The First Ever 12 Week Kinobody Transformation Competition – Muscle Building Results
First Place – Trent ($1000 cash)
Stats
Country: United States
Age: 18 years old
Height: 6’0 tall
Starting Weight: 160 lbs –> 166 lbs
Starting Waist: 30.5″ –> 31.5″
Biceps Measurement: 13″ –> 15.25″
Chest Measurement: 38.5″ –> 41.5″
Shoulder Measurement: 45″ –> 48.25″
Program: Greek God Muscle Building
My Comments
This is pretty damn fantastic! Looking at the pictures you can see a massive increase in muscle development and proportion. Trent’s waist went up by an inch, but I suspect that is mostly due to increased muscle around his abs, lower back and obliques. Interestingly enough, his waist actually looks smaller in the after picture because of the incredible growth in his chest, shoulders and back, creating the illusion of a smaller waist.
What you must understand is that in the realm of building muscle, 3 months is a very short period of time. People lift weights for 3-5 years to complete change their physiques. Three months is usually enough to build 5-6 lbs of muscle if you’re lucky! Now if I had to guess, I’d say that Trent added 15 lbs of muscle! Crazy enough, he only packed on about 6 lbs. So how did he make such an incredible difference you ask?
Well he focused on getting strong on the right movements. By building up his incline press, weighted chins and overhead presses, those 6 lbs of muscle look like 15. What you can accomplish in a few months looks like it must have taken you a year. This was lifting just 3 days per week! I can only imagine what six months would do to Trent’s physique.
As for what Trent should focus on now, it’s hard to pick a part his physique! He has a godlike shoulder to waist ratio, his chest is well developed, shoulders rounded and triceps are popping out from the side. That said, he’ll need to add some size to his biceps, I’d like to see him take his arms up to 16″ by predominately building up his biceps. He actually lacks the outer head of the biceps. It’s not filled in enough. Therefore he needs to put more work into hammer curls and parallel grip chin ups.
Finally, at 6’0, he’s a little underweight at 166 lbs. I’d like to see him slowly bring his weight up to 175 lbs while building up his core lifts – incline presses, standing presses and parallel grip chins and weighted pistol squats. If he can do this while keeping his waist around 32″, he’s going to have one of the best natural physiques in the world!
Trent’s Essay
I would first like to thank Greg for hosting such an amazing transformation contest. I would also like to congratulate everyone who committed just three months of their time for achieving the body of their dreams. Following Greg through this contest honestly changed my life. The greatest impact Greg had on me was to enter a total state of acceptance.
Although, this did take a good amount of time (the first month of the contest) and I cannot say I mastered it, but once I could accept where I was; amazing strength and muscle gains occurred! Before the contest I suffered from obsessing with everything. What I mean is, if I did not meet the goal I set, I would be stressed and upset with myself.
That was such a horrible way of living. And I could never seem to push past that after being so hard on myself. Getting in the gym, giving maximum effort and accepting it, is such an incredible feeling. It allowed me to push through anything. Not just in the gym, but in everyday life as well! I followed the Greek God Muscle Building Course for the duration of the contest.
When it comes to building muscle and true strength, Greg knows exactly what he is talking about. What I absolutely love about the program is that everything is laid out perfectly and you are not living your life in the gym. The only thing needed for success is YOU! I feel my most favorite thing of this contest was the significant change I noticed in my physique!
Greg helped me grasp the concept of relative strength.I realized getting leaner and stronger at the same time is mind blowing. Standing at 166lbs and Incline Bench Pressing 230lbs for 5 reps is definitely a win in my book! There is no need to pack on excess body weight to attain that kind of strength. Relative strength plays such an important role in looking awesome while also having a functional physique for everyday life.
If it was not for Kinobody and the three months of hard work I endured, I do not know where I would be. My physique had such a dramatic change and I look at this as just the beginning. I am going to use everything Greg taught me for the rest of my Life! The Kinobody Transformation Contest was such an amazing and helpful experience, and I am so grateful I could be a part of it!
