Yesterdays workout: 8/11/11

An awesome workout yesterday even if there are still certain things I can't do due to a rotator cuff injury on my right shoulder but working around and doing things I have not done for years such as curls and tricep extensions.

I went for supersets of 4 x 8-10 reps with 45secs rest between supersets.

1) Trigger point therapy, mobility, rotator cuff movements.

2) Single arm bottoms up kettlebell press (surprisingly this feels great on my shoulder, the extra grip activation allows for some great stability
throughout arm and shouler). 10reps@20kg
Deadlifts 10reps@170kg

3) Stiff leg Deadlifts 10@140kg
Weighted leg lowers 10@6kg

4) Face pulls with a 3sec negative. 10@50kg
Cable tricep extensions with a 3 sec negative 10@35kg

5) rear cable raises (awesome for my shoulder) with a 3 sec negative 10@5kg (I know little weights but the burn was insane)
Skull crushers with a 3 sec negative 10@50kg

As you can see this is a very different workout plan compared to my usual stuff but hey, you gotta listen to your body and change things up now and again. As I can't do a lot of the bigger lifts such as cleans, jerks and back squats which are high intensity moves I have made up for this with very brief rest periods between supersets, it's tough but gives the workout the intensity I prefer. Body split type training is not really my thing but doing it this way feels pretty dam good.

If you are unsure what some of these exercises may look like please get in touch and I will be happy to help.

Be sure to check out our brand new website www.fitterlondon.co.uk for some great blog posts, articles, training ideas and recipes. Be great to know what you think.

Happy training,

Matt

RKC Vs IKFF, or is there more to it?

As a personal trainer, strength enthusiast and kettlebell instructor who has done both the RKC and IKFF kettlebell certifications I am often asked which one I prefer or which would I suggest for someone looking to gain a kettlebell certification. So in this post I would like to give a little breakdown of each course, the good points, the bad points and my overall honest opinion.

I started using kettlebells for my own training about 4 years ago. I heard about them, googled them, watched some videos, gave it a go...........I was hooked. I loved them.

I showed Keris (my girlfriend and co founder of Fitter London) a thing or two with them and it wasn't long before she was hooked either.

It was here we dicided to look into kettlebell courses in London, we found a 1 day course based In north London and booked onto it. They were both RKC certified trainers so after the research I had done I figured this was a winner. Straight away I realised my technique needed a lot of fine tuning and I enjoyed the feeling of more efficient kettlebell movement.

BUT,

By the end of the day I felt as though corners had been cut and that 1 day simply was not enough to fully understand kettlebell training. I wanted to learn more.

It was here we looked further into the RKC certification. I was at first shocked at the price, it was not cheap and it did not even include accommodation or flights. The next one in Europe was in Budapest in August (2009) and we thought sod it, lets do it. We wanted kettlebells to be a huge part of our fitness business and our own training regimes and figured what better than to learn from the best. We were passionate about them and were prepared to pay the price.

RKC is fronted by Pavel Tsatsouline.

We were all packed and ready to go, so here is my RKC Pros and cons:

RKC is a 3 day certification and I was slightly anxious at what we had in store for us.

PROS:

- RKC is a very thorough training system, every movement was broken down into stages to ensure a full understanding, we were constantly being corrected and assessed.

- All instructors were happy to answer questions and were incredibly knowledgable.

- Everything was clear and very easy to understand due to the very well structured nature of the cert.

- Repetition was a big thing but I love this as it really drummed home the techniques.

- They took a personal trainers needs in to consideration as there was a huge focus on breakdown and progressions to teach your clients. There were also plenty of alternatives for people who struggled with certain movements.

- There were plenty of instructors there so you never felt you were on your own unaware if your doing things correctly or not.

- After each day I had aches in all the right places and felt as though I was learning so much every minute.

- Massive attention to detail.

CONS:

- Before we had even done anything we were asked to perform the snatch test. This test inloves performing 100 snatches in under 5 mins. Men above 60kg used a 24kg kettlebell, men under 60kg used a 20kg, women above 56kg used a 16kg and women below 56kg used 12 kg. I didn't agree with this, I was aware that a lot of preparation before the cert was involved but to perform what I believed was a very technical lift with a predetermined weight without instruction was unsafe and was an injury waiting to happen for some. By the way, someone did get very badly injured and it ended the cert straight away.

- Too military based for my liking. I don't mind a disciplined approach but some of these dudes were just plain arrogant and were dishing out orders like we were in the army. They saw it fit to throw drills at us that were incredibly testing for most and for some unbarable. I love hard work but when my technique is being effected because an instructor loves the sound of his own voice too much it got quite annoying. A bit over the top at times to say the least.

- Practice makes perfect but if someone has not yet developed the strength to perform a certain movement with the suggested weight then its only right they drop weight and perform the movement correctly right? Not here. I believe men should be able to handle atleast 1.5 times there bodyweight on a deadlift but I dont start them on that weight, they practice, they progress and we work up to it. To make someone feel like a failure for good judgement again did not sit well with me.

Conclusion:

Aside from the stated cons, RKC was worth every penny for me. It was jam packed with great information and I was buzzing with inspiration, I coudnt wait to show our Fitter London members everything we had learnt. From start to finish it was well structured and incredibly engaging.

It was during our RKC certification that we kept hearing the name Steve Cotter going around. We had not heard much of this guy so we decided to check him out. He used to be part of RKC but decided to go his seperate way and set up the IKFF certification. I watched some of Steve Cotters videos and all I can say is......WOW. I was in awe of this guy, so fit, strong, explosive and insanely mobile. It wasn't long before I was looking to see when he was next in London.

It was Febuary 2010 and we were booked onto his level 1 course. The IKFF course was half the price of RKC which was great :-). It was 2 days long and I couldn't wait to meet the guy who was so inspiring just through his videos.

Before I go in to the pros and cons I want to highlight that Steve Cotters approach to kettlebell lifting is very different to that of the RKC. RKC has more of an explosive, full body tension approach and IKFF is a more fluid approach with a big focus on reducing tension in order to keep fatigue at bay for as long as possible. The style was completely different, from the general movement and breathing to duration and grip technique.

I have to admit at first this was not what I was expecting but it was not long before I was engaged and loving it.

Pros:

- Completely different style and was really excited and learning what seemed an opposite approach to kettlebell lifting.

- Huge emphasis on warm ups and mobility which was amazing.

- Went over exercises that I had never done before such as overhead squats which are fantastic.

- The lay out was incredibly challenging, varied and fun.

- There was no fitness test or wieght requirment but just a big focus on correct and safe technique which was made clear from the start. This was great and took the pressure off which allowed for a more enjoyable experience.

- Great group of instructors who were incredibly knowledgable and well experienced.

Cons:

- I felt that there was less attention to detail compared to RKC and at times quite vague.

- There was not the approach to corrective exercises that I was expecting, it was more of a if this doesnt feel right go lighter type of thing but I was looking for more answers here.

