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Tom Venuto and Burn The Fat Inner Circle Present…

Transformation ChampionsSuccess Secrets

Volume 3: Fit After 50Featuring Gary Vollhoffer, Overall Men’s Champion,

Burn the Fat Body Transformation Challenge, Season 3

This special report is one of many Burn The Fat Transformation Champion interviews featured inside the Burn The Fat Inner Circle: The Fitness Support Community for Motivation, Inspiration, and Transformation. To see more incredible transformations like this one, visit:

www.BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com

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Transformation Champions Success Secrets, Vol. 3: Fit After 50

IntroductionShock and awe! That was the universal response when Gary Vollhoffer’s 49-day challenge before and after photos were first unveiled to the Burn the Fat community. People said Gary’s transformation looked like amazing results for 12–14 weeks of hard work—for a genetically gifted 20- or 30-something guy. The shocking and awesome part is, at the time Gary entered the Burn the Fat Challenge he was 52 years old, he started off looking quite endomorphic, and these results occurred in only 7 weeks (49 days) over the busy Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holidays.

We don’t know what happens out there in the world that causes most guys over 40 or 50 to expect their bodies to go down the crapper. But here—in the world of Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle, the Burn the Fat Inner Circle, and the Burn the Fat Challenge—the best transformations we have ever seen have come predominantly from the 40 to 50-something crowd. After posting his 49-day fitness challenge results, Gary wrote, “I feel like I’m 52 going on 24 now!”

Like many of our contestants, Gary said much of the challenge was mental, and changing his thinking was a major part of his success. But the number one key, he said, was not a high-tech training system or a special nutrition technique, it was the support of other people.

“This challenge transformed the way I think. I used to think nobody can do it for you, so you need to take responsibility and do it yourself. I still believe this, but now I also believe, you need to take responsibility and do it yourself, but not by yourself,” Gary explained. “This little addition was the key to my successful transformation, and I will carry it over to every area of my life! My advice to everyone is to immerse yourself in the Burn the Fat community and all the resources available on the Inner Circle website. Do it often and do it from day one! Share what you learn freely and sincerely with others and it will come back to you a hundredfold.”

Gary came out a strong winner, but the competition for the overall title was incredibly close. The judges had to study the photos from every angle—front, side and back—read and re-read the essays, which counted for one-third of the score, and also consider the body composition numbers.

Gary’s numbers were impressive: he dropped 23.3 pounds, decreased his body fat by 7.3% and slashed 5.5 inches off his waist. What blew all of us away was the sheer amount of muscle mass he displayed, combined with visible abs. You can

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see in the before picture that he had a muscular structure underneath the fat, and in our interview, he explained how he was a former athlete and had lifted weights on and off his entire life. However, we don’t think anyone—except maybe Gary himself—was expecting to see the body of a top-ranked competitive bodybuilder to emerge in only 49 days!

We are often asked about the status of our challenge winners a year or two after the event. “Where are they now?” In a fitting postscript to this story, we learned that in the year after the Burn the Fat Challenge, Gary went on to set a new challenge of his own: Master’s bodybuilding competition. In his first two contests, Gary took his physique development to a new lifetime best and won his division. He’s getting better and better with age.

With the right nutrition program, resistance training, cardio training, mental training and a great support system, you can get better with age too. We hope this champion’s interview helps inspire you to do it.







Before and AfterGary Vollhoffer, Men’s Overall Winner of the Burn the Fat Body Transformation Challenge, Season 3

Day 1 Day 49







Transformation Champion InterviewTom Venuto: Hello, everybody. This is Tom Venuto here, from BurnTheFat.com and

BurnTheFatInnerCircle.com, which is the home of the Burn the Fat Challenge. Today we have on the line with us Gary Vollhoffer. Gary was our overall champion in season 3 of the Burn the Fat challenge Men’s Division. So Gary, I guess the first thing I should say is, congratulations on the win, and thank you for joining us.

Gary Vollhoffer: Thanks, Tom. It’s really an honor to be here. I’d like to thank you for providing the Inner Circle Forum and all the excellent resources that come with it. It’s truly amazing to see how many members bare their souls and so graciously help each other.

Tom Venuto: Gary, because of your recent transformation and win, I don’t think I’m exaggerating if I say that you’ve become somewhat of a sensation here at the Inner Circle. People have been flocking in to see your before and after pictures, check out your thread, and congratulate you. I know you’re on the Forum often. We appreciate that you’re active there. So I think most of our active members already know who you are. For some of our Burn the Fat readers who might not be active in the Inner Circle and don’t know you yet, could you tell us a little bit about yourself: where you’re from, what you do, your age, kids, anything you want to share with us, just to give us a little background?

Gary Vollhoffer: Sure. I’m married and I have four children. The youngest is 18 now, so he’s about to finish school. Fortunately, my kids are doing really well and my wife puts up with me—so I’m definitely blessed there. We live in Langley, B.C., which is just outside of Vancouver where the 2010 Winter Olympics were. I’m a Realtor, but I’m also a certified hypnotherapist and certified in neuro-linguistic programming (NLP). Over the last 25 years, I’ve become fascinated with how our minds work and I continue to search for ways to help myself and others overcome limitations. So in a nutshell, that’s what I’m about.

