Results of Teodora's mini pre holiday cut

Teodora decided for the sake of looking better on the beach to do a mini diet just before we went away recently on holiday. Here were the results-

This was achieved mainly through subtle manipulations to her eating over a 6 week period.

Martyn's Current Off Season Condition

I am often asked what sort of shape I am in when not competing so I thought I would post up a couple of pictures. 

As you can see I am not in competition shape but I am far from out of shape either. Gaining muscle in the off season does mean a green card to getting sloppy and out of shape. However it also doesn't mean restricting yourself to bland and boring foods. I will post up an article soon about eating and how it can be interesting and varied while being in good shape. 

Please forgive the expression! :-)

Three Fundamental Principles To Getting Results

I find that most people do not get the results they want at the gym because they fail to focus on three key aspects and instead get distracted by the little things such as 'wonder supplements'.  No pill or powder will fill in for not getting these 3 key principles right.

1, Train consistently in the gym with the required frequency and effort every training session

You must train hard and be prepared to bust your ass in the gym. This is one of the secrets of why facilities such as Ultimate Performance where I coach get our clients such great results. We push people harder than they have previously ever done when training.

Training harder also means getting stronger. There must be progression of some sort, whether it be using more weight, doing more reps or reducing the rest period which would serve to increase training density.  Muscle is metabolically active a tissue so the more you build of it the better your metabolic rate will be which increase your bodies demand for nutrients at rest. Its also not easy to build so don't concern yourself whether you are male or female about getting 'too bulky'. Being 'bulky' is normally because your body fat is too high.

Consistency means getting to the gym enough times per week in order to stimulate an adequate training effect. Put the date in your diary, block out that hour at least three times per week. Your body will thank you for it.

The type of programme you use is important but in my opinion is secondary to actually putting in effort. There is no such thing as a ‘perfect programme’ and many people have created great results with less then stellar exercise regimes because they dug in worked hard!

Keeping a log of your training is an important aspect as you need to be able to access how you are progressing and adjust future programmes accordingly to enhance the training effect. If you don’t bother to write down your performance how are you supposed to target to beat that in the next workout? Every one responds differently to a style of training so without this critical analysis it’s like shooting a shot gun into a dark room in the hope you hit something.

This guy knew that he had to put in the work to see results

2, Eat to support your training goal.

If your goal is to add muscle then you must consistently intake a small positive nutrient intake to provide your body with the raw materials to build new muscle tissue.

For fat loss you must create a deficit in order to encourage your body to use body fat as fuel. Yes there are lots of arguments about “is a calorie a calorie” however that is a deep topic I won’t expand on in this article. 

Whether you try to create a positive or negative calorie intake accuracy is important here. For fat loss it’s very easy to overeat and ruin the deficit you are trying to create even when eating primarily whole foods. Typically this happens when someone over consumes nutrient dense foods such as nuts and oils which can quickly add a lot of calories to a persons overall intake. 

This is why I give students specific numbers or weight of nuts/oils they are to consume rather than a guideline of ‘a handful’ as there is far too much variability in what someone would consider a handful. 

Creating a deficit is most effective when it is created through a combination of diet and exercise.When trying to add muscle its also very easy to overeat, putting on too much body fat at the same time which in future can be troublesome to remove.  

Whether it be a positive or negative intake you are trying to create you have to choose to make the effort regarding your food choices. You always choose how much you eat; it will never magically jump into your mouth. 

If you over consume food and ruin the deficit you need to create to encourage fat loss or eat too much when adding weight and make yourself over fat then you should take responsibility for this and accept that you choose to make this happen.

This guy confused creating a positive intake for muscle gains with preparing for sumo wrestling

3, Ensure adequate Recovery

Sleep

Sleep is crucial to support recovery as it is the most restorative time for you body. Lack of adequate sleep has a whole host of negative side effects including interfering with hormone balance in, increasing inflammation and reduced cognitive function.

In my experience there is no way to get around not sleeping enough, you simply have to make the effort to prioritise this and ensure that you get enough hours of quality sleep that includes full sleep cycles.

