As you may have read previously, I’m currently the test dummy for Rusty Moore’s Visual Impact program.
I don’t adhere to fads nor gimmicks (how’d you guess that?) so i was skeptical at first, but then I got to know Rusty and his style of teaching over at fitnessblackbook.com.
As I leafed through the program, I came to realise that the guy just might know what he’s talking about.
Game, set and match
So it’s all over. What started out as a 6 month trial, is finally at an end. Looking back on it all, I’ve learnt a lot about what I can handle in terms of training intensity and duration. I’ve also learnt that I probably prefer cheat-days a little more than I should.
Am I please with the results of Visual Impact?
Absolutely. I’m pretty lean (especially considering December is a terrible time to be completing any kind of body transformation).
The one caveat, which I discuss in the video above, is that I used two other dietary tricks to maintain low body fat levels whilst holding onto my muscle.
The tricks I used and will continue to use
Eat-Stop-Eat – I used this strategy once per week EVERY week whilst on Visual Impact.
Lean Gains – This is basically a shorter fasting strategy which I used in conjuction with Eat-Stop-Eat at least once per week.
How did i prevent muscle loss during Visual Impact?
By using BCAA’s before, during and after training.
This is VERY important when using a fasting regimen particularly when weight-training at the same time.
The body is hunting for nutrients at this point and will go looking for them in muscle mass if you don’t give them a BCAA spike. More on fasted training can be viewed here, whilst the powered form of BCAA’s I choose to use can be found here (no i’m not being paid to promote this product).
What I would change next time I used Visual Impact
I would be a lot more strict with my diet. I fell off the cart many a time with meals that were too heavy especially at night. Instead of eating a standard bowl of food for example, I found myself opting for a larger quantity. This was a big, fat, naughty no-no.
What’s next?
I’m going to keep cycling this program for a while longer to get back to a relatively good body fat level. As I write this, I’ve spent a week drinking and eating WAY too much. I feel soft and sluggish as I haven’t been to the gym for a little while. However, tomorrow is a new day, and I’m looking forward to getting back into my routine and feeling ‘good about myself’ once again.
Further reading on Visual Impact and intermittent fasting
To read more about Rusty’s program, i suggest you go to his page on Visual Impact here. If you’d like to read more about the program from my own perspective, I have a detailed page on it here. I suggest you also checkout Eat-Stop-Eat and leangains.com to get amongst Intermittent Fasting.
You’ll be glad you did ;)
Good job to follow it through the 6 months. It’s a very good program if looking to create a very lean muscular look without gaining too much size. If you looking to drop more body fat I think ESE is the best way but to get last few % then carb cycle will give you that hard look. I just did a 7000 calorie hit in one day New Year Eve of course and the results were pretty good.
Did you have before photos? It would be interesting to see where you came from.
Well done.
Raymond
I think the lean gains approach will be something I’ll try next. I tried carb cycling a few years back but found it VERY difficult to maintain. In terms of before pix, I have a few more as per above but only with tees on.
Trust me, there wasn’t a vein or abdominal to be seen at the start of June. Too much Parisian butter I’m afraid ;)
Clint, Looking great buddy! Glad the program worked so well
for you. A lot of people dig it, because it allows people to use
their favorite exercises (I was never a fan of following plans that
don’t give you this flexibility). Now that you are done, you can
hop between phases and get the timing down perfectly for an event,
summer, etc. I like to stay in phase 2 most of the year, drop to
phase 3 about 8-10 weeks before a vacation and add in the bonus
phase 3 weeks before the vacation. Works well :) I know what you
mean about eating crappy during the holidays! -Rusty
Thanks Rusty!
That’s a great tip concerning the ongoing use of the phases. I did ‘enjoy’ the 2nd phase a lot more than the others ;)
Off to the gym in 20mins, think it’ll be Phase 2 to ease my way back into training for the new year.
Thanks again for a stellar program mate.
Man this is awesome! Congrats on the results.
It’s funny that you mention you sort of fell off the diet wagon a few times but honestly you can’t tell.