Tom Venuto: That’s interesting about the NLP and the hypnotherapy. I’m going to come back to that a little bit later, when we talk about mindset. First, though, I have a two-part question about how it all got started—and what led up to your win at the Burn the Fat Challenge. First, how did you hear about the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book; and second, what made you decide to enter the Burn the Fat Challenge Contest?









Gary Vollhoffer: Actually, I was sitting in front of my computer; I think it was November 21st, a couple of days before the cut-off date for the holiday contest. I was eating my third ice cream cone of the night when I opened up what I thought was a typical weight loss marketing email. I started reading it, and there you were. Well, at least a picture of you. At the time, I had no idea who you were. I usually receive two or three weight loss emails a day. For some reason, I usually read them all and generally dismiss all the quick-fix solutions, which seem to be about 90% of the ads. I remember thinking the idea of the challenge was intriguing. There was only one day left before the challenge, and I wasn’t sure I was going to commit.

So, I finished my ice cream cone and went over to the microwave and made a bag of popcorn, covered it with butter and came back and read some more. I visited your site and thought to myself, “You know, I really should get in shape. I could use a vacation in Maui.” I looked over the prize package, sat back and imagined the breeze blowing salt air in my face. I said, “If you’re going to do this, you really have to go all-in and give a hundred percent. Right then—well, after I finished the popcorn—I made a commitment to myself, and I signed up for the Burn the Fat Inner Circle and the Burn the Fat Challenge.

I didn’t purchase the Burn the Fat e-book for another week because I thought originally that I could do it on my own. I thought, “Before I purchase somebody else’s book, I’d like to make sure they’re credible.” There are literally thousands and thousands of fitness books and magazines on the market, but they’re really nothing more than just advertising for products, supplements, diet pills or exercise gadgets. I didn’t know if I needed, or even wanted, your book at the time because I didn’t know yet if it was just like the rest of them. Thank goodness I bought it, because it’s been a crutch for me.

Tom Venuto: Wow, so you were a last-minute contest entry and had your doubts about the program, but you entered, followed the program, and in the end, came out on top. That’s awesome. Let’s go back even further, to before you had Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle and before you entered the challenge. What kind of shape and condition were you in physically? For example, what was your body fat percentage, if you knew that? What was your weight, your waistline or your clothes size? How did you feel? What was your health like before you did this?

Gary Vollhoffer: Right before the competition, I had actually just started going back to the gym for about a month, so I was already over the initial soreness of weightlifting. But I was carrying around a watermelon in my stomach, and I wasn’t doing any form of cardio. I also just came back from an ACL injury to my right knee, and my diet was really the traditional “see food” diet. You know, “If I see food, I eat it” diet? As far







as my body fat percentage, I used a BIA scale, so it was different every time I weighed myself. I would suggest to everyone to learn to use calipers because that would save them an enormous amount of aggravation through the first week of the challenge.

My body fat was close to 22%. My waist was 41-1/2 inches. I had one pair of dress pants and one pair of jeans and a few pairs of sweatpants that fit, and that was about it. I’d been pretty inactive the whole year due, in part, to my knee injury, so I couldn’t play any sports… and I love to play sports. But to be honest, that was just an excuse. I had really let myself go. When I posted my pictures, I couldn’t believe how bad I looked. Quite frankly, I was embarrassed.

Tom Venuto: So a 41-inch waist, 22% body fat, and you weren’t really thrilled with the way you looked. Then in November, you entered the Holiday Challenge. Most people here know what that is, but for those who don’t, it’s a 49-Day Fitness Contest. We do base it not just on what you weigh, but on body composition, on body fat percentage and on lean muscle. The contest ended the first week in January; and when all of our judges looked at the finishers, it was immediately unanimous that you were in the top three. We look closely at all of the essays and all of the pictures, and you stood out like a sore thumb. In the final judging round, it was close, but we voted you the overall winner. It’s really an amazing difference for only seven weeks. Tell us in your own words about the after results—the change in body fat, muscle mass, your waist, and about how you feel now.

Gary Vollhoffer: I feel fantastic! I thought for sure, in the end, I would have an additional 15 pairs of dress pants in my closet that I could start wearing again. As it turns out, they’re all too big now, so I’m going to have to get them taken in because I lost about 23 pounds. My body fat is down to about 13.5%. I lost 5-1/2 inches off my waist, and my lean muscle stayed about the same. I’m very, very pleased with the results. I plan on continuing and getting in even better shape.

Tom Venuto: The only way I can describe the response people had to your pictures—because everybody on the site now is looking at your pictures—was awe. I mean, shock and awe. People were saying, “That’s amazing!” They were just astonished. One of my members even went into your journal and posted a comment that I thought was interesting. He thought your 49-day transformation was like the guy who broke the four-minute mile, Roger Bannister, because he didn’t just break a record; he broke new ground that people thought was impossible. People look at your transformation and they say, “Wow! That’s only 49 days? How did he do it so fast?”







There’s some discussion going around that you’ve now set the bar incredibly high and people are thinking, “I wonder if I can do that too?” Do you think we’re going to start seeing more transformations like yours, because you’ve led the way? That’s what happened after Bannister broke the four-minute mile—a whole bunch of other runners followed his lead after he did it. My question is, what do you think must take place in somebody’s mind, in their belief systems or how they think, to break new ground and take their results to such a high level that they didn’t believe they could achieve before?

