With a name like Ripped Body, you may think we only help people with fat loss. While it’s true that many of our clients come to us initially looking for help with that, fat loss is just the first step.
You can’t expect to chisel a pebble and end up with the statue of David. Unless you are built like a lumberjack, most people will need to go through a dedicated muscle gain phase at some point, which will involve some fat regain that you’ll cut off after. — This is how you take your physique to the next level once your newbie gains have plateaued: lean out further, if necessary, then alternate bulking and cutting cycles to build your physique over time.
Tommy is unique in that he transformed his physique by gaining 25 pounds of muscle before reaching out to us for help. So, before we explain what we did to help him break his plateau and take his physique to the next level, allow me to take a moment to explain his initial transformation.
Tommy’s Initial Transformation Without Our Help — 25 Pounds of Muscle Gain
Tommy was always skinny growing up. At 26, he decided to make a change. He joined a local CrossFit gym, loved the atmosphere, worked hard, and gained a lot of muscle in the first six months. However, he hit a plateau for about a year. Then, he discovered our site through Reddit, got a copy of Andy’s “Diet Adjustments Manual,” and gained more muscle. His results below show an estimated 25 pounds of muscle gain.
Tommy was new to training, had no background in playing sports, and was primed to grow. So, while his results are impressive, they are not a mystery: he trained hard, ate well, and put on a good amount of muscle as a result. However, when Tommy hit another plateau that he couldn’t break out of, he reached out for coaching. This article explains exactly what we did to help him take his physique to the next level.
Our Coaching
Tommy was frustrated.
“Before I started coaching, I was a two-and-a-half-year macro counting nut and near-daily gym goer who grew tired of not seeing meaningful progress. I was long past the ‘newbie gain’ phase and stuck. I knew I would have to bulk, but I put it off because I made myself allergic to gaining fat. A few weeks after reading The Muscle and Strength Pyramid books, I applied for coaching, spoke to head coach Andy, and decided to work with coach Matt.“
Tommy was now an experienced trainee.
👉 A recomp — fat loss and muscle gain at the same time — was not possible, as he was already lean. He needed to enter a dedicated bulk phase. (See: “Should I Bulk, Cut, or Recomp?“
👉 He could no longer rely on his hunger and fullness cues to drive him into a calorie surplus. He would have to consistently eat a little more than felt comfortable. To minimize fat gain, we would count calories and track his weight. Our goal was to gain 1.5 pounds per month, increasing food if we fell short of this target.
👉 Tommy was training too much. This was likely hampering recovery and holding him back.
👉 He would need to get over his fear of fat gain. I suggested we bulk for eight months and then cut for the last four. I repeated that a certain degree of fat gain was inevitable and needed to be accepted, as it was the only way to break through the plateau.
Tommy had his wedding to save for and couldn’t afford to work with us for the entire duration. So, the plan was to work together until he felt comfortable to take the reins on his own. We ended up working together for four months in total. However, while he checked in periodically with questions, credit must go to Tommy for his dedication and commitment to executing the year-long plan we laid out for him.
The Bulk: Tommy’s Initial Macros and Training Plan
Tommy’s Nutrition Setup
Target: Gain 1.5 pounds per month. This was on the conservative side of what was likely possible, taking into account his preference for minimizing fat gain. (See: “How to Adjust Calories and Macros as You Bulk To Minimize Fat Gain.”)
We used macro cycling, with higher calorie and macro targets on training days and lower targets on his rest days.
You don’t need to cycle macros, but I think this is a good approach for someone who’s already consistent with tracking and prefers variety in their diet. You get a little more food (and carbs!) on training days to keep you fueled, and the lower food intake on rest days can keep your overall weekly intake lower.
If this feels overwhelming, start by focusing on hitting the same calorie target each day with a minimum protein goal, and work your way up to tracking all three macros or using macro cycling if you wish.
Tommy’s starting nutrition targets were:
👉 Training Day Calories and Macros: 2,300 kcal, P:160 C:280 F:60
👉 Rest Day Calories and Macros: 2,260 kcal P:160 C:225 F:80
Tommy’s Training Plan
Tommy loves spending time in the gym, so we went with a 5-day training split. I had to discourage him from doing more, as I felt he could benefit from the additional recovery. Sometimes, people plateau when they train too much, which is what I thought was going on with Tommy.
His program was customized but similar in structure to our free Intermediate Bodybuilding Program. Our training split was as follows:
Day 1: Lower-body Strength Focus
Day 2: Upper-body Strength Focus
Day 3: Lower-body Hypertrophy Focus
Day 4: Push Hypertrophy Focus
Day 5: Pull Hypertrophy Focus
This setup allows each muscle to be trained twice per week, first with a strength focus and then with a higher-volume hypertrophy focus. There are many ways to build muscle, but this is my favorite approach for clients who want to build strength and size rather than focusing on one or the other.
The Bulk: The Nutrition and Training Adjustments
During the first four months, we only adjusted his nutrition twice.
The First Nutrition Adjustment
You can see that his weight and measurements dropped during the first week. This might be alarming if you’re not used to looking at data like this, but fluctuations should be expected, and we always suggest waiting until the end of the fourth week to assess progress.
Four weeks in, it was clear that he wasn’t gaining weight, so I suggested the following calorie bump:
👉 Training Day: 2,545 kcal, P:160 C:330 F:65
👉 Rest Day: 2,365 kcal P:160 C:240 F:85
You’ll notice I increased the training day macros more than the rest day macros, which received a smaller increase. Increasing calorie intake on both days equally may have worked just fine, but I knew Tommy would have no issues with adherence and I wanted to do everything possible to minimize fat gain for him. And as energy expenditure would be higher on the training days, it makes sense to have this a little higher.
