12 week program goal: Increase lean upper body mass & aesthetic attaining to a traditional swimmers style physique. Specifically shoulders, arms & back.

Joe dropped nearly 4kg of body fat and gained over 5kg of muscle in 12 weeks!

They say a photo tells a thousand words and in Joe's instance that couldn't be more accurate. 

Joe's goal was simple enough. Go from scrawny to swimming superstar in 12 weeks, which in its own right is no easy task. The first comes with the realisation that all top level swimmers look like all other top level swimmers not because they swim, but because their genetic disposition is better suited to swimmers than most. 

With that simply dumping Joe in a pool for 2 hours a day wasn't going to cut it, especially given that he is not by any means an accomplished swimmer. 

Instead we chose another route. Look at the physiques of olympic level male swimmers (Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Mark Tewksbury etc.), look at the physique of Joe and assess where, or what needed to change to imitate their physiques. In 12 weeks. 

Comparing the image of the Australian Mens Swimming team on the right, with Joe's above before photograph you can easily identify a few disparities.

- Pectoral (Chest) development 

- Deltoid (Shoulder) development

- Abdominal (Abs) development

- Bicep / Tricep (Arms) development

- Trapezius (Traps) development

- Lat (Back) development

Compare those above points with his after photograph and you can see immediate development and alignment. 

So how did we do it?

Given his relatively lean starting appearance our initial focus was on packing on as much muscle as possible whilst minimising fat gain. As Joe was new to training we knew he would experience muscular hypertrophy (growth) even if he was in a slight caloric deficit and so that's exactly what we did. 

The first 6 weeks were spent following a self-led 5 day per week advanced training program which contained 1 day of targeted hypertrophy work. The focus of which we changed every 4 weeks (Weeks 0-4 back & arms, weeks 5-8 arms, weeks 9-12 chest & shoulders) and was decided based on how his physique looked. 

The main program (the 4 days outside of his specialisation) focussed on big compound lifts (deadlifts, squats, pull ups + assorted pressing) with the volume and intensity managed to allow for maximal hypertrophy which yes, before somebody asks does mean he also has mad leg gains. 

Australian Mens Swim Team

Even given the effects of muscle memory from training in University we were blown away by how much mass Joe had gained in the first 6 weeks. It transpired a few untracked meals out had seen away with his small caloric deficit and left Joe in a small weekly surplus turning him into a mass gaining machine. 

With the muscle mass in place the last 6 weeks were spent cutting away excess fat with a calculated caloric deficit, taking him from 14.5% body fat to 9.5% body fat, uncovering the true extent of his physical change.

The results of his efforts are nothing short of epic and I should imagine it won't be long until he's called up for the GB swim team. It should be noted however that to our knowledge Joe did not swim at any point over the 12 weeks to attain his Olympic swimmers physique. 

We're patiently waiting on Joe to stop admiring himself in the mirror and send us through his thoughts on the 12 weeks.

Sign up to FITcademy Premium on using the link below and we'll let you know as soon as he does!