Gary Vollhoffer: First, it was actually very emotional screening through all the comments at my thread. It made me feel pretty good. If that was the equivalent to the four-minute mile, then I feel privileged to have broken the barrier so that others can exceed it, because once one person does it, it seems that everybody can start to do it.

Tom, you always sign off your letters and emails with, “expect success.” I think that I actually expected the results I achieved. In fact, I actually expected better and I guess that’s why I achieved the results I did. I also have to mention, on the men’s side, Tom Laverick’s results were astounding; and James Mauck, who came in second, his transformation was incredible too. Not only was he ripped, but he also could have been the winner.

As for me, I was very focused on accomplishing and exceeding all of my daily goals. I knew that if I hit my daily goals, all the results would take care of themselves. As far as the “shock and awe” part, I can assure you, my body felt the shock and awe. That was how I did it. I continually, and I mean 10 times a day, for at least 25 repetitions at a time, drilled it into my subconscious mind that I would win this competition by including a picture of my perfect body in my visualization. For my conscious mind, my mantra was, “Do you just want to compete, or do you want to win?” I forced my body to obey with no excuses. Not once, but every time I heard that voice in my head start to spew out all the reasons to quit or to stop or to not go on and tell others that I’m physically exhausted, I just started repeating my mantra. And it worked. It really motivated me. Basically from the second week to the seventh week, my body was begging me to give up. I had all kinds of injuries, but quitting just wasn’t an option.

Tom Venuto: So you really expected to win, even from the very start, and straight through the whole process?

Gary Vollhoffer: I can say I absolutely thought that I could. And when I looked at the pictures of prior champions, I thought I could do in 49 days what they had done in 98. I had







no doubt in my mind at all that I could do that. I didn’t really know what the other competitors would do during this competition, but I knew I could at least attain that.

Tom Venuto: And you did it! In fact, that’s another comment we heard, in those exact same words. They said, “It looks like Gary achieved in 49 days what other people have been doing in 98 days.” We’ve been doing two events each year. The one in the summer is 98 days long, and the one in the winter is 49 days long. With twice the time, you’d expect the 98-day event to produce the greatest transformations, but you broke new ground here in the 49-day challenge. You also have something in common with last year’s summer challenge winner—your age bracket—52.

Scott, our winner last summer had a birthday, the big 5-0, during the challenge. I’ve been going out of my way to mention this, because a lot of people give a lot of reasons why they either don’t enter the challenge or why they don’t think they can get in the kind of shape they want to be in. The biggest excuse we hear is, “I’m too old.” But last summer we had an overall winner, age 50. Now, Gary, you’ve done the same thing. Some people might say, “Well, one time, it might be a fluke. Maybe that guy has great genetics,” or whatever the doubters might say. But now it’s twice.

I think we could do a huge service to all guys under 50, who want to look as good as you when they get to be your age; and also for guys currently your age and beyond, as inspiration to their age group about what’s possible. Most people buy into this idea that when you get older, it’s going to get harder and harder to lose fat, harder to gain muscle, and it’s only going to go downhill. What encouraging words do you have for guys in their 40s or 50s, who want to get in shape, but they’ve been struggling with the notion that their age is limiting them?

Gary Vollhoffer: Well, I think it’s sad that this kind of mindset even exists. I believe it’s an excuse or an attempt to justify the condition and shape they’re in. You know, I think at any age in life, you’re never standing still. You’re either moving forward or you’re going backward. And if you’re doing nothing physically, I agree that you’re going to go downhill exponentially as you age, because continually doing nothing has a cumulative effect. The good news is that change is simple. You’ve just got to get active and stay active.

It’s not about age. It’s about choice. I’ve seen plenty of people in their 80s and 90s who are vibrant and healthy. They would say it’s hogwash that age is limiting them. I simply refuse to listen to what most people think. I’ve tried to avoid







spending much time with negative people because those are the ones who give you all kinds of reasons why you can’t do something. I want to spend my time listening to and hanging out with people who can tell me how they did it; or better yet, how they’re still doing it. It really is that simple. It’s a choice. As you always say, Tom, “It’s simple. It’s just not easy.”

Tom Venuto: Yes. I did a survey on the Burn the Fat Facebook page. I posted a question to people who are between the age of 40–60, and I got over 100 responses. I asked, “What are the biggest health and fitness problems or challenges that you have, that you think are unique to your age group, or that you didn’t have when you were younger?” And Gary, let me give you just a quick list of the top five. One was joint pain. The second one was less recovery time. The third was they felt like their motivation was less than when they were younger. The fourth one was the belly fat that doesn’t seem to go away. And the fifth one was lack of energy. Have you had challenges with these, and if so, what did you do to overcome or minimize them?

Gary Vollhoffer: With all these issues, I can only speak for myself, because there are people with real chronic medical conditions, and my heart really goes out to them. But for me, it’s mind over matter. I suffer from joint pain in my elbow, shoulders and knee. I have chronic challenges with my back, and it’s been fractured before. I had a compound fracture in my leg where both bones actually broke through my skin. Plus I’ve had arthroscopic surgery done on both of my knees. So yeah, I can relate to a lot of it. Does it get in the way of everyday life? Yes, it does. Does it affect my training? Yes, it does. But I’m never going to let it be an excuse or a reason why I stop or give up. Never. I believe there’s always a workaround.