If you find that you have trouble getting off to sleep or wake up during the night then this needs to be investigated more deeply as to why this is happening and then addressed.

Artificial lighting and over stimulating entertainment (TV, Computers) have contributed to interfering with the evening time which should be focused on winding down and relaxation.

Stress

Managing stress is the second area and this is a combination of emotional, physical and environmental based stress.

Emotional based Stress

How you hold your stress in important too. The stress response as explained excellently in this book ‘why zebras don’t get ulcers’ by Robert M. Sapolsky is largely governed by how you react to things.

Elevated stress affects many bodily functions including digestion, blood pressure and cognitive function. This is the ‘fight or flight’ response which gives you the ability to get out of danger quickly and then be able to resume a normal level. The mechanism was never designed to experience a constant ‘background’ level of stress over an extended period of time.

Environmental Stress

We unfortunately assaulted daily with environmental stressors including air pollution, chemicals contained in cosmetic and cleaning products, artificial additives in food and contaminants in water. This area is very important to address as its becoming an ever growing problem. 

A book I recommend on this is subject is ‘Achieving Victory In A Toxic World by Dr Mark A Schauss

Physical Stress

Exercise in itself is a stressor on the body. Its this stress which is planned correctly promotes the body to adapt and get stronger so that it can better deal with the same stressor the next time. This is the basis of progressive overload. 

That being said the ‘prescription’ of exercise needs to be appropriate and needs to encourage a positive adaption. Excessive exercise through bad exercise programming is actually negative and the lack of recovery from will halt someone’s progress very quickly.

Creating too great a deficit with your food intake is another sure fire way to quickly stress out your body physically. Dieting needs to be done at the appropriate speed that doesn’t lead to the body perceiving the event as ‘famine’ and putting the stoppers on fat loss.

Ways to improve recovery

There are many ‘force multipliers’ that you can use to enhance recovery which include massage, magnesium baths, contrast showers and soft exercise such as some forms of Yoga, Tai Chi and Qi gong or even gentle swimming and walking.

There are also some supplements which can assist in promoting recovery such as adaptogenic herbs and certain vitamins however I feel that without addressing the key psychological aspects of stress that these are no better than a band aid and might only work temporarily.

Recovery also means if you are genuinely training hard you cannot expect to go 100% in the gym all of the time and the need for periods of ‘de-loading’ and active recovery where you do some less intensive forms of exercise are important to ensure continued progress and avoid burning out.

Investing the time utilise active recovery methods such as foam rolling, massage, Yoga, Tai Chi or just ensuring you give yourself enough 'you time' to relax is crucial

To wrap up if you are not getting the results that you expect first relook over what you are doing and ask yourself if you are doing the right things in the three key areas outlined above?

Your results are reflective of the choices you make

A recent observation I made and to me it has been somewhat of a ‘light bulb moment’ in my ever evolving coaching skills is that people often set themselves up mentally for failure before they even begin. This shows up through their language patterns. They affirm that they are going to ‘try’ to do something. They ‘hope’ that their weekend will be good when referring to the foods they consume.

What a student will receive very quickly from me is a proverbial 'splash of cold water in the  face'. I enlighten them to the fact that what happens to us is almost always governed by the choices that we make.

You CHOOSE to consume that extra slice of pizza, it didn’t just jump into your mouth.

You CHOOSE to get drunk and stay out until 4am which then compromises your recovery and leads you to having a shitty workout on Monday morning.

You CHOOSE to react negatively and aggressively to a work colleague because of a mistake they might have made, raising your cortisol levels and making you fatter.

As a wise little green man from a popular science fiction movie once said “do or do not, there is no try”.

This little guy had some wisdom

Yes I accept some events are out of your power to control; for example a train is delayed which makes you late for a meeting. However you always have the power to choose how you react to it.

You can choose to get worked up and pissed off about it or you can choose to take a deep breath and practice some patience. Getting angry is not going to help this particular situation and the latter is going to be more beneficial to regulating you stress hormone levels which is crucial if fat loss is your goal.

