost.
Before
After
Prior to returning to exercise in June ‘13, how long of a layoff did you have & how were you feeling mentally & physically?
I had taken2 years off. Prior to that I had been working with a different
personal trainer, but I was also doing a ton of cardio, so my body fat was
extremely low but not very muscular. Fast forward 2 years and I was
fat. Not obese, but definitely enough to feel unhappy with myself,
self-conscious about my body, and ready to make a change. I don’t think I
really knew how bad it was until I stepped back into the gym.
What was it that
brought you to your breaking point and motivated you to "take action"
and actually start working out again?
There
were so many different things that just kind of culminated into me getting back
into the fitness game. I think the worst was that feeling when you’re
sitting in a chair and your gut just kind of spills over the top of your
jeans. Also my girlfriend definitely had some endearing nicknames for me
like “chubby” that I was happy to see go along with my
fat stomach. And the last thing was that summer was imminent and
pool parties and tank tops are my favorite things, so the clock was
ticking. I took a fat selfie and vowed to never look like that again so
long as I am able.
What goals and
expectations did you have for yourself prior to getting started?
Well,
I think fitness is one of those activities in life where the goalpost always
moves on you. The only real goal I had was to look better with my shirt
off. When I started, I told myself I only had to do one thing – which was
to make each week better than my last.
A lot of people
come up with excuses on why they “can’t” workout. A good example is they
claim to not have enough time. As someone who has an unorthodox work
schedule (Justin works the graveyard shift), what steps did you take to ensure
you worked out a minimum of 4 times per week?
There
are two barriers to success: physical and mental. I think the mental
barrier is the more difficult of the two to overcome, and so I always had to make
sure I was setting myself up for success by removing any obstacles. For
me working night shift, I had to make sure that I always went to work with a
packed gym bag. That way, when I got off, no matter how tired I was, I
would just drive to the gym (it’s on my way home – on purpose) and once there I
had no reason not to go in. Sometimes I would be so tired I’d sit in
the parking lot for a good 10 minutes just trying to make it happen, but with
all the tools with me and already being there, it never failed – I always went
in and made a workout happen. No one can help you overcome any mental
barriers but you…that has to come from within.
Overcoming
the physical barrier is easy, because there are tools to help you. Tired?
Chug a pre-workout…it will give you energy. I separated my shoulder a few
years ago and can’t do certain exercises. Keith was great about finding
alternative ways for me to work the same muscle groups. Whatever physical
barriers you may have, I guarantee someone has found a way around it before and
can help you too. We all have the same basic genetic building blocks and
we all have the potential to be better – no excuses!
Nothing worthwhile
in life is ever easy. When you were in the process of slicing your bodyfat in half,
what continued to fuel your fire outside of the workouts and bring you to do
things like eating every 3 hours, and resisting temptations such as garbage
food & alcoholic beverages while in social settings?
Not
going to lie, this is probably the hardest part. You put an hour in at
the gym and then have to put effort into your eating habits the remaining 23
hours of the day. But, if you’re really attuned to your body, it will
help tremendously. I think being attuned to your body will help you see the
progress, and being able to see your body change is really
addicting! It will also help you to see how poor decisions impacts your
body in a largely negative way. Take for example one night of binge
drinking – you usually eat poorly that night, sometimes the next day too, wake
up bloated, miss a day at the gym due to hangover, workout all week to burn
those calories off and BOOM – suddenly a week has gone by and you’re suddenly
worse off than you had been the week prior. Make that mistake once and
you'll know how those drinks will look on your stomach a week later.
Knowing and understanding how the decisions you make in the kitchen affect your
body will make it a lot easier to say no.
Now that you’ve
been in consistent workout mode for the past year, why is it something that
will be a mainstay for you moving forward & what fitness goals do you have
for yourself?
Like
I said, the progress is addicting. I’ve accomplished a lot in the past
year, but now that I’ve set good habits and laid down a strong foundation of
muscle, I only want to keep going.
There is no
denying that an intense, appropriate, and effective strength training workout
will put a person’s mental fortitude to the test. When the level of
difficulty would become so great that you would want to throw in the towel,
what went through your head and prevented you from doing so?
I
doubt that, especially in the beginning states, 99% of people can push
themselves as hard as a personal trainer does. Which is why having a
personal trainer is so effective. During a workout, Keith is highly
attuned to everything that’s going on with a client. Going into it he
knows what I’ve eaten, how much I’ve slept, how my stress levels are, and
monitors my respiratory rate and so on. So, he never asks me to do
something I can't do...it's always in me, somewhere. Knowing it's in
there I usually just let out a few expletives and try my hardest. Also, I
spend a considerable amount of time on Instagram and I follow hundreds of
fitness and clean eating pages so I get a lot of daily inspiration!
Talk a little bit
about the different styles of training that you were introduced to (outdoor
full body conditioning based & split training within a gym setting)..How
did they differ & what did you like/dislike?
The
outdoor full body conditioning was intense. A lot of cardio or movements
that taxed every part of your body. It really gets your heart rate ramped
up and will have the fat pouring off of you. It's awesome because you can
go with a group of friends, but it is tough. We used it a lot in the
beginning to drop my bodyfat down, probably around 8-9%, and it was really great for that.
After I got to that point, my goals shifted and I really wanted to gain some
muscle, so we moved to the gym. The gym is equally intense, but not in
the same way. It really taxes my mental fortitude and puts all of my
muscle fibers to the test. And that muscle has helped me get bigger and
increase my metabolic rate too so I can continue shredding bodyfat!
As someone who has
worked with a number of personal trainers, what was different about your
experience this time around?
My last personal trainer was with a big-box gym. It was
double the price but my results just weren't as great. The difference is
Keith feels more like a friend who is really invested in your fitness
journey. You can text him for advice anytime because his clock doesn't
end the second you walk out of the gym. He checks in on you even when you
don’t see him to make sure that you're maximizing your workouts. He gives
nutritional advice. He even lets me borrow his shoes when I don't bring
the proper ones for lifting. If you want someone who is going to run the
full mile right alongside you, you won't find anyone else better than Keith.
Last Justin, what
advice would you have for someone who is looking to return to exercise after an
extended layoff?
Well - you could continue reading or you could just start.
Only one of the two options will get you to where you want to be. It's
going to be tough - starting up again is the most challenging part (I
should know!) Just know that it will only get better and to celebrate the
results no matter how big or small.
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