Second Place – Benjamin ($500 cash)
Country: France
Age: 21 years old
Height: 5’11 tall
Starting Weight: 158 lbs –> 164 lbs
Starting Waist: 32″ –> 31.5″
Biceps Measurement: 13.75–> 14.75″
Chest Measurement: 40 –> 42.5″
Shoulder Measurement: 46.5″ –> 49.5″
Program: Greek God Muscle Building
My Comments
Benjamin made some absolutely killer gains! He was in pretty average shape to begin with. A layer of flat was blurring definition and his muscles lacked any solid development. In the after photo his abs are beginning to pop, his waist is taut and his upperbody has exploded with dense, powerful muscle. This was done in 3 freaking months!!!! Just imagine where he’s going to be at in a year from now.
His upperbody is also highly aesthetic. His chest has even development from top to bottom. You can tell that he focused hard on incline benching to build such properly developed pec muscles. His lats have also begun to come in from getting strong on heavy weighted chin ups. This has given his upperbody a much more dominant appearance. If you look at his shoulders you can see they have that great capped look. This is from working hard on heavy shoulder presses and higher rep lateral raises.
The next step to taking his physique to the next level would be to specialize on his biceps and triceps. I’d like to see him bring those up to 15.5″. I’d also like to see him take his body fat percentage down 1-2% so his abs are more etched out and the bottom two begin to show more.
Benjamin’s Essay
What Kinobody program did you use for the contest?
I decided to go for the Greek God muscle building program, as it seemed like a perfect fit for someone willing to gain muscle in a very effective and efficient way.
What did you like best about the Kinobody program you followed?
This program is simply awesome ! It allowed me to make great and consistent gains over those last 3 months. Moreover, it is not physically draining, and takes approximately one hour per session. For people who don’t have much free time and want to make great strength and muscle gains, it is simply THE program to go for !
What was the most significant change for you after using the Kinobody workouts?
What shocked me most was that I was gaining strength every single week ! I’ve been making progress NON-STOP for the past three months on every of my core lifts ! Greg mentions in his Greek god course that you have to train for strength. This is goddamn true, this is the key ! Training for strength resulted in a quite drastic change in my physic after these 3 months !
How is your life better after the Kinobody Transformation contest?
What I realize is that I feel way more confident than before. Your physique and how you look overall is the first impression that you give people, so you better make the best first impression you can ! My physique is now an incredible asset in my life. I now feel like I can take on every challenge that will come to me in the future. My favourite quote “A sound mind in a sound body” has finally come true for me ! I’m on the right path to living the life of my dreams ! Thank you Greg & Kinobody !
Third Place – Sky ($250 cash)
Stats
Country: United States
Age: 25 years old
Height: 6’0 tall
Starting Weight: 173 lbs –> 176 lbs
Starting Waist: 34″ –> 33″
Biceps Measurement: 14″–> 14.75″
Chest Measurement: 38 –> 39″
Shoulder Measurement: 46″ –> 47″
Program: Dual Pyramid Training and Diet from Warrior Shredding Program
My Comments
Sky was in solid shape to begin with! He was actually considered very fit. This is the point that a lot of people get stuck at. They have some good muscle at around 12% body fat but they lack incredible muscle tone. This is a tricky point to push through! Sky managed to build incredible strength while leaning down to about 8.5-9% body fat. Some people might think he’s more like 7% body fat by the way his abs look. This is just very good fat distribution patterns. If he was truly 7%, you’d see more vascularity and striations throughout his upperbody.
What’s remarkable is the amount of strength Sky built on this 3 month program. His bench went from 135lbs to 205lbs. His weighted pull-ups came up from 25lbs to 70lbs. And his dumbbell shoulder press jumped from using 45’s to 70’s. This is the type of strength you expect to take 6 months or longer. Sky has all the definition he needs right now!