- I felt that due to the longer duration style of this training (a long cycle is 10 mins long) that this style would not go down too well with my clients especially as they were used to the RKC style of training.

To be honest that is all I have for this one as I loved this course and I met some great like minded people there too.

So, which one did I prefer?

To be honest, I can't really say. But what I will say is always keep an open mind, broaden your horizons and never stop learning. I use both techniques from the certs and they go down a treat in classes, on PT sessions and as part of my own training regime.

I don't for a second regret doing either of them, they have played a huge role in my journey as the eternal student and I value both of these courses equally, however I will say in my experience, the RKC approach has been more client friendly and they have responded better to this technique.

My biggest bit of advice is whichever course you choose to do dont get sucked in to the whole cult thing. I believe the RKC system is guilty of this and most RKC instructors believe their method is the only way and nothing else matters. Some even go to the extremes of getting tatoos and all wearing the same trousers which is when it gets a little too much for me. This is a very narrow minded approach and I dont agree with it. IKFF was not like this at all and I liked that.

IKFF for me highlighted the importance of longevity which i had not really considered before this. Mobility is now a huge part of my routine and the more fluid approach to kettlebell lifting is a great way to take a little break from all that heavy lifting and body tension that is involved in most training regimes.

Ideally I'd say if you can afford to, do both certs. I would not have one without the other but that's just me.

Since doing these I have worked with many other great coaches and most recently the awesome Mike Mahker when he was in the UK in Feb this year.

Mike Mahler again had a very different take on kettlebell training and there was a big focus on heavy lifting whilst reducing tension and also explosive power. Personally, this is the style of training I have always enjoyed (Im a rugby player so this makes sense) and I loved every minute of this course.

Mike Mahler's approach was incredibly simple yet highly effective, his hormone optimisation lecture alone was worth the money and his style of kettlebell lifting has complemented the training of myself, my classes and my clients very well.

Working with the best in the industry has taught me a hell of allot and each of the above workshops has provided an even deeper knowledge into an industry and style of training I absolutely love. So get yourself out there, don't stick to one so called style. Experiment and find what works for you, have your own take on it and put it out there. Better yet, don't rely solely on kettlebell training, I love kettlebells but they make up a fraction of what training tools I use for my clients and our classes.

I really hope this post has been informative, as I said I simply wanted to put an honest opinion out there and here it is.

I am still learning and have plenty of other great coaches I would like go work with so watch this space.

If anyone has any questions about any of these courses then please get in touch id be happy to help matt@fitterlondon.co.uk

Listen, learn, practice and improve.

Yours in training,

Matt

P.s check out our brand new website which launched last week www.fitterlondon.co.uk we are very proud of it and hope you enjoy the content. Honest feedback is always welcome.

Yesterdays workout: 16/9/11

Had a beast of a workout yesterday and feeling on top of the world today and raring for some more training.

1) a thorough warm up and mobility.

2) deep squats 5x5reps (first 2 sets were progressively heavier warm up sets)

Supersetted with:

Single arm dumbbell rows 5x8reps with a 4 sec negative (last set was with 3 drop sets to failure)

3) 3 sets of 5 reps of a charles poliquin variation on squats to hit the VMO (these are brutal and my VMO is feeling it today, in a good way of course)

See it here: http://www.charlespoliquin.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/693/The_VMO_Solution.aspx?lang=EN

4) stiff leg Deadlifts (explosive reps) 3x12rps (the last 4 reps of every set set the hamstrings and glutes on fire)

Supersetted with:

Dumbell shoulder press 3x8reps with a 4 sec negative.

5) cable tricep extensions 3x10 reps with a 4sec negative

Supersetted with:

Reverse grip ez bar curls 3x10 reps with a 4sec negative (feeling the burn baby)

6) mobility and stretch.

Plastered myself with magnesium oil after my workout which is working wonders for my recovery and reducing DOMS.

Bring on today's workout.

Have a great day folks and happy lifting.

Yours in strength,

Matt

What I ate today!

This is one for the ladies! I’m not being sexist but us girls think a lot about what we eat. Don't get me wrong guys are health conscious too but us girls take this to another level. For most women every meal, snack, drink is accompanied by a lightening fast thought process including a detailed biochemical breakdown of its content; calories, fat, protein, carbs......and emotions: guilt, pleasure, need, greed, etc.

Food and bodyfat make up a unique and universal language to us ladies, we can talk for hours about what we eat, but mainly what we don’t eat. We go on about how we have two more kilos to lose, how we feel bloated because we ate bread, how we hate shopping for jeans, gym kit and bikini's as all three make us face our lumpy bits. We use shop windows to see how big our bum looks today. Sometimes we pretend we don’t give a toss about our waistline but secretly spend most of our waking hours formulating a plan to get it smaller! Between clients I often work in coffee shops and witness these conversations all day long:

“This week I’m mainly eating cardboard, it really works for me, you should try it…”

“Really! Any special type of cardboard or will any do? I’ll get some on my way home!”

We have routines and rules when it comes to food, We love reading about diets and detoxes, we look at diet pills and potions in Superdrug and for a split second we’re tempted but common sense prevails, if they really worked there wouldn’t be any fat people in the world!

We like to know what's in a celebrities fridge and what they eat on the weekend, knowing full well there's no way they eat that much crap! We scrutinise shots of Abbey Clancey on the beach, trying to find a hint of cellulite and hope that one day we might just witness a bingo wing wobble on Madonna and breathe a sigh of relief that she’s normal after all. We’re fascinated by what other women are doing and constantly compare ourselves.... how do they get such a tiny waist, such a flat stomach and my own personal envy: slim bloody legs!

Its a sad fact that the majority of the women I know may not have eating disorders but certainly eat disorderly. I have refined my diet so much over the years, the more I learn the more it improves and the better I feel. My weight has pretty much stayed the same but I have seen a nice reduction in my muffin top (I am still scarred from a fellow gym pal once pointing out that I was sporting a "cake top" - at least get the insult right!) My skin is the best its ever been, I no longer wear make up in the day and I have the best energy levels I’ve ever experienced in my life. No cravings, no hunger and no sense of deprivation. I will continue to strategically angle mirrors to see how big my bum really is and ask Matt ten times a day if he thinks my legs look fat but I can confidently say I am 100% happier in myself than years gone by, what I'm eating now works so much better for me.

So here’s what I ate today and why:

Upon waking (5.30am)
Warm water and lemon- Cleanses digestive system and stimulates liver.
Teaspoon of nut butter - Stabilise blood sugar and keeps me going until I get chance to eat.

On the train (6.15am)
Organic black coffee - I still love a good strong coffee to start my day.

Breakfast 7.30am
2 scoops chocolate Sunwarrior protein shake with added L-glutamine and Maca (+ Multi Vits/fish oil).

I have a shake for convenience as breakfast is consumed on the go. Sunwarrior is raw, vegan and unlike whey doesn't inflate my stomach, I add L-glutamine as it's alkalines the body and helps strengthen gut integrity, Maca is an adaptogenic herb renowned for regulating and supporting hormone health.