As far as recovery, I don’t buy all that. I think it’s relative to the shape you’re in. If you’re working out, you’re going to recover faster. If you haven’t done anything for years, obviously it’s going to take you a while. But once you get in motion, it definitely comes back. As far as motivation, I don’t know if motivation actually slips with age. I know if you’re an 80-year-old and you can barely walk, and your grandchild walked into traffic, I think you’d find the motivation to get out there and save your grandchild. You know, all you need for motivation is a reason. And you’ve got to work on your belief systems, because once you believe you can do something, you can do it.

As far as the stomach fat that doesn’t go away, I hear that too. I’ll just say, it’s simple, but it isn’t easy. People fail to accept responsibility for themselves or accept the fact that it is just a choice. Those people will never get rid of the fat. As far as the lack of energy, well, you know, to answer all five survey questions, I







think they had enough energy to get up and walk around. I can’t see that being a real problem. You certainly change your energy level just by the fuel you put into your body.

Tom Venuto: Yes. You said that all you need for motivation is a reason, and that’s something I believe as well. That made me curious. I’m sure you had some reasons why you wanted to do this challenge or reach certain goals. Did you have any specific reasons—that you were conscious of—for entering this particular challenge?

Gary Vollhoffer: Well, I certainly wanted to be able to fit back into my clothes for work. I think that when you portray a professional image, it’s important to walk the walk. I didn’t feel like I was walking the walk, as far as health and fitness went. In doing my hypnotherapy sessions, which I still do, I help people with weight loss. You feel like you’re a fraud if you’re overweight and not taking your own advice. I wanted to walk the walk and to look more professional in my clothes. I also wanted to feel better overall. Those were driving forces for me.

Tom Venuto: Cool. Okay. Let’s move into some of the specifics of how you did it, nutrition, and training. Why don’t we start with the food side of things? I’m curious about what foods you ate. I think that most of the people who do well in our program, in our transformation contests, most of the time, they’re eating the same 12, 15, maybe 20 foods a week, and they stick with that for the most part, week after week, and then drop in occasional variations once in a while when they get bored, or they enjoy an occasional cheat meal or two. I was wondering if that was true for you too, or whether you were the kind of person who preferred a lot more variety. Either way, what were some of the top ten or so of the most common foods you ate most of the time?

Gary Vollhoffer: I did like a lot of variety in the vegetables, but I ate a lot of the same foods for a couple of reasons. First, for quality, I wanted to stay with the A and A+ foods, so that narrowed the list down. Second, if you add up the calories and the macronutrients for a lot of meal plans, it takes a lot of time. If you eat much of the same foods, meal planning is easier.

On most days, I had 9-grain oatmeal cereal for two of my meals and occasionally mixed up the ingredients, most often with blueberries, walnuts, pecans, almonds, dates, and protein powder. I usually kept those meals at 50 percent carbs, 30 protein and 20 fat, although sometimes I did go a little higher on the protein. But I would also sometimes have eggs or egg whites with broccoli and jalapenos for breakfast or lunch. I ate a lot of yams and sweet potatoes. I ate a lot of quinoa. I think I had some brown rice. I also ate a lot of tomatoes, red peppers,







collard greens, asparagus and Brussels sprouts. I ate a wide variety of vegetables, but these, by far, were my main foods.

I also had a pretty good-sized salad and one or two protein shakes every day, depending on my workout. Sometimes I’d use a protein mix, sometimes I’d use egg whites. I usually had an apple or a banana with my protein shake. I took flaxseed oil and salmon oil with my multivitamins. I ate a lot of salmon, rainbow trout, canned salmon, tuna, eggs, egg whites and chicken and turkey breasts. I had the odd serving of nonfat cottage cheese, but I tried to stay away from dairy. It seemed to clog me up.

Tom Venuto: That sounds like a pretty good amount of variety, but it does sound like you were consistent from day to day and week to week. What about how you prepared your food? Did you eat foods mostly plain and keep things simple, or are you a cooking guy? Do you use a lot of flavorings or herbs or spices? Did you have any favorite recipes that you felt tasted really good but still hit that quality and the quantity that you needed?

Gary Vollhoffer: One thing I found over the competition was that the food started to taste better. I guess my taste buds were changing when I started getting rid of all the salt and quit drinking coffee and all kinds of other things. I think the healthy foods became a little bit tastier as the competition went along. I tried to make it as interesting as possible. I didn’t add any oil when I cooked, but I used a lot of herbs and spices.

I do most of the cooking at home, so at first I was preparing three separate meals to accommodate everyone. By the end of the challenge, I had it basically down to one meal with a couple additional sauces for the kids. I used lots of garlic, rosemary, thyme, basil and cilantro. I love Mexican food, so I was always making salsa, especially for the chicken. I could put salsa on pretty much anything, so I never thought my food was dry. I found the fish itself had enough flavor without adding much to it at all, as long as it wasn’t overcooked. We enjoy spicy food, so I use a lot of red chili peppers in my cooking.