The emotional largely governs the physical response when it comes to the stress. A great book on this subject I recommend which goes more into the science being this is ‘Why Zebra’s Don’t get Ulcers’

Another book a highly recommend about choosing your reactions is ‘Man Search for Meaning’ by Victor Frankyl. Its an account of a Austrian Jewish psychiatrist chronicling his experiences as a concentration camp inmate.

It goes to describe how some people chose to give their power away and loose hope and how others despite how awful and terrible their situation was CHOSE to make the most of what they had and remained. The last freedom the Nazi guards couldn’t take away from there was their right to CHOOSE how they feel and reacted to things. 

I find reading this book a real leveller and gives you can give you a sense of perspective. Is loosing your WiFi connection for 60 seconds so tragically bad that you have to get all worked up and stressed out about it??

This is not to say that you should accept and be content with what you have, I understand it takes pain and unhappiness to spur growth and achievement. You often have to be sick to your stomach of something to be ready to change it.

This ‘spark’ could something such as a small comment someone makes about your weight, or maybe more profound such as a doctor telling you that unless you improve your blood results you will likely die in five years. There is always a breaking point where you have absolutely had enough and are ready for change. You reach that point where you are ready to CHOOSE to change you reality.

Are you ready to realise how powerful a being you are and that you are absolutely capable of choosing the successes you make in life? 

Here is a good video I highly recommend you watch- Secrets to Success by Will Smith

Big changes take persistence, patience and hard work, are you ready to CHOOSE to do the work? If so consider getting in touch.

Welcome Teodora Sklayne- Personal Trainer to Train With Sklayne

Who is Teodora Sklayne?

Just writing few lines about who I am, where I come from and how I got here today.

I was born in a town called Ruse, in Bulgaria and have lived there for the first 18 years of my life. I have had an amazing childhood, full of friends to play with on the playgrounds and plenty of energy and activities. I was very active also participating in athletics when I was 13-15 years old, mainly sprinting at a regional level. However, in my later teenage years I stopped participating in exercise and concentrated more on other “more fun stuff”.

After my first year in university, studying Business Management, I went to Alaska, USA for a summer on a work and travel program for students. Because of the stress of working for 14-18 hours a day, both jobs in kitchens of restaurants, eating way too much food, and with the involvement of few other factors as well I gained a massive amount of weight – 16kg (35lb)!

I was looking like this:

(October 2007)

Honestly, I did not realise I have gained that much weight until I had come back to Bulgaria and saw the expressions of my friends’ and family’s faces! I was as shocked as they were!

My father and I immediately decided to get on a diet. My father was overweight back then and had problems with high blood pressure and diabetes type 2. We started together on zero carbohydrate diet that we've heard about from friends. According to the scales it was working! We were both losing massive amounts of weight for a very short period of time. I decided to start an aerobics/Tae Bo class at the same time – 3 times a week for 1 hour sessions. For about 8 weeks I lost 12kg (26lb).

Few months later a came to UK, in a strawberry farm near Hull. It took a couple months of working 16 hour shifts and eating whatever to get back to gaining a lot of weight again. It was the famous Yo Yo effect.

In June 2008 I came to London. The stress of the unknown, looking for jobs and other personal problems got the reverse effect; again I managed to lose some weight. Wouldn't say it was healthy, but it was working. Eating no breakfast and most of the times just a can of sweet corn for lunch or a sandwich, the only proper meal I would have had was in the evening. Here is a picture from August 2008:

A year later I was fortunate to meet the love of my life Martyn Sklayne, who happened to be a personal trainer. Back then I was not really interested in “fitness stuff”. I was signed up for the local gym, but was visiting maybe twice a month for a spin class and twice for some swimming and sauna. At first when Martyn told me that he helps women and men with their physiques with resistance training (weight training) I was very resilient of the idea. As every woman, imagining those muscular bodybuilders, I was afraid I might become too “bulky”.

