Chris McCurdy struggled with low levels of self worth and poor discipline until he leaned on the experience of others to make a positive change that’s made his dreams a reality
Vital Stats
Before
Age: 35
Weight: 150lb
Bodyfat: 8%
After
Age: 35
Weight: 170lb
Bodyfat: 9%
Fierce Desire
All my life I have wanted to be physically fit. The whole package, so my body looked toned and well maintained. To be perfectly honest I always lacked the willpower, fortitude and self-discipline to get what I wanted so badly. My inability to succeed was because my mind was very unhealthy, and this meant achieving a physical fitness on the outside seemed near impossible. All of that came to an end when one day I decided I was tired of being out of shape, both mentally and physically. I learnt that when battling your own mind, everything can seem so hard and heavy. The mere thought that you can make improvements becomes a complicated mindset to keep up with. That’s where I adopted my little trick: just push through it. While it may seem simple, when I’m lying on that bench press and my arms are shacking and all I want to do is just let that weight drop, I remember it’s not just the weight I’m dropping, it’s my goals, my limits and my expectations. That seems like a dramatic description for a repetition but it’s that mindset that’s helped me push through the weight. It’s helped me push through my depression, bust down the limitations I had for myself and lift a weight that’s weighed down on my self-confidence and self-respect. I decided that no matter how I feel, no matter how tired I am I’m going to get what I want. This means that whether I’m stressed, depressed or tired, I still push through it and get to that gym.
Overcoming Challenges
My biggest challenges have always come from within. These are things such as my low levels of self-worth, depression, consistency, motivation and poor decision-making skills. Realistically, the list could go on and on because I’ve never been much of a disciplined person, even though I work hard – it’s just not on a very consistent level. Even now a big challenge is developing a routine that I can fit in to my day-to-day schedule.
Making A Change
The first step was listening to my personal trainer and best friend William Bower. I had to be willing to listen to someone who knew how to accomplish what I’d always wanted to accomplish. Since William already had the know-how, having done it himself, I let him guide me through every step of the process and this became a massive catalyst for my positive improvements. He helped show me that there were no shortcuts, even with thing such as supplements which I’ve never used. Everything so far has come from all-natural hard work, discipline and a huge change in diet. When I first started I was using pre-workout but it was affecting me in a few negative ways so I chose to continue without.
Diet Strategy
Meal 1: coffee
7am Workout
Meal 2: Bowl of steel cut oats.
Meal 3: protein bar or nuts or almonds
Meal 4: Large can of chicken breast
Meal 5: White cheddar popcorn (cheat snack)
Meal 6: baked or grilled chicken with brown or yellow rice, spinach or peas sweet potatoes or asparagus
My Daily Macros
Calories 3300
fat 100g
carb 300g
protein 300g
Advice For Others
Be mindful enough to push through all the limits you think you’ve set for yourself. These are things such as I know I can’t do it, or I know I can never have that or I know that’s too heavy for me. And even when you think you’ve reached your absolute upper limit, that’s when you push even more. Your mind is the heaviest thing in your body and it can put so much weight on you that you feel like you will never be able to even lift yourself out of bed. When it’s too hard and too heavy, make a commitment to push forward.
My Workout Plan
Monday: Chest
½ mile on treadmill
Bench press 5 x 10
Reverse dips 5 x 10
Dips 3 x 15
Inclined dumbbell chest press 3 x 10
Inclined bench cable flys 3 x 10
Rope cable pull-downs 3×12
Tuesday: Shoulders
Overhead shoulder press 3×12
Reverse flys 3×15
Dumbbell shoulder press 3×12
Arnold press 3 x 12
Wednesday: Abs/core
Declined sit-ups 3 x 12
Planks 1min × 3
Rope pull-downs on knees 3 x 12
Russian twist 3 x 12
Side bends 3 x 12
Crunches 3 x 25
Mountain climbers 3 x 30
Laying leg raises 3 x 12
Thursday: Legs
Barbell squats 3 x 10
Leg press 3 x 10
Calf raise 3 x 20
Legs extensions 1 x 50
Seated leg curls 1 x 50
Barbell lungs 1 x 50
Friday: Back and biceps
Single arm dumbbell rows 3 x 12
Inverted rows 1 x 50
Bent over barbell rows 3 x 15
T-bar row 3 x 12
Wide grip pull-ups 3 x 12
Close grip pull-ups 3 x 12
Seated cable rows 1 x 100
Rope cable curls 3 x 12
Lat pull-downs 3 x 12
Saturday: jogging, climbing, biking, something outside of the gym. I can only smell sweating dudes for so long so on the weekends is when I try to see the different things nature has to offer.
