Male Transformation Of The Week - Matthew Fontana.

Matthew started down a road of misery after injuring his rotator cuff and found himself gaining a lot of weight. Learn how he changed everything and started a strict training program and lost 70 pounds!

Before Before:
250 lbs		 After After:
180 lbs


Vital Stats

Name: Matthew Fontana
Email: troopm55@aol.com

Age: 25 Years Old
Height: 6'0" Tall

Weight Before: 250 lbs
Body Fat Before: ~23% (Caliper Testing)

Weight After: 180 lbs
Body Fat After: ~8% (Caliper Testing)

Starting Date: January 1, 2007 @ 250 Lbs., 23% Bf
Finishing Date: June 21, 2007 @ 180 Lbs., 8% Bf


Why You Got Started

In May of 2006 I suffered a minor partial tear in my rotator cuff. This limited my training significantly. I had the option of either surgery or physical therapy to hopefully heal the tear.

I wisely opted for the physical therapy, which lasted about 3 months. During these 3 months I became unhappy with not being able to train and began to gain A LOT of weight. Before I knew it, I was around 50 pounds over my ideal weight.

I became extremely unhappy and all the simple things in life just did not seem worthwhile anymore, and it was mainly a result of me being so overweight. So I decided to start the new year off on an extreme diet and change my life for the better. The leanest I have ever been was around 195 pounds, at approximately 11-12% body fat. My main goal was to be under 9% body fat, taking my training and dieting to a level I have never seen before.

Before After
+ Click To Enlarge.
Matthew Fontana.


How You Did It

On January 1, 2007 I decided to start a diet that I would stick to 100% and gradually take 2-2.5 pounds of fat off my body every week. I knew by counting my calories, fat, carbs, protein, and sodium and eating the same things every day, I would be able to adjust my diet accordingly if I saw my weight not changing, or changing too quickly.

I realized it comes down to numbers, if you know you're body weight, you can easily calculate the amount of calories you intake to lose a certain number of pounds per week, that's the easy part. Sticking to it was the hard part.


Supplements


Sample Weekly Diet

My diet was exactly the same 7 days per week, with a cheat meal usually consisting of anything I felt like eating on Saturday night. It always seemed to find its way in the form of a bacon cheeseburger with cheese fries, chicken fingers, and ice cream. This is what I like to call the "keep my sanity meal." My fluid intake consisted of 1.5 Gallons of water and water ONLY daily.

7:00am:

7:20-7:50am:

  • 30 minutes High Intensity Cardio (2.5 miles)

8:00am MEAL 1:

10:00am MEAL 2:

  • 1 Apple
  • 10 almonds (unsalted)
  • Supplements after MEAL 2: Vitamin C

12:00pm MEAL 3:

  • 1 can tuna in water drained, with 1 tblspn mustard, with 1 teaspoon Mrs. dash salt free seasoning
  • 3 oz sweet potato (plain)
  • 4 string beans
  • Supplements after MEAL 3: Milk Thistle, Tonalin CLA, Green Tea Extract

3:00pm MEAL 4:

6:00pm MEAL 5:

  • 6oz ground turkey patties
  • 1/4 cup brown rice
  • 4 string beans raw
  • Supplements after MEAL 5: Tonalin CLA, R-ALA

7-8:30pm: TRAIN:

8:30pm:

  • CELL MASS Creatine Immediately Post Work Out

8:30-9:00pm:

  • Low intensity Cardio, 2 miles at 4.0 mph on 5.0 incline

9:00pm MEAL 6:

  • Protein Shake (Gold Standard Whey) Immediately after Evening Cardio (30 mins after Training)
  • Supplements after MEAL 6: BCAA's

11:15pm MEAL 7:

Sample Weekly Training

My training split was as follows:

  • High Intensity CARDIO every morning on an empty stomach.
  • Low Intensity Cardio immediately after training.

Chest:

  • Incline Dumbbell Press: 4x Sets, 15, 12, 10, 8 reps
  • Hammer Strength Incline Press: 2x Sets, 15, 15 reps
  • Flat Smith Machine Bench Press: 4x Sets, 15, 12, 10, 8 DROPSET 'til failure
  • Wide Grip Weighted Dips: 3x Sets, 15, 15, 15 reps
  • Flat Fly: 3x Sets, 15, 12 10 reps
  • Incline Dumbbell Fly: 2x Sets, 15, 15 reps
  • Cable Fly: 3x sets, 15, 15, 12 reps

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Chest.