Well who can you trust if not a personal trainer who has years of experience helping people get real visible results. We started with some basic body weight and dumbbell exercises at home as well as some changed in my nutrition lifestyle, e.g. having a high protein breakfast, drinking more water etc. – simple but effective!

I was opening up more and more for the idea of weight training, after noticing changes in my body, just few weeks after starting to exercise. I wanted a better and better figure and was working hard for it!

After a year of training and eating right, without being on specific strict diet, I was looking like this:

Please note that on the picture above I was weighting about 60kg and on the picture on the left - about 56kg! So ladies, it’s not about the weight, it’s about the body composition.

In the last one year I have been working in the article translation sector of Charles Poliquin’s website, where I gained extensive expertise in nutrition,

Now I am more passionate about training then ever and being a qualified personal trainer as part of the faboulous duo in Train with Sklayne gives me the opportunity to help people achieve their goals and change their lives!supplementation and training as well as the opportunity soon to become a BioSignature Practitioner and PICP Level 2 Coach myself (courses taking place in April 2012).

The Importance of Intent

Intent-

1. Firmly fixed; concentrated.

2. Having the attention applied; engrossed

3. Having the mind and will focused on a specific purpose

Are you going to ‘give it a go’ or are you going to put your blood and guts into it and make it work?

The way you approach things is very influential on your performance. If you never really commit to doing something 100%, instead just ‘trying it out’ then expect your results to be mediocre. No strength coach, life coach or psychologist can help you if you never fully embrace the process.

Achieving something great takes continuous effect and application.

There are varying degrees of achievement, and these will fluctuate in degree along your path to your goal. However all of these are important so don't forget the little wins that helped you on your path to success

To some it might mean an athlete lifting a personal record on the snatch in preparation for the Olympics. For the office secretary it might be something as small as resisting buying that muffin at star bucks every morning, both are important steps of progress to the individual.

There are a thousand analogies I could use-

“How do you eat an elephant? A bite at a time”

“Rome wasn’t built in a day”

“The path to success begins with one step”

Etc..

My point is that unless you approach each goal with the right intent you are greatly heightening your chances of failing.

Start by changing your language patterns, you'll be surprised how well these work in re-enforcing your intent. Here are some examples-

Instead of "I'll try to not skip skip breakfast" say "I eat a nourishing breakfast every morning"

Rather than "I must get to bed earlier say "I go to bed at 9pm because it gives me the 8 hours of sleep I need per night for recovery"

The differences here is that you are stating them in the present which makes them more powerful.

If something is important to you then throw everything into it and get it done. The pain of knowing deep down that you never really gave it your all and failed because of this is deeper, more damaging and long lasting that the initial pain of making changes.

Make yourself accountable to yourself for your actions and your results from those actions.

5 ways to start your day better

1: Resist turning on the news

The news is very rarely a source of positivity and especially with the current recession its quite often all doom and gloom.

Replace- Instead listen to some inspirational music or audio book. Look up some motivational quotations online.

2: Ensure to have a high protein breakfast

Your body after fasting for 6-8 hours during sleep is in need of a good boost of protein to support neurological and immune system function. Accompany this with some healthy fats and you will find you will feel sharper and more ready to take on the day. I have to credit Charles Poliquin for this tip.

Lots of processed carbohydrate in the form of breakfast cereals is not a good option at this time of the morning as this tends to produce an insulin spike and promote release of serotonin which you would rather save for later in the day when relaxing after work.

3: Have your tasks for the day established

"If you fail to plan you plan to fail."

Having your tasks organised for the day and knowing what is most priority will make your day far more productive. This will also feel satisfying and rewarding as you work your way through your ‘to do list’. I would recommend to write out tasks and establish your goals the night before so that you can relax in the evening without things playing on your mind when you go to bed.

4: Training early in the morning before work

I’m a big believer that training earlier in the day is superior to evening training for these reasons-

You are fresher and have more energy first thing in the morning (once you have adapted of course!)

This eliminates the risk of missing a workout should you be asked to stay at work late.