Totally ripped!
Goes to show that a great program will always give anyone great results.
-Sam
Cheers Sam ;)
The program has such a good amount of variation in it, that if you get your diet pretty close to what id call ‘acceptable’ the lean, hollywood look should be achievable for most people.
Consistency is definitely the key though! (my training frequency was 4 times a week being my sweet-spot).
Damn Clint…you’re freaking ripped! Awesome job!
You said you wanted to stick your diet a little better the next time. Shit…your results look pretty good to me. I can’t imagine how much better you would look had you kept to a stricter diet.
Keep up the hard work brother!
Pete
Thanks Pete,
I just want to reinforce that I’m not in anyway disappointed with the results, I just know in myself that I slacked off a few more times with my DIET than I would have liked to. That is DIET related only, and not the program itself as I stuck to it pretty much to the letter for the entire 6 months.
Great results Clint! Interested to see what your next step is…just maintenance mode, try to get leaner, add even more muscle? A few cheat days during the diet keeps you sane so don’t be too hard on yourself…obviously didn’t hurt you too much!
Well, now i’m over a week after the above photos, ive lost a little bit of definition (eat, booze, eat, booze repeat :)).
I’m going to run Phase 2 for a month or so and cycle Visual Impact again until i get back from the USA in June.
I’d be keen to increase muscle mass to where I was prior to starting the final phase, as I feel i did lose a bit.
Obviously, I’m not complaining, but there’s always room for some ‘tweaks’ :)
Hey Clint, I didn’t even know Rusty came out with that program! Glad you had such great results on it! You are looking awesome!
Thanks so much Susan :)
Stay tuned for Rusty’s new ebook which concentrates on getting the ladies into shape. Should be a cracker too.
Clint,
You look great man! I also went through Visual Impact – what a great program. Look forward to reading more of the blog this year.
David
Cheers David,
Thanks for the support. 2011 is going to be a blinder!
Awesome job Clint. Glad to hear that you stuck to the program throughout the whole time frame. I know that sometimes things get to feeling repetitive when you stick to the same routine for a long period of time. For the results that you got, this seems to be one awesome routine. I am pumped to read what you try next. I have learned a lot from your blog and Steve from Project Swole. Keep it up, it’s helping me, at least! Haha!
Cheers for the kudos Bryan.
I’ve gotta say, the variety which the program offers is fantastic. You really see results in (in different areas) as you move through the phases. Size in phase 1, more strength in the second and so on.
Fasting trial is next… stay tuned for updates on this :)
wow, wicked, you look lean, nicely done!
I have a big problem with the night time eating also, its probably where I fall off the most. I think its a good idea to cycle this program, I’m starting over again as of now so I’m excited to get on with it.
Thanks mate :)
Night time is wear ice-cream tends to rear its ugly head!
Looking forward to the pix when you post the results on your blog.
Dooooooode, looking awesome!!! I’m trying Visual Impact as well but from a very different starting point.. 20 % BF and only 4 months before summer… so I did what I could in the time I had. 1 month phase 1 then 2 months face 3 and 1 month Bonus Phase (only two more weeks to finish it all). Sure I didn’t get the same results as you but I do see a very significant difference. Can’t wait for 2011!!!! Lean out and then do the program as it supposed to be done. It’s going to be a great year for me!!!
Glad it’s been working for you! The beauty of it (as Ive said previously), is that you can cycle it on going and your body will be continually guessing as to what you’ll throw at it next.
As you progress, you can also substitute exercises for even MORE variation.
Great result mate, good luck with your diet and training in 2011!
Clint, great results! I’m a big fan of Rusty Moore and Visual Impact as well as Brad Pilon and Eat Stop Eat. I recently purchased both programs and am using them together. Great site you have here by the way. My only question for you, one which is important to me as I am following the same programs you have been using. Your advice on taking BCAA supplements while fasting and the need to do so as not to loose muscle mass, does not seem to be supported by either Eat Stop Eat or Lean Gains. Brad Pilon does not even mention BCAAs in his book. He says in his audio files that essentially due to the hormones in play (mainly Growth Hormone) while fasting you just do not lose muscle mass as long as you are weight training. Lean Gains is new to me but I was just reading the blog re fasting and the info on protien during fasting seems to contradict what you advise. Please understand I am looking for clarification on your advice, not to come across as wishing to prove you wrong. Thanks David.
