Sunday 9 November 2008

The Story of Ben

Burn 2 Live PDF Print E-mail

Article Featured on LAMuscle.com

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be" (William Shakespeare).

Burn 2 live, that's the slogan of possibly the most intense person I've ever met, Ben Loughrey! What does this slogan mean I hear you cry? All I can say is… if you knew Ben you'd understand. Let's get to know Ben a bit better. Everything he does, he does it with FIRE, with passion and truly lives life without limits!! Ben is quite simply one of the most athletically gifted young men I've come across. His potential lies in strength/power sports, in one years training and 3 competitions he's shattered 8 World and 2 European records and his current best competition lifts are as follows: Squat 215kg (rock bottom and RAW), Bench Press 145kg RAW, Deadlift 280kg (narrow miss at 300kg) RAW. Some of his best gym lifts include, Military Press 95kg, Chins bodyweight 100kg plus 60kg added (full length rep), one arm dumbbell power snatch 50kg, closed the No2.5 Captains Of Crush hand gripper (which takes about 250lbs of pressure and is a world class feat). At this point two things should be stressed to the reader, 1) he has passed any, and all drug tests that have been asked of him, and 2) he recently celebrated his 20th birthday!

However, when I first met Ben, just over 1 year ago, his calm demeanour and underdeveloped yet quite fat physique disguised his Herculean potential rather well. Ben, up until that point had led a life of extreme excess. Of particular concern for me was his affinity for the party lifestyle. Now, at this stage Ben was just turned 19yrs old so a party lifestyle kinda' goes with the territory, but Ben's approach was a whole different ball game!

Since his mid to late teens Ben had been drinking heavily. This started to take a progressive nature until he reached a point where he was literally drinking about 10 times as much as all his friends! Whilst living by himself for a year in Spain (at 18yrs old) he drank astronomical amounts of alcohol every single day for the duration of his stay. He spoke of waking up and downing a whole bottle of vodka for breakfast most days!! Such was his level of devotion to one bar in particular that the bar man used to give him free drinks after a while just to see how much it took to drop him, he never succeeded!

I was first introduced to Ben by another athlete who I coach John Goudy, they were friends at school. Once I found out how he'd been living it became obvious to me the kid needed guidance, and as I'd had previous success in this area using training and physique transformation as a form of therapy I wanted to give it a shot with Ben.

Instead of viewing his extreme personality as an obstacle I chose to view it as a weapon misdirected. I knew if I could bring in a positive focus for this attribute it would turn out to be the catalyst for great success! I sold Ben on the idea of taking some "before" and "after" pictures and setting himself a time scale for achieving the biggest change possible within that given time period. To be honest it didn't take much salesmanship, Ben jumped on it and quit drinking that same day and hasn't drank since!!!!

The time scale was 12 weeks and the attack on his fat stores was full on. Ben's starting body fat percentage was sitting at 25%, his bodyweight was 16st 4lbs and although he had a naturally big frame and quite big legs, the majority of his body was devoid of any major muscle mass. His first workout involved benching 50kg and doing close grip lat pulldowns with "12" plates or 130lbs. It was the start of a rollercoaster ride that shows no sign of stopping any time soon.

From the beginning I realised this had to be a four pronged attack, diet, cardio, resistance training and supplementation. Ben trained with weights up to 6 times per week, it was a progressive program involving tried and tested exercises such as Squat, Bench Press, Deadlift, Pulldowns (progressing to chins, progressing to weighted chins), dips, military press, alternating dumbbell curls, tri pushdowns, some plyometrics (Ben still had basketball aspirations at this point), hanging leg raises, Russian twists, swing snatches, incline dumbbell press, Arnold press, lateral raises, upright rows, T-bar rows and ball busting circuits!!

His cardio involved alternating days of longer slower runs with interval hill sprints.

