Here’s a quick Q&A with Chad Backstrom, our men’s transformation 3rd place winner in our latest 8-week Ultimate You Challenge.
- Give us a short history of your journey to health and fitness before the challenge.
I have always had a vested interest in health and fitness and stay in reasonable shape year round. I have been weight training on and off for 14 years, playing squash and running in between.
- What prompted you to join the ULTIMATE YOU Transformation Challenge?
I feel its necessary to push yourself past your comfort zone at least once a year to ensure that you’re continually learning and most importantly challenged. It’s important to me to keep moving forward, seeing better results each year. Sleekgeek motivates me to eat cleaner and train harder and look the best I’ve looked all year.
- Give us a quick overview of the nutrition and eating plan that you followed during the challenge.
I adopted a low to moderate carb approach but found towards the end of the competition that I was not lean enough. I further lowered my carb intake, increase the heavy weight training intensity, added HIIT for 20 minutes after each weight session followed by 15 min of LISS cardio to help mobilize the fat and remove excess water.
- Give us a quick overview of the training and exercise plan that you followed during the challenge.
Lean meats like chicken, steak, tuna paired with Basmati rice, sweet potato, salads, lots of whole eggs and approx. 4 litres of water per day ramped up to 7 litres in the last week to flush and water drop.
- Did you use any supplements or do anything else worth mentioning to help you get results?
I make use of GNC supplements. Metabolic Elite fat burners, Rapid Drive BCAA 5000, AMP Gold isolate Whey, Creatine and Glutamine, Vitamin B, Ultra triple strength Omega 1560 fish oil, CLA and Mega Men Multi vitamin.
- If you could give 3 pieces of advice to future challengers, what would they be?
Consistency is key. You have to eat well consistently to lose the fat. One or two weeks clean living will not do the trick. Try and create a sustainable lifestyle out of it. Create a diet plan for yourself that you know you can live with forever and not just 8 weeks.
If you hit a plateau, don’t stop, don’t give up. If you continue consuming less calories than your body requires everyday, the weight will fall eventually. Your body can be stubborn but WILL eventually listen to you. You might just need some more time.
Adjust one thing at a time in your exercise plan or diet in order to ascertain what works for you and what doesn’t. You need to continually strive to understand how YOUR body works. There is no one plan fits all solution. Everyone responds differently to exercise and diet. You need to take the time to figure out what make your body tick. Once you have done that, it just down to discipline.
- What did you find most valuable about your experience?
Sleekgeek helps me understand my body. Each year I push harder and adjust my diet and training; learning new things. Some work, some don’t, but it’s all part of the bigger picture and journey in living a healthy lifestyle. Over and above this, it also provides you with added motivation. Those before photos are brutally honest!