Allows you to spend more quality time in the evening with your loved ones

The evening time should be a time when you are winding down and getting ready to sleep, not pumping up and stimulating your nervous system which might interfere with your sleep.

When you start the day off well you are more likely to remain compliant on the other things you need to do, such as eating the right foods.

5: Move more

We as a society are getting less and less active which is a huge contributory factor to the increases of obesity we see in the UK. Get off a stop or two early on the way to work or better yet walk the whole way or use a Boris Bike.

5 Things I’ve Learned As A Personal Trainer

1, You can be a technical expert in exercise but without communication skills they aren’t worth jack

I have meet many personal trainers who were excellent in regards to their training knowledge but lacked in their communication skills If you are unable to communicate the knowledge across to your customers and demonstrate the benefits as person will get from training with you then your business will no doubt fail. I often see new personal trainers afraid to talk to members, in fear that they might be rejected. When I first started as a trainer I was guilty of this myself.

On the flip side of this I see many personal trainers who to quote the movie Dodge Ball “are about as useful as a cock flavoured lollypop” do well with their business because they able to talk to customers and convince them to invest in their training services. They are ballsy and don’t care if they get rejected, they play the numbers. The fact that they are often completely inadequate as trainers to actually get anybody results is another matter and will be a subject for another blog post.

2, There is no such thing as a perfect programme

Some people search high and low for the perfect routine. They swap and change routines weekly, trying to find something that will turn their bodies into something worthy of a men’s health or shape magazine. The fact of the matter is that there are certain training guidelines to fall within depending on your goal but quite often anything can work for while provided the required effort and intensity is put into it.

Quite often people change programmes searching for the easy way to get results. It takes hard work and consistant effort to produce a body worth admiring!

3, Be wary of experts or gurus who make blanket statements

There are thousands of so called ‘experts and gurus’ in the fitness industry who claim that there way is the ‘holy path’ and the only way to train. Firstly be wary of their exercise preferences as they are likely to be biased towards a style of training that has best suited them.

Everyone is different and so will respond different to training stimuli. A very wise quote from Bruce Lee is to:

"Absorb what is useful, Discard what is not, Add what is uniquely your own”



Smart Guy!






Through years of consistent, hard work you can discover what works best for you.

A good trainer should always be a student to his profession, constantly striving to learn more and be open to new ideas and techniques.

You also have to question why an ‘expert’ is making a blanket statement, do they have a hidden agenda? Are they trying to sell you their own style of training or supplement line?

4, Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition

The difference between a guy and girl who spends years in the gym training but never changes their body can most often be attributed to lack of effort in the kitchen. There are three main types of people I encounter-









Perma-bulkers
There are thousands of guys who are ‘perma-bulkers’ walking around the gym for years with too much body fat to ever be close to seeing their abdominal muscles. They train hard and often can be quite strong but never get smart with their nutrition which would allow them to diet down and reveal the hard, chiselled muscle underneath their soft exterior.









Cardio queens/Ms. pink dumbbells

There are also many women who slog away at the gym, quite often performing too much cardio and not enough resistance training but also who fail to make adjustments to their diets and consequently never achieve the lean, toned look they so desire.








Skinny dweebs

These guys try and do all the hardcore training, often trying to follow the routines of their favourite pro-bodybuilders they read in magazines. They however never get it right with their nutrition, never eating enough nutrients to enable their body to grow into something worth looking at. They are often too scared to eat too much in fear that they might temporarily loose sight of their abdominals. You can train your ass off but unless you eat the required nutrients you will not grow.

The difference between someone who looks average which these days is often overweight and a bodybuilder who gets into contest shape (5% or below) is nutrition.

A bodybuilder or even a Men’s Health cover model (a more desirable look for most people) makes the most adjustments to his/her routine through diet. If your goal is to build your body you need to provide your body with the building blocks in which it can grow. If you want to loose fat then you have to create a deficit which will encourage your body use fat as a fuel while preserving the muscle you have.