Here are the basic principles that Ben's training followed:

1) Emphasis big compound movements
2) Get the proper balance between volume, intensity and time frame in order to maximise muscular growth
3) Don't focus on training to muscular failure on every set, consider omitting this type of training altogether! "there's a reason its called failure and it should really creep you out" (Ed Coan, powerlifting legend)
4) Focus on free weight resistance, limit resistance machine work. "Machines belong on the junk pile of history next to communism" (Pavel Tsatsouline)
5) Build towards weighted bodyweight exercises (I truly believe that these are among the most result producing exercises you can do)
6) Apply similar principles of progression to cardio that you use for weights.
7) Have patience, but never stop striving for constant progression. "be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still" (Chinese proverb)
8) Realise that in order to take two steps forward you must take one step back, i.e if you get stuck at a certain weight, don't keep banging your head against this "wall" take some weight off the bar, its not a cardinal sin, then build some momentum by cycling back towards that weight, so much so that you break the wall down! "if you always do what you've always done, you'll always get what you've always got" (Wayne Bennett)
9) Focus on taking one step at a time don't look to the finish line every step of the way, enjoy the process "don't count the days, make the days count" (Muhammad Ali)
10) Believe in yourself "whether you think you can or you think you can't, either way you're right" (Henry Ford) "I'm the best I just haven't played yet" (Muhammad Ali speaking about golf)

Training however wasn't the only factor involved in Ben's transformation. Nutrition played a big role. Ben's diet needed to change drastically!


Here are the basic principles behind Ben's diet:

1) Eat 5-6 small meals each day
2) Use, roughly, fist sized portions of both carbohydrate and protein in each meal.
3) Eat "healthy" fat in your diet
4) Chose unprocessed foods (i.e if it didn't exist 10,000 years ago in roughly it's current form, don't eat it)
5) Use low GI (glycemic index) foods.
6) Don't become obsessed and pedantic about precise ratios of macronutrients, counting grams etc (honestly, in the real world, who could be bothered)?
7) Understand the very real advantage of using quality supplements!
8) Use Creatine Monohydrate!! No other supplement has as large a body of evidence behind it, creatine works! Find out how LA Muscle made the best BETTER with Explosive Creatine!!
9) Drink plenty of water!!

This is a sample day from Ben's diet at his leanest:

Six meals daily.

Meal one:
Pint of water 2 pieces of fruit
Twenty minutes later 3 egg whites, one egg yolk and pita bread. Maybe some olive spread as well/bowl porridge
Pint of water

Meal two:
2 pieces of fruit
Protein shake
Pint of water

Meal Three:
Chicken Breast/tin of tuna/other lean meat and brown rice/wholewheat spaghetti
Pint water

Meal Four:
Protein Shake
Tuna/chicken salad
Pint water

Meal Five:
Chicken Breast/tin of tuna/other lean meat and brown rice/wholewheat spaghetti/sweet potato with veg- broccoli/lettuce etc
Pint water

Meal Six:
Before bed protein shake

General Rules:
NO Bread
NO white carbs
NO Sweets
NO salt on foods
NO Butter
NO Chocolate
NO Crisps
Very little red meat
NO processed meats
No limit on water
Only milk to drink was skimmed. ie no semi-skimmed, no full fat
Fistful portions
One cheat day weekly, no restrictions on type or amount of food.

This is an example of what I could have eaten over the course of 12 weeks.

Overall:
257 eggs, 48 tins of tuna, 11 tins of salmon, 14 steaks, 64 chicken breasts, 309 LA Whey 2.2KG protein shakes, 140 LA Whey Protein Bar

Supplements used:
LA Whey Protein Bar
LA Whey 2.2KG
Norateen Heavyweight II
Fat Stripper in my last 4 weeks
Explosive Creatine
Discorea Deltoidea

Since the initial 12 weeks I have also used in addition to the above:
LA Flapjacks
Fatstripper INTENSE


I must say, Ben did use a selection of different supplements during his 12 week transformation but LA Muscle's product's were his favourites for both taste and results!! He ended up sticking with LA Muscle after trying other company brands because he feels that nothing matches LA Muscle in every department!

"I really rate LA Fat Stripper, I could feel the acceleration in fat loss after adding this to my diet" Say's Ben, " I really loved the taste of LA Whey 2.2KG drinks and protein bars, they made it feel as though I wasn't dieting, it felt like I was eating treats everyday LOL!"

All in Ben lost 42lbs of fat and gained 25lbs of muscle in 12weeks, going from 25% body fat to 5% !! The weeks and months since then has saw Ben go from strength to strength (literally) as he's put on another 2 stone (mostly muscle) and exploded onto the drug free powerlifting scene in the process (during this period he's been exclusively using LA Muscle Products).

In the days since his first workout so much as has changed with Ben, both outwardly and inwardly. Now tea total, Ben's personal life has under gone as big a metamorphosis as his body has, if not bigger! Bouncing back from a year "on the tiles" he's not only become a world record holding athlete but is also currently studying for a medical degree!! "none of this would've been remotely possible had I continued down the road I was headed" says Ben.

