Everybody Loves Nandos!

Everybody loves Nandos I know I do, but when dieting it can be quite hard to stick to the same boring bland foods.

I have only recently found out to my surprise that you can buy their sauce in the local supermarkets. So I read the nutrition info on the back of a medium hot bottle and with every 40g portion there is only 40kcal, which I thought was very low. So now when I have a boring chicken salad I will use this tasty sauce to spice things up and to keep my cravings at bay.

Weighted Belt!

A great piece of equipment to help increase those all important body weight exercises. You know you are getting strong when you can manage 10 reps of dips or pull ups, and the only way to keep progressing is to use a belt so you can keep adding weight.

Its very easy to use and reasonable priced, not to mention how much of a legend you will look with 30kg dangling between your legs while you rep out some wide grip pull ups or dips.

Back to Powerlifting

After 9 month out and constant injuries I'm going to go back to powerlifting this year started with a bench press only comp in October then main comp in December!

My weight had increased a bit so after the summer will be aiming to cut down to 75kg. Training as been going that well since but in the last month I have had some big changes and now have some serious goals for the end of the year. This month I have managed to beat my deadlift and bench press PB by 5kg each so I managed a 195kg deadlift (nearly 200kg) and a 125kg bench. My squatting is my weak link as my knee has been playing up but I'm sure i can get it back up to 170kg.

Goals for December 2008:

Squat- 170kg

Bench- 130kg

Deadlift- 205kg

Total- 505kg

Functional Training

I have been doing some of research on this and what it actually means! Functional Training is training your body related to things that you do in everyday life, training that will help you become stronger and more stable in everyday activities from getting out of a chair to lifting something off the floor and putting it on a shelf. Its main aim is to try to train people with full body movements rather than isolation movements because in isolation you become strong in a restricted range which will have no real affect on everyday strength.

A big issue with conventional training is people do to much to fast, if your deep and inner muscles cant work together properly then the exercises will be affected as you only as strong as your weakest part. To many of us pick up bad technique which in the long run will injure our body's as well as disturb our posture and body alignment.

People need to look at the bigger picture and not only train to look good but to maintain posture, stability, muscle balance2 which in the long run should keep you injury free and keep you away from muscle and joint damage in the future.

Getting a Personal Trainer!!!!

In my experience its so hard to find a decent Personal Trainer or for that matter gym instructor who actually knows what they are talking about. Its so easy to get quialfied now but what the new trainers dont realise is that you must keep learning and most important learn by experience, by trying everything out there. Im not saying that Im the best in business but I try to keep an open mind and try to keep learning.



First thing to look for is apperance, if they look in good nick and train regularly then thats atleast a good start, Im not saying everybody in good shape knows what they are doing but atleast its a start.



After that the relationship is important, you must be able to get on with the person and not get to carried away with social talking, you can talk but when its time to train they must be focused (and dont worry if they lose count).

Case Study Client

The perfect way to attracted new clients is to start a case study to help advertise what you can do. If you can get somebody in great shape and record their results, pictures, training info, and nutrition info then you will be taking the first step into getting a good name for yourself.

I did this in my current gym with great results, after a 3 month study I went from having 0 sessions a week to 8-15 sessions a week and this happened straight away.

The client I used was very motivated and willing to stick to the nutrition plan and training, it is so important to pick the right person as you could waste a lot of time and effort if they don't stick to everything which will then affect your results!

After 12 weeks the before and after results are as followed..........

Weight: 66.2kg 59.5kg

Bodyfat % (Machine): 34.2% 25.6%

Bodyfat %: 29.6% 21%

Waist: 30 26

Hips: 40 38.5

Arm: 11 10

Thigh: 22 19.5

Overall the results were great and she looks fantastic..... This could really boost your client base to a whole new level!!!

Update!

Been so busy this January, haven't posted in a while.
Iv got a few things I have written that will be posted in the next few days when I have time!

My cut is going quite well so far, I have had a few bad days but Im doing much better than usual, Iv lost an inch off my waist and down about 3.5kg so going well. The most noticable diffrence is the way I look as i can see I have lost weight. New picture and measurements will be up on the 31st January, 1 month after the first assessment. The only thing i changed was my training as I decided to go back to splits as I injoy training everyday I started to miss it as with a full body routine you train every other day. During a cut most people wil see a slight decrease in strength but so far most is atleast staying the same and I had a PB doing weighted pull ups :) managed 7 reps with 30kg very tough. Full update with updated picture will be on the 31st.