From Fluffy to Ripped, Sans the Obsession: Chris Brown’s Transformation

Back in February, I recall getting an email from a guy by the name of Chris Brown who was interested in some fitness consulting.  He found my work through my friend Google, and claimed to have devoured many of my articles since his discovery.

“Ever since I read your No-BS Approach to Looking Great Naked, I’ve been hooked”

is what he said in the opening email.

He went on to explain his experience in athletics growing up, which ultimately led to playing some professional baseball for a short time, before going back to graduate school to further his studies at Salve Regina University.

I knew from the beginning that I’d be able to work with Chris due to his experience in athletics, but his passionate desire to learn and grow he expressed in our email exchange.  I’ll never forget the last line of his first email that read “my work ethic is ridiculous and I love the gym, so I’m ready for the challenge.”

At first, I thought “okay, we’ll see how determined he is” and we continued our conversation which resulted in him starting the official JCDFItness training and diet protocol on Monday, March 7.

I was extremely pleased with his familiarity of the major compound lifts and willingness to let go of the reigns.

While I won’t go into his exact training protocol, I want to highlight a bit of what we did to get the results presented below.  To start off, Chris had been doing the popular Stronglifts 5×5 program.  I was already a fan of this guy – no bro-training to speak of.

Chris’ starting weight was 205lbs and ending weight was 186lbs.  He is right at 6 foot tall.  The time frame in between photos is about 16 weeks.  So on average, he dropped just over 1lb per week.  I think you’ll agree the difference in appearance is fairly drastic.  He transformed from a soft look into a very lean, athletic appearance. 

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Clean Eating is a Scam and Why You Should Abandon It

Please watch this video as it’s the follow-up to all three of my clean-eating articles:


Clean Eating

Photo Credit: epSos.de

Clean eating – it’s a term we’ve all used and have surely heard a million times.  We’ve stumbled upon it in the magazines, seen it in our favorite diet books and have probably even heard it on TV.  Heck there’s even a magazine titled Clean Eating.

Now I have no problem with the magazine – the recipes are great(love them, by the way) and the pictures are something I enjoy looking at.  I do, however, have a problem with the negative connotation it presents to the minds of many health and fitness enthusiasts and even some professionals unwilling to consider other ideas.

The first thing I want to ask is this: what exactly does clean eating mean?

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The Muscle Building Guide for Women

Do you want to build muscle, tone up, and achieve that lean, feminine look? If that’s you, good. By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly how to go about doing it, and don’t forget to check out my training program to get you started.

There are 3 principles that must be followed in order to get the most out of your muscle building efforts. We’ll cover those in full below, and address some common questions and concerns that come up for many women.

Muscle Building For Women Principal #1: Structured Weight Training And Progressive Overload

Resistance training revolves around a single idea: progression, which is evident by increases in strength over time. The common name for this is strength training, but training for strength explicitly can differ from training for aesthetic improvements or even improvements in endurance.

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The Former Fat Boy Syndrome

I must admit I am a FFB (Former Fat Boy).  I am willing to bet many of the guys reading this were FFB’s.  As a FFB I know we tend to think our metabolisms are subpar or we can’t build muscle efficiently due to our endomorphic proportions.  This is what’s known as the FFBS (former fat boy syndrome).  I say this is bullhonkey (nice attempt at swearing I know).  The sad truth is being a former fat boy may even be worse on the psyche than starting out as a skinny bastard (as Joe DeFranco would say).  My goal today is to reach out to all the FFB’s and offer some encouragement, hope and a swift kick in the ass.

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JC Deen is a nationally published fitness coach and writer from Nashville, TN. Currently living in the blistering Northeast. Follow me on X/Twitter