The next step is going to be continuing to pack on the muscle. He’s going to want to shift into a lean bulk program and bring his chest up to 42″, shoulders up to 50″ and biceps up to 16″, while keeping his waist right where it is. When he gets to this point, he will blow people away in a shirt and at the beach. I suspect he can get there in about 6 months with calculated training and strategic lean bulking.
Sky’s Essay
Before I joined the Kinobody Transformation contest I was afraid to compete in anything regarding my physique. I constantly flip-flopped between training programs and different diet protocols. My workout buddy is a massive, competitive body builder, so naturally I tried to keep up with him and his high rep, max-out-till-failure workouts. My results after the initial months leading up to the beginning of the contest were minimal and seemed to fade away 20 minutes after I got a pump from the gym.
I gained lots of muscle endurance and some size during that time. But alas, I couldn’t seem to gain the muscle density and definition along with the size. You know, the cool looking kind of muscle. I was excited to have some sort of exterior motive in the form of a contest to keep me committed to a program. I wanted to experience what it’s like to completely follow through with a workout program. I wanted that sense of accomplishment.
I chose the Dual Pyramid Training Workout for my lifting sessions and followed your advice on diet in the Warrior Shredding Program (with a few extra calories : ). The workout program helped me slow down and focus on the movements that actually matter. Progress was easy to track and therefore progress seemed to actually occur. I can’t say much for actual size gains, but strength and muscle tone significantly improved everywhere.
My bench went from 135lbs to 205lbs. My weighted pull-ups came up from 25lbs to 70lbs. My dumbbell shoulder press jumped from using 45’s to 70’s. I competed in the muscle building division because I wanted to test myself by jumping out of my comfort zone. I knew I would kill it if I competed it the fat loss class. I have that skill down already (largely thanks to you and Chris Walker for all the great advice on the podcast). So, I figured I’d go for something I wanted to learn more about.
This has been a great start on a new journey for me. I know adding the size I want is still years in the making, however this 12 week contest set me off standing on a solid foundation of sound, consistent training wisdom.
It’s a Wrap
Hope you enjoyed hearing about these three winners success stories! It’s amazing what you can accomplish in three months if you dial in your training, nutrition and lifestyle habits. As you can see, there’s still areas they can improve in to maximize their aesthetics, so this is only the beginning. If you want to start getting your Greek god muscle building on then you’re definitely going to want to pick up the course. You can learn more about it here – Greek God muscle building.
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Hi Greg,
What your tips would be for a skinny guy trying to add mass?
Lift 3 days per week. Track your lifts. Aim to add weight or reps each workout. Eat at a small surplus. Be consistent.
Hey Greg,
I just bought the Greek God Program. I have a question. Is there a way to include both squats and deadlifts into a two day split? If not, what if I do them alternatively on the Workout B? So if today’s Workout B has squats, the next workout B would have deadlifts.
The thing is I’m tall and have skinny legs and need to put some mass on them too.
You can do squats and deads on Workout B. But I wouldn’t alternate because your rate of strength gain would be very slow. I’d just do 2 sets of squats and 1 set of deadlifts. So you might start with 2 sets of squats, 1 set of deadlifts then pull ups and then curls.
Wow, absolutely stunnning transformations! I’ve been attempting to lean down whilst building some strength and muscle also but I’m not quite having the same success. I’ve been alternating 3k calories (approx 2700 maintenance) on workout days and 1.5-1.6k on rest days and whilst I’ve been dropping fat fast I’ve hit a brick wall in terms of strength. Over the past several weeks I’ve leaned down about 3% bf but have made absolutely zero strength progress (though I appear to be holding even and not losing strength). Roughly following the greek god workouts with slight adaptations.
