Coach BV Builds Some Serious Muscle

The picture on the right was taken in March 2016 and the picture on the left was two days ago, after finishing “Cut Three” with Renaissance Periodization Templates. I started out at 217 pounds and finished at 198 pounds, a number that I haven’t seen on the scale in about 10 years! I have seen a tremendous amount of personal records (PRs) over the past few months — not only in all of my body weight movements, but in all of my lifts. This includes a 35 pound deadlift PR, which is something difficult to achieve when you’ve been doing CrossFit as long as I have (circa 2008)! I feel amazing and better than ever in competition, taking first place at the US Police and Fire Championships last month.

Over the past few months of cutting, I learned a lot more than I thought I would about my food and nutrition. I have always been a believer in food quality so I made sure to go through this cutting phase eating “real food.” The bulk of what I ate over the last few months was lean meats & chicken, a lot of leafy greens and veggies, sweet potatoes, white & brown rice and gluten few oats. I minimized protein bars and only used shakes for post workout and casein before bed. I played a lot with nutrient timing as well, with my daily carbohydrate intake based on my activity level that day and the bulk of my carbs consumed around my workout. I also wasn’t putting ice cream, donuts or bagels in my body just because I could make them fit. I saved alcohol for vacations only. I made sure to sleep as much as I could each night, which was out of my control when I was at the Fire Station so I would take naps often!

I got my blood work done again towards the end of my cut. I get blood drawn a few times a year and keep track of my numbers to make sure I am healthy on the inside and outside. By eating real food, I know I am going to get all of my micronutrients as well as macronutrients. This last test was, by far, the best results that I have received from my blood work in the past few years and I received kudos from my Functional Medicine Doc and my Endocrinologist (for once…she’s a tough cookie).

It’s been a fun process and I’ve learned a lot. I can’t wait to start the next phase because that means massing!