This is a guy who in this life has gained 40lbs of muscle and has trained for long time, gained weight, then lost some fat and now has a great physique. Here is the interview with him:

1. Why did you start training? What was the motivation? (Maybe some event happened that made you go “that’s it… I’m bulking up and changing my life!!!”)

At first, my motivation for training was for my own personal benefits. As things progressed, my motivation has become more about inspiring and helping others to achieve the body of their dreams.

I got into weight training as a scrawny teenager. Growing up, I always looked up to my older brothers and wanted to be just like them. I practically participated in everything they did and so when they got into weight training, I did as well. I played sports in high school and did weight training casually to help me with my strength. However, with my high metabolism and all the sports I played, I never really gained any size. I entered college as a scrawny 5′10″ 130 lb freshman. That’s when I began to take weight training more seriously. I was at the school’s gym nearly every day and since I lived on campus, had access to three square meals a day at the mess hall. By the end of my freshman year, I had gained a solid 20 lbs.

I remember during my sophomore year in college, I entered Bill Phillip’s Body For Life challenge. Participating in that contest helped me to add about another 10 lbs to my frame. Once I was out of college however, my weight training went on cruise control mode. It often took the back seat to work and me trying to keep up with my mortgage, car payments and countless other bills that consumed my life.

It wasn’t until a little over a year ago, when I started a Body Transformation Challenge with my brother and friend, that I started to take my training seriously again. It was a 90 day challenge to see who could make the most dramatic change to their physique. We invited everyone we knew to join us in achieving the body of their dreams. We wanted the challenge to be accessible to all people; it didn’t matter whether you were trying to lose weight or gain muscle. Our goal was to show people that it was possible to make a positive improvement with your body in a relatively short period of time. We developed an online forum where contestants could keep a daily journal to track their progress and motivate, educate, and assist each other in achieving their goals. With the success of that first challenge, we repeated it a second time and we are now currently getting ready to start the third challenge.

I invite all your readers to take the challenge.

2. What was the hardest thing to do?

The hardest thing for me to do is to diet correctly. I enjoy working out and lifting weights – I don’t enjoy dieting. I’ve always realized the importance of a good diet, but never successfully implemented one in my life. For me, dieting has always been about what food was available at the time I was hungry. What was convenient and what I craved was usually what I ate. I also ate more for enjoyment and quite simply, to satiate my hunger.

It was only until I made a specific goal of lowering my body fat percentage, that I finally took dieting seriously. In a little over a year, I’ve been able to drop from 170 lbs at 20% body fat to 158 at 10% body fat.

It’s taken a while, but I’ve changed my mindset about food and nutrition. I now look at it as a way to complement and enhance my training goals and also to support my lifestyle choice of healthy living.

3. What do you enjoy most with training?

There are many things I enjoy about training. For one thing, I appreciate the aesthetics of having a lean, symmetrical and muscular body. If you look at art throughout history, you will see that the heroic male archetype has always been portrayed this way. From the “Riace Warriors” of ancient Greece to Michaelangelo’s “David,” the embodiments of male power, strength and courage are best depicted through a ripped, “chiseled” body.

I look at the body as a piece of art, much like a sculptor looks at a piece of marble. We create the masterpiece of our body, by chipping away at the unessentials, like body fat and unhealthy foods. We mold and shape it by building muscles. In this light, I view my body as an on-going project. It is something that will never be completed but I will continual to work on.

Secondly, I love the feeling I get after a good, intense workout. It is a mixture of seemingly contradictory feelings. On the one hand, you feel strong and powerful as your muscles are pumped full of blood. On the other hand, you feel exhausted and depleted as you’ve used up all your energy. It is a reminder for me actually, about the paradoxical nature of life itself.
Our muscles grow when we break them down. In the same way, we can only grow in life by breaking down our barriers.

Thirdly, I enjoy the positive benefits I get from being in shape. In addition to weight training, I also participate in activities such as basketball, rock climbing and jiu-jitsu. So being in shape, gives me more energy – both physically and mentally. Not only am I able to get more done, but I am also able to focus more clearly. These benefits are highlighted whenever I go for periods of time where I don’t work out. I can sense the change in my physical and mental well-being.

One interesting, yet welcome side effect I’ve noticed is that my posture has improved. By being more aware of my form while I do exercises, I am able to transfer that awareness to my posture. I find myself walking taller and straighter.

4. How do you feel with your new body?

I feel wonderful with my current body. It gives me confidence to know that I have achieved my goals. That sense of accomplishment is great. I am now transferring the principles I learned over to other areas of my life, such as my relationships and career.

Not only is the personal satisfaction worthwhile, but the external responses have been tremendous as well. I’ve received many compliments about my body. It feels good to know that other people appreciate and admire the fruits of your hard work. Guys, no matter what they say, women do prefer a guy who has a nice body.

While the compliments are definitely an ego-boost, they pale in comparison to actually inspiring someone to make a positive change with their own bodies. That is the best feeling I get about working out – the sense of fulfillment that it provides.

5. What could you advice to fellow skinny brothers who want to repeat your success?

My main suggestion for guys who are looking to gain muscle is to cultivate a lifestyle of healthy living. Instead of just thinking of short term gains, envision how having a muscular physique will enhance your overall goal in life. In this way, weight training will become a life-long habit, instead of a short-term fix. It will be something we enjoy doing, rather than something we dread. There’s no sense in doing something that we despise. If we look at weight-training as something we MUST do, then we are FORCING ourselves to work out. Where’s the fun in that?

In order to make healthy living a long-term habit, you must have your own reasons for working out. Don’t do something just because somebody else tells you. All too often, I see people start a weight training program, only to give up after a few days or weeks. They have countless excuses for quitting, yet not one good reason for doing it. That’s because they haven’t made their OWN reasons – they use other people’s reasons. Therefore, they don’t really believe in what they’re doing and once they hit an obstacle, it is easy for them to give up.

Realize that having a muscular body is just one component in the grander picture of living a healthy life. Continual gains, require continual advancements. You shouldn’t stop training once you’ve reached your goals. Aim for constant improvement. If your mindset is one of continual advancement, then you can never fail at achieving your goals, for any seeming failures are actually teaching you how to improve.

6. What are your future goals with training?

I have a few goals on the table at the moment. My first immediate goal is to add 10 lbs of muscle. I just came through a period where my goal was to lose body fat and lean up. Now, that I’ve accomplished this, I would like to go through a phase of clean bulking. I am looking to add 10 lbs of lean muscle. This will be my goal for the next Body Transformation Challenge. Ultimately, I envision my body to be 180 lbs and to maintain that weight at under 10% body fat.

Another goal I have is concerning my diet. I appreciate the benefits of a raw diet. I would like to eliminate animal meats/products from my diet and transition more towards a vegan/raw diet. One of my interests is seeing how this type of diet can support/benefit those of us who enjoy weight training and maintaining a muscular physique. This will be a new adventure for me, but one that I feel will be a great learning and growth experience.

Lastly, I want to be able to share what I learn about weight training, dieting and living a healthy lifestyle with as many people as possible. I feel that life itself is an awesome experience to enjoy and that by living a healthy life, we are best able to gain the most out of it.

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Tola Seng is a pharmacist with a passion for creative growth and helping others succeed. A self-proclaimed “jack of all trades;master of life,” his interests include personal development, health, fitness, web design, film-making and photography. He maintains www.advancingman.com so he can share his passions with other “renaissance souls” and help them create the lives of their dreams

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