The Body For Life Diet and high volume

[brock8008]

To Kiefer/ Naomi/ Any other knowledgeable members

I know 3 personal trainers who run their own seperate businesses focussed on getting people in incredible shape in 12-16 weeks. Most of the clients they put on these programs, both males and females, have gone from flabby to ripped in 12-16 weeks, with the odd few who have achieved flabby to very lean.

After speaking to them in an attempt to figure out what methods they use all 3 adopt the same approach which they used when preparing for the 'Body For Life Challenge'. What it entails is the following;

6 times per week
Early morning fasted hill sprints 20-30 min
Resistance training in the evening 45-60 min

6 meals per day
low G.I. carbs and protein for breakfast (porridge and egg whites)
protein/ low G.I. carbs/ greens for the next 4 meals (brown rice, chicken and spinach)
protein and greens last meal of the day (chicken and cabbage)

This is LITERALLY what is recommended, I couldn't believe it....

I can understand how there are certain 'freaks' that will repond well to this type of diet but what I find confusing is that this is what is recommended to practically every type of client they take on, and yet all three produce really great results...

So my question is, do you think it is possible to elliminate the problems with a high carb intake through an extremely high volume of training?

[Naomi Most]

People who find something that works for them once (like these trainers) can always go back and do it again, provided it wasn't too horrendously taxing / body destroying. It's no surprise that a structure like Body for Life works for some people, otherwise no one would ever do it.

Same with the all-protein, no fat or carbs leaning out regimen from the 70s. Some guys can do that once a year (and bloat up in between), and it works for them. It destroys the majority of people who try it, but the fact that it works for enough people who succeed means it can still be considered "effective".

So the real question regarding Body for Life is, how many people who started the program actually stuck with it? How many people stuck with it but failed to achieve the same impressive results?

If you can answer that question -- provide some numbers on average length of compliance and how many people out of the initial set actually reach their goal -- and also talk about how these people FEEL (because we shouldnt have to destroy ourselves for aesthetics, we know that's unnecessary) -- THEN we can have a discussion.

[brock8008]

Thanks for the reponse, it would be interesting to find out the level of adherence and whether results are 'typical' but I'm not sure its something any of them would happily disclose. However I have seen a very large number of people successfully come out of this approach, but again I am unsure how many have started and failed. I'll go digging...

It just seems as though theres an insane amount of exercise used in an attempt to try and negate the effects of the high carb intake.