Where There Is [No Struggle], There Is [No Strength] – Part 2

How to Pimp yo’ Programme

In Part 1 I introduced to you the concepts of progressive overload, deloads and periodisation. You learnt that you have to push, and push hard to create enough stress to stimulate a positive response from your body.

However, you cannot push all the time, as without sufficient time off (deloads) you cannot grow stronger to overcome the beating you have taken. These two are played against one another in something called periodisation, which is essentially how you set up your training programme.

In todays article I am going to go over some of the programme variables you have at your disposal, and how you can use them to individualise your training. Furthermore, I am going to touch on setting your programme up for success, manipulating your intensity and volume. Combining this information to help you pimp yo’ programme.

Reps, sets, load, rest…
When developing your programme you have a lot of tools at your disposal, not just exercise selection but also your rep and set scheme and load used amongst others. The combinations will produce different training effects, and they all overlap.

The above table clearly shows you the variables you can manipulate and how you can select appropriate zones to allow you to train towards your goals. Now you must remember, if you want to get bigger, you sure want to be training in the hypertrophy zones.

However, to get the most out of these zones you need to be using heavy loads, so you also want to be strong, therefore it makes sense to utilise some strength protocols.

Furthermore, to be strong you also need to develop power, this will directly influence your strength. Yet we must not forget endurance, although having arguably less importance to muscle hypertrophy it will allow for us to maintain performance for longer.

As you can see each help one another develop to a degree. This is true for almost any goal. So you want to use each protocol in your training programme, but you can prioritise those that benefit your overall goal most.

Volume & Intensity
Volume and intensity were introduced to you in Part 1.

Volume can be thought as total number of reps x load used, Intensity can be thought as the % of your one rep max. The two are manipulated to bring about specific training effects. They do not go well together, because you can’t lift a tonne of weight for a lot of reps. Likewise you don’t want to go to the gym, lift puny weights and not do many sets. There is a balance needed.

In general most programmes call for a high volume, low intensity phase followed by a high intensity, low volume phase. Many reps with relatively light loads is called accumulation/extensification. Fewer total reps but heavier loads is called intensification.

The first phase is generally used to lay the foundations for the second. Imagine gathering your building material and then hammering it together, that’s extensification and then intensification. The lengths of each of these can be manipulated, you can also choose to extensify and then intensify different exercises at different times. Maybe your bench is a weak point so you keep a higher level of volume on this lift for longer before ramping up the intensity. So you can intensify your other prime lifts beforehand and then focus all your efforts on bench press when the time arrives.

This brings us to The Principle of Individuality. When selecting your approach you must look at a persons weak and strong points, training background, injury history, goals, time available and level of training proficiency.

That last point came up in part 1, and essentially it is your training age, the amount of time you have been lifting with a decent training and nutritional programme behind you. As a novice your intensity doesn’t need to be very high to push progress, you can pretty much improve with any variable of strength, speed and hypertrophy used. Whereas someone more experienced will need clever manipulation of the above, light loads all the time won’t spur progress but nor can we lift heavy non-stop.

What have we learnt?

• You need to use different training variables to produce certain characteristics (strength, hypertrophy etc.).
• Each characteristic interplay with one another and want to be included in your programme. The degree to which depends on your goals.
• Volume and intensity need to be manipulated in a periodised fashion. Both can’t be high, both don’t want to be low.
• In general a high volume phase will then lead into a high intensity phase. This is called extensification and intensification.

For a look at periodising your training according to your training age be sure to check Part 3.

Cameron Mitchell – ‘ensured that my training would fit around my university work’

Cameron, what were your goals when signing up with me?

Drop body fat & maintain muscle mass & strength.

What reservations if any did you have before we started working together?

First I was unsure whether I believed that I’d be able to achieve similar results to your other clients. Secondly I was unsure whether I’d cope on a student budget, with the food & supplements required etc. Finally I had exams during this time, and wasn’t sure I’d be able to give enough time to the programme to see results.

How was I able to help you with your reservations?

There was constant guidance from the beginning with every aspect of training. Steve ensured that my training would fit around my university work, and that I wouldn’t have to spend hundreds on various supplements. We also developed a good connection, which helped ensure we understood one another.

In point form, can you list your achievements training with me thus far?

