Annihilating 29lbs!

When David first came to see me he was overweight, tired and very unfit. At our first weigh in the scales read 17 stone 1 pound, however last Friday that number read 15 stone! That’s a total loss of 29lbs! but most importantly he’s much happier, healthier and has a routine which is sustainable.

Of course this feat hasn’t been an overnight thing (it never is!) but it’s a great example of how combining lots of small positive habits into your daily routine on a consistent basis leads to success.

In this post i’m going to discuss the positive habits which David has instilled so that you can get a good idea of what it takes to successfully lose weight (and keep it off!).

Challenging Circumstances…

I’d like to point out that David has done this transformation in very difficult circumstances. He has a demanding job, his weekly routine/schedule changes all the time and he travels abroad pretty much every week! We haven’t been able to train together every week, so instead we’ve developed a strategy to help keep him on track whilst away. Here’s how we did it…

#1 Bodyweight Workouts

Staying in random hotels, not knowing if there’s a gym can prove very challenging when trying to get in fit. It would be extremely easy to use this as an excuse “There’s no gym I can’t train!” but ultimately everybody knows this type of attitude doesn’t get results!

Attitude is key. Instead of using his demanding schedule as an excuse, we focused on solutions…

We chose the mindset of… “how can we make this happen???”

I designed David a full bodyweight routine which he could do anywhere with very limited space e.g. a hotel room.

The types of exercises in his plan include:

• push ups
• dips
• lunges
• split squats
• squats
• crunches
• bicycles crunches
• plank (side and front)
• burpees

All of these can be done with zero equipment, using just your bodyweight

#2 LEP Training

David committed to doing 30 x 1-1 personal training sessions with me. During our sessions we’ve worked on techniques and completed exercises at the LEP studio which can’t always be done whilst travelling.

My aims during each session are:

1. Train the full body
2. Complete 16-24 sets per workout
3. Stick to a 8-15 rep range
4. Perform 8-12 different exercises per workout
5. Keep rest periods short (30-60s)

Like with most clients I’ll typically incorporate at least 1 exercise per session for the following muscles groups:

• chest
• back
• shoulders
• biceps
• triceps
• abs
• lower back
• thighs
• hamstrings
• glutes
• calfs

If there’s a weakness or an under developed muscle i’ll add in more overall sets/reps to give the targeted area more attention.

Here’s an example of one of our sessions:

• Warm Up: Light Jogging + 5-10 minutes foam rolling
• Round 1: Chest press (8-15 reps) + Incline Back row (8-15 reps) + Plank (60-90s)
• Round 2: DB Arnold Press + Mid trap raises + Resistance Band Side Raises (all 8-15 reps)
• Round 3: One leg glute raises (10-15 each leg) + Split squats (10-15 each leg)  + crunches (30-50 reps)
• Round 4: Push Ups (As Many Reps As Possible) + DB curls with Resitance Bands (8-15 reps) + One Arm DB rows (8-15 each arm)
• Cool Down: 5-10 minutes of Stretches (hamstrings, glutes, chest, and shoulders)

#3 Following A Low Carb Diet

To start with I asked David to keep me a food diary so I could:

1. Assess his current calorie intake
2. Get a feel for the types of foods he was consuming
3. Look at how many meals he was eating each day
4. Observe the times he would eat

After explaining the numerous dieting strategies that we could use, we both agreed to try a low carb approach. I therefore educated him on what eating low carb entailed and gave him a food list to choose from.

Foods included: chicken, turkey, eggs, steak, salmon, tuna, cod, hake, mackerel, nuts, butter, olive oil, avocado, bacon, vegetables and plenty of other foods.

I then designed a custom meal plan suited towards his goals and lifestyle. I gave him a bunch of low carb meal options over 7 days.

Knowing that he would be travelling on the road a lot, I also encouraged him to buy in a bunch of protein bars, and take with him protein powder and nuts – to use for snacks. I also provided him with some other options for when he would eat out when away from home e.g. Options for eating out at an Italian, Indian, Thai, American Dinner, Burger Bar, etc. If something came up that we hadn’t accounted for he would contact me and I would help.

Over the past 4 months we’ve created a system that works for his lifestyle and we will continue to modify and refine things to make things even better!

High five to David! It’s been a real pleasure working with him and I look forward to our future progress!

Nick 🙂