“Growing up, I was bullied mercilessly. I still remember times when I was strangled in public and no one stood up for me,” redditor davidewa writes in a post to r/fitness, “I was laughed at and beat up so many times, was the youngest in my class for the majority of my childhood years and also one of the skinniest. I was suicidal and severely depressed up until my early teen years.”
Starting his fitness journey at the young age of 12, davidewa started working out in his room at home with a push-up set and “no idea how to train.” His body began to put on muscle, and by the time he was 17 and entering college he decided it was something he wanted to pursue as a lifestyle. “I also got NASM-certified at 18 and began training clients of all ages, developing great relationships and having the opportunity to change lives through training like I never would have imagined.”
While davidewa was doing physically better, mentally he was still struggling. Suffering from severe social anxiety and panic attacks when it came to deciding whether or not to attend social events, he decided to start pushing himself to overcome his fears. “This past year, I pushed myself to attend huge raves solo and sober and forced myself to meet new people as I always wanted to experience the scene” he explains, with the outcome being that “these were some of the most exhilarating experiences of my life.” The diet he followed, throughout all of this, is one of the most intense we’ve seen – but no pain no gain, right?
Detailed Diet and exercise routine history:
-Consistently tracking macros for 1023 days straight at this point and modifying as necessary
-In the beginning, I was extremely strict with my diet, eating every 2 hours, packing a massive cooler with me to work daily and was even ridiculed for doing this. But it helped me stay on track towards my fitness goals. I have learned a lot through education since this point and how to modify my diet further to adjust to situations, but meal prepping and sticking to whole foods the majority of the time has been a big part of my diet plan.Calories consumed
-From 16 – 17, I consumed around 3000 calories a day as this allowed me to make significant noob gains. However, I modified my caloric intake as I saw fit based on my progress. If my weight was stalling or I was not seeing strength gains, I slightly increased my calories to allow for a slightly greater surplus. However, I aimed to always stay fairly lean. I gauged this by my overall definition (mostly abs) and weight. If I wanted to get leaner, I tracked macros and adjusted accordingly to allow for a caloric deficit and gauged progress by weight and how I looked.
-Supplements consumed: Whey protein, creatine, beta alanine, fish oil, BCAAs, multivitamin. All natural stuff. I have never used a pre-workout in my life as I feel these are unnecessary and often have a ton of stimulants like caffeine and ingredients and can cause dependency. I zone in for my training sessions 10 – 15 minutes before I train and meditate, visualizing success and preparing for intensity. The mind and focusing 100% on your training goals to me is far more powerful than a pre-workout supplement.Programs followed
When I first began training (before 16), I had no knowledge whatsoever about program design…would knock out tons of push-ups in my room. Led to shoulder impingement and elbow tendonitis from improper training (not enough pulling to balance the pushing). This made me start learning how to train smart and helped me develop a passion for the body.
I currently structure my own training split as I have found what works best for my body, which is DUP (daily undulating periodization) style training. However, around 16 years old, I trained for athletics and plyometrics, following volume and explosive based training for basketball.
Then, I began similar protocol to starting strength to build strength, but stuck with lower reps for big compounds and hypertrophy rep ranges for accessories. Over time, I developed more knowledge and began modifying rep ranges for strength and hypertrophy protocol based on my progress and goals. Today I primarily stick with DUP.
In the future, davidewa says he’d like to open up his own gym and compete in the NPC or powerlifting competitions, and currently he’s working on developing his own YouTube channel. As of right now, davidewa is a certified personal trainer, corrective exercise specialist and fitness nutrition specialist by the National Academy of Sports Medicine, holds a bachelor of science in Human Biology and Exercise Physiology, is a fitness model with Naturally Fit Agency and the owner of DavingWangFitness.
And in the event you don’t believe the photos, his before and after stats aren’t anything to sneeze at either:
-Beginning stats for bench, squat and deadlift:
Bench: 95 lbs for 1 rep
Squat: 95 lbs for 3×5 superset with step-ups 3×5
Deadlift: ~135 lbs
Current stats for bench, squat and deadlift:
Bench: ~260…I typically stick with incline bench for 225 for reps…3×3 or so due to bench causing issues for me the in past due to previous shoulder impingement. But I have been recently incorporating it back into my routine.
Squat: 420…2×3
Deadlift: 525…2×3
Damn.
[Via Reddit]