July 28, 2005
TV Commercial Hardbody Lies
It may or may not come as a shock to you that those hardbodies you see on TV in those two minute long mini-infomercials did not really get to look that way by using the equipment they're hawking.
You've seen these... "I'm 45 and in the best shape of my life" or "I'm a 50 year old grandmother and I know you're coveting my boobs".
Ok, so that last one is a misquote, but you get the drift.
There is a combination of up to three things happening:
1. These people were already in amazing shape when they auditioned for the commercial.
2. They are genetically gifted mesomorph body-types to start with.
3. They worked out 6 hours a day for 8 weeks and were on a super-strict diet during that period.
I just thought that you should be aware of that before you drop another $19.95 a month for the rest of your life on some piece of exercise equipment that is so expensive they don't even mention the price.
Of course you'd be far better off dropping $90 on a kettlebell and picking up a copy of my eBook. 
Hi Vic,
Had to laugh at your post. I think each of them from the Body by Jake products to Greer Childer's BodyFlex (breath until you faint!) program have a bit of that going on.
But, I personally know three people that have been part of Dr. Ellington Darden's programs--who handles the dietary and training regimes for Bowflex--and they didn't train more than 90 minutes per week. Two of them have been featured in his books including 32 Days to a 32 Inch Waist and A Flat Stomach ASAP and one guy was definitely an (pudgy) endomorph.
Their diets were 60/20/20 (carbs/protein/fat) and incredibly strict calorie counting was required. All were drinking upwards of two gallons of water per day. No cardio was allowed. Ellington Darden told me, when I interviewed him, that he would disallow anyone that included cardio (running, biking, swimming). (The Nautilus people including Darden have extensive reasons why they don't like cardio which are reflective of Art Devany, for example.)
The people who have the best results are the mesomorphs. Darden--who works closely with the Bowflex group since Nautilus now owns them--openly admits this in his publications. In fact, a 1982 publication goes into specifics detailing why certain people are able to get leaner or build more muscle easier than their peers (genetics including muscle length, size of the muscle belly, fiber composition, nuerological efficiency, etc.). This book was quite controversial because it basically said "those bodybuilding mags promising big arms or huge pecs aren't addressing the biological truth of the matter".
Did that limited amount of "work" provide the results in six weeks for the three people I knew? Yep. But, like you have demonstrated, the key is discipline. In fact, Andy McCutheon, who is the main model on the Bowflex ads and is on the cover of the Bowflex book by Darden, has told me his training is ~30 - 40 minutes of weights per week, 10 minutes of speed bag work nightly and that is about it. The rest is a highly disciplined diet and hydration.
What I think you ought to do is do your own infomercial! 
pr
Oops, I noticed I had written "endomorph" when I really meant "mesomorph". Thanks for the comment that brought it to my attention.
Of course you're right, and that was partly my point concerning the body-type of folks in these commercials.
Did McCutheon train the amount of time you mentioned while he was getting in shape or is that just what he's doing for maintenance? I know someone who used to produce infomercials and the fact is that the regime that these folks are on during the documented time span is BRUTAL as far as both diet and exercise.
There was also one woman who was just naturally "buff" and did hardly any exercise at all.
Vic
Andy McCutcheon (sorry about the typo above) has told me that he follows an abbreviated routine similar to the one above year round.
In one of Darden's books, _A Flat Stomach ASAP_, you'll also see a before/after of an engineer that used to work for me. To get his bodyfat at the desired level, they did increase the intensity of the workouts & tighten his diet, but, volume, etc., was not increased. So, he did increase the "work" prepping for the photo shoot but not the volume.
There is a friend I correspond with from Boston who used to be a SuperSlow trainer...he mentioned maintaining a tight physique using a similar approach to McCutcheon's and yours (re dietary discipline). Another person who I've exchanged emails with, Drew Baye, used a high carb/high intensity approach to develop a very ripped physique which he's told me he stays "close to" all year. http://www.baye.com/journal/bayejournal0018.html
I've personally found my easiest 'getting lean' combination was a Zone type plan--sometimes 50/30/20 (fat/protein/carbs) via Udo Erasmus--in combination with two SuperSlow sessions per week with daily walking or easy bike rides. The HIT method seems to do it for me--plus I seem to have exercise ADD 
--so at reps 10 and beyond I lose focus. And the walks or cycling get me outdoors.
As for what your friend told you, I can't speak for that. I know of several people who "walked on" to one of the old Larry North infomercials *& ended up on TV without any special preparation. They had been following his program for years, called up and said "yes, it worked for me" when he was looking for candidates.
Don't know why my certain eating approaches seems to work in combination with HIT so well for some of us, but, I'm not one to argue with what works for me vs. what has worked (incredibly well) for you or others. But clearly, what you bring up re dietary discipline, etc., is important. (And your spreadsheet is one of the best tracking tools around!)
Sorry for the long post.
pr
No apologies required, I enjoy reading your comments.
Thanks for the props on the spreadsheet... it's simple but it gets the job done.
If you notice in the later stages of my recent "transformation", I also increased the intensity of the workouts quite a lot, and I agree that intensity is very important!
Best,
Vic