I’m 177 lbs/80.5kg @6’0.5, ~15% bf and my lifts are
Incline barbell bench press 70kg*5
Standing barbell OHP 60kg*5
Weighted chinups, BW+30kg*5
Dead-lifts 172.5kg*5
Any chance you could disclose what calorie levels these guys were eating at on their on days and off days relative to maintenance? As they seem to have the level set just perfect for concurrent muscle gain and strength gain and fat loss. As you can see I’m far from my genetic potential in terms of strength and muscle so pursuing both goals at once should be realistic for me also.
Also, what do you think about training arms 3x a week (Mon-Wed-Fri) if they are lagging and stubborn to grow? So on the upper body push session, along with skullcrushers I’m doing anyway I’d add in 3 sets of barbell curls for biceps, and in the upper body pull session, along with the 3 sets of curls I’m doing anyway I’d add in 3 sets of skullcrushers.
This seems reasonable to me as muscles recover in ~48 hours and skulls and curls are low effort exercises from a CNS point of view but I thought I’d better check with you.
Thanks in advance!
They weren’t doing big swings in calories. I recommend eating at a smaller deficit, but 5-6 days per week. So I’d look at averaging around 2300 calories, instead of going between 3000 and 1600. Three times per week is a lot. I think two is sufficient for building them up fast but you can try three if you want.
So if I was alternating between two workouts A being 3 sets RPT incline, 3 sets RPT OHP, 3 sets skulls, some side laterals and 2 sets pistols and B being 3 sets RPT weighted chins, 2 sets RPT deads, 3 sets curls and 2-3 sets leg raises how would you recommend I split calories on training days and off days to achieve roughly the recomp these guys did?
It just seems slightly mystical to me how these guys got substantially stronger and more muscular on top of leaning down if they were in deficit almost every day and never higher than maintenance?
You’d be amazed at what a proper strength training program can achieve combined with a moderate deficit and balanced macros in the context of an intermittent fasting plan. It works gangbusters, give it a shot before you exercise doubt. But if you want to recomp then you’re looking to maintain around your weight. You could go 300-400 calories under maintenance on rest and 300-400 over on lift days.
Actually since they all gained substantial weight they must all have been in a net surplus? So they followed the lean bulk calorie plan but also managed to lose fat?!
Yep it happens. Most of the muscle gain was training induced from getting very strong. The surplus wasn’t huge by any means, but fat loss took place.
I’m sold on the whole RPT and minimilistic training philosophy already- I actually tried your recommendations for a whole month but I had poor equipment so was only really able to track progress with deadlifts and weighted chins. In the past I think I’ve been doing too much in a session and spreading myself too thin. In that month alone I progressed my weighted chins 5RM by 7.5kg and my deadlift 5RM by 5kg (though this was more advanced to begin with which is why I had less of an increase I suppose) however I was still eating stupidly like a pig and gained nearly 4lbs (although that makes the chinup increase even better!! :)). I also saw 0.3 inches of arm growth which is more than I’d seen in any other single month where i used to bust my balls in the gym for hours!
I guess I’ll try 3k-3.1k on workout days and ~2.3k on off days then. But to be honest I’d be very content with the modest fat loss these guys (besides Trent, who didn’t have any fat to lose anyway!) saw whilst building crazy muscle and strength for the time period! Do you think these guys are just the exception or do you think fat-loss can still occur whilst following something like a +400/+0 workout/rest day calorie intake in the context of intermittent fasting and focusing calories and carbs in the post workout period?
What Benjamin and Sky have achieved is exactly what I am looking to do at this point! I’m just unsure what to set calorie intake at to best replicate their results!
Well skylar did more of a recomp muscle gain. And benjamin probably was primed to make great gains. If you want to experience fat loss your best bet is to recomp. A straight up lean bulk and it’s hit or miss whether you see any increase in leanness.
Hey Greg.
I sure as shit dropped the ball on getting you those videos of the lifts! Still want them?
Also, I signed up for the Kino Elite. Paid for it, no biggie. Think I could get my next 3 months on the house as promised?
Lookin’ forward to your cook book as well!