Ben's plans for the future include winning the WDFPF World Powerlifting Championships leaving a plethora of world records broken in his wake. We are also currently working on his transition to one of the major field throwing events (javelin or shot putt looking most likely) with eyes on London 2012. Deep down Ben also envisions himself competing to become the World's Strongest Man one day, maybe 10 to 12 years down the line, and with myself and LA Muscle behind him who would deny the chances of such an extraordinary young man!!

"If you always put a limit on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaux, and you must not stay there. You must go beyond them" (Bruce Lee).

Read what Ben has to say about Paul and his methods Here

About Me

My early years

My name is Paul McIlroy, I'm 28 years old and I'm from Belfast in the north of Ireland. For the past 15 years my life has revolved around physical fitness and sport in all its many forms. As a child I was always fascinated by super heroes and mythical Celtic warriors and champions, martial artists etc. I looked up to my parents who always encouraged and supported me in everything I set out to do, I was lucky in that my parents were the type of people who always taught myself and my brother that we could do anything we put our minds too.
I feel this constant positive reinforcement had a big part to play in all of both our future successes. I was always very athletic, even as a child, and won many awards in football, soccer, track & field, swimming, water polo, etc. I was always well ahead of the boys my own age when it came to most things physical.

But once I reached adolescence thing turned around dramatically! All of a sudden everybody was bigger, stronger, faster…..and HAIRIER than I was! Instead of coming first most of the time, I now came in out of the medals every time, at every thing. Looking back now I realise this is a stage of life which affects a lot of people in a similar way, and is a very natural thing meaning only that I was a late developer physically, at the time I was very very concerned about the whole thing, fearing something was really wrong with me.

You see, it wasn't just on the field where I came off second best, it also occurred in playground fights! People who previously I had no problem in fighting off were now having little problem in beating me up, no matter how hard I tried. I was never bullied in the traditional sense of the word. I rarely didn't face up to them (although always petrified), I just never won when I did fight back, Ha Ha! It was this social 'change of the tide' coupled with my already life long obsession with strength & power which fuelled a steely determination inside of me to hone my body to the point where I felt I had no obvious weaknesses.

So, at the age of 14, also heavily influenced by the successes of my older brother (whom I looked up to then and still do now), who was a champion kick-boxer, I joined the local boxing club, The Immaculata ABC in West Belfast.

Turning point

I believe now looking back that this was truly the point that changed my life forever! I took to the sport very naturally, I had success for the first time since I was a child because in boxing there were weight classes, so I was able to win things! This raised my self-confidence and I was hooked on the sport.

As I grew older my body FINALLY started to mature. With this returned the competitive advantage I enjoyed over my peers as a child, plus I was now developing around the sport of boxing so 'wannabe' playground bullies were no longer an issue.

But with success came complacency. With complacency came inconsistency. Inconsistency and boxing don't mix! I would take long layoffs, come back and win a few fights, then take another big long layoff. As it ended up I boxed over about a 10 year period, but was probably only active for half that time at best. So really I never amounted to all that I could've in boxing, although coach after coach always said I had the ability to do so.

Weight lifting and powerlifting

When I was fighting I always lifted weights as part of my preparation. In doing so I discovered that I became stronger than everybody in the gym very quickly, those that were stronger were only slightly, but were much much larger men. It was at this point that I discovered power-lifting. Basically I competed in the under 23 years old category and the 67.5kg or 10st 8lb division from August 2002 until October 2003 and won Ulster, Irish, British and World titles in three different organisations (for the full list see my profile on this web site).

I also broke world junior records in the deadlift in my last competition, but in doing so I paid a high price. I herniated the L4-L5 lumbar disc in my record breaking lift!!

The 6 months that followed were very painful and even more humbling. I went from being able to deadlift 3.25 times my own body weight to not being able to pick up two wet socks! All joking aside, I was practically bedridden for 6 months, not being able to sit, stand, or put my own socks or shoes on without having to have my mother tie the laces as she did when I was an infant! The doctor told me the herniated disc was so bad that I'd never lift at the same level again and should settle for a basic level of function to be regained within a few years at the earliest.

Believe in yourself

Eighteen months later and I was back lifting weights, at 2 years I'm back deadlifting and now at about 2.5 years later my deadlift is stronger than ever and I hope to win the WDFPF world senior Deadlift championship later in the year! Please don't set limits on yourselves, set standards and meet them. Don't believe in the sometimes overwhelming negative socialisation of others….. believe in yourself!