• Dropped over a stone in a month.
• Deadlift 1RM up 50kg.
• Squat 1RM up 45kg.
• Bench 1RM up 20kg.
• Confidence inside and outside the gym has never been better.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

To anyone looking to train with Steve; he will go above and beyond what you expect. His coaching alongside the flexible dieting approach has been a game changer, half the time I didn’t even feel like I was dieting. The fat kept coming off and strength kept increasing. I am more than happy with my results.

Cameron came to me lacking confidence, and I really wanted to help. So we got him nailing the main compound lifts and dropping some unwanted fat. His consistency and dedication throughout the process were the difference between no results and his results. I am so proud of Cameron and cannot wait to see where we can go from here.

Interested in online coaching? You can check out what I have to offer here.

GSD (Get Sh*t Done)

Finding your WHY

I cannot stress enough just how important it is to know why you do things. Especially those that require daily habits and actions. Why? Because, if you do not know why you are doing something that requires daily actions, you won’t do it for long.When it comes to fitness and health, we all know how key consistency is to achieving what we want.

So my question to you is why are you careful with your nutrition, why do you train, why do you even want the body you want? It is an important question, and one many of us haven’t considered.

Once you have your why you have great power. You have the power to demolish your workouts every day. You have the power not to miss a session. You have the power to eat well and be consistent with your nutrition. This is because anytime you find yourself swaying, or motivation is lacking, you can come back to your why.

During my contest prep I continually questioned WHY? Why am I putting myself through hours of horrible cardio. Why do I want to take my body to unhealthily low body fat levels. There were times I was unbelievably hungry, tired and just wanted to give up. Imagine if I didn’t know why I even wanted to compete, I wouldn’t get very far would I? I found my why and it drives me, day in, day out and will continue to do so.

What’s my why?
On my blog I wrote about how I got into fitness and health, and how an interest developed into a passion, this can be viewed here.

In short, I know what it is like to be lost, unhappy with your body, confused about how to train, how to eat, demotivated, actually depressed. What begun as a pursuit to give myself confidence developed into a passion, a passion of discovery. I find the human body and its ability to adapt simply amazing. I have seen my body go from near death, and then built up and developed a strong and muscular physique.

My own development is almost like an experiment. I use my own nutrition and training to learn about the human body, so that I can take these experiences, along with the scientific literature, to help others who are frustrated or unhappy with where they are currently. My goal and why I do what I do is to help others achieve their goals, and so they too can revive stronger.

How to [Eat Pizza Daily] & Stay Lean

Achieving Adaptability

The person who can eat anything they like, and often does, without any problems, can consume the most amazing food combinations without any issues.

This individual must have amazing metabolic health and adaptability. Everyone has this ability (bar those rare few with dietary misfortunes) to eat everything and anything, yet remain healthier than ever.

Achieving Amazing Metabolic Health

Your metabolism is a wonderful thing, it is incredibly adaptable and will change according to what it is given. It’s simply the total sum of energy burnt by our bodies. Whether it be brushing your teeth, digesting food, lifting weights or keeping you warm, all of these things add up to be your metabolism.
So how do we make our metabolisms amazing, so we can eat pizza daily? The most important thing you can do is to not restrict food intake needlessly. If you are constantly eating less than your body needs, your metabolism, being the adaptable bugger it is, will adjust downwards, meaning you will burn less total energy. So make sure to eat well, and by well I mean do not needlessly restrict intake.

Another simple addition to the above can be to move. It doesn’t need to be a load, but please avoid being sedentary for long periods of time. The largest component of our metabolic burn is our Non Exercise Activity Thermogensis or NEAT. This is the energy used for all movement outside of formal exercise, so it is the walking to the shops, cleaning our rooms and getting down in the bed room. That stuff really adds up! Stop laughing…

To take it a step further you can further ramp your metabolic rate up by implementing a few dietary changes. Protein out of all the macronutrients takes the most energy to be digested. So by changing the macro composition of our diet we can increase our metabolic rate. Also make sure you’re eating in a balanced way, that means not restricting any foods unnecessarily. Our body loves carbs, they provide the best fuel for us to perform exercise. You should be eating them if you want to get the most from your training.

And finally there is exercise, most people think that this has a dramatic impact on our total energy burn, but as I said previously NEAT is the biggest factor. However, it is an important aspect of having amazing metabolic health. I am going to start with the exercise to avoid, and that is slow, utterly boring, steady state cardio. That stuff really aint going to to do much for your metabolism. Our bodies will adapt to it in a jiffy, one month you might be burning 300 calories doing an incline walk for 30 minutes at 5mph, the next month you will definitely be burning less.

