Ok this is the biggest, most informative, most valuable, and best results producing post that i have written …so far.
To have 10 years experience in getting clients in great shape, it would almost be a crime to not share the things i’ve learned with as many of you as possible. I am going to lay it all out here, spill my guts, give you some of the most important lessons I’ve experienced during my 10 years in this crazy, ever changing world that is the fitness industry.
I’ve seen the lot. There have been sooo many exercise fads, gadgets, and theories that have come and gone, some good, many utter nonsense. There has also been, on the other hand, absolute game changers. And bubbling away in the background there has always been the solid, basic, (sometimes forgotten) sound advice which hold the whole damn thing up.
Luckily for you its the latter that i want to share today, the ones that matter, the no fluff, the no-gimmick, the no bullshit…
When it comes to getting (and staying) lean there are a few really important basic rules to remember. So we all know that it is massively important WHAT we eat, today i want to talk about the AMOUNT we eat, this can be equally important.
Following on from my recent post on portion control, i want to give you some examples of how some of these portions should look.
This is such a basic concept I’m going to let these simple images do the talking…
In order to get a leaner, more athletic body, there are 3 things that you have to be in absolute control of. These are worth spending time on completely mastering so that you know you are giving yourself the best possible chance of achieving the ripped physique you dream of.
Lets not mess around any longer and get to it…
1. Training
The obvious start. But make sure to approach this like the smart person you are.
You need a plan. Then you need to follow this plan. This sounds obvious right? Almost ridiculous. But i am amazed how often i see guys in the gym going around mindlessly without any structure in place. This often leads to keeping in a comfort zone and/or sticking to just the ‘favorites’ when it comes to exercise selection.
Note: If you just want to get started right away scroll to the bottom of this post, click the image of the book, buy it, and use it. It will change the way you eat. Simple.
Over the years of working with clients on weight loss, fat loss, and maintaining a lean physique i have used many tools and tactics. One important tool is the use of a food diary. Some have found them most beneficial when used all the time, and some just at the start to get a true understanding (or a shocking wake up call) of what is being consumed.
I am about to tell you one of the most important things to remember when trying to reduce body fat and get a leaner, more athletic body…
‘You cant out-train a bad diet’
This is one of the main causes of frustration that many people come up against in their quest for a six pack.
Let me give you a real life examples…
To prove this statement, I went on to a cross trainer in the gym to see how long it would take to burn 500 calories, this was at an average intensity, the sort of pace and level I see most people in the gym working at. (maybe even a little higher)
The results… 33 minutes = 511 calories burned
Now what would happen if I then left the gym and headed to the coffee shop for a well earned treat.
So I have my coffee…
…And go on then I’ll have a muffin, after all I deserve it right?
You may or may not heard of the term ‘complex’ in the world of fitness/fat loss. Today i hope to give you a better understanding of them and show you a couple of examples.
Lets get straight down to it shall we? Watch me do some exercise then i’ll explain why this type of training is great for giving you a leaner, more athletic body…
I was chatting to a couple of my pals yesterday and they started talking about diets (how times change!)
One of them has just started following a fairly popular diet at the moment, and the other had already done it. At this point you are probably waiting for me to tell you which diet they were discussing …i’m not going to. The name of it doesn’t matter really because it is very similar to many that have come before, and that are still to come.
The only real difference with most of these diets is often just the names of the rules, phases, zones, periods etc…
When they asked for my (expert) opinion on this diet and whether or not it was any good,
I gave them these things to think about when following a diet…
A super quick friday video for you today. I’ve just got back from training with a couple of mates on the beach (we’re lucky enough to live 2 minutes away). I must be honest, you won’t learn a massive amount in the first 1 minute of the video, we just whipped the camera out whilst training as it was such a nice day.
Our post-workout ‘re-fuel’ however will give you an insight into what you should be doing after your workouts to start your rest and recovery properly and to maximum effect. Take a look…
As i mention in the video, we had our smoothie within the 45 min post-workot ‘window’. The benefits of doing this are…
With a long bank holiday looming (four day easter weekend here in the UK), there is a chance you might be socialising, and this may lead to having a drink.
Now i could play the predictable trainer here and say “don’t drink alcohol” and list all the negative effects bla bla bla…
…OR, i could accept that it probably will happen and give you the best tactics to limit the damage, and in my experience this is the best way to go.
In this quick video, Clark (from the Transformation Clark series) shows us another ‘Top Tip’ that helped him get to transform his body. Believe me this is so simple and so quick, it shows that you don’t have to be a victim of the poor quality, high carb breakfasts. If you think that cereals and breads are the only convenient option when it comes to breakfast, you need to watch this…
Here is a high protein breakfast with minimal fuss (and less cleaning up than anything else i can think of!) So remember these tips when it comes to a healthy, lean breakfast…
Over the last 10 years of training clients I’ve picked up the odd trick or two. One thing that i learned early on is that conventional cardio is boring and ineffective. So I’ve developed a whole bunch of (what i call) Cardio Fat Loss Finishers. A sample of which i have given below.
So in this post i am giving you the advice and tools you need to actually start getting decent fat loss results from the cardio machines… And probably in less time than you spend on them at the moment.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Although i am talking today about cardio training, this is meant to compliment and finish off a good resistance training programme. To get lean and lose body fat, you need the right resistance training programme to create the lean tissue (muscle) needed to keep your metabolism racing.
What are we doing wrong?
Every day in the gym i see lines of treadmills, bikes, and elliptical trainers with people trotting or cruising along. Now this ‘long duration’ training, unless training for a marathon or other endurance event, is really not the way forward when the goal is fat loss.
Worse still, you can actually decrease lean body tissue and, as muscle is a metabolically active tissue, burn fewer calories at rest. With your metabolism running slower and slower, the body is priming itself to laying down body fat as a means of survival. To summarise, you can actually put on body fat if you don’t approach your cardio training properly!
So here is a video put together by myself and my buddy Clark (to see Clarks Body Transformation journey CLICK HERE).
We are taking away the “But i don’t have time” excuse from you here, sorry! Take a look, theres some great nuggets to take away for quick and healthy cooking that will help in your journey towards a leaner more athletic body…
There you have it, even if you take some of the low fat ideas or short cuts to healthier cooking seen in this video to use for other meals that would work too.
The take away message is that you DO have time to cook meals quickly and healthily. You just need to plan, have the right things ‘in stock’, and have the desire to really want a leaner more athletic looking body.
Ok this is the biggest, most informative, most valuable, and best results producing post that i have written …so far.
1. Training
Note: If you just want to get started 
To prove this statement, I went on to a cross trainer in the gym to see how long it would take to burn 500 calories, this was at an average intensity, the sort of pace and level I see most people in the gym working at. (maybe even a little higher)
…and how not to fail!