Yah get um! I granted your email access to kinobody elite. ptsky88@gmail.com
Since you calculate cal intake in your Greek God program with some added exercise, this would mean that on a rest day if I’m unable to do my walk, it would be best to drop calories, correct? Or should I actually be increasing them when I go on a walk? Here’s my example…
Approximate maintenance of 2300
Lifting days – 2800
Rest Days (with walk?) – 2400
Or would it be rest days 2400, rest days with walk up it closer to lift days?
Thank you Greg!
No don’t increase calories when you go on a walk. If you miss the walk then you should cut calories down by 200-300
Hi Greg, mate just want to say fantastic site you’ve got yourself here. Looking at these guys up here and their amazing results has inspired me to consider following the Greek god programme. My problem is I live around 4 hours from the nearest gym so I’d have to build up my own personal gym at home. So I was wondering what equipment I would need to start this programme at home to hopefully achieve results like these and yourself.
Cheers from Australia.
Chin up bar, dipping belt, barbell, plates, bench, squat stand and maybe some adjustable dumbbells.
I just wanted to add that i work out entirely from a home gym. Over about 8 months i built it up.
I have a cage ( squat rack ) that has a pullup bar and lat pull/cable row attachment.
Adjustable bench ( dont worry if theres no decline, not needed! )
Adjustable dumbbells
Olympic weight set ( i have two because i found one really cheap on craigs list and its more of a convenience thing, not at all necessary to have two )
Dip belt
Curling bar ( not needed and honestly i dont use it much )
Dip stand ( not needed but you’ll want one eventually, dips are awesome! )
Ab wheel ( really cheap and a great tool! )
And micro plates for the olympic set and dumbbells ( 1.25 lb plates, allows me to adjust total barbell weight by 2.5 and individual dumbbell weight by 2.5 )
Pushups bars ( not needes ever, but if you get into stuff like handstand pushups or inclined one armed pushups they come in handy )
I’d also suggest a mirror or two at somw point. When i first got a mirror i was quickly able to fix form on a few exercises i had been struggling with.
Thats about all i think! A lot of this you can probably find used in good shape.
Hi Greg!
Do you have any other activity (muay thai, boxing, yoga, swimming, etc.) you do on a regular basis aside from strength training and long brisk walks?
Nope, not really haha!
Hi Greg!
in the next 2 weeks, i’l be having quite a hectic schedule and i wont be able to lift on nonconsecutive days. Would u recommend me to workout on monday tuesday saturday since that is the only days i’m quite free or should I just skip tuesday and just workout on monday and friday for the next 2 weeks. Im on a 3 day split by the way so if i skip tuesdays, i will be skipping workout B for 2 weeks. What are your thoughts?
thanks!
Monday tuesday Saturday is your best bet
Trent claims to be incline benching 230lbs in the after pic at 166lbs, so that means he was more or less incline benching 200lbs at 160lbs in the before pic, but he was so skinny in the before pic to be that strong. And, also the fact that he doesn’t have a newspaper.
I’m not hating though, I just think it’s very unreasonable.
I have his newspaper pics, I just didn’t use them because he was covering part of his body in them. And I have to double check how much he was inclining in the first pic. May have been around 185. He could have very good strength to weight. This is common with people that have been following my work and he has been following it for sometime.
Just a quick question about the workouts. For Trent and Benjamin, were they following the strength and density part of the greek god program or were they following the MEGA workouts in the program.
They were doing both. Trent did S&D for the first 2 months and MEGA for the last month.
Greg-
Did these guys use the S+D Program in your muscle building program or the MEGA workouts?
They used both. Trent did S+D for the first 2 months then the last month he did MEGA.
That’s some amazing results all of you!
It looks like Trent’s shoulder girdle have actually grown wider, it’s an amazing effect it has on his appearance, great job!
Hell yah! That’s from adding serious strength to his weighted chins, standing press and incline press.
Hi Greg!
What do you think of this workout split?
