Welcome back to Project Legacy, Joshua Marron here with your week 4 client blog. As I say every week, thank you for following along, I hope that this journey of mine is helpful in your own transformation and as always, The Arena is here for you if you are looking for your own Level Up! Adventure.
I feel like we talk a lot about adjustments and changes each week and that isn’t by accident, nor is it due to mistakes. What sets The Level Up! Arena apart is that we work with you, one-on-one to master your transformation. We could easily send you a plan and if things don’t work out, we could blame it on your lack of commitment, but that isn’t what we do here.
Everyone is unique and different and there is no one size fits all coaching program, and plans are made to be adjusted based on real world feedback. A true specialized custom coaching plan should be fluid, not to avoid discomfort, because discomfort is a necessary component of change, but to ensure that we are maximizing your strengths and minimizing the weaknesses to ensure your success.
The Protein Crash
Onward to why we are here, to review Week 4 of Project Legacy. This was a rough one, as we experimented with a protein enhancement protocol to massively enhance my protein intake. The science was there, the plan was solid… but my body disagreed.
I felt absolutely awful all week. My body, which has lived on a sub-80 gram per day regimen for 14 years, was not having it. Working with my coach, we discovered this was a multi-tiered problem:
The Initial Problem: We started with a new, animal-free whey protein. Molecularly, it’s the same as whey, but since I hadn’t had anything like it in 14 years, it made me incredibly lethargic. We immediately cut that out after just three days.
The Adjustment: We switched to a pea protein powder I already knew my body was okay with. While I saw some improvement, I still felt a serious lack of energy for the rest of the week.
This is why having a coach is so important when undertaking a massive transformation, it’s so important to have someone to look to for guidance and to help when things just aren’t making sense. We tried it, it didn’t work, we adjust going forward and accept the potential lean mass loss. Because trying to maintain lean mass while feeling ill and not performing at a top level is silly.
My training didn’t stop just because I wasn’t feeling good though, however, the quality and intensity certainly took a hit. This week, the victory wasn’t in the weight I lifted or the reps I hit, it was in the discipline of simply showing up. For a lot of people starting a new program, putting on those shorts and lacing up the shoes is the biggest hurdle. This week taught me that the mental win of showing up is just as important, if not more so, than the physical performance itself at this stage of the program.
A Serious Shift
After a lot of deep thought and working with my coach, we decided to make a pretty major shift to Project Legacy. Project Legacy was originally designed as a high intensity 6 month program, but honestly I’ve run into a few hurdles in the beginning weeks that put a lot of pressure on me to meet my goals by January 1st, 2026 and more than meeting my goal, I want to demonstrate a clean, manageable system with Project Legacy, no crash weeks, no insane cuts or unsustainable progress.
My goal not just for myself, but for Project Legacy is to show a sustainable and repeatable program that works to not just get a client to their goal, but to make sure they are equipped to maintain that goal. With the goal we set and the time frame available, we were cutting dangerously close to unsustainable.
So with that in mind, this is what we decided, first to adjust the length of Project Legacy to a full year, which is actually much more in line with the length of time needed for such a dramatic transformation and The Ultimate Edition here at the Level Up! Arena is at it’s best with the 12 month length. We will be breaking Project Legacy into two distinct phases.
Phase 1 will run from July 13th 2025 to January 1st, 2026 and is dubbed “The Awakening.” This phase is the foundation of Project Legacy. Here we build the habits and routines that will take us through to my goals. I started this Phase at 205 pounds and 26.2% body fat and plan to end it at 180 pounds and 18% body fat.
Then on January 2nd, we begin “The Ascension.” This phase will run until July 12th, 2026 and our goals get even more refined and tightened as we aim for a very trim 160 pounds with 8% body fat. This will get me to the best shape of my life. Even before the motorcycle accident of 2016, My lowest weight was 163 pounds and my bodyfat was 12%. Never quite low enough to show definition in the abs, but with this goal, those abs will be unquestionable.
Yea… But Why?
You may be asking why such a dramatic shift in my goals and originally I wanted to be more muscular for the January 1st reveal, so I didn’t want to get my body weight below 170 pounds, but the more I thought about my long term goals, the less sense it made.
My goals are to finish a Spartan Trifecta weekend (3 races, 2 days), complete a Spartan Ultra (30+ miles), complete a marathon and compete in the Badwater 135 ultra, which is a grueling 135 mile race from the depths of Death Valley to the peaks of Mount Whitney.
With these long term goals all being endurance based, it makes the most sense to get my weight and body fat as low as possible while still maintaining strength and mobility. For me, at 5’11 I feel that 160 pounds and a low 8% body fat hit that strategic sweet spot to carry me through.
This is another reason having a coach is so important, because if your goals pivot, having someone in your corner to talk you through it and help you reimagine the plan to get you there is crucial! If I was just a guy trying to figure this all out by myself without my coach and the coaching background I have, I would be completely lost on how to adjust when needed.
Looking Ahead
Week 5 is already underway, we cut the protein mandate down to 100 grams a day, which my body is already much more comfortable with. No big shifts this week otherwise, just continue hitting the workouts and nutrition goals.
Next week, I promise to give an in depth breakdown of the full 7 day training plan. So if you are a big ol’ nerd like me who enjoys dissecting the workout plans of others, than you will be in luck next week on this very blog as we go over every aspect of the workout plan I am following for Project Legacy.
In Week 6 review blog I will share some of my running training data, so that’s something else to look forward to along with all the usual twists and turns that come with a massive transformation such as Project Legacy!
I want to humbly thank you again for joining me on this transformation. If my adventure and journey has inspired you at all, we are still running our Summer Surge specials on all of our coaching programs including the Ultimate Edition that is on display here in Project Legacy.
Also, the Founder’s Forge program for those willing to commit to providing feedback and progress photos in exchange for a MASSIVE discount is also live! We are talking about a $50 a month investment for 6 months of elite level coaching, which is a savings of $1,200!
We’d love to welcome you to the Level Up! family, click here to view the programs we have available.
Until next time, keep putting in the work!
In Legacy,
Joshua