Back:

  • Olympic Bar Bent Over Row: 4x sets, 15, 12, 10, 8 reps
  • T Bar Row: 2x sets, 15, 15 reps
  • Wide Grip Pull Down: 3x sets, 10, 10, 10 reps
  • Cable Lat Pull: 3x sets, 15, 12 10
  • Close Grip Pull Down: 2x sets, 15, 12
  • Hammer Strength Low Row: 3x sets, 10, 10, 10 reps
  • Lower Back Extensions: 4x sets, 15, 15, 15, 15 reps

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Back.

Abs:

Hour and a half of circuit training ranging from ball crunches, to knee raises, to oblique cable crunches, and every ab machine in between.

Shoulders:

  • Side Dumbbell Raises: 5x sets, 20, 15, 12, 10, 8 reps
  • Side Raises Machine: 2x sets, 15, 12 reps
  • Smith Machine Military Press: 4x sets, 12, 10, 8, 6 reps DROPSET
  • Rear Delt: 3x sets, 15, 12, 10 reps
  • Bent Over Dumbbell Raises: 3x sets, 15, 15, 15 reps
  • EZ Bar Front Raises: 4x sets, 12, 12, 10, 10 reps
  • Cable Front Raises(Single Arm): 3x sets, 12, 12, 12 reps
  • Shrug Machine: 4x sets, 20, 20, 20, 20 reps
  • Dumbbell Shrugs: 4x sets, 10, 10, 10, 10 reps (Superset with Shrugs)
  • Military Press: 2x sets, 15, 12 reps

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Shoulders.

Biceps:

  • Standing Dumbbell Curl: 4x sets, 15, 12, 10, 8 reps
  • Olympic Bar Curl: 3x sets, 10, 8, 6 reps
  • Preacher Curl Machine: 3x sets, 15, 12, 10 reps
  • Hammer Curl Machine: 3x sets 15, 12, 10 reps
  • EZ Bar Reverse Curl: 4x sets, 15, 12, 10, 8 reps
  • Hammer Dumbbell Curl Dropsets: 2x sets, 15, 30 reps, 15, 30 reps
  • Cable Isolation Curl: 3x sets, 15, 12, 10 reps

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Biceps.

Triceps:

  • Rope Extension Pull Down: 5x sets, 20, 20, 15, 12, 10 reps
  • Seated Press Downs: 3x sets, 15, 12, 10 reps
  • Dumbbell Kickbacks: 3x sets, 15, 15, 15 reps
  • Behind the Neck Dumbbell Extensions: 4x sets, 15, 12, 10, 8 reps

print Click Here For A Printable Log Of Triceps.


Suggestions For Others

My main suggestions I have for anyone trying to really transform their body, is to get organized and stick to a plan. Create a diet that you can commit to 100%, and keep it consistent. People close to me in my life knew that if they called me at the 8 times I have listed in my diet plan, that I would be eating, there was no other way around it.

If you called me at 7:21 a.m. I would have been one minute into my morning cardio. If you called me at 9:02 p.m, I would have just finished my protein shake. I'm a firm believer that if you do the same exact thing day in and day out, it is the ONLY way to know where to make changes if you see your transformation lagging.

If you have an inconsistent diet and training regimen you will never be able to tell where you are making the mistakes in order to fully achieve your goals. Give yourself one cheat meal on the weekends and use that to resist your cravings during the week. Knowing you were perfect the whole week will make that meal taste so much better.

After
+ Click To Enlarge.
Matthew Fontana.

Cardio on an empty stomach in the morning may be the most terrible, painful and annoying thing in the world, but the bottom line is, IT WORKS! In order to not burn into any muscle, take lots of anti-catabolic supplements, and you will surely see the fat you thought you could never get rid of, melt away.

[ View Other Transformations ]


About The Author

Male Transformation Of The Week

Male Transformation Of The Week

Have you made a dramatic change either by gaining muscle of by losing all the weight you have been hoping for?

View All Articles By This Author