The Second Nutrition Adjustment
You can see that his weight started to increase after this adjustment, but by week 10, things were slowing down, and I suggested an increase in his calorie intake again. Our new targets, as highlighted in the cells, were:
👉 Training Day: 2,765 kcal, P:160 C:365 F:65
👉 Rest Day: 2,505 kcal P:160 C:275 F:85
As you can see, this adjustment got his weight gain back on track and carried us through the end of our time working together.
Training Plan Adjustments
Tommy continued to get stronger in all of his lifts, so there was no need to change his program. This is one of the principles of the Ripped Body Method: don’t mess with things that are working! Novelty can mask your ability to assess what is working and what needs to be changed.
The Bulking Results
Here are the results of the four months he was coached by us:
Weight: 135.9 > 142.4 lbs
Height: 5’5 (165 cm)
1RM Squat: 300 lbs > 335 lbs
1RM Bench Press: 205lbs > 225 lbs
1RM Overhead Press: 145lbs > 165 lbs
Tommy gained 6.5 pounds and added ~10% to his lifts. There was a little fat gain, but as you can see, he still had his abs. This may not seem like a lot, but you can see this made a considerable difference to his 5’5 frame.
We gave Tommy detailed parting guidance, and he continued on his own for another four months, increasing macros when things stalled. (See: “How To Adjust Calories and Macros as You Bulk.”)
He switched away from macro cycling, preferring the simplicity of a single daily calorie target. He continued to nudge his calorie intake upward to continue gaining weight.
Start of bulk nutrition targets:
👉 Training days 2,300 kcal, P:160 C:280 F:60
👉 Rest days: 2,260 kcal P:160 C:225 F:80
End of bulk nutrition targets:
👉 Daily: 2,880 kcal P:160 C:425 F:60
Here are the results of the four months where he continued to bulk on his own:
Weight: 142.4 > 152.5 lbs
As you can see, he gained another 10 pounds. This was faster than our 1.5 pounds per month target, a little too fast, and he gained a little more fat than he otherwise would have. However, given that his background was being scared of fat gain, I’m proud of him for pushing his comfort zone.
🙋🏻♂️ Interested in coaching? Click here to add your name to our waiting list, as we plan on accepting new clients in the upcoming weeks.
So what does this mean in terms of overall muscle gain and physique change? This is where we need to cut down to see the results of our efforts.
Tommy’s 4.5-Month Cut
The time had come for Tommy to strip away the fat and see how much muscle he’d built by the time of his wedding.
His first move was to reduce his calorie intake by ~800 kcal each day. (See: “How To Cut After Bulking.”)
Here’s how his nutrition targets changed when transitioning to the cut:
👉 End of bulk targets: 2,880 kcal P:160 C:425 F:60
👉 Start of cut targets: 2,070 kcal P:160 C:245 F:50
I gave Tommy guidelines on when to adjust his calorie intake (basically, as slowly and infrequently as possible). One of his questions was how low he could safely take his macros, so I figured he was getting quite lean, but I hadn’t realized exactly how lean he was until he sent me a photo, as I was no longer reviewing his data and photos.
My jaw dropped.
Weight: 152.2 > 134.7 lbs
“Sorry for the unsolicited shirtless pic. I wanted to prove that I got the last few pounds of stubborn fat off. Thanks again for everything!!”
This is a total of 17.5 pounds lost in 18 weeks, an appropriate pace that perfectly hit Tommy’s target of losing 0.75-1 pounds per week.
Here’s how his food changed:
👉 Starting Macros: 2,880 kcal P:160 C:425 F:60
👉 Final Macros: 1,400 kcal P:160 C:100 F:40
Was his calorie intake too low?
Tommy noted that while he didn’t make further progress on his lifts (which is normal while dieting), he maintained his performance. He noticed occasional fatigue and brain fog, but it wasn’t 24/7, and he could put up with the trade-off. If the hunger and fatigue had been worse, the advice would have been to increase his calorie intake and accept a slower rate of weight loss.
During the cut, Tommy made a few small adjustments to his training plan — swapping out exercises for variety — but the overall structure remained the same.
The Final Reveal: 12 Months of Progress
Here’s the progress Tommy made in just over a year:
Weight: 135.9 > 152.2 > 134.7 lbs
You can see that Tommy is leaner and more muscular at approximately the same weight. I estimate he gained 6–7 pounds of muscle, which makes a lot of difference to his 5’5 frame.
Three Key Lessons
👉 Don’t fear fat gain when bulking. Some fat gain is normal, and it’s much easier to lose fat after you’re done rather than bulking so slowly that you barely see a difference.
👉 Don’t be too quick to fiddle with things. Muscle growth is a slow process and you need time to assess the efficacy of any change you make. Wait at least 4 weeks after any adjustment.
👉 Avoid program hopping. Aside from swapping exercises here and there to work around minor injuries and strains, we didn’t need to make any sweeping changes to Tommy’s program.
Many people think that building muscle or losing fat has to be complicated, especially once you’re past the beginner stage, but this isn’t true. There was no program hopping or “advanced” training techniques. We didn’t have to make weekly diet adjustments or have a cabinet full of “muscle-building” supplements. The basics work.
Here’s what he had to say about his experience:
“Matt is one of the most data-driven, detail-oriented people I have ever had the pleasure of (virtually) meeting. It’s clear that he has a deep love for what he does. I didn’t make things easy on him and asked a ton of questions. He never bristled at them and always gave extremely detailed responses. The results speak for themselves.”
👉 If you’re interested in coaching, click here and fill out the form.
Andy will reach out to see if we’re a good fit. Even if you decide not to work with us, he’ll leave you with detailed advice for your goals.
Thank you for reading. 🙏
Privacy policy.