Age: 36
Weight: 210.0 lbs
Height: 68.0 in
Supplements: Metabolic Drive, Biotest Creatine, Spike tabs
Calories per Day: 2300.0
Training: Waterbury's HFT full body workouts 4 x week, compounds and complexes
Goals: Drop to 180-175lbs @ 6% BF and finally sport clearly defined abs

I want to be ripped, cut, defined, and most of all I just want to see my abs for once! I think the Velocity Diet can get me there! With that rant out of the way, now a little history on me.

My name is Gus and I'm a lifetime natural bodybuilder. I've been at this for just under 21 years. Yup, I said it: 21 years. I started out at a skinny 110 pounds at this same height and did every idiot Weider routine under the sun and then some.

I've struggled for every pound of muscle, but believe it or not I've never been ripped enough to see my abs pop out. I came close in 2003 before my wedding when I used a Max-OT program, diet, and supplementation to get to 190 at about 10% bf and that was a 9 month struggle from 205 at 20%bf.

Most people think I'm in great shape but I know better and refuse to b.s. myself. I'm technically a chubby bodybuilder with big forearms!

Being older makes dropping bodyfat even harder as I notice my metabolsim slowing down just a bit more and more each passing year. This does nothing more than motivate me to keep training because just being a regular non-training person is the kiss of death to an exceptional physique which I continually chase after.

T-Nation is a great site to even offer this kind of inspiration to all its readers and I intend to shut up, listen, and apply whatever the coaches have in store for me. I've been chasing this dream of being in contest shape all my training life and I know T-Nation is the only way to go. Thank you, guys!

Welcome to the Physique Clinic, Gus!

Gus, we hope you're as serious about this as you sound, because we're placing you on the Velocity Diet. You'll be using the latest evolution of the V-Diet, the one that will appear in book-form in 2008.

We chose you because you seem to be the ideal candidate for the V-Diet plan. You have plenty of muscle underneath that layer of fat. This should make for a dramatic visual transformation when we rip it off of you in only 4 weeks.

I also liked how you said you'd never seen your abs. I was in that same condition when I designed the diet. I just couldn't break that 10 to 12% body fat barrier. I needed something radical, a sledgehammer approach. With the V-Diet, I dropped to 9% (then 8% after the transition phase). I also dropped several inches from my waist and CRUSHED some lingering bad dietary habits.

So, our goal:

* Rip off at least 15 pounds of body fat in 28 days while maintaining all your muscle mass, then spend two weeks transitioning off. In that transition phase, I expect you to drop even more body fat.

* Smash any negative dietary habits and alter your taste buds. You will end the diet disliking most tempting fattening foods and developing a new taste for healthier ones. The V-Diet does this through a combination of psychological and physiological mechanisms.

Your diet, of course, will be designed by me. Your training program has been designed by Chad Waterbury. Chad wrote a program especially for V-Dieters and the special challenges they face. You'll be using the advanced version of this plan given your training age.

You will begin the diet in a few days. First, I want you to do some things in preparation. I'll cover that in future posts. For now, get ready: your life and your physique are about to change forever.

Velocity Diet Summary

Before we get into the details, let's have a quick overview of the V-Diet:

* For 28 days, you'll drink healthy nutritional shakes throughout the day. You will consume no solid food on most days, just these specially formulated shakes.

* You will eat only one solid meal per week, which must be healthy. Most people do this on the weekend or during a single social event per week. The rest of "solid meal day" you'll drink shakes as usual.

* You will supplement with healthy fats, fiber, and a body fat mobilizing supplement during the 28 day period.

* At the end of the four weeks, you'll transition off the diet and back to a solid food plan. The transition takes two weeks.

Training

The V-Diet exercise plan consists of two main things: a special weight training program and NEPA-based walks. Here's an overview of each.

1. Weight Training: Muscle is the primary determiner of your metabolic rate. Most dieters lose muscle tissue as they lose fat, leading to metabolism damage and yo-yo dieting.

What's more, most dieters are disappointed and de-motivated at the end of their diets because they look flabby and flat. This is caused by a simple lack of muscle or loss of muscle.

The V-Diet weight training program has been specially designed by strength and conditioning specialist Chad Waterbury. You'll perform resistance training three times per week on this plan. This will speed the fat loss process and help you retain and even build lean muscle tissue. When you finish the diet, you'll be leaner, harder, and more defined, not flabby and weak!

2. NEPA Walks: There is no traditional cardio or aerobics on the V-Diet plan. It's not necessary and actually counterproductive. Excess cardio during a strict diet like this can lead to muscle loss. Instead, you'll be focusing on NEPA or Non-Exercise Physical Activity.

NEPA (sometimes called NEAT or Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis) is basically all the moving around you do outside of the gym. A person with a desk job gets very little NEPA, while a guy who works construction and walks to work gets a lot. Simple really. Yet studies show that just walking more each day leads to long term weight management and improved overall health.

On the V-Diet and during the transition phase, you'll basically go for a walk every day and seek to increase your natural level of NEPA.

Chris, I am dead serious about working my ass off to get those abs and to break into that 8% bf range. I've never been there and I've been training a long time. This is the perfect opportunity and I intend to to take full advantage of this chance with T-Nation.

This is my first time for the V-Diet and I'm kinda excited to see just how good it works. I love the idea that the V-Diet can help change negative dietary habits. I definitely need to eat more vegetables and less garbage.

And I get a training routine from Chad Waterbury! Man this just keeps getting better and better.

Thank you Chris, for this opportunity.

28 days of shakes is something I will only do with Metabolic Drive. I can't stand the taste of other protein powders.

I'm psyched up about the Waterbury Training Program. I put on some decent muscle working out on his programs.

Wow, no cardio on the V-Diet. I've been hitting up alot of cardio after my weights so this NEPA will actually be a nice change of pace. How long are the NEPA sessions?