You want to be purposely increasing the intensity, volume and or distance of your chosen exercise. This way your body is continually adapting upwards, and you’ll be getting stronger and fitter. However, this is where the catch 22 comes in, now you’re fitter and stronger, that means you’ll burn less energy doing day to day activities. BUT, you can now perform at higher intensities, recover faster and handle more work all of which leads to burning more calories. Don’t over think it, do exercise, make sure to get outside of your comfort zone. 

So now you have the knowledge of how to get amazing metabolic health, how do you go about achieving amazing adaptability?

Amazing Adaptability

Remember how I said our bodies are incredibly adaptable? This can work against us, I am going to show you how. If you eat an all vegetable diet, you will adapt to that, if you eat an all meat diet, you’ll adapt to that. If you eat an all raw food diet, you will get sick if you consume cooked food. If you want to consume wonderful worldly combinations of any food and remain healthy, you need to adapt to the modern food environment and be able to handle pretty much anything.

Do you really want to feel like crap when you eat out, or go to a friends for dinner because you’re not eating your special diet food? On the other hand, do you want to get stomach ache when you eat any sort of vegetable, due to only being used to eating processed food? No of course not. You want to be healthy, and have it all.The number of people who can eat whatever they want without becoming fat or ill doesn’t need to be just a ‘lucky’ few.

How do we get to that point? It really is simple; be sure to eat a diet that is varied, that means it includes processed foods, high fibre foods, calorie dense foods, low GI carbs, high GI carbs, you get the picture.

Now You are an Adaptable Metabolic Animal

If you follow the above, you will have the digestive and metabolic machinery to annihilate anything. You want to do your best to feed yourself well, be active and eat a varied diet that consists of mainly wholesome nutritious foods but with the occasional meal out, bowl of ice cream and take away pizza.

Go eat some great food, get out of breath, enjoy life and #ReviveStronger

Further Reading:

• Body Fat set point – fact or fiction?
• 2 Rules to a getting a 6 pack
• Why we suck in the short term

So You Want To Become A Master?

Becoming a Master

Right so you want to squat like a boss, deadlift like yoda and bench press better than anyone else, you want to master these lifts. I do to, and so do my clients, so you are not alone and I am going to share with you how to progress over closer to lifting mastery.

Key to Masterhood
To become a master we must first know what is required, we must find the best and most efficient form for our anatomy. For some this might be ass to grass when squatting or maybe it’s just to parallel, just like you may be better suited for a sumo deadlift rather than conventional. So find out what form works best for your body. I am going to assume you have already addressed any mobility issues, if not, you cannot become a master.

Everyone is different, therefore one persons technique mastery may look starkly different to someone else’s. This is the principle of Individuality, and it springs up all the time when considering exercise and nutrition. Now we know this, I can take you through some steps to becoming a master mover.

Step 1 – Grease the groove
First things first, you need to get in some work. We all know the common saying ‘practice makes perfect’ and well it is completely true. And this is what I mean by grease the groove, if you want to improve your form at something, you need to practice practice practice. So don’t expect to master the squat by doing it once a month, by increasing the frequency you do the lift the better chance you have at ironing out any inefficiencies.

I like to think about this in terms of travelling down a stream into the ocean, at first there is not much room to manoeuvre, however as you keep going you eventually enter out into the ocean, making getting around easy. Just like any movement, at first it feels wrong, and is uncomfortable, but as you work at it, it gets easier and easier. So you want to become a master? Increase the frequency you perform the lift. 

Step 2 – Know how much you can take
Next up we must be recovered if we are going to do any exercise properly. Think of it like a machine, if it is not well oiled and in good nick you wouldn’t expect it to work efficiently. So we must take care of our recovery if we are to master movements.

Therefore, we must know our training level, if you are new to the gym then you will not be able to recover as fast as someone who’s been lifting years. So the less time you have been training the less total volume of work you can get in effectively. You can learn more about this in a previous article I wrote Picking your training volume.

Further to this you must also get your nutrition and other lifestyle factors nailed. Get in sufficient protein to recover with, and carbs to fuel your workouts, but also make sure to get enough sleep. So you want to become a master? Nail your nutrition, get enough sleep and manage your training volume according to your training experience. 