Tom Venuto: What about protein? You mentioned some of the protein foods you ate were fish and chicken. Outside of bodybuilding, where we pretty much expect to go for a gram or more of protein per pound of body weight per day, there’s still a lot of controversy about how much protein. Everybody who looked at your pictures commented on how much muscle it looked like you gained. They couldn’t help but wonder if eating a certain amount of protein had anything to do with your







physique changes. Did you keep track of the grams of protein carefully, and if you did, what was your protein intake?

Gary Vollhoffer: Yeah, I tracked everything as carefully as I could. I went out and I bought a food scale and used it for all my meals. Once I found the online resources for tracking and recording calories and macronutrients, it became a lot easier. Of course, that was thanks to another Inner Circle member who turned me on to that. But I started out the program on basically 40% carbohydrates, 40% protein and 20% fat. Salmon was my number one protein, followed by chicken, trout, tilapia, and egg whites. During the competition, I started getting constipated, so I eased up on the protein and started adding more carbs and it seemed to make me feel better. I would say that at times, I was at 40% protein, but at other times, I went back to the 50% carb, 30% protein, 20% fat ratio.

Tom Venuto: That’s interesting about raising your carbs. With the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle nutrition program, we’re not anti-carbs and we’re not necessarily in favor of extremely high carbs. We see the carbs like an “X-factor.” The protein usually stays pretty steady, but different people will dial the carbs up or down, depending on how they feel and the kind of results they get. I think a lot of people believe they have to slash the carbs to lose the weight, but that was not the case with you. You started with around 40% carbs and you brought it up to 50%. Do you feel, then, that it was more zeroing in on the calorie deficit than a specific carb amount that helped you achieve the fat loss?

Gary Vollhoffer: I think for me it was definitely just the calorie deficit that took the fat off. But beyond that, I didn’t realize how important carbs even were. I was doing such a high volume of intense cardio that I actually started to lose my marbles there for a while with less carbs. I lacked energy. I had brain fog and I was irritable.

Lucky for me, again, I posted my problem on the Burn the Fat Inner Circle Forums, and I was soon advised to go back and re-read part of the Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle book, which I did, and realized that I needed to up my carbs—which I did—and my faculties started to return. I love all vegetables and fruit, so there was no problem with mixing and matching the starchy and fibrous carbs. In my journal, I said I ate A-grade foods. But in reality, I did stick with as many of the A+ carbs as I could.

Tom Venuto: I think a lot of people forget that they have to match their carb intake to their training intensity and volume. A lot of the people that promote a low-carb diet for fat loss are promoting it to people who really aren’t doing intense bodybuilding or prolonged endurance types of training. We’re doing a little bit of







both, cardio and weights, with a program like Burn the Fat, so I think your instincts were right on with that.

I know you said you started with a certain percentage of carbs and then you adjusted it. That was the next question I had on my list. I was curious about whether the meal plan and the calories, the macronutrients, and the whole eating plan you started with, on day one, week one, was followed pretty much to a tee the entire seven weeks, or whether you were constantly tweaking it. We know now about the change you made with raising your carbs. Did you have to make any other adjustments from week to week, raising or lowering calories, changing the macros or switching foods around? If you did, what did you do and why did you do it?

Gary Vollhoffer: I did make a few changes during the competition. I used the Harris Benedict formula for calculating my basic calorie expenditure. I started off with that and had a big weight loss in the first week. This threw me off track though, because the scale said I had lost all lean body mass. It looked like I apparently had lost six pounds of muscle and one pound of fat.

That was really frustrating when I saw those numbers, so once again, I posted on the Inner Circle Forums. The answers assured me that it was probably just water weight, and that I shouldn’t get upset by one week’s results and not to let it throw me off track. I upped my calories the next week and ended up gaining a pound that week. But I also took a quarter-inch off my waist. I just cut back a little more on the calories again and upped the cardio. So I was tweaking everything as I went in response to my weekly body weight and body composition results.

Tom Venuto: You didn’t necessarily go by just the scale alone when you were deciding what to tweak, did you?

Gary Vollhoffer: No. Not after my experience that first week. I mean, I kept track of my weight, but it was my goal to lose only two pounds per week of body fat. I knew that if I adjusted the calories to the point where I would lose a couple of pounds each week, I would be more guaranteed to lose fat than muscle. That was my plan. Each week, I’d look at the weight loss and at the measurement around my stomach. I wanted to see a six-pack, and that was the most important goal for me. I knew that if I was losing around my waist, a good percentage of what I was losing was fat. Basically I started out by gauging those two things: my weight and my waist size.







Tom Venuto: Cool. That covers a lot of detail on the food side of things. Let’s talk about your workouts and your training. First of all, I’m really curious about whether you had a lot of experience with weight training before. It looked like you had a good structure and frame, where, even if you had body fat in some places, it looked like there was muscle underneath. I’m wondering if you feel you have a decent amount of mesomorph in your natural body type, or if you are a former athlete, or if you’ve done a lot of weight training before, or if this was all new to you.

Gary Vollhoffer: I’ve trained with weights on and off since I was a teenager. I played a lot of sports in high school and then again in college, where I played football. I learned in the gym that doing the bench press and the squat was always important. What I did before was more like a power-lifting routine. I’d get myself in the same situations almost every time. I’d get very strong, but I didn’t necessarily grow that big and that’s probably just because of the routines I picked.