Monday:
weighted chin ups- RPT 3 sets
lat raises- SPT 12,10,8,6,6,6** reps
rear delt flyes- Rest Pause
Behind the back clap push ups ( I wanna incorporate explosive push ups because i just love them)
renegade rows- 3 sets
Wednesday:
Kinobodyelite May lowebody workout A
Barbell curls- 3 sets of 6-10reps
Preacher curls- Rest pause
feet to bar raises- 3 sets
Friday:
Flat barbell bench press- RPT 3 sets
Weighted dips- RPT 3 sets
Handstand push ups
Muscle ups- 3 sets of 1-3reps
ab wheel roll outs- 3 sets
thanks in advance Greg!
Well I would put the barbell curls on Monday and add renegade rows to wednesday.
Thanks Greg! I wanna do legs and biceps on the same day so that i can hit my biceps fresh because my biceps need to catch up with my triceps. And for the explosive push ups on monday, will it interfere my strength progressions with flat bench on friday? In the same way, will doing muscle ups with low reps interfere my strength progressions on weighted chin ups on monday? :)
No there’s enough room between them, it won’t interfere.
Awesome transformations guys!
Greg, here is some celebrity strengthening circuit…do you find any exercise shown in video useful?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNohhpCnX9A
Well I’m not a fan of doing strength circuits. This makes the strength and muscle building stimulis very less effective. Use diet to control body fat and use strength training to gain strength and muscle
Thanks Greg!
Is it good to drink yogurt or milk (for breakfast) for protein intake?
I’d suggest unsweetened almond milk with protein shakes and maybe greek yogurt.
My Strength Standard is currently “Good” and I want to do Shoulders Specialization. Can I do that already? What Strength Standard (in ur book) do you think should I be before doing Specialization Routines?
Yep you can do shoulder specialization now, that’s fine. I’d get to great strength before doing the mega workouts.
Ok, for the last 2 sets, should I hit 8 reps before increasing the weight?
Follow the course. Second set is 6 reps and third set is 8 reps.
I started the Greek god program 8 weeks ago abd gave been living it! So you have any other guidelines of what strength levels you should get to before getting into specializations and the mega workout? Also, how often should I be switching between the main Greek god workout and the alternate one? Thanks!!
There is no exact protocol set in stone. If you have any serious lagging muscle groups you need to address then you can start the specialization after 12 weeks of strength and density.
Hey Greg,
Could you tell us their supplementation plan (whey, creatine, post workout carbs)?
Very happy to see you doing these contests, I follow you from years now and it’s good to see your dedication paying off :)
Trent was taking fish oil, mixed veggie/vitamin supplement, caffeine and a creatine supplement – http://lp.kinobody.com/hypergain-black/
Great work Trent, Bejamin and Sky. Awesome results.
Just a quick unrelated question, what is too young to start working out? My 10 year old brother has shown interest and i’m wondering when i should get him going.
Thanks greg!
Nothing wrong with doing some push ups and bodyweight squats. But I’d keep it very relaxed, fun and unstructured.
What happened to the 1st and 2nd runner up?
From your other post:
“1st Runner Up:
3-month membership to Kinobody Elite
KinoChef (full digital Kinobody cookbook)
2nd Runner Up:
3-month membership to Kinobody Elite
KinoChef (full digital Kinobody cookbook)”
Ahhh good point! Totally forgot about that. Will pick those two tomorrow.
Where did you put em up?
I’m putting up the fat loss transformations soon and then I’ll add the runner ups, it’s been crazy yolo
I just wanted to congratulate Benjamin and Sky! Your physiques look incredible! Keep up the great work!
Thanks man! You killed it. Awesome job.
What progression model did you use, Trent? Micro loading, alternating adding 5 lbs to the 1st and the 2nd and 3rd sets, working up a rep range and only then adding weight,…?
Trent was doing micro loading.
Greg, how do you measure your body fat percentage? Do you use calipers,or something else?
I just estimate based on the mirror. But if I want a very accurate reading I’d do a hydrostatic test