Step 3 – Consistency, consistency, consistency
The final step is made pretty clear, be consistent. People who are over achievers are because they get it right over and over again. So make sure if you decide to pursue mastery, do it for a decent stint of time, and keep at it. Don’t expect it to come from random weeks of dedication.

Furthermore, you need to be damn disciplined. You cannot let your form diminish, you need to perform the lift as if your coach is there watching you every-time. So you want to become a master? Do not let your form slack. 

I have written about mastery before in my article 4 Steps to Learn Anything, and consistency is damn important.

Great technique allows strength to be expressed effectively. As I said before, not everyones technique will be the same, individual body dimensions, leverages, strengths and weaknesses will dictate what technique is most effective for you.

So now you know how to become a master, go get it and #REVIVESTRONGER

Should you autoregulate your training?

To autoregulate your training you essentially go to the gym and do ‘what feels good’. That might mean your legs are feeling strong, and you want to work in a low rep range for some squats. Or maybe you did a lot of walking during the day, so you’re better off hitting your upper body, but you don’t feel like going heavy, so you go for some higher rep pulls and presses. You get the picture, you let your body decide on the day how to hit the weights. 

A problem with the above approach is that there is no structure, and what if you just decide not to train your lower body during the week, that’s just not on. So we need to create a programme as without an idea of what needs to be done we won’t progress. Therefore, better is to have at least an idea that you are going to squat, bench and deadlift heavy and for reps at some point in the week, but then choose when you do each. The amount of structure you provide can vary, there are whole training programmes such as Mike Tuchscherer’s Reactive Training Systems. 

A problem with that approach is that if you are new to training you might not really know what weights you should be using for each of these. Or maybe by not having knowing when you are meant to be hitting it hard and taking it easy, you never actually hit it all that hard. That also might lead you to not progressing. If you are a more advanced lifter you might actually be able to select a weight to hit an appropriate Rate of Perceived Exertion (to learn more about the RPE scale click here). You know how certain weights feel, so if you are warming up you can identify whether you should shoot for that PR or hold back and just go through the movement with a lighter weight.

My suggestion? if you are completely new to training I think you would be better suited to stick to a programme, using %’s based off your estimated 1 rep maxes. This is because you lack the experience with the weights to autoregulate and we want you to be progressing each week. I often will guide my clients alongside with an RPE, but they know the weight they are aiming for.

However, if you are a seasoned lifter, and are progressing at a monthly or more basis then I think a combination of RPE and % may be a better suited. What might this mean in practice? Say you know you are squatting today, it is a heavy day. You want to do 5 reps for a given number of sets. I suggest looking at what %’s of your 1 rep max you would like to achieve. For this case, lets say it is 75%, I would then create a range, say 5% above and 5% below this. Then you can work up to this range and then depending how you feel on the day, autoregulate the weight from this range. You’d do this during your warm up sets, if they feel slow you know to go lower within the range, if they are springy and smooth then push for higher. That is one approach I have seen to be very successful with my clients and it gives another reason why warming up is required. DO NOT JUST GO AND START ON YOUR WORKING WEIGHTS, that is reckless and could easily lead to an injury.

There are many other approaches that are definitely worth trying, such as using %’s for the main lifts and then hitting RPE’s for the assistance lifts. Or going for a rep max for the day and then backing off until you hit a certain RPE. The way you eventually choose to programme will be very individual. This is just a brief look into autoregulation and there is a lot more to be said about it, but lets leave that for another time.

Hope this helps you and your training #REVIVESTRONGER

Periodise For Gainz!

Fatigue, Fitness & Preparedness

Fatigue – how well recovered you are.
Fitness – how able you are to lift at your best.
Preparedness – how ready you are to show your fitness.

These three are all interrelated, and to get the most out of your training you can be clever and periodise your workouts, to allow for the best of all worlds.

So how are these concepts linked?
Well to get fitter we all know you need to apply stress to the body, so we can recover and get stronger. Therefore, we need a certain amount of fatigue to improve our fitness levels. However, when we are fatigued we are not in the best position to show our fitness, in other words our preparedness suffers when we are tired.

So what can we do? If we want to get fitter we need to produce fatigue, but when we are fatigued we lose are preparedness and therefore cannot perform at our best. This is where periodisation comes in handy.

Periodisation
Essentially there are a few types of training; Strength, Hypertrophy and Power. Periodisation is how you distribute these different methods across a period of time, and there are literally a gazillion (yes that many) different ways you can do this.