Overall, I have basically been lifting my entire life. But I haven’t lifted weights for three or four years now. Like I said, I had been back in the gym for only a month, so I was already over the initial soreness. By the time the challenge started, I was making big strides. But to be honest, even during the competition, I started to lose a little bit of strength, because I was definitely overtraining.

Tom Venuto: There’s a theory of muscle memory, which actually has some science behind it too. A lot of people say they experience this when they have trained before. They find it a little bit easier to regain the muscle they had before, even after they’ve taken a break. Did you find that was true for you?

Gary Vollhoffer: Yes, absolutely, and I think I would base that on the increase in strength and how fast the weights I lifted came back up. When I started lifting again, I couldn’t even bench press 200 pounds. Within a month, I was at 300. So yeah, I definitely believe muscle memory helped.

Tom Venuto: Wow, you’re benching 300 now?

Gary Vollhoffer: Well, I’m not doing any 1-rep maximums right now, but before the competition started, I could do 225 for 8 reps. Now it’s 275, but only for 4 reps. I did lose a little bit of strength because I just worked out way too much. I was doing four full workouts a week. I’d do two upper, and two lower. On my upper days, I would work my whole upper body. That was twice a week. I wasn’t recovering, so I needed to ease up a little bit to keep my strength up.







Tom Venuto: That’s some pretty respectable benching. I also think it’s really interesting that you mentioned the difference between weight training for strength and weight training for muscle size or hypertrophy. That’s something I’ve been talking a lot about lately and I keep telling people that there is a distinct difference in the training style of a power lifter and that of a bodybuilder. Most of the people who looked at your after picture would say, “Wow! He came out of that challenge looking a lot like a bodybuilder.” That would probably make us think that you were training like a bodybuilder.

Was there a change then in your training style? Did you change the rep range and do more reps? I know most guys who want strength and power, they’re doing a lot of low reps, like sets of 3, 4, 5 reps, or 5 sets of 5 and so on. The guys who really want the muscle size increase, we see them doing more sets of 8, 10, and 12 reps. So I’m curious about your set and rep structure and also about the volume. How many sets did you do that brought out so much muscle development in you?

Gary Vollhoffer: In the prior month, I was doing the 4–6 rep range. I guess I would, in a sense, follow what my mentor used to suggest for high intensity training. When you pigeonhole yourself into one type of program, you do hit plateaus. With that one, it seemed I always ended up getting injured because if you’re constantly trying to hit your maximum weight, your body just isn’t recovering. For the competition, as part of your TNB workout, I added bent-over rowing and pull-ups—things I’d never really done in the past. I kept the rep range between 8–10, but always shot for 8. I would do 5 different exercises for my back, 4–5 sets each.

Tom Venuto: You experimented with both ends of the spectrum. You’ve done some of the high intensity, lower volume work and you’ve done some of the higher volume work as well. When you’re doing multiple exercises and multiple sets, what is your intensity like? How do you manage the intensity level? Because if you’re not doing very many sets in a workout, you often go full blast and you train to failure. But what did you do when you were doing that kind of volume?

Gary Vollhoffer: I always did everything to failure. Everything I did, I kept increasing the weights until the last couple of reps where it was nearly impossible. For exercises like the bench press, I tried to use the Smith machine, so if I didn’t have a spotter, I wouldn’t get stuck with the weights on top of me. I always had the philosophy that you’re not going to get maximum results unless you go into failure. I could be right; I could be wrong. But that was my mindset, and it did work for me.







Tom Venuto: Well 100% failure 100% of the time might be too much for average mortals, but based on your results and your intuition for what works best for you, I think you were on the right track there hitting it with that level of intensity.

I don’t know if there’s any secret outside of intense training, but people still ask our champions all the time, “What’s his secret?” or “What’s his method?” Did you have a training system or were there any specific weight training techniques for gaining muscle that worked especially well for you, like super sets, or drop sets, or negatives? Some people get a training partner and do forced reps. Were there any systems or techniques that were especially helpful for you?

Gary Vollhoffer: I love training to failure. I love doing drop sets. And I love doing super sets. I found in the end—because my bench press weight was going down a little bit—that if I super-setted bench press with incline dumbbell press, I could exhaust my pecs easier than if I was just going from one exercise to the next. I super-setted some of my back exercises as well. For example, I would do pull-ups and then do a one-arm row right away. There were also days where I tried not to rest at all between different exercises. I kept throwing different things at my body so I wouldn’t adapt. I just changed everything and did different things often in order to shock my body.

Tom Venuto: What’s your opinion on cardio? How important was cardio for you for losing fat? Were you concerned at all about maintaining your muscle? I’m curious because we got so many comments from members saying, “Wow! Gary got leaner to the point of seeing his abs and he put on a lot of muscle at the same time.” A lot of people want to get leaner and see their abs, so they ramp up their cardio, but at the same time many of them also want to gain muscle, and they worry about cardio interfering with their muscle gains. What was your approach to adjusting the cardio for fat loss while keeping all you muscle?

Gary Vollhoffer: I’m not a fan of cardio, but I do love sports. I prefer to get my cardio doing something I enjoy, but you might not consider it cardio exercise per se. With that being said, I realize everyone is different when it comes to cardio; but just by following the guideline of your program where you tweak the program based on your results, it truly is phenomenal how you figure it out.