5, Create a definitive goal and then shoot for it







I am surprised by the number of people I encounter who have absolutely no idea what they are trying to achieve by attending the gym other than the vague idea of ‘trying to get in shape’.

If you don’t have a definitive goal then you will never be able to achieve success. If you goal is to look “bloody fantastic at your sisters wedding, making all the males at the wedding heads turn” or “I want to bench press 100 kilo’s” then write this down!

Once you have a definitive goal you can better plan how best to achieve this. Some of the most successful people in the world such as Bill gates, Richard Branson, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are all keen goal setters and clearly defined what they wanted to achieve in every area in which they ultimately succeeded.

Give yourself a deadline; we all generally work better under pressure. Take responsibility for you goal and make yourself accountable. Create checkpoints towards your goal and then make sure you consistently hit them along the way.

Wrap up

This is just a small sample of things I have learned, stay posted for future insights!

You can be as great as you want to be

"A man or woman can be as great as they wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done." - Vince Lombardi

I post this in response to the tidal wave of limiting beliefs I hear from people every day in the gym. I get tired of hearing people making excuses for themselves and trying to rationalise why they can't achieve something.

Lets break this quote down-

Courage - Grow a pair and step out of the herd. Take that first step into your new healthier lifestyle and you will see how quickly you can transform your body.

Grow some self respect and realise that being fat is your fault but you can change it. It’s neither healthy nor attractive so stop with the excuses. Tell me, do you want to live a long life free of obesity related diseases?

Determination - Remind yourself every time you don't feel like going to the gym or you go food shopping and come across the sweets isle what you want to achieve! Use positive affirmations regularly!

Dedication- You will commit to dedicating the time and effort needed to transform your body no matter what obstacles stand in your way. Stop dedicating yourself to a lifestyle that is ruining your health.

Competitive drive- You can either compete with yourself by tracking your progress in the gym and with body composition testing. Alternatively can challenge a colleague or loved one a competition to see who can make the biggest body transformation. Turn it into a game and make it fun!

Willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile - If you want to achieve a body transformation then your daily trips to McDonalds or the cookies in the evening have to go. Get off your ass and get outside or in the gym. Switch off the depressing, insidious, worthless soaps like East Enders and Coronation Street and instead get your body active.

What do you love more?

Your one minute fix from eating something sweet or would you love more to have a six pack?

Do you really love to work 60-80 hours per week to earn 'good money'. Constantly lacking in sleep and good nutrition, causing the quality of relationships with loved ones to suffer. Filling the void with addictions to alcohol, food or even drugs to escape from reality. Tell me, is it really worth it?

Or would you love to work less and have more time for yourself? There are always ways to live within your means better and many strategies to escape the rat race. Have the courage and make the changes necessary!

Finally, don't be a victim and take control of your reality today!

For another good read please go here-

http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/161/The_Myth_of_Discipline.aspx

Womens Training: Getting stronger doesn't mean getting bulkier

There is a misconception that if a women lifts heavy weights it will make her muscular and bulky. This is false as one of the main regulators of if you can build lots of muscle is your testosterone level. That is why drug using bodybuilders male and female will inject testosterone it in order to assist them in building muscle size. Women have 20 times less testosterone which makes building lots of muscle naturally extremely difficult.

What people refer to as muscle 'tone' is lean muscle that doesn't have a layer of fat covering it. If you want to improve muscle tone then focus on getting stronger along with adjustments to you nutrition. Performing hours of cardio combined with a few high rep free weight exercises with light dumbbells doesn't work!

Check out Teddy, does she look bulky at 53kilos bodyweight?

Making Time Gets Results

A common complaint I hear from people is that they don’t have time to cook or that they can’t find the time to attend the gym. It takes action by MAKING the time to fit it in. A good meal and coincidently a good workout at the gym should very seldom take more than 30-45 minutes to complete.
Time management is becoming increasingly common and crucial in business as companies strive to optimise their return from employees. These same time management strategies can be employed in your personal life to find time to attend the gym and to also eat well.

