The Amazing 12 - My experience

Alright so here it is...

Like many people around here, I heard about The Amazing 12 through Facebook and had a look into it. At first glance, the price seemed a little steep and off-putting... But those Facebook pictures stuck in my head; the Before and Afters. I was in pretty decent shape. Well, not really... but I was strong and that had always been the goal so I was happy enough. But in recent times, particularly having turned 30, I've been thinking that I should really get in shape. So I ate reasonably well and trained hard and pretty much nothing happened. I was hovering around the 77kg mark (at roughly 5 foot 7) and, after a few weeks of clean eating and hard training, I was stuck at around 76.5kg.

So, I went back and looked at A12. The price per session looked really reasonable but the initial outlay still seemed really high... So I went back to training hard and eating well. A few more weeks, still stuck at around 76.5kg. So then I just bit the bullet and sent the e-mail. Got a call back from them to arrange an appointment and in I went after work one day. I met with Sean, one of the owners and we had a good chat about where I was at, what I wanted and so on. I knew I was probably going in to a sales pitch but tbh, going in, I was kind of already sold. Despite that, there actually wasn't a hard sell; it was more a "Is what you need compatible with what we offer?" type of a chat. Turns out, they did. So I signed up there and then. Tbh, what I really needed was to just commit to it. I knew I wanted to do it but I was held back by the fear that I wouldn't be able for what I'd read was an intense programme. Once I signed up, the fear went away and the focusing began.

A12 seemed pretty unique in that there was a pre-session where I met everyone else who would be on the programme and we were given a run-down of what the 12 weeks would look like, what we'd be given as part of it etc. so that was pretty cool. Also, between the time I signed up and the time the programme actually started, I was given free membership to the gym, which was great.

Anyway, on to the actual programme. It was tough. It was intense. It was a big commitment. It was training and nutrition - the basics. But it was tough. The coaches were really open about what to expect. It basically boiled down to "Do the programme, get the results. Half ass it, get half the results." One of the questions someone asked was "Can I still drink alcohol?" to which the answer was basically "Do whatever the fcuk you want, I'm not your mother. But every drink you have will negatively affect the results you get from the programme." The honesty was refreshing. People made their choices and it was theirs to own!

When the training began, I realised just how out of shape I was. Not gonna lie, there was vomit the first day. I found out that eating before a.m. training was not for me. That was the other thing; I chose to train at 6:30am. Believe me, the first week of these early mornings were tough but I'll never go back to training after work. Early morning training is the best.

The classes usually had about 6-7 people in them and, as you could guess, were focused around the compound lifts, with some assistance exercises and conditioning blocks. Obviously, I'm not really gonna go into the actual breakdown of the sessions but suffice it to say that for the hour you were there, you worked, you hurt and you sweated. For the first few sessions, it was really hard. After that it was really hard but manageable and rewarding.

At the end of the first week, I had my first cheat meal; a pizza (14inch from Four Star) on the Sunday night. It was unreal. Monday morning came around and I felt like shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit. Which meant the nutrition plan they'd given me was already working. Every week, I looked forward to that Sunday night cheat meal and every Monday morning, I felt awful after overindulging. So after a few weeks, I stopped over indulging. Had a smaller pizza or a little less chocolate for my cheat meal.

I started to notice results on the scales after the first day. I'd started at 77.2kg and by day 3 or so, I was just under 77kg. By the end of week 2, there were obvious differences in the mirror. Week 4 went by and I was really looking different and getting compliments in work. I should say, the coaches warned that people moved at different paces through the programme and some would see results faster/slower than others.

By week 6, the group I was training with was like a team. I loved getting up at 5:45am cos I knew I'd get to train with some fun people. By week 8, I was happy with the reflection in the mirror, which was the goal. By week 10, my goal of losing 7kg was done. Two weeks left and I had achieved my goals. By this point, I had thought at 3 separate junctures that I had achieved the best results possible and all 3 times, I was wrong.

In the end, I surpassed my own hopes and expectations. I had no idea how much I could actually do. But it didn't come easy. I had some tricks up my sleeve that I used to get me through it. As follows:

1. Training was hard. Five days a week, an hour a day, very intense. My hack: I turned off my brain and did exactly what I was told. They told me to go heavier, I went heavier. They told me to go lighter, I went lighter. Brain off and do as you're told.

2. Nutrition was hard. Training was 5 hours a week but diet was 24/7, with the exception of one cheat meal. My hack: I turned off my brain and did exactly what I was told. I can tell you exactly how many times I ate someone that wasn't on the plan. Four. Four times in 12 weeks, I diverged from the nutrition plan. On four separate occasions, I had a chewing gum. Yes, that's how strict I was on myself. I counted the amount of times I had chewing gum. Very few people would be this insanely strict but I know my patterns and if I was any less strict, I'd have broken completely.

3. The schedule was tough. Training 5 days a week for 12 weeks is almost unrealistic. Most people aimed for 90%. My hack: I turned off my brain and did exactly what I was told. I hit 60 out of 60 sessions. Most of the time, I drove but, on Wednesdays, I didn't have the car. So this meant getting up at 5:30, getting a Dublin Bike to a bus stop and then walking the rest of the way to get there by 6:30am. Thankfully, as the programme went on and I made friends, I managed to get a lift for the last 3 Wednesdays!

4. Other people. Most people were really supportive of my endeavour. But some people just want you to fail, for whatever reason. There's always some prick waving a donut in your face or trying to mock your efforts. My hack: Well, for the most part, I didn't tell people what I was doing. Couldn't hide it in work cos I went straight from the gym to work in the mornings but, as much as possible, I tried to avoid talking to much to people who tried to tear me down. I don't need that shit.

So that was that. In the end, I was delighted with the results. After having gone through it, I feel stupid for ever questioning myself about whether or not I should or could. It's the best thing I've done in years and I'll be staying on in the gym for the foreseeable. It's a great place and I've learned a huge amount about training, nutrition, my own limitations and my own potential.

So here it is, 12 weeks later, 10.1kg down on the scales, weighing in at 67.1kg. Thanks for reading!