I split my cardio routine into thirds: low, moderate, and intense. I know walking works because my wife lost a lot of weight just from walking. I didn’t think that low intensity of cardio would bother me at all or would have any negative affect at all on my muscle gain. My whole life, I liked the high intensity interval training because of playing sports like football. Basically, it’s just sprinting and doing stairs







and things like that, and I really enjoyed that kind of high intensity. In the past, I’ve never had a problem with losing weight or losing muscle when I was doing high intensity, so I wasn’t worried about that either.

I was only a little concerned about the moderate cardio, because I thought doing too much of that, maybe I would burn off muscle as well as fat. Like I said before, in the first week, I was really concerned because of what I saw on the scale. But after that, when I was losing two pounds per week, I knew it was fat coming off and not muscle, so I decided I was going to increase my calories and do more cardio. To me, in that sense, I was pushing my body with training to burn the fat and adjusting my calories as needed to maintain my lean mass.

Tom Venuto: With the high intensity cardio, it seems that you used a lot of different methods and there are a lot of options available for intense cardio training. I know some people are into very brief and very intense cardio to the point of sprinting and other people prefer intervals where it’s one continuous session, but they alternate 30- to 60-second work intervals at a high intensity and then 30–60 seconds at a lower intensity, and there are many other techniques as well. Which method worked best or you?

Gary Vollhoffer: I would do high intensity sprints, usually eight 25-yard sprints. That is, I’d sprint for 25 yards, then walk 25 yards, and I’d do that eight times. Then I’d do four 50s and then four 100s. After that, I’d rest for about 25 minutes and then I’d do 15 minutes of stairs. First I’d do them one step at a time, then two at a time, then three at a time. Then I’d hop up on one leg, and then hop on two legs. You know, I got in good enough shape that I could do that until I was almost getting sick. To me, that’s how hard I have to push myself to know that I’m leaving it all out there.

Tom Venuto: That’s interesting how you really mixed up the different intervals.

Gary Vollhoffer: Yeah. One of my fun ones was going to the mall. When it was pouring rain, I’d go there before it opened and I’d sprint up the down escalator and sprint down the up escalator. I enjoyed that!

Tom Venuto: Cool. Going up the down escalator ought to burn a few extra calories—I think we’re going to put some kind of “at your own risk” warning on that one though! Well, let’s shift gears to another topic now.

When people do our contests, it’s not just about the pictures, as you know. The contest essay is important. You said something in your essay that popped out. You mentioned that in the beginning of the contest, you found yourself kind of







lost or in a fog. I think the words you used were “coming unglued” or “depressed.” What you said you did was to reach out for help from the Inner Circle Forums. You said that the support you got back was really overwhelming, and you felt that it was the thing that got you back on the rails and heading in the right direction.

We agree. We think the community support is so valuable that we have a special name for it. We call it the Fifth Element. We called it that because our program has four main parts to it. It has the nutrition, which is number one. The weight training is number two. The cardio training is number three. The mental training is number four. Then we put together the Inner Circle support community for support—hence, the “Fifth Element.” It has really been a great experience for people, having so many people there to support them. What was it that you found helped you so much about the support of the people at the Inner Circle?

Gary Vollhoffer: Well, if you had asked me this question before I started, or when I signed up, I would have said, it’s not important to me at all. But after my first week when I wasn’t happy with my results, I made my first post and got some great responses. In fact, quite a few of the people who had commented on my question in the Forums continued visiting my thread throughout the contest. From that point forward, I felt I had a network of friends around me to bounce things off.

The second time I posted on the Forum, I was given the advice to go back and re-read the chapter on carbohydrates. At that point, the advice was crucial, because I was almost ready to blow off the nutrition plan and go do my own thing instead of just trying to tweak the carbs. Quite frankly, I was really in a brain fog and my thinking was all over the place. The great part is, I actually got to share some of that same advice with others as the contest went along.

There are all kinds of questions that come up all the time. To me, it became a real community support system. I’d have to say that I wouldn’t have won if I didn’t reach out. It was great to see so many members working so hard and yet still take the time to share and help each other. It’s truly remarkable.

Tom Venuto: Yes, it’s an awesome group. In your contest journal, you said something else too. You said you were especially proud of just finishing this challenge. I remember reading your final post, where you uploaded your pictures—you said you felt like a winner just for finishing. That was even before we had officially announced that you had won.

You said you felt that way because you had a history of flying out of the gates full speed, giving it everything you had “full blast” for a little while but then giving up,







losing interest, or just burning out. That’s a problem a lot of people have—starting strong, then dropping out. Considering you’ve struggled with that in the past—but this time you entered and ended up winning—what’s your best advice, aside from having the support system, that helped you start strong and then finish strong?

Gary Vollhoffer: That’s a great question. I would have to say that the answer is so simple. I didn’t do anything different this time from all the other times when I caved in, other than getting the support system. Once I had the support system, the floodgates opened. It wasn’t a question of, “Will I ever give up again?” It was a question of, “Can I get help?” I think helping other people and receiving help from them was the only thing I did differently this time. I don’t think there’s anything other than the Fifth Element, really, that made a difference to me. That’s the thing to do—get a support group and stick with them.