It should also be said that I have a strong belief in God, and how God may work through good people to helps get back to where we need to be. Without this kind of assistance I wouldn't have been able to be sat here typing this article. Back help never comes without effort, no matter what always make 100% effort to succeed in what ever your goals maybe, remember it doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down, what matters is that you keep on getting your ass back up!!

Men's Health cover model competition

Right around the time I was first able to start deadlifting again, about 6 months back weight training, I noticed an advertisement in Men's Health magazine announcing the cover model of the year 2005 competition. The way it works is readers/members of the public send in physique model pictures of themselves in the hope of making it to the final, which consists of 12 to 15 of the best picked by the Men's Health editorial staff, I believe the entry rate is in the region of 10,000.

Upon seeing pictures of the 2004 winner, and seeing that he was also form the north of Ireland I felt I had a shot. This was aesthetically based, not performance based so I was well and truly in strange water. But ever since I was a child I've always had a prominent 'six pack'. I'll never forget the first time I learned I had something that others wanted. I was a young boy, maybe 10 years old, and a much older by seen me playing foot ball with my top off and asked how I got 'that six pack' I asked….What's a six pack? Anyway, I dieted for about 10 days, merely cutting out all processed foods, got some picture taken and sent them off, I got the call that I had made it to the final and trained like a man possessed for about 1 month, producing the pictures you see of me here.

Training for Men's Health Cover Model Competition

My training for the Men's Health photo shoot was far different to what I do now for powerlifting, the eating plan was not dissimilar from that which I adopted when making weight for a fight. I did no cardio because with my genetics I would've gotten too lean and loss muscle fullness. I did only weights, I kept the exercises the same, big basics like bench press, weighted chin/dips, military presses etc and really started to train my abs hard for the first time ever. But what changed was how I trained them.

I did less weight and more sets while keeping the reps constant at about 5-6 (allowing me to still use a reasonable amount of weight). Often doing as many as 10 sets of 6 on the bench press then 10 x 6 on weighted chins, then Incline dumbbell press as many sets of 5 or less reps that could be done in 15 mins,. The next day I would 10x6 dumbbell shoulder press then train bi's & tri's (again body parts that normally I wouldn't isolate). I trained abs heavy with 5 sets of 5 reps everyday or every other day, which I believe helped to give them that thick look. Lower body I kept training in a powerlifting format as I knew this part of my body wouldn't come under the scrutiny of the camera's lens.

Although I didn't win, I felt I could've done no more with the time I had allotted, so my satisfied with my performance and really enjoyed the whole experience. It put me in a position which I honestly never thought I'd be in, working as a fitness/physique model! WHAT!! I can remember thinking…..How the hell did I end up here??

It has opened new doors up and I am now looking into the world of acting (a hidden passion I've had since a teen, as I scored very high in drama GCSE and A level), and I will always look back fondly on my time in London at the photo shoot and everybody there, all of which were great people!

I am now also currently involved in developing my own personal training business checkout my web site at www.paulmcilroy.com for further details, and don't worry if your not local to the Belfast area as I am currently developing online training so feel free to contact me if interested.

The Shape Of My Current Training

I'm now back training like a powerlifter, for me this mean squat, bench press, deadlift, weighted chins, military press and little if anything else. I also firmly believe in 'cycling' your training loads if strength is your goal. This basically means (presuming you know what your 1RM is or the most weight you can lift once in any particular exercise) starting a training routine using about 70% of your 1RM and working your way up over the course of 4 to 12 weeks to the point where your then lifting slightly more than your previous best. The reps stay low as do the sets, say 2 sets of 5 reps or 2x5 as it's known. Now 2x5 with a 70% weight will be easy, but that's the point, this allow your body to get good at the movement, leaning efficiency in it like it would any other skill like kicking a ball.

This easy start allows the body time to build 'momentum' like the long jumper taking a run-up before jumping, he'll go a lot further that way than if he were to just stand at the board and jump. The same thing applies to strength building, don't just keep lifting maximal weights, all you'll do is burn out your nervous system and injure yourself. Instead, start light, don't train to muscular failure, and add weight to the bar in small but frequent jumps. It is common for me to train all 5 exercises 5-7 days per week!

Did someone cry OVER TRAINING? Before you do consider this, powerlifting/weightlifting is not bodybuilding (I trained the same muscle group less frequently whilst preparing for the Men's Health comp), I'm doing low sets and low reps and for the vast majority of the cycle I'm training nowhere near muscular failure, thus experiencing no DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness).