Mid Morning (11am)
Handful of walnuts and clean greens drink.

Walnuts are great source of omega 3's and protein. Pukka Clean Greens is the only green drink I can get on with most others make me heave, I have 1-2 a day for an anti-oxidant fix.

Lunch (12.30pm) Large, baked organic chicken breast with organic green salad, topped with roasted red onion, butternut squash, carrots, broccoli and cauliflower (+digestive enzymes)

I always chunk out salad with roasted veg to keep it tasty and steamed veg for a vitamin and mineral fix, cruciferous vegetables (broccoli and cauliflower) are great for reducing excessive estrogen - a must if you store fat around your legs and chest area.

Mid afternoon (3pm)
Small black coffee and pot of brazil nuts + pumpkin seeds.

Brazil nuts are sweet and creamy so lovely mid afternoon with a coffee, they are a good source of selenium and pumpkin seeds are a great source of zinc. I always portion control these as nuts and seeds are a what Tim Ferris calls a 'domino' food for me, I can eat and eat and eat .


On train home:
Large green tea

I aim for 3 a day if I can (every time I enter a coffee shop I have a 5 minute coffee/green tea debate!) Green tea has always been renowned for high antioxidant content but green tea is increasingly being recognised for improving glucose metabolism and increasing fat metabolism.

Snack whilst making dinner (7pm)
Roasted squash and handful pumpkin seeds.

I always snack when making dinner, a very bad habit (that I can't seem to break) as sometimes I eat so much I don't even feel like dinner! We had some butternut squash roasted in coconut milk and garlic in the fridge so I snacked on that, it makes a lovely sweet, creamy snack.

Dinner 7.30pm
Cod and mushrooms sauteed in coconut oil and a dash of tamari (gluten free soya sauce) with avocado, watercress, spinach, pine nuts and sundried tomato salad (+digestive enzymes).

This is such a quick supper, I like to eat as soon as I get home so I have few hours to digest dinner and chill out before bed. I have two pieces of fish (lots of lean protein) and a big serving of greens to go with my omega 3's. The sundried tomatoes and pine nuts add flavour. Mushrooms (great with tamari) really are magical when it comes to health; they lower bad cholesterol, have anti-carcinogenic properties, a high anti-oxidant content to boost your immune system and are packed with minerals like copper and potassium. The bitter, peppery taste of watercress makes it a great digestive aid and vitamin A content improves skin health.

Snack 8pm
Teaspoon of nut butter & ginger and lemon steeper.

If you ever get a sweet craving after dinner have a teaspoon of nut butter, the fat will curb the craving and help you feel satiated. Ginger and lemon steepers are lovely, both sweet and spicy, trust me on this one! Ginger also has so many medicinal benefits so get dosed up for winter, I roughly chop big chunks and have with hot water and a squeeze of fresh lemon. I've tried lots of herbal teas but most for me are more of a chore than an enjoyment, but I love ginger steepers. It goes great with some dark chocolate too....only at the weekend of course ;-)

So that's what I ate today, some days I eat more (much more!) some days I eat less but the important thing is that every day I focus on filling my body with good stuff that will keep me happy, healthy and energised.....by the way don't expect a blog on what Matt eats, it would need to be an EPIC novel!

Mondays workout: 5/9/11

Awesome workout on Monday with Rich which I can still feel the effects of today. Feels great.

1) squats 2 working sets of death sets (20 reps) these were done to the absolute max with 1min rest between sets. WOW.

Superset the following:

2) close grip press ups 10 reps with a 5sec negative and explosive press x 3 sets (harder than they look)
reverse grip barbell rows 10 reps with a 5 sec negative x 3 sets (my lats feel great today)

3) supinated grip wide pull ups 3 sets of 8
Leg extensions 10 reps with 5sec negative x 3 sets

4) cool down and stretch

Again just stuck to the 3 supersets as well as the death sets to ensure focus on reps and go for quality over quantity. I feel great for it and highly recommend everything play around with their rep ranges and tempo of reps for great results.

Have an awesome day.

Yours in strength,

Matt Whitmore

7 Ways To Improve Your Deadlift Immediately

Hey Guys and Girls,

Here is a great video with 7 very simple solutions to improve your deadlift immediately. The list could easily be longer but I would say these are 7 very common problems that I experience with my clients or fellow gym members.

I view the deadlift as one of the most effective exercises you can do whatever your goals are. If you can master this then you're on to good things.

Many seem to believe that the deadlift places a lot of stress on your back and has a high injury risk. That's a load of rubbish as any exercise performed badly has a high risk of injury. If done correctly and effectively, this is a risk free exercise that will simply change the way you train and I'm sure this video will help you to do just that.

7 reasons why you're not getting the results you want from your deadlift.

1. Going too heavy too soon:
   It's a great feeling ripping a huge amount of weight from the floor in one explosive movement but dont get carried away. Take your time and perfect your tecnique before you start piling the weight on the bar.
   At the moment, I personally work on (example) the 5 sets of 5 reps system with 3 minutes rest between sets. I'm focusing on strength training for the time being. I do 3 progressively heavier warm up sets followed by 2 working sets. I then aim to perform 3 working sets on this poundage. Once I have done so, I increase the weight and again aim for 2 working sets with a view of increasing to 3 etc. I also throw in some 1 rep max lifts or 5 sets of 3 reps to keep my body guessing and hitting heavier poundages. By all means though taiolor the rep and set range to your goals.
   
   
2. Stance:
   This can be a crucial decider in the efficiency of your lift although it often is a matter of personal preference which is why it's important to play around with different stances and discover which works best for you. I persoanlly know some seriously strong dudes that have quite a narrow stance but I also know some guys who lift a crazy weight with what I would say was quite a wide stance, to each to their own. I personally prefer about shoulder width with my toes angled out very slightly.
   
   
3. Your bum is too high:
   Getting my butt down, personally added some serious weight to my lift. Although my back was straight, by keeping my hips so high I was not engaging my legs enough in the lift which meant my poundages were limited. It was fine when I was working to a higher rep range, say 8-10 reps but to lift big you need to get your arse down.
   
   
4. The bar is not close enough to your shins:
   The path of the bar on the deadlift should be as straight as possible and if you start with the bar too far from the shins you have immediately created problems for yourself. In order to maintain a smooth lift, the bar should be touching the shins at the bottom and almost graze the shins and the quads to the top of the movement. I often come away from a deadlift session with bloodied shins which is a sign of just how close I maintain the bar to my legs. You also compromise your lower back when the bar is too far from the shins, as you know this is never a good thing.
   
