As many of you know, we have a lot of transformations that take place in Beyond Strength Performance NOVA. And while every transformation is special, every now and then one comes along that really grabs your attention. We have been working with Kevin Breeden for a looooong time now, and I wanted to share- or rather have him share his experience with Beyond Strength Performance NOVA.
I think that the pictures speak for themselves, so I’ll just get right to the interview with Kevin…
1.) Congrats on the transformation! It’s crazy to see the progress you’ve made over the last year and a half… Tell us a little about how you came through BSP NOVA. What brought you in? What was your initial expectation? What was it like getting started?
I had known Chris for a while before BSP NOVA was even in existence, so when he finally launched his business, it was a natural transition for me to start working with him. I had also worked with him on previous occasions when I was actively training in MMA, so I knew he was good at what he does. For me, and I’m sure many others, when beginning to work with a trainer of any sorts, your initial expectation is that you want to see results. Getting started on my first program with Chris was interesting and different; 99% of the exercises he had me do I had never done before, let alone could even pronounce. Needless to say I was extremely sore when I first got started- I was working muscles I didn’t even know I had.
2.) What was different about your training at BSP NOVA than what you’ve done in the past?
There are a lot of things, but I believe one of the biggest is the custom programs that are specifically designed for me. Everybody’s workout at BSP is different; not one person there is built the same or has the same ultimate goal, so why should everybody be doing the same program? Well, they shouldn’t be, and Chris has a process that he uses to specifically design a program based off of my physical needs and the goals that I am trying to accomplish. I feel like in the past I become stagnant in my workouts where I found myself doing the same things over and over and kind of just hit a wall. I wasn’t going backwards, but I wasn’t going forward either. The ever changing programs and variety of exercises he has me doing have kept me on a steady climb. It is very rare that I will ever have the same exercise in multiple programs; there is always some sort of variation. One very important thing is since working out at BSP and following their programming, I have not injured myself from working out. This goes back to the preparation that goes into developing a program for me. I also think that having staff there the whole time you are working out to watch you and ensure that your form is correct is key – if its not correct, or if you’re not going low enough, or you’re cutting corners on a workout, you will know about it LOL.
3.) Your biggest motivator in the gym seemed to be prepping for racing motorcycles. Tell us how the season went, and how strength and conditioning helped you along the way.
Yeah racing was my primary focus this year, the season went really well. I was able to win a couple championships in a few different race classes, and took home a bunch of wins and podiums. I was pretty pleased with the overall results, and am looking forward to what the 2015 season has to bring. The strength and conditioning work that I put in before the season started as well as during the season played a big role in the overall outcome of the season, both in a physical sense and mental. When you have to throw a 300+ pound bike around for anywhere from 15-25mins straight at around 90% of your max heart rate, having the physical power and conditioning to do it is very important. For one, it allowed me to go at 100% for the duration of a race without fatigue. I raced one weekend in 2013 when I was not actively working out with Chris. The difference from how I felt getting off the bike after 25mins in 2014 from how I felt getting off of it after the same race in 2013 was night and day- that was one of those moments this last season when I knew the work I was doing at BSP was paying off. When you fatigue, you slow down and lose races, and when there’s money on the line, I don’t like losing. The second and probably more important is the mental aspect; when you’re racing at 150mph 2inches from someone else you need your mind to stay sharp – if you’re getting tired and you mentally start to fade you can seriously hurt yourself of someone else. Working at BSP not only gave me the physical aspect but I knew mentally that I was strong enough and had better conditioning than others to push at a 100% for the duration of the race.
4.) You trained anywhere from 2-4 days/week between missing days and doing make-ups, but even 4 days per week leaves a lot of time on your own. What strategies did you use to have the progress you did while outside the gym?
I’m just an active person; I have issues with just sitting around doing nothing, so I try to spend a lot of my free time doing something. I found myself doing a lot of mountain biking and road biking this year. I think at my peak I was putting in close to 100miles a week on one of the two bikes. I also tried to do a good bit of running, though I’m not the biggest fan. As active as I like to be, I also tried to make sure I was listening to my body and resting when I was feeling burnt out. I’ve made the mistake of trying to do too much, so I also made sure I was getting ample rest and a good night’s sleep to ensure my body would heel and I could push hard during my workouts.
5.) What does an average day of eating look like for you?
This is a funny question! An average day of eating for me depends on if my girlfriend is involved in my diet for the day. Shout out to my main squeeze Theresa, she definitely keeps me on track with eating and keeps me in check. I’ve been told I have this gift of a metabolism that doesn’t slow down, so in reality I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted and however much of it I want to. However I don’t and my girlfriend has got me eating all this organic stuff, I also only eat grass fed beef, cage free eggs/chickens and all that others stuff. One of my problems I was having was just not eating enough for as much physical activity as I do, I just wasn’t taking in enough calories a day. This is where my girlfriend has helped me with putting on some weight and size, she makes sure I am eating, and eating a lot, and if I’m not eating enough I’m definitely going to hear about it. I also took Chris’ advice and I eat a peanut butter and honey sandwich in between every meal; he recommended peanut butter and jelly but I like honey better so that’s what I do [Chris: I made this recommendation based on Kevin not getting enough calories in]. So in a nutshell I try to eat pretty clean, I don’t necessarily have a set diet that I follow but I do try to eat a pretty balance diet though, making sure I get in all the necessary nutrition that is needed. I rarely eat fast food, maybe a late night “Big Mac” once in a while if I’ve gone out for a night on the town but that’s about it, and I also don’t drink any soda. I’m sure if I followed a pretty strict diet that I would even see greater results but it’s just something I’ve never done.
6.) Do you have any words of advice for someone looking to have a transformation like yours that I didn’t cover with our questions so far?
Embrace the Grind…I like to track my progress; I tend to ask Chris for pictures every few months to see any changes. I’m pretty self-motivated but seeing your body change can be a motivating thing and make you want to continue to work hard and surpass any goals you have set. It’s not easy work to transform yourself, whether you’re trying to gain weight or lose it, you have to want to do it for yourself and put in the necessary work to do it. I would set little goals for myself; I found that let me feel a sense of accomplishment when I was able to meet one. Once I met it I would set a new one, and that still continues to this day. I think BSP is an environment that breads success, its kind of like a family environment, everybody is there to push each other and support one another’s goals and aspirations.
7.) You put on some serious muscle and strength, did really well in racing, and you’re continuing to progress in the gym… What’s next for you?
The 2015 race season, this last year was my first season racing so I was racing as an amateur, luckily I was able to accomplish enough that I will be getting the invite to move up to the expert ranks. That means I need to be faster, more conditioned and bust my butt over the off season at BSP to go into next year stronger than I’ve ever been. I’ve also been playing with the idea of getting started in Triathlons next year, so we’ll see how that plays out. I think that would be a fun challenge.
8.) Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions! Anything else you’d like to cover or say?
Just thanks to Chris and his staff at BSP for getting me to the point I am at now. I always say I have a love/hate relationship with Chris. His programming will help you achieve what you want to achieve but you may not like him during some of the workouts LOL. If you’ve been thinking of checking out BSP, then stop thinking and make some time to come in and check the place out and talk with Chris and rest of the staff.
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