Will’s Note: Sumi was one of the first to follow the Hybrid in its early form and details her experience with it and results below over 12 weeks. The Hybrid has continued to evolve as studies come out, feedback came in, and so forth. Since doing this journal, Sumi has gone on to break various power lifting records and has a large following of her own. She works with people both online and in person and her web site can be found in her bio at the end of her articles on this site if interested. Here’s her journey and experience with the Hybrid Program:
Welcome to my training journal that will follow my progress and experience with Will’s Hybrid Program. I kept reading about the impressive results people were having with this program, and decided to give it a try!
Although I have been very dedicated to both exercise and nutrition, I have not tried anything quite like this in the past, so I’m excited to get started. I hope BrinkZone members will follow along with my progress, and help me keep motivated. I plan to add pictures and other updates as I get used to all this. I’m also new to blogging,so bear with me. 🙂 What is the Hybrid training program ?
Will Brinks Hybrid Training is…
• One of the most productive programs you will ever follow and is described as a “best of all possible worlds” routine.
• A fairly advanced multiple training program designed to produce the best overall blend of hypertrophy and leanness.
• Uses a variety of rep ranges, volume, tempo without overemphasizing any one energy pathway over the course of 12 weeks.
• Not for the beginner or poorly motivated.
• Downright fun, highly effective for altering body composition and strength gains, and for the strength athlete looking to try something different and non-traditional.
With all this in mind and having reviewed the training protocol and asking as many questions as possible from the Hybrid Program creator and Body Building Revealed author, Will Brink, I can’t wait to get officially started with my own journey on Hybrid Program.
I’ve been a group fitness instructor for over 5 years, am a certified personal trainer, work full time as a public policy advocate, and am mommy to a busy and beautiful two-year old princess.
Every week I’ll detail my goals, stats, and progress, with pics where possible.
Here’s a little detail about my goals , stats, and diet.
As far as goals go, for me, it’s to get stronger and build lean body mass without adding much additional bodyfat. Variety is key here. For me, I can easily measure strength by documenting increases in reps and/or poundage after repeating the same workout in a week or so. Squats, deadlifts, bench presses, weighted pullups/dips, barbell rows…those are some of the exercises I want to see some gains in.
At around 111.5 pounds (on a good day!) another obvious goal is to get my weight up to 115, at a minimum. At 5”4 (and ¾!) I can stand to gain weight. I think the only other time I felt OK about deliberately gaining weight was when I was pregnant! So this should be fun. I’m accomplishing this by eating roughly 2500 calories a day, making any adjustments if I see weight drop. I doubt that will happen considering all the food I’m eating. The meal plan is below. I’m not calling it a diet!
To measure lean body mass, I followed Will’s recommendation to get a body fat measuring tool called Accumeasure. After a couple of tries, the thing insisted my body fat was 13.2%. I’m not quite so sure though. A 9-point caliper test had me at 16% and a handheld bioimpedence tool had me at 15%. So, maybe I’m somewhere at 15%. I’ll repeat all the same tests in a few weeks time. I’m thinking maybe 2-3 weeks…
Finally, because the program incorporates REAL high intensity interval training, I’m looking forward to seeing gains in recovery, how fast I can step, run, or row during the working intervals. With the help of my trusty GymBoss timer, I know I’m going to be sticking to those work times.
Of course, no one can expect to take on a program like this without eating and I intended to eat plenty during the 12 weeks focused on this program.
OK time to go eat! Wish me luck!
Read WEEK #1 Training HERE!
Sumi Singh is an Austin-based personal trainer with nearly 2 decades of experience in fitness. She holds specializations in pre-and post natal fitness, group fitness, and sports nutrition. She’s the author of Stay at Home Strong, a complete workout program for new moms. She’s also an online diet coach, a busy single mom, has set various world, National and state records as a powerlifter, and holds an BSc from Tufts, and a Masters from Duke University.
Sumi you already look fantastic and obviously train hard. Looking forward to following along on your journey to a bigger and stronger you! Good luck! Your friend in San Diego
Oh Sumi, how exciting! I cannot wait to hear how it goes and see pics, of course! See you on BBR!!
I'm excited to hear and read about your progress! I'm similar is height and weight and am also trying to add lean muscle. I'll keep checking on your progress! Good luck!
Sumi, the Hybrid is a super program. I'm sure you'll have great success. I'll keep track to see how your doing.
Also see you at BBR.
hey u mentioned d diet but havnt given d time gap between meals
I eat every two to three hours.
I am one of those 'poorly motivated". Hope following you on this blog will change that..Good luck girl.
As you can see, Sumi is very motivating! Her weekly blog will be even more so I have no doubt.
Most references say 'normal' BMI is ~18-24%. That is different, I presume, for athletes/body builders. What is your BMI goal?
You're very inspiring, Sumi. Keep up the good work and I'll be following along, hoping some of your motivation rubs off on me! I'm at ~22% body fat right now – I would like to get mine down to ~20%. I'm still following the dietary suggestions you gave me, but finding it VERY difficult to resist the beer and munchies at night.
Thanks for sharing all of this with us!!!
First of all, 22% BF is great. It falls within the fitness category for women by the American Council on Exercise. Personally I don't follow the BMI recommendations, but it is a useful tool for the general population. And you are correct, athletes/bodybuilders with significant amounts of muscle can often have a higher than recommended BMI despite low body fat and otherwise being healthy…and I dare anyone to call them out of shape!
BMI is of no value to athletes. I would be obese by BMI standards. Actual BF% is what should be used for anyone not a couch potatoe, and personally, I feel it has limitations even for them. I don't like any bodycomp formula that penalizes people for having muscles/adding muscle, which is what the BMI charts potentially achieve.
You look great already, adding mass is always more fun!
I agree 100% Bernee, if only more ladies agreed with us!
Lol, if I had a dollar for every time a woman told me that they didn't want to lift weights because they didn't want to get too big and at the same time were carrying at least 10 extra pounds of extra fat! I'll take the 10 pounds of muscle any day!
Thanks for doing this journal/blog! I'm gonna read through your journey and learn alot I'm sure 🙂
i gotta thanks you mate for this contribute i will read here more often
thanks for the share dude, you quite imprevise me 😛