Your reps should drop further towards the end of the cycle culminating in at least a 5% gain over your previous 1RM if you structure the cycle right.

There you have it, I how all who have had the patience to put up with my ramblings have at least gained something useful along the way.

On a personal note I'd like to thank LA Muscle for the opportunity they've given me here and for the sponsorship they offer me, of which I'm already benefiting. I recently started using the product ZMAX Compound, and to great effect! I feel more recovered when I wake in the mornings no matter how beat I am when going to bed the night before, this has been showing in my workouts, my strength is going up for no good reason!!

Thanks for reading !

Paul McIlroy

My Achievements

Hello my name is Paul McIlroy and I can appreciate how difficult it can be for people to make the right choices when embarking on a new exercise and diet program. Gaining the kind of knowledge needed to decipher good advice among all the garbage is not acquired over night. There exists two ways that I know of to gain this skill, you either laboriously set about educating yourself in the field, reading book after book, trying every new fangled idea you find on the Internet, using trail and error as your only guide. Or, you cut out the “middle man” and find a person who has already done all that (and much more besides) and use their knowledge to make a quantum leap forward, thus saving yourself literally years of hardship and struggle!

It’s my job to know the answers to all your fitness related issues, to speed you towards your goals, I’ve spent most of my life training, studying and working to get to the point I’ve now arrived at, let me help you arrive at your goals.

Here is a list of my Achievements & Qualifications:

BSc (degree) Sport & Exercise Science

CSCS, Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (the internationally recognised gold standard in personal training and coaching certification)

Paul is a Personal Trainer, WDFPF champion, and has been a competitive boxer for many years. He is also one of the Men's Health Cover Model Finalists and a Style Academy Model.

  • 2 time NIAWLA Ulster Junior Bench Press Champion
  • Northern Ireland Bench Press Junior Record Holder
  • Northern Ireland Dead Lift Junior Champion
  • Northern Ireland Junior Power Lifting Champion
  • BPO 2 Time British Junior Bench Press and Dead Lift Champion
  • BPO Junior British Power Lifting Champion
  • IDFPA Irish Junior Power Lifting Champion (Equipped Division)
  • IDFPF Irish Junior Bench Press Record Holder (Equipped Division)
  • WDFPF World Junior Dead Lift Champion 2003 (Single Lift Championships)
  • WDFPF World Junior Bench Press Silver Medallist 2003 (Single Lift Championships)
  • WDFPF World Junior Dead Lift Record Holder (Singe Lifts)
  • WPF World Junior Dead Lift Record Breaker!
  • IDFPA National Bench Press Champion 2006 (open, 75kg category)
  • IPO National Bench Press Champion 2006 (open 75kg category)
  • IPO National Bench Press Record Holder (open, 75kg category)
  • WPF World Silver Medalist Bench Press 2006 (open, 75kg category)
  • IDFPA National Single Lifts Bench Press Champion 2008 (open, 75kg category)
  • Featured articles in Northern Woman Magazine (twice), and Men’s Fitness Magazine, also appeared in Men’s Health Magazine and featured on the website menshealth.co.uk
  • Finalist in the Northern Irelands Sexiest Man Competition 2006 (as featured in Northern Woman Magazine, coolfm.co.uk and TV)
  • Trained for 1 Month with 9 time UFC World Champion Matt Hughes and the rest of The H.I.T Squad in the USA, Paul will be fighting professionally for the H.I.T Squad next year!!
  • LA Muscle Sponsored Athlete! See LA Muscle.com for 3 articles Paul has authored, also check out Femme Slender Magazine.
  • Coach of Multiple National, European and World Champions in various sports (see testimonials section of main website http://www.paulmcilroy.com).
  • Trainer to 2006 EAS Body For Life Winner, men’s overall category (the biggest physique transformation challenge in the world).

My new Personal Trainer Website

Hi everyone,

I've been meaning to do this (blog) for some time and am just getting around to it. Sometimes I think I am lazy but I should also be thankful that work is in abundance and that restricts me from hobbies to an extent.

Anyway, my name is Paul McIlroy and I am a Personal Trainer and Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist from Belfast. I've recently commissioned a new website that is about much more than merely advertising my services. It's more of a space for my clients to meet up, share videos of their personal bests etc and show off their amazing body transformations and achievements.

Feel free to take a look at http://www.paulmcilroy.com/personaltrainer and feel free to ask any questions here. I'm a friendly sort really. I think :)

Paul.