In general; strength training is more intense, as you are training with higher %s of your 1 rep max, Hypertrophy work is higher in volume as you are doing a greater number of reps and Power is lower in both intensity and reps as it is all about force production.

Fitness can be improved by both volume and intensity. Fatigue is largely determined by the amount of total volume performed, to decrease your fatigue you’ll want to lower your volume. With lower volume therefore you will have greater preparedness, and therefore can lift with more intensity.

So we can go through a period of time where volume is high but intensity is lower. This will build our fitness, but will also produce a high degree of fatigue, but that is OK because we aren’t required to show to lift maximally. You may call this a volume block.

Now we have built up our fitness, we want to show it off. Best way to do that? Drop our volume and increase the intensity. So fatigue will be lower, so we will be able to show our fitness plus our fitness is maintained due to the higher loads used. This might be called an intensity block.

And there you have it, a very simple explanation of two blocks you could implement into your training. The length of those blocks could differ greatly, they could be 4 weeks long or just a week long, they could even be done within the same week…as I said the possibilities are pretty much endless. Whats best? I recommend trial and error.

Thank you and #REVIVESTRONGER

Why diet plans SUCK

Meal 1 – 50g Oats, 300ml Skimmed Milk…

I hate diet plans, they are restrictive, boring, ineffective and problematic long term. Yet people love them, I get emails from people asking for ‘Diet Plans’ that outline specific times and foods to eat. I understand, it makes life simple and easy, you just look at what’s on the menu and eat it up and get the results you wanted…well simple and easy might be right but results? Maybe initially but in the long term a ‘Diet Plan’ is planning for failure. Here’s why…So your nutrition coach gives you your diet plan, it lists out Meals 1 through 6, giving you the exact foods, weights and timings to eat everyday. Brilliant, you go out to the supermarket, pick up all your grub and you’re set on your path to the body you want. Right? I mean all you have to do is follow this plan, day by day, week by week, eating specific foods, at specific times and you will be onto a winner. Chicken, Oats, Broccoli every single day, at 1pm…

Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with any of the foods named above, heck they’re great and could be incorporated into your diet. But everyday, the same foods? Don’t you think you might get bored? Might a social event pop up that requires you to eat something off the menu? Maybe your busy at work at a time you’re meant to eat? Now we are starting to see the beginning of just a few of the problems with meal plans.

The Western World doesn’t actually have a problem losing weight, yes there is an obesity epidemic but we are actually great at shedding that weight. The problem we have is keeping it off, as studies show more often than not, people put the pounds back on, and more. So why can’t we keep that weight off? Well it’s because our diets do not allow for sustainability. We get bored, a social event comes up, and we give that diet up and go back to our usual habits. The typical yoyo dieter you know the ones.

That’s why diet plans SUCK, they are not sustainable. Further to that they are actually unhealthy. They encourage binge eating, being unsocial, putting certain foods on a pedestal and encourage a limited diet that can lead to micronutrient deficiencies. You also gain no knowledge or education about foods, what they contain and the impact they have on your body. All you know is that the ones on the menu get you results, at least in the short term.

So what’s the solution? We need a diet that is sustainable we know that much, and to be sustainable it needs to allow for social occasions, cravings and a varied food choice. That sounds like a kinda, flexible diet, one that gives you control over your food, so eating becomes a lifestyle, not a chore. But, how do we keep this churning out results? Surely I am not saying we can eat out, and any foods we want and still lose fat? Ah and that is where the education comes in, you need to be aware of the macronutrients the foods you are consuming are giving you, how many of those each food provides and how much you need as an individual. Man, that sounds like a lot of work? Well with a little graft at the start, tracking your macro nutrition on a mobile app such as myfitnesspal and eventually it’ll become a habit, one you can sustain for long enough to see results.

By tracking your macronutrition intake for a period of time, you get an understanding about what foods contain and how much you need. This can then allow you in future to flex, and so you can eat out, you can eye ball foods instead of weighing them every time. You have the power over food, you know you how much you can eat.

I have written two articles on this topic, that I think are really great for getting started with a sustainable, liveable and enjoyable diet. Part 1 can be accessed HERE and Part 2 (practical application) HERE. Further to that, I provide online coaching and have got tremendous results with my clients using this flexible dieting approach, their results can be found HERE.

