Ask anyone who has transformed his/her body, and they will tell you that it is one of the most empowering things they have ever done! If you want to do it yourself and need a plan, then look no further than Kris Gethin’s Dramatic Transformation Principle (DTP). Kris is one of the most well-known names in the international bodybuilding clients, and has trained celebrities like Hrithik Roshan. Here’s an excerpt from his book The Bodybuilding.com: Guide to Your Best Body.
The Workout Plan
There are three phases of the twelve-week Body by Design training program, each designed to keep the body guessing and prevent it from adapting to its environment. If the body adapts to its environment—the challenges of your workout—it doesn’t evolve or transform.
1. The Fundamental Phase
(Weeks 1–5)
During the first phase, I’m going to teach you the fundamentals of strength training. If you’ve never lifted weights before, you may be learning this information for the first time. And even if you’re an experienced pro in the gym, you’ve probably been doing some things wrong, such as overtraining, and you could use a structured plan to get you back on track. This is your chance to focus on the fundamentals of strength training and set your body up for a profound transformation in the weeks to come. The workouts in this first phase are designed to prepare the body for phase two using several mechanisms—it’s not so much a rehearsal as the building of a solid foundation.
We start out with isolation movements, which focus primarily on working a single muscle to prefatigue, and then add in a compound, or multimuscle movement that engages supporting muscles. By performing exercises in this order, we work the muscle to full capacity and separate development from one muscle to the next, which helps create a toned appearance.
The primary purpose of this five-week phase is to prepare the muscles, tendons, and ligaments for the heavier and more intense training of the second phase. During this first phase, you will perform three sets per exercise. You will gradually increase the number of sets in the next phase, but by starting with just three, you can focus on establishing a comfort level with the form, breathing, and rhythm of strength training. Read more about the light weight, high rep myth!
By beginning the program with all of these strategies in place, you will lower the likelihood of injury and maximize your body’s ability to make progress and create stunning results. You will notice significant changes to your body during these first five weeks; while definition will happen a little further down the road, you will start to experience a toning of your muscles, especially if you’re following the nutrition plan. Trust me, there’s a lot going on with your body, no matter what kind of layers you have over your muscle; give it time, and you will experience an incredible difference. Read the scientific secrets to bulking up fast!
2. The Momentum Phase
(Weeks 6–9)
The second phase of training turns the tables on prefatiguing the muscle. This time, strength and muscle development is the priority, accomplished by completing a compound movement before the isolation. You will also be trying to reach failure in a lower rep range by using heavier weights. Remember, you’ve prepared your body for this in the first five weeks of the plan. The goal in the Momentum Phase is to add density to the muscle because the denser the muscle, the more calories are required and burned to maintain it—this is when your body starts to turn into a calorie-burning machine. Since more assisting muscles are engaged, your body will also release more muscle-building hormones, especially in men. You’ll also see an increased training volume in phase two, which means you will be completing four to five sets. This will increase calorie burning, muscle density, and strength, and give a “rounder” appearance to the muscles. Check out 5 inspirational quotes by bodybuilders!
Through consistency in carrying out the first phase, your metabolic rate will have risen enough to promote a much higher rate of fat loss, which works side by side with the muscle building effect of phase two. The result: a dramatic change of appearance through muscle development and definition.
3. The DTP Phase (Weeks 10–12)
The last phase is an advanced cycle. By following the first two phases of the program, you will produce incredible results and you may very well have reached your goal by the end of the second phase. If you haven’t, and you really want to push your physique to the next level, performing exercises using the Dramatic Transformation Principle (DTP) will undoubtedly take it up a notch. At this stage, I consider you to be at an advanced level and physically and mentally prepared for the three-week DTP Phase. The exercises in phase three are very simple, but by introducing the DTP, you’ll place a distinct stress on your muscles that will push them to produce previously unimaginable results—yes, you’re going to want to show off a bit. The physical results develop so fast in this phase (assuming you’re sticking to the cardio and nutrition elements) that I recommend you follow it for no more than three weeks. Due to the increased amount of energy required, if you continue beyond three weeks you run the risk of overtraining and wearing down your nervous and immune systems. By applying the DTP, which is a high-rep/low-rep method that will allow you to burn fat and build muscle, you will see results that you never thought possible.
Also read other excerpts from the book – ‘Tips to lose belly fat‘, ’How Hrithik transformed his body‘ and ‘Exercises for Toned Legs’. The Bodybuilding.com: Guide to Your Best Body is authored by Kris Gethin and published by Simon & Schuster (2013). It can be purchased online on Flipkart. Watch this space for more excerpts from the book. Read about the launch of the Indian edition of the book here.
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