   
5. Not engaging the lats:
   When at the bottom of the lift, retract the shoulders by engaging the lats to ensure a solid start to the lift. Now I must say that when you start to move some seriously heavy weights, let's use ex world record holder Andy Bolton as an example, it becomes increasingly harder to maintain such a position. However if the muscle's intent is there and the other muscles in the lift are firing as they should it will not cause any problems. If you stay too relaxed in the upper back and lats, this can allow the weight of the bar to round your shoulders forward which often has a knock on effect and causes a curve in the spine.
   
   
6. You're not engaging your midsection:
   Believe me, doing crunches will never improve your deadlift however ensuring you engage your mid section is invaluable to your lift. When in the bottom position, before you show that bar who's boss, take a deep breath as deep as you can into your stomach, this will create the tension required in the midsection to support the spine and remove any softness from the lift. Your breathing alone could make a huge difference.
   
   
7. Too much slack in your arms:
   What I'm referring to here is those who start their lift with bent arms. This is an injury risk and will do nothing for your deadlift. Eliminate slack from the bar and the arms. If the bar can make that rattling sound when in your grip that means their is too much slack. Get rid of it and I assure you will instantly feel the lift so much more in all the right places.

The video goes in to greater detail on these points so please have a look and implement these tips today. I promise you will feel an immediate difference.



I have been performing the deadlift for years and I'm always looking for different techniques and teaching points. As much as I have discovered that different people have different techniques that suit them better, I believe as a rule of thumb the above changes will see nothing but improvement. I personally used to keep my hips way too high and this really prevented me from getting to a substantial weight as I simply was not using my legs enough. As soon as I got my arse down, I added 15kg to my lift straight away, this is no lie.

Now, I'm no deadlift expert and I'm certainly not lifting a super human poundage but I do have experience in this exercise and it's a movement I take very seriously and remain to seek improved techniques, program design and rep range structure in order to take it too the next level. I ensure I always feel it in the right places whether I'm smashing multiple sets of singles or going for 4 sets of 8 reps. Anyone who stands up after a lift clutching their lower back in pain (I'm sure you have all seen it) needs to asses their technique.

So remember this:

1. Step up to the bar with a shouder width stance, and toes angled out slightly with the bar touching your shins.
2. Drop the hips down to fully engage the legs and glutes.
3. Pack the shoulders back by engaging the lats.
   
4. Remove every once of slack out the bar and the arms
5. Take a huge breath in to the stomach to brace the midsection and support the spine.
6. Then rip that bar from the floor driving through your heels.
7. Reverse the movement and repeat.
   

I'm sure you can relate to some if not all of the above points and I hope it can add as much value to your training as it has mine.

Happy lifting,

Matt Whitmore

Today's workout: 2/9/11

Yet another awesome workout today with my training partner Rich. Even if my Deadlifts did not feel as good as previous weeks I didn't let it get to me although was hoping to beat my PB but there is always next week.

Here is how it went down:

1) warm up and mobility work

2) Deadlifts 3 warm up sets followed by 4 working sets of singles (1 rep max) with 3 mins rest between sets

The rest were performed as supersets.

3) front squats 4 working sets of 6 reps
Pull ups 5 reps with a 10 second negative on each (these were brutal and my lats felt huge, infact if jumped off a building I think I could of glided :- ) with 90secs rest

4) cable tricep extension 3 working sets of 12 reps with a 4 sec negative
Hammer curls with fat Gripz 3 working sets of 12 reps with a 4 sec negative with 60secs rest

5) cool down and stretch

Big well done to Rich for smashing his PB on his Deadlifts, awesome stuff.

Feeling good now and looking forward to 2 days of rest and recovery in preparation for another big session on Monday morning.

Bring it on.

BOSH.

Have a great day,

Matt

Want to burn fat, get strong, have superior energy levels and avoid excuses?

Then cook in bulk.

I can't eat well
I just don't have the time
I can't cook my own lunches for work
I work too late
blah blah blah blah blah!

I have a simple solution to this......cook more food.

I, too, start work early and finish late. A typical day for me is a 6.30am client followed by 7-9 more throughout the day until about 7.30pm. I then get home around 8.30-9pm. This means I'm out of the house from 5.45am until 8.30-9pm at night. I could easily sloth on the sofa and claim I am too tired and don't have the time, reach for the phone and order an Indian take away. Don't get me wrong, I sometimes do, but it’s rare.

I like to eat well and be prepared.Thats why when I cook, I cook big. Here is a great example:

A very simple, quick and tasty meal to prepare that will last for days. Great to have for lunches or the next days dinner.

To be honest roasting veg is a winner. It’s nutritious, tastes good and can be cooked in bulk quantities:

• Chop a load of sweet potato, red onion, parsnips, carrots, butternut squash and wack it in a baking tray.
• Mix with some macadamia nut oil, mixed herbs, salt and pepper then in the oven it goes. It takes 5mins to prepare and then whilst it's cooking get some steaks in the pan and you’re away.
• Cook enough steaks to last for dinner and tomorrow’s lunch, it doesn’t take any longer so if you’re cooking dinner anyway you might as well cook a bit extra for your lunch.
  

This way, you enjoy a tasy nutritious lunch, save money and you can be safe in the knowledge you’re eating good quality food.

Another great tip is to bulk cook your meat and poultry. Invest in a decent sized baking tray and cook a couple of days worth of meat or poultry.

Here I chopped two whole chickens, marinated them in macadamia nut oil, cayenne chilli powder, cumin, garlic, salt and pepper and cooked them in the oven. This was enough for both mine and Keris’ dinner and our lunches the following day. It was so easy to prepare, tasted amazing and lunch the next day was sorted.


I always recomend folk eat a good breakfast but I understand and extra 20 minutes in bed can be the most appealing thing in the world at times. Which is why I recommend my egg loaf.


This is great for breakfast on the go or something to get down you upon waking as it requires no prep, just eat it. Simply mix 6-8 whole free range organic eggs with chopped red pinion, chopped red pepper, some smoked salmon and a bit of seasoning and cook in the oven for 15-20 mins.

A good protein hit, healthy fats and antioxidants and it tastes great. You can use spinach, mushrooms, chopped tomatoes whatever you like. Be creative and enjoy. Again, something like this will last a couple of days.

So, invest in some baking trays and some tupperware boxes and get cooking. Stop making excuses and feed your body with the good food it deserves rather than spending money on that shop brought processed crap. Saying that, we have a great blog series coming soon with some great tips on where to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner and advice on what choices to make. I'm sure you'll find this of interest.

The point of this post is to assure you that cooking your own breakfast, lunches and dinners is not as time consuming or expensive as you think. It is very time friendly and easy on the wallet and can also be incredibly enjoyable if you put your mind to it. I used to hate cooking and would often put together the easiest dish possible. Uncle Ben’s 2 minute Rice, a tin of tuna and a tin of sweetcorn was a favourite of mine :-) Now i love trying out new ideas and I feel very satisfied when I'm tucking in to my tasty, healthy and hearty lunches whilst other people opt for their processed, fat laden lunches.