Lyle Mcdonald: http://www.bodyrecomposition.com

Porn Obsessed

Food Porn duhhh…

The following was written 1 week out from the UKDFBA in 2014…

Sorry if you expected something a little more perverse than this, but I have to confess I am addicted to food porn. Or better I am obsessed with food in general, if you asked me what I was thinking about or doing it would be food, hence this newsletter being on the subject!

So why am I so food focussed right now? Well you might have guessed it, it’s because I am dieting. As you transition to lower and lower calories every item of food you put in your mouth gets a higher value put onto it. Not only do you need to be more concerned about it’s quality, you get concerned about how it tastes, how fulfilling it is, because you know if you make a bad choice you will feel it later. Just have a look at my instagram if you don’t believe me.

Pretty #foodgasmic wouldn’t you say? In a recent paper by Eric Helms, Alan Aragon and Peter Fitschen they look into the psychological impacts of long term dieting, specifically for contest prep. Did you know it’s been found almost half male drug free competitive bodybuilders binge post competition. One third reported anxiety, short tempers or anger when preparing for competition and more than 80% suffered with a preoccupation with food. People who know me might be thinking…that explains a lot..haha well hopefully not. Although I have survived one post competition binge I definitely have a preoccupation with food. The physical effects of semi-starvation is much like the signs and symptoms seen with eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. As you can see, my food porn obsession isn’t so out of the ordinary.

This is why I wanted to make this post, because I am aware of the dangers of getting extremely lean. And being aware is part of the solution of straying from the potential consequences. As open and frequent communication about these topics can really help. Further to this, I have a coach, he is amazing and there for me when I am concerned. Personally, I recommend everyone looking to get into contest level shape get a coach, particularly if it is your first contest. This is why I also think it is essential that your coach has competed themselves, because it is impossible to relate if they haven’t. The mental and psychological side to contest prep is what separates it from just fat loss, and trust me when I say it is a major part that can make or break a successful prep.

I am now 1 week out from the UK Drug Free Bodybuilding Association (UKDFBA). So hopefully my obsession will start dying down and I can get back to a having a healthy relationship with food. I certainly intend to enjoy a ‘free meal’ post contest, but I am not going to binge. My fantastic girlfriend has actually booked us in for a meal at Duck and Waffle in London, its got some posh nosh and I intend to enjoy the hell out of it.Thanks to everyone for the continued support throughout my contest prep. It has been an experience I will remember forever and it has made me grow stronger as a person. If anyone is interested in competing and have questions, please contact me as I would be happy to help, and together we can Revive Stronger.

Catherine Nelson – ‘I was so impressed with the realistic and sustainable approach in helping me to achieve my goals’

Committed and consistent, two words that describe Cath. Without these two traits the results we have achieved together would have been far inferior, and I commend Cath for her hard work. She came to me with the goal of fat loss, while remaining strong and fit. Initially we had a set back, due to having previously dieted quite severely we needed to bring her calories back up, before bringing them down to achieve her desired goal of fat loss. I was so glad Cath trusted me with this, as you can imagine for someone who wants to lose fat, the idea of raising calories and reducing exercise sounds scary. In two weeks Cath was back up to eating 2000 calories and doing no cardio and maintaining weight. We then had two months to drop fat before her photoshoot. Even with a diet break for Christmas Cath managed some great results and looked incredible for her photoshoot, I am sure you will agree.

I have just completed a 3 month coaching block with Stephen Hall “Revive” and I couldn’t be happier. I am finally seeing the results I have not been able to achieve previously. I am feeling great in myself and I really feel I have my eating and mindset under control. I was so impressed with Stephen’s realistic and sustainable approach in helping me to achieve my goals, that I have signed on for another 3 months of coaching. I have always found Stephen to be approachable and answered any questions promptly. My program was so well suited to me that I was able to remain committed and never missed a session. I’m really excited to see what I can achieve during my next block with Stephen.

Cath is a perfect example of what can be achieved in a short period of time. In three months Cath managed to do the following:

• Brought her metabolism up
• Strength up over 15% (bench press up almost 40%)
• Body fat down 4%
• 4cm loss from both Hips and Waist

This was while enjoying a wide and varied diet, with NO food restrictions. Plus this was over the Christmas Holidays, and Cath was able to still enjoy this time and some extra food. That is because Cath followed a sustainable diet and training programme, that she incorporated to make up her lifestyle. Cath is now moving onwards and upwards, looking to slowly lean down further, while trying to gain strength & fitness. I know Cath will achieve her goals. Interested in online coaching? you can check out what I have to offer here.