The need to add BCAA’s is due to the fact I train in the AM, with a HUGE gap until i take in my first meal.
I’m talking about 5-6 hours of taking in zero nutrients after smashing my body with weights.
Martin explains it all at this link here http://www.leangains.com/2010/05/early-morning-fasted-training.html
A recent fan of the blog. Awesome results.
How long did your average workout last?
Thanks, Milt
My workouts maxed at 1 hour. No longer.
It’s all about intensity though — REALLY short rests :)
I know you said you followed this program with Eat stop eat. Did you follow the diet with the Three Phases?
Used ESE with all three yes.
That was in 2010. This year, i used Lean Gains.
What exactly do you get for the $47 dollars? In other words, is there a detailed description of how to perform each workout?
It’s very detailed yes. And in answer to your other question, the workouts CAN be done at home, but are a bit more limiting.
Also forgot to ask, is going to the gym a necessity or can this be done with basic barbell and pushup exercises etc?
Hi Clint, since I purchased my subscription I’ve received 4 tweaks along the way, all spread out over the past 2 months. I was just wondering whether these emails are timed to send within the first two months after your initial subscription purchase, or if you too have received the same emails in the past 2 months? I just find it funny that after so many years of VI operating, all 4 tweaks are released in the first 2 months of my subscription. Interested to hear your thoughts.
Hi Joe,
Gym is preferable, but there are substitution exercises for those that want to workout from home.
I know you’ve bought VI by now – just explaining it to other readers :)
In regards to the ‘subscription’ I’m not sure what you mean?
When I made the purchase, I didn’t receive any such BONUSES.
Maybe pop Rusty an email.
Hi Clint,
Sorry to be a pain with all the questions, but just seems more relative talking to someone here in Australia… I just ordered the ProGrade meal supplement suggested by Rusty in his program for phase 3, and with delivery its $82. It also suggests that there are only 15 servings per bottle, so 2 servings per day (breakfast and lunch) will make the bottle last only a week. This seems relatively expensive, what did you use at this point of the program as a meal supplement?
@Joe I didn’t rely on supplements persay to reach my macros.
I found a basic whey protein shakes coupled with cottage cheese, milk and fruit fit the bill for when I couldn’t get my hands on an actual ‘food’ protein source. Like you say – these things can get expensive over the long haul.
My diet has been good, but I am afraid I will consume too many calories while in this phase (calorie restricted phase) which is why I opted for the meal replacement. I’m not a fan of protein shakes, hence why I’ve never bought any, but if you had to recommend anything what would it be? Keep in mind that I don’t want other supplements included in the shake, just purely whey.
Hey Clint, good job man. May I ask you something? I just bought visual impact. I have been working out since march, I would like to know if starting phase 3 would work. After getting dense muscle and lean add a few more pounds on specific body parts going thru phase 1. Thanks a lot!
Clint,
This might be a stupid question but, I just started this program and was jw what your workout consisted of through Phase 1? I want to mix things up when it comes to lifts I do but just wanting some advice from someone whos completed it through. My legs have always been in shape because of college baseball. So I’m going to keep things light there. But congrats on the results and hopefully I’ll look like that by summer.
Cheers for the kudos Steven – I followed Phase 1 pretty much to the letter from memory (it’s been a while since I did VI however).
I did make sure I did squats/deads throughout all phases due to my own genetics.
Good luck with your own training ;)
I’ve got one more question. Besides drinking a protein shake after a workout, should i also take a pre-workout supp? Like C4 or NO-Xplode? I just want to make sure I do this right the first time and see the best results.
Pre workout sups are entirely individual. If you prefer being buzzed when you train then go for it.
I find a double shot of coffee can work just as effectively.