People often ask how I manage to maintain high energy levels throughout the day and I always say it’s my diet. This may sound obvious but it is often over looked and people are always looking for other reasons as to why their energy levels have dropped. When more often that not they have had a carb rich and processed breakfast which has now seen them have a blood sugar crash. Start your day right, snack well, eat a good lunch and your body will thank you for it not to mention your training sessions will benefit too.

Hope you enjoyed this quick post and please if you have any questions or would like some recipe ideas please don’t hesitate to get in touch at matt@fitterlondon.co.uk

Have great day,

Matt

My Wild Physique Unleashed :Part 4

Hey there people, hope you are all well and keepin it gangsta ;-)

Last time I left you with what some will see as a rough patch in my life - an eating disorder which developed from an unhealthy obsession with exercise and nutrition. However I like to see it as a huge learning curve that I have gained so much experience from. I also told you how I dropped out of my A'Levels to kick start my career as a Personal Trainer. The first stop here was to become a Level 2 fitness instructor.

So I completed my 2 week intensive fitness instructor course with flying colours, a lot of it came quite naturally to me as it was something I was already well read in and of course I had a fair few years of training experience already behind me.

It was time to get a job.....

I had an interview with GLL (Greenwich Liesure limited) which was a local authority gym chain. I was really nervous as this was a huge deal to me, although I already had a part time job at WHSmiths in Lewisham so had been for interviews before. I was cr*pping myself.

With the interview done and dusted off I went to my evening job at WHSmiths, I decided to walk all the way from Woolwich (GLL's head office) to Lewisham as I had time and just wanted to think things through and assessing how well I thought I had done in the interview.
About 40 minutes after leaving their head office, I had a phone call from a blocked number. To my surprise it was the lady who had just interviewed me, "I'm pleased to tell you we are keen to offer you a part time position at our Greenwich location". I was over the moon and could not wait to get started. Firstly because I got a job as a fitness instructor and secondly because this club was a 10min walk from where I lived. They must have been desperate as they wanted me to start in 2 days time. I of course said yes.

I didn't want to leave my evening job at WHSmiths and asked if I could just work morning shifts, to which they were delighted as no one wanted this shift. 2 days later, it's 6am and I'm being shown the ropes by the supervisor. 6am, it's a crazy hour, I had to get up at 5am to ensure I was fed, packed my lunch and washed ready for my first day. But I was that excited that I was awake before my alarm keen to get started.

I was soon shocked to find out that my role as a fitness instructor involved more cleaning and machine maintenance than anything else, I also discovered that we only had a 30 minute break as opposed to an hour. This was a huge dilemma for me as my gym shift was 6am-3pm and my WHSmith shift was 4-9pm. When was I going to train?

I could have easily used this as an opportunity to use the whole "I don't have time" excuse, but I'm better than that. I knew I had to make some changes to my routine and fit it in in my lunch break.

So at this point I was still devoted to my body split routine and focused on 2 body parts per session. I had 25mins to nail a workout which left me 5 mins to shower. I remember the workouts very well, here is how it looked:

MON: chest and back. 3x10, superset everything and rest 45secs between supersets.

1) Incline Dumbell press
Pull ups
2) Press ups
Barbell rows
3) Cable flys
Cable rows

TUE: legs and shoulders 3x10, superset everything and rest 45secs between supersets.

1) Dumbell squats (no rack)
Dumbell shoulder press
2) Dumbell lunges
Side raises
3) Dumbell step ups
Barbell upright rows

WED: rower and abs

1) 2000m on the rower

2) Weighted sit ups
Plank

THU: arms

1) Barbell curls
Close press ups
2) Hammer curls
Cable tricep extensions
3) Reverse close grip lat pull downs
Cable rope extensions

FRI: Rest, as I had rugby the next day.

Thursday was the one day I had off from working at WHSmiths as I had rugby training. Looking back this was an amazing achievement that I managed to work 2 jobs, train, play rugby and still loved every bit of it. I loved the challenge of being pushed for time and reducing the rest periods added a great cardiovascular element to my training.

I continued with this style of training, mixing up the order of exercises and throwing in some new things here and there but overall it was pretty basic and I got good results from it. I was going at such a speed that even after I showered I was still pouring with sweat for anther 30mins after my workout.

As you can imagine, my lunch hour was spent training so when did a brother eat? This is where I was a little crafty, I used to book in a fake induction and sneak into the cleaning cubourd and quickly scoffed down a couple of sandwiches and a cup of tea.

I had to do what I had to do ;-)

I would finish my shift at 3 and then walk from Greenwich to Lewisham, eating my other sandwiches on the move to ensure I was not starving at my second job. I was now well over my eating disorder so I used to snack on a snickers bar or two throughout my evening shift :-). 9pm would come and it was off home for a feast before doing it all over again.

I kept this up for about 2 years, I was 19 and had a girlfriend and loved socialising with my mates. My job was now getting in the way of my social calender and I was out at weekends getting hardly any sleep which meant come Monday, I was shattered. Working 2 jobs, training and socialising was taking its toll. I didn’t want to quit any of the jobs as the money was good and I had some good friends at each.

Until.........

Things were getting that tough that, pro plus tablets, lucozade and red bulls became a staple in my diet to get me through the day. I finished my morning shift at the gym and felt like s**t, I decided to call in sick at WHSmiths and go and get some rest.

My best mate called and wanted to go for a chinese and a drink and I hadn't been out for a which and thought why not. I was at his house waiting for him to change and BOOM, I collapsed on the floor. I was conscious, but it was as if I physically could not stand up, I dragged myself from the floor and told my pal that I had to go home. I felt dreadful. Over the next few days I ended up errupting in ulcers, vomiting whenever I ate and my energy was so low I may as well have just not bothered going to work as I was useless. I, of course, stopped training although I was not happy about it. This lasted for 6 weeks. Enough was enough. I'm sure some of you are wondering why I had not seen a doctor yet? Well, the truth is I was a stubborn sod and thought I could overcome it, I was very wrong.

I went to the doctor's, they ran blood tests and they concluded I was suffering from exhaustion. I was fatigued and they advised me to socialise less and to quit one of my jobs. It was here I realised the extent of what I was doing. I handed in my notice at WHSmiths and went for an interview for a full time position as a fitness instructor. Although I was already working full time hours I was on part time pay. The good news is I got the job so would get paid more which made it a lot easier cutting down to one job.

I will never forget the first time I walked out of the gym at 3pm knowing I didn't have to go and work a 5 hours shift else where. I could go home, to the pub, round my mate's house, I could do whatever I wanted and it was a fantastic feeling. I could now enjoy my 30 minute break and train in the afternoon at another gym (one with far better equipment and a squat rack).

So I was finally over my exhaustion, I felt normal again and could not have been more excited at the though of getting into my training regime again.

I could now work the late shift at the gym which was great as I could get my workout done early, get a good bit of lunch before starting my shift. I didnt leave the gym until 10.30pm on a late shift and I was in no mood to cook that late so I would always pick up 2 beef burgers and a chicken burger from the Morleys fast food take away down the road. My, how things have changed ;-)

I had my life back, training hard, sleeping plenty, socialising and able to spend more timewithm girlfriend. Things were good.

