I met former England Rugby rep and current fitness model Adam Parr at the Biosignature certification this April in Southampton. He was a big solid guy who obviously knows how to walk the walk when it comes to moving metal, but his body was showing signs of an average Rugby player diet at 14% body fat. 4 months later and Adam has transformed himself into a fitness model. He’s powerful and as ripped you’ll find amongst natural lifters. Adam has applied his training and nutrition knowledge with great discipline and the pictures tell the story.
Adam has been a great motivation for me, I hope you can learn something from his success.
Tell us about your background as an athlete and a coach and what motivates you to continue to learn and train.
I got into rugby from a young age and it has always been my passion and number 1 sport. I played for England Under 16 and 18 at schoolboy level, and trained with Worcester Warriors from the age of 16-20. At the time Phil Richards was head of strength and conditioning at the club and whilst everyone else dreading conditioning/ gym sessions I have always loved that aspect of the game, which is what led me to become a Personal Trainer.
What do you weigh and what was your body fat % before the Biosignature conference? What is it now?
In April during the course I was around 105kg. I had my boy fat taken about 20 times during Biosignature and it came out at an average of 14%. Today mid August I aam sitting at around 100kg and 8% body fat.
What do you think were the key factors in your transformation after the Biosignature course?
One of the main factors was pure motivation/ inspiration. During Biosignature I spent 5 days down in Southampton when 60 other strength coaches/ personal trainers in peak condition and it really motivated me to improve my own physique. 14% body fat was too high and to quote Charles Poliquin, “if you’re over 10% you’re a fat bast*rd!!!!”
What motivated you to stay on track?
About a month after Biosignature, I went to BodyPower at the NEC Birmingham and it was there that I got asked to do some fitness modelling. A week later I had confirmed the day of the photoshoot with the photographer Simon Barnes, and that gave me 7weeks to get in shape for the shoot. This gave me the perfect opportunity to apply everything I had learnt previously at Biosignature and get in the shape of my life.
Adam Parr – Model
Nutrition
Which biosignature protocols did you use?
I used DIM with calcium D glucorate to detoxify estrogen’s as well as fish oils, high dose vitamin D plus yin-builder, holy basil, uber mag and Uberzinc PX.
What’s your pre workout stack?
It was usually 200mg caffeine / 4g l-Carnitine / 5g creatine monohydrate.
What supplements did you use during your workout?
Poliquin BCAA Excellence – I would take 20g during my workout.
Charles Poliquin – BCAA Excellence – Workout Fuel
What supplements do you use post workout?
Post workout has normally been looking like:
60g whey
50-100g vitargo
20g glutamine
5g creatine
5g glycine
How much protein do you eat and when do you eat it?
I set myself a protein goal of 3.5-4g per kg of weight. I’m about 100kg so have been shooting for 350-400g of protein split over about 7 meals throughout the day.
How much fat do you eat, what kinds of fat do you eat, when do you eat them?
I’ve massively increased my fat intake. I supplement on Omega 3 (EPH, DHA). Fats that I eat regularly include:- coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, olives and variety of nuts. I try to add some form of fat in with every meal.
Adam Parr – Lunch
What changes would you make if you decided to get up to 110kg ?
110kg seems a long way away now im a lot leaner!!! To start with my calories would have to increase, I would find those extra calories through good carb sources such as sweet potato, yams and brown rice. The other main thing would be to cut the HIIT sessions and allow myself longer rest periods between sets because at the moment I only allow myself 30-45s rest.
If you could recommend 5 nutritional changes to someone wanting to get healthy and lean what would they be?
1. Get hydrated – aim for 1L per 25kg of bodyweight
2. Start with breakfast – try the meat and nut breakfast, it has been one of the major changes I have made to my diet.
3. Eliminate all processed food out of your diet.
4. Supplement with Omega 3.
5. Eat regularly. The more frequently you eat the more body fat you will strip away from your body.
Adam Parr – Breakfast
What training methods do you recommend for fat loss?
You want to being lifting 8-12 reps , 3-6 sets, of about 75-80% of your 1 rep maximum. Base the program around compound / Olympic lifts. Doing this will trigger a greater growth hormone response to training and therefore start to torch the fat away from your body!!
What are your best lifts?
Number one would be a hanging dumbbell snatch! It develops full body explosive power, and no better feeling that shifting a huge dumbbell overhead. After that I would say Deadlift and bench, P.B is 235kg and 162.5kg.
Talk us through the last 2 weeks of your shoot preparation
Training:
I’m currently on a modified German Volume Training program on a 5-day split. Chest/ Back/ Legs/ Shoulder/ Biceps which has been heavily demanding but working well for me. I train abs heavy same as any other muscle group, so 8-12 reps for 3 or 4 sets about x3 a week. And then will fit in 3 or 4 HIIT sessions throughout the week early morning or after weights
The final week I will be training abs everyday, and experimenting with some depletion training which I haven’t done before.
Nutrition
I am currently following a carb cycling plan. I’ve been having 4 days relatively low carb – no more than 250/300g and then one high carb day shooting for 500/550g. Iv been doing this for the last 5weeks and feel great. I keep my protein intake high. Iv been aiming to constantly keep my protein around 350-400g per day.
My photo shoot is on a Sunday, so mon/tues/wed that week I will be very low carb 200-250g, and then gradually increase, so Thursday 300g, Friday 400g, and then load up on the Saturday with about 500g.
My shoot is 2pm Sunday, so from 2pm Saturday I will be keeping fluids to a minimum, roughly no more than 125ml every 2hours.
Night before
3 glasses of red wine
100-150g of fat
Milk chocolate
X12 spikes asparagus fried in butter
On the day
1000mg of Vit C every 4 hours before the shoot.
5g glycerol x4 a time (from 4days out from the shoot)
500/600mg of caffeine 2 hours before the shoot
Snacking on simply sugars during the shoot (mainly grapes and dark chocolate)
Made with Bullet