A book I would highly recommend if you would like to improve time management is ‘Eat That Frog’ by Brian Tracy. You can get it at Amazon.com in either paper or audio book format. Use of audio books is another fantastic time management trick and can be used during your commute to work or while you do the housework. It’s a great way to learn and while at the same time fight the stress of the often crowded commute. Paperback Audio Book

Once you have found the time to attend the gym and prepare food, it takes ACTION and DICIPLINE to make it work for you. Like any new discipline it takes time for the habit to form. A habit is commonly associated with negatives things such as smoking or picking your nose. But a habit can also be a very positive thing such as attending the gym three times per week and planning ahead with your eating and cooking.

So replace that habit of melting your brain watching East Enders while eating nutritionally empty micro waved food and replace it with putting aside thirty minutes to making a nutritious meal or attend the gym.
Are you ready to learn the strategies of maximising your time in the gym and the kitchen? training@trainwithsklayne.co.uk

Take Control of Your Life, Take Control of Your Waistline

Through years of training people I heard more excuses that I care to count as to why someone cannot loose weight.

Whatever the case may be, whether its your partner or family members pressuring you to indulge in high calorie foods or work colleagues inspiring you to spend hours after work drinking alcohol and eating pub food it all comes down the choices you make as to how you look.

People suffering from metabolic conditions such as hypothyroidism and metabolic syndrome still had success loosing weight through dietary control and regular exercise.

Your results on your body shape will be directly proportionate to how 'bothered' you are by your current condition. If you are truly happy the way you look then power to you, i'm happy that you have found your ideal condition and there is no further reason for you to read on.

If you however are unhappy then you have to realise that sacrifices need to be made in order to make a change. What you are doing right now isn't working and continuing on that path is not going change your results. Albert Einstein was quoted in saying the "definition of Insanity was doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results".

If you are trying to loose weight but always playing catch up at the gym, trying to make up for bad eating habits combined with lack of sleep then you are bound to FAIL and keep failing until you change this.

My own status

When people see the lean physique I have achieved I often hear "oh you must have a fast metabolism". I happily respond to them that its quite the opposite, in fact I have recently been diagnosed with non-clinical hypothyroidism and my family also has a history of obesity and diabetes so do you still think I have an advantage? I have to work hard to loose body fat and keep it off at least as much as the average person.

Loosing weight comes down to a factor of calories in vs. calories out, in order to loose weight you must create a calorie deficit and this is best achieved through dietary control, trying to burn off excess calories through exercise alone is wholelly inefficient and ineffective.

Make a choice whether you want to get control of your waistline or not and stop making excuses.

Here 6 key points to weight loss success-

1. Figure out exactly what you want.
2. Commit to taking control of your life, you are the master of your own destiny!
   
3. Either teach yourself the principles of weight loss through self study or seek an expert to guide you.
4. Design an eating regime that creates a slow sustainable calorie deficit, crash dieting only works in the short term and will lead to a rebound in weight. You also want an eating regime that gives you an optimal balance of nutrients.
   
5. Perform a regular exercise regime that encompasses resistance training focusing primarily on large compound movements.
6. Stick to the plan for at least 6 months taking personal responsibility for all the dietary choices you make.

If you stick to these 6 steps I guarantee that you will have success in loosing body fat and improving your body shape.

Are you ready to take the leap?

Starting on a journey towards a healthier, fitter lifestyle can be a terrifying prospect. It takes a leap of faith to commit yourself down that road.

Fear and insecurities will arise: “what if people look at me funny in the gym”, “will my partner still like me if I get fit” “what if I make a fool of myself”, “what if I fail”. The fear will not go away but you can control how you handle the fear.

To deal with these fears you first need to establish exactly what you want to achieve. Write this down.

Next put a time frame on achieving your goal. Remember when you were studying how a time limit put pressure on you to perform better and cram in the work no matter what?

Commit yourself to your goal 100%; make failure not an option. Remember you are completely in control of the experience of the transformation and also the outcome. You are aiming for this goal because YOU WANT TO, not because once you have achieved it you will feel better about yourself.