I had learnt a very valuable lesson but what is important is that I took it on board, learnt from my mistakes and made a change for the better. I know it is a place i will never be again.

Things to take away from this rather long blog :-)

• You always have time to train. I managed to fit an awesome workout into a 20 minute time frame and still got great results. No more excuses.
  
• You can’t go 100mph all the time. Down time is essential, regardless of how young or hard working you are. Your body must recover otherwise you will pay the price. Your health is more important than any job so look after yourself and be smart about what you do with your day.
• You can achieve anything if you put your mind to it. I was incredibly proud of how disciplined I was back then, although my routine was not sustainable, it taught me just how strong we are both physically and mentally. I worked 2 jobs, went out with friends, trained 5 times a week and had a girlfriend. I was like clockwork. This was great for a while but it can't last. My point is we as humans are capable of many things but do NOT ever take it for granted.
  

Next time I will share with you how my training regime took a huge twist which took my gains to a whole new level and how I then took the leap from Fitness Instructor (glorified cleaner) to a Personal Trainer. I will discuss how a horrible rugby injury made me see things from a different perspective and how I finally listened to those who would lecture me on my not so clean diet.

Sorry for waffling.

Until next time,

Matt Whitmore

Today's workout: 26/8/11

Had an awesome workout this morning. Decided to mix things up a bit and hit a higher rep range as been sticking to the singles, 3 and 5 reps for a while now. It felt awesome.

A thorough warm up with mobility drills and 15 reps of the following with an empty Olympic bar for 2 sets to get everything warm:

Deadlifts
Stiff leg Deadlifts
Barbell rows
Hang cleans

1) power cleans 6 sets of 3 reps

2) deadlifts 5 sets of 8 reps

Superset the following:

3) incline leg press 3 sets of 25 reps (killer, the deep burn kicked in at about rep 12 so the last 13 reps were insane but doable)
Pull ups 3 sets of 6 reps but with a 4 sec negative (this felt really tough after the battering the grip took from the Deadlifts)

Again not going for a massive number of exercises here but a greater focus on multiple sets and heavy poundages. each set was brutal but felt amazing. Was good to hit a different rep range, placed such a different demand on the muscles.

Finished with a good stretch, shower and a good old dose of magnesium spray on the legs followed by a good feed.

BOSH

Have a great weekend,

Matt

Grip strength development series part 7: The Plate Pinch

Hey folks,

This week I return with yet another awesome grip building exercise, the plate pinch. This exercise is a lot harder than it looks but produces great results. Don't let the weight you will be using fool you, as I'm sure you will have to start relatively light but I am certain you will soon see a real difference.

Simply get a smooth plate, not one with a little ledge to hold as that's cheating. Pinch the plate with all your fingers and thumbs as close to the edge of the plate as possible. Hold it by your side and squeeze those fingers and hands as if your life depended on it. Aim for 30-60sec holds. Once that feels comfortable go heavier. Another progression is to hold 2 plates together making for a thicker grip and a far more challenging exercise but still absolutely awesome for your finger, thumb, hand and forearm strength.

Remember, it's all well and good training your forearms but it's not the forearms that grab the bar it's the hands, so be sure to train them too.



Throw this into the mix and let me know how you get on. Again place it at the end of your workout as not to compimise your grip for other exercises.

When you have mastered this try reducing the numbers of fingers gripping the plate. A real test is the thumb and the two fingers next to it, brutal.

Make sure your fingers and thumbs are straight, if they are bent once again you are cheating. So start light, do it properly and build from there.

Enjoy and until next time,

Matt Whitmore

The power of Deadlifts, squats and pull ups

6 weeks ago I managed to injure my right shoulder, I'm not quite sure how but it was pretty damn painful and was a real show stopper. Kettlebells presses, snatches, bench press and press ups were out the window. I was gutted but anyone who trains knows that injuries will happen from time to time and it was just something I had to work around, as frustrating as that is.

My training focus over the last 10 weeks has been on strength. I simply want to get as strong as possible and after reading 'Dinosaur Training' by Brooks Kubik I was ready to go. I set myself some targets and followed Brooks guidelines and the results were coming in.

However......

I literally woke up one morning feeling as awesome as ever :-) I went off to work and attempted to demonstrate a press up to a client. There it was, a shooting pain deep in my rear delt that I felt at the bottom position of the press up. Once I finished with my client I had a little play around to work out what it could be. I physically could not press a thing and shoulder rotation movements were very uncomfortable.

I threw a huge wobbly as, just like most, getting injured is never great news especially when I felt so focused with my training and was getting stronger each week. But after Keris told me to man up and look at ways of making it better rather than just getting annoyed, I did exactly that.

I still had my Deadlifts, squats, pull ups, rows, curls to do and rotational movements for my abs so not all was lost but I did deeply miss shoulder pressing. Never been that bothered about benching but I love pressing heavy weights overhead, I always have.

Here is an example strength routine and shoulder rehab program I have been doing:

Trigger point therapy, Indian clubs and mobility drills

1. Deadlifts 5x5
2. Bottom position squats/weighted wide pull ups 5x5
3. Reverse cable wood chops 5x10 each side
   Cable face pulls 5x15
4. Mobility and stretch.
   

I would tinker with the rep range switching between 5x5, 5x3 and heavy singles

So 6 weeks down the line and the shoulder is feeling good, even though I have not so much as done a press up in that time. I suppose the fact that my Deadlifts and squats were going so well it distracted me from the absence of pressing movements.



Last week I decided to have a little go at some single arm kettlebell shoulder presses, which I love. To my surprise, I lifted the same weight for 5 reps that I did 6 weeks ago and I even had more in the tank. Unfortunately it's the heaviest kettlebell I have (40kg) before making the jump to my 64kg kettlebell and I'm not quite there yet for shoulder presses :-)

I honestly could not believe it but I 100% put it down to the big movements that are deadlifts, squats and pull ups. I may not have done any pressing at all but did not lose a single bit of pressing strength, infact I felt stronger. This was awesome news and I was buzzing. The truth is I was expecting to have to drop poundage as it had been 6 weeks, I never expected to feel so powerful.

If deadlfts, squats and pull ups are not part of your routine then you are simply missing out on some of the greatest gains in your training regime.

They are at the moment the bread and butter of my regime and I have gained 2kg in muscle mass, I'm stronger than ever before and I feel great. Whatever your goals are these movements will work wonders for you.

It's not about just going through the motions, these compound movements require focus and attention to detail. Once you have mastered them and start adding some serious weight to the bar, smashing PBs and not a single sign of injury, you feel on top of the world, unstoppable and you have an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment.

Learn the movements, get them in your routine and experience some serious results.