Tom Venuto: What about that fourth element—mental training? We briefly talked earlier about motivation and the mindset side of things and this sounds like it’s something you’re really plugged into. One of the things you said you did before is that motivation was important, to make sure you’ve got a reason why. Do you have any other tips for our listeners that’ll help them get motivated to start and motivated to finish?

Gary Vollhoffer: I think you’ve got to take the time to sit down and brainstorm some of your goals and then prioritize them into your life so you have balance. Then you need to write down the reasons you want to achieve them. I think once you have the reasons you want to do something on paper, the motivation will take care of itself. If you really want something, and you make a plan and start using the power of your mind—knowing that it’s a choice—then you’ll make it. I think Henry Ford said it best, “If you think you can, or think you can’t; either way you’re right.” That’s really true. You’ve just got to put down the reasons and the motivation will come.

Tom Venuto: When we post results like yours, the thing that gets the most attention are the physical changes. Everyone raves about the before and after pictures. But recently, I started asking a new question, because we’re seeing that when you transform your body, it’s more than physical. For me, this has always been important because I come from a bodybuilding background. Bodybuilders, figure and fitness athletes, are often criticized with comments like, “Hey, isn’t this whole endeavor of yours superficial? Isn’t it vain?” Nowadays, even the men and women doing transformation contests are being criticized even though they don’t get onstage.







The way I see it, I don’t think bodybuilding or physical transformation is vain or superficial at all. In fact, I think it’s very deep in the sense that if you transform your body, you will transform your life. It’s not just about pounds of fat and muscle and the photo shoots and looking good on the beach, although those things are all great and I think they should be celebrated. It’s also about health and self-confidence, relationships, the quality of your movement and the whole quality of your life. What has it meant to you, transforming your body? Beyond the physical, how has this experience transformed your life in general?

Gary Vollhoffer: I think it’s always amazing when you start and finish something. Being a finisher means you’ve grown as a person; you’ve grown in character. I also know that now I can actually talk to people knowing I walk the walk. I’m setting an example and I know that if I can achieve it, anyone can achieve it. It may take them longer, or they may accomplish it faster. The fact is, if you really want something and you’re willing to work to reach your goal, you’ll get there.

I realized that when you put your goals in writing, implement a plan, and visualize them, your subconscious is going to do the work for you. If people want to criticize weightlifting, they can. They’re just probably too lazy to do it. Over the years, it has not only become more acceptable, it has become mandatory that you should include weightlifting in all your exercise plans because obviously it changes your metabolism and body in ways that help you get healthy and stay healthy for a lot longer. As you age, you’re going to feel better and you’re going to be healthier.

Tom Venuto: You know, part of that good feeling you mention comes from when you know you’ve started walking the walk and your actions match your intentions. I think a good word for that is congruent. It’s a great feeling to be congruent. It brings you a lot of self-confidence, and that confidence permeates every area of your life.

Well, that just about wraps it up for us. We all hope to keep seeing you around the Forums because of the support you offer others. I also know that you being a role model to other people is important to them. You’re a true inspiration. I’d like to finish by saying that I think your new physique is a heck of a prize in itself, but of course, you also won the grand prize. How do you feel about heading off to Maui next month?

Gary Vollhoffer: I am absolutely thrilled about winning. I’m so looking forward to seeing the sun. It’s been raining here in Vancouver for the last three months. I can’t wait to get my shirt off, even though I’m looking kind of white now. But I won’t be







embarrassed about how I look anymore. My wife and I are going to absolutely have a wonderful time. We thank you so much for providing this opportunity.

Tom Venuto: How did your wife respond when she first heard that you won?

Gary Vollhoffer: Well, she’s finally onboard with the program now.

Tom Venuto: A trip to Maui will tend to do that.

Gary Vollhoffer: Oh yes.

Tom Venuto: Tom Venuto: Well, have a great time and be sure to send us back some pictures from Maui, because that’s going to be some huge motivation for everyone else entering the next challenge. With that in mind, do you have any final words of encouragement for people who are on the fence? Maybe they’ve heard about the Burn the Fat Challenge. They’ve been thinking about entering a Burn the Fat Challenge, but they just haven’t gone for it yet?

Gary Vollhoffer: You know, I think anyone who’s considering the challenge should give it a shot. The worst thing that can happen is you lose a few pounds and you gain a wealth of knowledge. If you become a member of the Inner Circle, you can also make some new friends and find a ton of support from others who have gone through or are currently going through many of the same challenges you face. It worked for me. It can work for you too. Who knows? There may be a Hawaii vacation in your future if you do.

Tom Venuto: All right, Gary. It’s been awesome talking to you. Congratulations, again, for winning. We really appreciate your time and for sharing your wisdom and helping to bust people’s excuses and for breaking new ground. I really believe that you’ve elevated people’s belief levels about what’s actually possible in only 49 days. We’re all grateful for that. So thank you!

Gary Vollhoffer: Oh, you’re more than welcome. And to those listening, I will definitely see you all around the Inner Circle.

Tom Venuto: Thanks again, Gary. Keep up the great work and have a great time in Maui.

I also want to thank everyone else who’s listening. I hope you all got some great tips and some real motivation from this, and I hope to see you all entering the next Burn the Fat Challenge. We’ll be back again soon with more Burn The Fat Champion interviews. Train hard, everyone… and expect success!







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