Be firm and put your family and friends in their place if they attempt to sabotage or steer you away from your goals. Often the people you are closest to will try to influence you away from the goal or subtly criticise you; “you are getting too thin, here have some cake” or “your obsessed with exercise” The reason they do this is because they fear change and are often too afraid to make that positive change themselves. Do not let them drag you back down; you might even inspire them one day to start down the path!

Next step is to create a method to achieve this goal. Firstly look at how you are looking after your body.

Are you getting enough sleep and handling everyday stresses?
Are you drinking enough water?
Are you feeding your body the right foods?

If you are not sure of the answers these questions then spend time doing some research online or seek the help of a professional who can guide you. This might be a Nutritionist, Life Coach or maybe even a Phycologist.

Next if your transformation is going to include starting a fitness regime then again do some research and seek out a trainer who knows what the hell they are doing. Here are some tips on how to choose a good trainer-

1, Spend your time researching their backgrounds both in the gym and online.

2,Observe how they train other people. You want someone who is going to push you and make you work harder than you would by yourself. You do not want a trainer who is going to spend an hour with you discussing what they did at the weekend.

3, Do they practice what they preach themselves? I overheard a trainer complain recently that they can "never get lean". Would you want this person training you for fat loss??

4, You want someone who is safe and will not cause you injury.

5, Do they invest time and money into providing a professional service and business or are they in the industry because they can get paid over £30 per hour after only completing a 6-12 week course.

6, Spend a bit of time on youtube looking at what is good technique and them compare it with what you see them teaching in the gym.

Achieving your goal, whether it be weight loss or gaining muscle takes time a time and dedication. You need to be ready to make the changes; if you are only prepared to dedicate 50% effort then you are wasting both your time and money.

Comedy that bites

Don't fall into the trap of thinking you cannot lose fat. Although the above video is meant to be humor there is something behind it. The basic premise of fat loss is to expend more calories than you are eating. Less excuses and more action!

Why I do what I do?

I get asked sometimes what motivated me to become a personal trainer?

Well as a child I was brought up in a household that consisted of my father who was suffering from Coronary Heart Disease and stroke and my mother who was suffered from Bi-Polar disorder. My father’s side of the family all suffer from obesity, diabetes and general Ill health so I myself have a higher risk factor to these illnesses.

I believe that no mater how more genetically predisposed you might be to certain illnesses I believe that you can live a healthy and energised lifestyle if only you make the effort.

I absolutely believe that the correct nutrition and the right prescription of exercise is the best preventative medicine for the majority of illnesses becoming so common in our society.

My mission is to help and educate people who want to stand out from the crowd and culture of un-wellness and live a wholesome and long life absent of preventable diseases and illness.

Regular exercise combined with the right nutrition also leads to a better looking body which in turn helps improve self esteem and confidence. I know it has helped me and numerous clients feel better about themselves and more able to face the challenges that life throws at us.

I believe I am most effective in this world when I am helping people and I derive great satisfaction from doing this.

You have no one to blame but yourself

It shocks me how people so easily shirk personal responsibility when it comes to their own health.

It’s always something or someone else’s fault that they can't get the body and health they desire-

“The boss made me drink 10 pints”

“I just couldn't resist my wives home baked cookies.”


WAKE UP PEOPLE!

You are completely in control of the fuel you put into your body and how you treat it.

If you tried to run your car on sunflower oil do you think it would run for very long? The same applies for feeding your own body with the wrong fuels.

Also if you decided one day that you could no longer be bothered to walk your dog how long do you think it would take before the dog would lose condition and develop various behavioural disorders linked to inactivity. The human body is designed to move and without this activity the mental state of the body can also break down.

If you have people in your life who you would class as a bad influence then you need to do something about it. Someone who truly loves you does not consciously poison you and jeopardise your health. If they are ignorant to what they are doing then you need to educate them, open up their eyes to reality.

If you yourself are ignorant to what you are doing wrong; i.e. you cannot understand why you can't loose weight, sleep well, have no energy, or always get injuries then you yourself need to get educated.