Train smart, eat well and sleep peacfully,

Matt Whitmore

Todays workout: 23/8/11

Sticking with my strength training regime Im going for the 5x5 set and rep structure which is working great for me right now. I always rest for 3 mins between sets and supersets to ensure optimal recovery. This week I am going to perform squats and Deadlifts on completely different days to see how much of a difference it makes to my poundages. Will add some lighter slightly higher rep stiff leg Deadlifts as advices by Brooks Kubik.

After a thorough warm up, trigger point therapy and mobility work.

2 progressively heavier warm up sets follewed by 3 heavy working sets.

Superset the following:

1) deep squats
Wide weighted pull ups

2) Stiff leg Deadlifts 8-10reps
Kettlebell shoulder press

3) hammer curls using fat gripz
Reverse cable woodchops

4) 8x200m sprints on the rower with 1min rest between sets.

Very simple, yet effective. I have discovered that less frequency of training and a greater focus on multiple sets has had a huge impact on my strength gains which is my focus at the moment. Still need to get my squats up to speed, but I'm getting there.

Have a great day,

Matt Whitmore

Happy Birthday Matt

A true gent and a real grafter. A sensitive softie who always makes time to call his Mum at the end of the day. He gets beyond excited when it comes to food and has endless energy that goes beyond the gym. Destined for great things as he masters anything he puts his mind to.

He makes me laugh every day with his body popping and Keith Lemon impressions, keeps me strong and makes life one big adventure.

An all round exceptional guy who deserves an exceptional birthday.

Happy Birthday Matt!

Caveman Survival in a 21st Century Office by Ceri Jones

I’m not going to sit here and say that eating Paleo is easy at first - it does require some planning and thinking ahead (that for me is the fun part!), but once you’ve worked out how it can easily fit with your lifestyle (whatever your career) , it really is plain sailing.

I've been near as damned it Paleo since last December. As I enjoy planning my food and discovering new recipes, for me the hardest thing wasn’t eating all this wonderful Paleo food but rather having confidence to explain to people around me why I had decided to overhaul my eating habits in this way - But why not? Why is choosing to eat Paleo any different from being a Vegetarian, Vegan, Fruitarian or Raw Food connoisseur? I went along with this line when first explaining to my family, friends and colleagues why I was no longer regularly eating pasta and porridge, refusing afternoon cake, or why now I prefer my coffee black. A stream of questions about being a Paleo followed and ultimately I believe I gained their respect for sticking to my guns (although they do still laugh at me for eating Chicken for breakfast). Surviving the office environment is tough; office hours can be long, sedentary, and mid-afternoon munchies, birthdays, lunches out, conferences and after work drinks all provide plenty of distractions. Here are some of my personal tips to help get you through;

The PFA



In my office we have an area called the PFA (the projects food area), so called because it's situated on some spare desk space at the end of the Projects Team pod. The PFA ALWAYS contains morsels of food, a half eaten packed of crumbled digestive biscuits, some random sweets from Joe Blogg's recent trip to Greece, a pot of M&S mini-bites just because it's Tuesday and we all need cheering up?? I'm sure this all sounds familiar... Even with a rock-hard will of steel I know it’s not always easy to ignore the PFA, especially when it’s 3.30pm, you're tired and having a really hard day. I’m not going to lie and say that I never dip into it, but there are ways you can avoid it... Firstly get organised and bring your own personal supply of snacks, of if you’re feeling generous bring Paleo snacks to share - A bag of nuts or fruit for starters (punnets of berries always a winner). Or if you’re feeling really adventurous make some Paleo cakes to share, yes sweet (healthy) treats ARE allowed. When I have time at the weekend or a spare evening I make up a huge batch of cakes stick them in the freezer and then bring them out as and when I fancy them. I have great satisfaction in feeding other people my Paleo creations, especially when they show complete surprise just how tasty Paleo recipes can be. Being a cake maker can have other benefits too - you get repaid by a constant supply of tea (green or herbal of course)

Food preparation

Does your office have a fridge, freezer or microwave? Make use of them!
I have breakfast at work most days having spent the first part of my day in a Fitter London class! The microwave can be incredibly useful and used in conjunction with some trusty Tupperware you’re just 60 seconds away from scrambled eggs. If you also throw in some diced tomatoes, pepper, prawns or salmon you get an omelette in a bowl. If you also top this with some avocado the meal is a total winner! I’ve even got one of those plastic things that makes boiled eggs in the microwave (yes really, I found it in Robert Dyas). Dippy eggs with crudités make a great afternoon snack!

Personally I prefer to bring in my own food for lunch, rather than visit the local Pret.... If I’m making big curry, stew or soup at home in the week I make extra portions for my freezer so that I can take them out first thing and hey presto they have defrosted by lunchtime. I also keep extra frozen veg in the office freezer so if ‘m really hungry I can us it to pad out my Bolognaise stew or Thai Curry for example.

Office Lunch?

Someone suggests lunch out, and your first thought is well, that’s Paleo out of the window for today? Au contraire, I have yet to find a cafe, restaurant or pub where a Paleo meal can’t be found, and if necessary don’t be afraid or embarrassed to ask to sub one item for another. Keris’ previous article sums this up nicely. They know me now in our local cafe and are always quite happy to give me extra salad instead of chips (though are constantly surprised I can easily conquer half a chicken).

Another slightly challenging situation for a Paleo can be the conference / training day / meeting lunch. On my second day as a Paleo I was out at a staff training day, where I knew sandwiches would be served up at lunch. I didn’t want to fail so early on, so made sure I asked before hand if it might be possible to have a salad (with protein of course). If you don’t feel comfortable spending the next 30 minutes explaining why you don’t want a sandwich then just them you have a wheat allergy.... That should help!

The Office Birthday



Is it someone’s birthday soon? Offer to make the cake – a great excuse to put your new found recipes to use. I was deeply touched that on my birthday this year along with buying a classic cake from M&S my colleague made me a Paleo Carrot cake. Guess which one got eaten first and was still talked about for weeks afterwards? – yep the Carrot cake! My endless ranting has obviously started to pay off! The same goes for office cake sales, make some Paleo versions to sell, people will soon realise Paleo = tasty!)

Post-work drinks

7pm Friday night, you've been in the pub since 5, had a few glasses of wine (Pinot Noir or Rioja of course) and you're starving. You've scanned the pub food menu and there is nothing but chips, or fish finger sandwiches on the bar menu (if you're lucky a handful of nuts) so what to do?? Again it’s a bit of a plan in advance thing. There are some snack bars (such as Nakd) out there that which can be yanked out of a handbag in a matter of seconds, and even though they can be quite carby are a billion times better than chips. Failing that an emergency bag of nuts or a pack of meat from the supermarket (bought in your lunch hour or en route to the pub) are a good plan!

Hope that covers it, but most of all - take your colleagues along for the ride - they'll thank you for it when their concentration levels reach sky high, and mid afternoon energy slumps are a thing of the past. Plus don’t forget that by working in an office you have one massive advantage over non-office based workers - The Internet! At your fingertips you have access to the biggest Paleo cook book in the world. Type the word Paleo recipe in front of any number of ingredients into Google et voila – inspiration for tonight’s dinner? A snack for tomorrow afternoon? A scrummy cake?

