Catching Up With…Fit2Fat2Fit’s Drew Manning

By: Jacob Elyachar

Two years ago, Utah-based fitness trainer Drew Manning began a journey to inspired people all around the world to get into shape.

His excursion from fit to fat and back to fit again evolved into a successful fitness brand that includes a New York Times best seller and supplements and clothing lines.

Today, Drew started Fit2MASS, a new mission which will help both men and women gain lean muscle mass.

I caught up with Drew for an exclusive interview to learn more about the program, how he convinced his wife, Lynn, to join him on his latest quest.

Jacob Elyachar: How have you changed since the last time we spoke?

Drew Manning: I have been basically maintaining my physique since the end of my fit2fat2fit journey.  I have also been rebuilding my strength.  I am not sure that I have talked about this before but I lost a little bit of my strength, as I went from fat to fit.  Losing 75 pounds in six months is tough to do without losing some of your lean muscle mass.   I probably lost five pounds of muscle but because of that loss, I have been working on rebuilding my strength again, maintaining my weight and practiced what I have been preaching.

JE: Your second weight loss mission was with the Jaynes Family. How successful was it?  

DM:  Honestly, it was really successful because it was more of a realistic view of weight loss looks like.   We see shows like Biggest Loser and Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition, where people lose 20 pounds in a week.  They live a ranch and have trainers and nutritionists that work with them.    What I did with the Jaynes is that I showed people the realistic approach to how to live a healthy lifestyle.   The Jaynes have a newborn baby and one of them works a full-time job, while is in the process of getting her master’s degree.   The other one goes to school full-time and also has a part-time job as well.     I also wanted to show everyone that you can live a healthy lifestyle, no matter how busy you are and you do not need to be on these weight loss shows to lose weight.  It was very successful and both of the Jaynes did a great job.

JE: Let’s talk about your new project: Fit2MASS.  Could you please share with my readers, its origin story?

DM: Before the Jaynes’ Journey, people were begging me to do a journey where I show them how to gain lean muscle mass.  At the beginning, it was a lot of guys that were making the requests.  There were a lot of ectomorphs that wanted to know how do you put on weight the right way and they wanted me to do that even before the Jaynes’ Journey.   However, the Jaynes’ Journey got the most votes and I promised them that I would do Fit2MASS after it.   Fit2MASS is going to be a 12-week program, where I show people how to gain lean muscle mass, while burning fat or keeping your fat mass down at the same time.    This is extremely difficult to do, but the interesting thing is that I am bringing my wife, Lynn, with me to show women how to do it and also to show them that they do not have to be afraid of lifting heavy weights.

 

JE: This will be your third fitness journey in two years. How will Fit2MASS differ from your previous journeys?

DM: Fit2MASS will be a little bit different in the length of time.  It will be a three-month journey.  It is not going to be six months or a year like my other two journeys were.   The difference in this event is that it is going to be one-sided.  I am just going from fit to gaining lean muscle mass.

JE: I would like to go back and discuss the time frame of your project.  Why did you pick 12 weeks instead of 52 weeks like you did last time during for Fit2Fat2Fit?

DM: Honestly, I think it is a challenge for me to see if I can put on about 10 to 12 pounds of lean muscle in 12 weeks time.  Plus, I already paid for and signed for a Spartan Race at the end of June.  So, at the end of this journey, I have to tackle a 13-mile Spartan Race.  As I gain lean muscle, it is going to be tough for me to keep my cardiovascular endurance.  I did not want to do the Fit2MASS for too long because I do have these other races coming up and I do have to keep up my cardiovascular endurance.  It is kind of like a Catch-22, you can usually have one or the other.  It is going to be tough to have a lot of lean muscle and cardiovascular endurance, so I will be trying to find the right balance.

JE: What will be some of the challenges that you will face throughout this journey?

DM: (Laughs) First of all, I want to let people know it is extremely difficult to gain lean muscle mass.  It is extremely easy to gain fat mass for most people as I demonstrated during my Fit2Fat2Fit journey.  In order to gain muscle, it takes a lot of preparation and a lot of hard work.   However, the toughest part of my Fit2MASS journey will be keeping my body fat mass down.    I got tested at the beginning and I had about eight-percent body fat, which is pretty good.    The difficulty will be maintaining it as I put on more muscle.  Time will tell if I can pull off this Fit2MASS journey.   My wife is going to try to put on three to five pounds of muscle mass and that is tough for women to do.

 

JE: How did you convince Lynn to come on this journey?

DM: I think part of her wanted to do this journey.  Lynn is a women’s personal trainer and she has heard from so many times from women comments like “I should not be lifting weights because I am going to get big and bulky” or “Are sure is it okay to take protein?” Lynn is doing this to show women that she can lift weights and eat protein and is not going to turn into this bodybuilder chick.   A lot of women are fearful of that, but it is really a myth unless they take steroids and increase their testosterone levels, it is most likely not going to happen.    I told her that this journey would be a great way to challenge her but also inspire a lot of women to lift weights.   I did not have to do too much convincing, but at the same time, she is going to have to be committed and this time, she will be in the spotlight rather than just me.

JE: During your Fit2Fat2Fit journey, you received involvement from people all around the world.  How will they be able to follow you this time?

DM: If they go to fit2mass.com, they can follow the progress for free there. On the new Fit2MASS website, we have content that everyone can follow.  They can follow our weekly weigh-ins and weekly measurements.   We will also provide tips along the way.   There is a paid section for the site.  Anyone can pay $10 for the 12-week subscription.  It is a one-time payment and you will get everything including the detailed meal plans and in-depth workout videos.    In addition to the Fit2MASS website, they can also find it on the fit2fat2fit website.

JE: If you had the chance to meet people who want to do this with you and Lynn, what would be your advice to them?

DM: First of all, like in my fit2fat2fit journey, I preach nutrition over exercise any day.  That is the same for Fit2MASS.  Exercise is important but the biggest advice that I would give is that it really comes down to your diet and eating clean.  You will actually see the results in the kitchen not so much at the gym.  It does take discipline and it is not as easy as just cutting out soda or sweets, this does take a little bit more science.    The biggest thing that I want to get across to people is also doing this in a healthy way so that they are not just focusing on their macronutrients.   Lots of bodybuilders try to put on mass by using protein, fats and carbs.  I want to show people how to do this so they can keep their organs in your body medically healthy while they are putting on this lean muscle.

To connect with Drew through social media, visit his Facebook and Twitter pages plus the Fit2Fat2Fit YouTube channel.