After an athletic upbringing, Jack let it slip until an old-school coach told him some harsh, home truths. Jack used these words as a springboard to a next-level physique.
VITAL STATS
Name: Jack Speed
Instagram: @Jack__Speed
Before
Age: 24
Height 5’11
Weight 149lbs
Body fat 15%
After
Age: 27
Height 5’11
Weight 183lbs
Body fat 11%
Like father, like son
My fitness story begins with my father who was always great at sports – in particular swimming and he’d take me to football lessons from a very young age, but secretly wanted me to be a motorcross champion.
It wasn’t really something I was into and I tried several sports as a kid, but just wasn’t able to continue with sports due to injuring my leg and arm one after the other.
This was happening because you could say I was becoming a calisthenics and gymnastics monkey, swinging from bars.
Jack – before
My workouts became pretty hyperactive with me jumping around, doing all sorts of flips and tricks.
Due to this extended time out I started getting into gaming instead of fitness and, with video games came eating all the bad stuff while I played.
I initially got really chubby without any muscle mass at all. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d been fit.
The coaches curse
My father saw where I was heading and invited me back into sport and I would train with him occasionally. He helped me slowly get back into fitness, but the real turning point was my sports coach.
When I was 11, my old-school coach was pretty harsh with me at and straight up called me fat. That was it for me – I was determined to show him otherwise.
Unfortunately, he drove me a bit too far and while I’d rid myself of the “fat” label, I was now quite skinny.
I had an old Arnold action figure that I really wanted to look like. Arnie and my love for science, health and disease prevention drove me more seriously into fitness and lifting weights.
I also became a PT, so it was time to get serious if I wanted to put on some respectable mass. I cut out all the rubbish food and started excelling in the gym and most sports I played, including track and field.
I had the advantage of athletic ability from my sporting upbringing and I really think everybody should start some form of fitness from their youth.
Fuelling the gains
Coming from a very athletic training background, my diet was always super clean and my metabolism is blazing fast. These aren’t the ideal circumstances for serious muscle growth
Personally, I think a mistake people with fast metabolisms make is keeping their diet way too clean. You’re never going to get enough calories to grow that way.
I increased my protein intake but also made my diet a little dirtier to hit my calorie goals.
The hardgainers diet plan
My daily food routine stays very consistent keeping around 5-6 meals a day.
Meal 1: 50g porridge oats with red fruits and nuts.
Meal 2: 5 whole eggs
Meal 3: 150g sea bass with 150g rice and broccoli
Meal 4: 150g chicken with 200g sweet potatoes
Meal 5: 1 scoop whey protein
Meal 6: Cheat meal: lamb/steak with brown rice, halloumi and salad. Or I’ll go for a goats cheese pizza with extra chicken or sausage and Oreo shake.
Jack – After
My favorites
I absolutely love a double cheeseburger with sweet potato fries. At its core, this meal isn’t actually unhealthy either. Some quality protein, with decent carb sources.
You just have to watch for too much saturated fat.
Supplements
I mainly use Optimum Nutrition as well as independent brands. I’ve found these supplements, in these doses have helped me build the most muscle:
-1 scoop of whey protein
-2 scoops of mass gainer
-5g Creatine monohydrate
-5-10g of BCAAs
-1 x Multivitamins
-3 x ZMA caps before bed
My Training Routine
I have a training partner and friend, Carlos who is an IFBB physique competitor and has won many physique shows.
I find working with someone more experienced and bigger than me more motivating.
Our training varies depending on our goal and what we need to work on.
For example, at this moment in time, we’re training 5 days a week and always keeping within the rep range of 10-12. We’re in a lean muscle building phase with this type of training.
Monday: biceps, triceps and calfs
Tuesday: legs
Wednesday: rest
Thursday: chest and triceps
Friday: back and calves
Saturday: bicep and shoulders
Sunday: rest
Exercises
We pick 4 exercises for larger muscle groups, split into 2 compound lifts and 2 isolation exercises. We perform 3 exercises for the smaller muscle groups.
The final exercise, as you’ll see in the example, is a high volume to really take the body part to muscular failure.
There is no cardio included right now as I cut quickly into my muscle mass when I include cardio in a lean gaining phase.
Example: Chest and triceps
3 x 12 bench press
3 x 12 incline
3 x 12 dumbell flys
7 x 10 cable flys
3 x 12 skull crushers
3 x 12 rope overhead extentions
7 x 10 cable pushdowns
Future Goals
I miss my abs! So after this phase, I’ll probably include some cardio and remove my cheat meals, reducing them to once per week.
I’ll also lower the rep ranges and increase my weights, which seems counter-intuitive, but you need to give the body a reason to hold on to muscle when you’re cutting.
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