By the way, I do fall off the Paleo Wagon (Friday 3pm usually) when I succumb to the packet of biscuits that have been staring at me for 5 days, but that’s allowed, we’re all human after all, and I know that come Monday I can get right back on it.

Two-Finger Single Arm Kettlebell Swing (Grip Strength Development Series: Part 6)

Hey Guys and Gals,

So last time round I hit you with a bit of 2 bells in one hand action and this week I want to stick with using kettlebells to advance you in your journey towards superior grip strength. I introduce - The 2 finger single arm kettlebell swing.

You may remember the 2 finger barbell deadlift I shared with you a couple of weeks back. As mentioned, training your fingers individually is a great way to improve your grip strength. The great thing with using the 2 finger grip on the swing is that it's incredibly demanding keeping a hold of an object that you are explosively swinging away from the body. This is why it is very important to start light to condition yourself properly and only progress when it feels comfortable to do so.

Whatever you do, DON'T take 1,2 or 3 finger grip work lightly as it's incredibly demanding on the fingers, ligaments and tendons but when done properly they are absolutely awesome grip building exercises.

As always mess around with the rep ranges depending on your goals. I like to go nice and heavy (as usual) on these with a 5-10 rep range but feel free to increase the rep range for more grip endurance.

Also, works great with double bell work (a kettlebell in each hand), inside the leg swings or Mike Mahler style outside the leg swings.

Give it a try and as always let me know what you think.



Have a great day,

Matt

Eight White Doves and Beautiful Angelic Bodies

A Blog from Yeotown Vinyasa Teacher Training in Yeoville, Devon.
by Katie Morrison

I have been working with the Fitter London team since the start of the company a few years back.
I’m a qualified group fitness instructor with a huge passion for everything and anything that is going make me drip with sweat, get me fitter (the fittest I can be!!) and inspire me - running, kettle bells and HIIT training are preferable as they are so interchangeable and the capabilities to ‘shock’ your body and keep challenging yourself are endless.

Fitter London delivers amazing classes like this week in, week out (I run the HIIT Spin + kettlebells class on a Wednesday morning and get involved in pretty much all other FL classes).

After years of training this way, I started to feel that my schedule always being high energy (whilst I was getting fantastic results) was missing something. Everything I was doing was super intense (with 1 or no rest days!) and I was starting to gain muscle mass where I didn’t want it as well as constantly feeling tight/ fatigued. People constantly recommended that I should try Yoga (to which I’d roll my eyes and think of another slow mundane class based around ‘stretching’ or ‘chanting’ that I'd tried before and just not enjoyed).

3 years ago I discovered (during a bit of a difficult time in my life) Vinyasa Flow Yoga, introduced to me by a close friend and through her, an amazing teacher. It’s after this introduction that I realised the many, many different styles of Yoga and the benefit of learning from a teacher that you ‘connect with’.

This discovery has led me on a personal journey that so far, has been full of hours and hours of self practice and Vinyasa Flow classes and also to this point where I am now about to embark on the second half of an intensive Vinyasa Flow teacher training course.



I have completed 100 hours so far and the experience was so incredible during the first 100 hours, that I wanted to share the next part with you; hopefully enticing you to try some of this amazingly creative, physically challenging, and beautifully complimenting style of Yoga.

Tuesday 26th July 2011 After a packed and brutal Fitter London class (I managed to deadlift 40 KG on each arm...that’s 80KG OMG!)I packed to set off on a very different journey; the second part of my 200 hour Vinyasa Yoga teacher training at Yeotown in Devon.

I have stocked up on enough Clean Greens and Sun Warrior to last me 10 days as the aim as well as getting my qualification is to have a good detox as well. I will endeavour to have 1 green drink pre 2 hour yoga class and a Sun Warrior shake afterwards - eating nothing until lunchtime. The food here is amazing, nutritious, clean veggie food cooked by my culinary heroine Julia :), which I will get eat at lunchtime and dinnertime. This will be totally different to the high protein diet I've been used to lately.

ALL I NEED FOR 2 WEEKS! :)

Its GLORIOUS sunshine when I arrive in the picturesque Devon countryside. Straight to the meet and greet with the incredible Mercedes Ngoh - a briefing and intro to the group before dinner. Delicious vegan (extra spicy ) Thai curry made with organic coconut milk, followed by gluten/wheat/dairy free shortbread and pomegranate fruits.
20 minutes in the sauna...cleansed. BED. Already I’m feeling refreshed...as Annie would say...I think I’m gonna like it here!!!

Wednesday 27th July
Woke – green drink
2 hour intense yoga session...literally WOW. I’d forgotten just what an amazing teacher Mercedes is. Challenging to the ninth but also encouraging enough to enable students to make it into poses they only dreamed of.
One of my physical goals before arriving was to make it into a strong forearm balance...today I made it into both Ganda Bherundasana (side of face formidable posture) and Sayanasana (relaxing pose – trust me there is nothing relaxing about this!) which then made forearm balances seem easy. Classic Mercedes style was building the class up through creative vinyasa sequencing, related postures and Krama’s all leading into the penultimate poses, preparing the body for its highest achievement that day. I feel physically and emotionally incredible.
Sun Warrior shake and shower.

Thursday and Friday (28th and 29th July)
Morning sessions followed a similar pattern, although each and every class was made different depending on the feeling and desire of the group and led up to a specific ‘peak pose’. Thursday Astavakrasana (Sage Posture) and Eka Pada Kaundinyasa (One leg Sage posture), and Friday (single leg flying crow) and then from figure of 4 legs tripod head stand back into pose, with the inclusion of doing this in Lotus (images to follow in the next instalment of this blog).
These are all postures which I only dreamt of doing, but with breath, focus, inner strength (I’m not talking muscle), and an amazing guide, I was able to. The only one I struggled with was lotus and this is largely anatomical, and will come with patience.

"The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus" Bruce Lee


Already at least one stage on from forearm balancing, almost getting into handstand scorpion on the second day!

After each class we broke down the sequences (which flow like a beautiful dance) to understand why we were focusing on certain areas of the body. This is something that I find fascinating and something we all need to do more - understand why we do certain things with our bodies; the cause and the effect. THOUGHT = ACTION = RESULT. The connection needs to be there - it changes everything.
I have practiced only Yoga this week and my body is really thanking me for it, it needed a different kind of treatment and complete break from the norm, not to mention the mind release and refocus that has also taken place.
So far I have remained tightly on a clean diet of mainly veggie food and vegan protein shakes, that coupled with Vinyasa is really paying off. My alignment and all over body conditioning has vastly shifted and improved.

However, it’s more than just the physical body with Yoga, it’s about the bringing together of the mind and body, the spiritual connection, the ‘yoking’ together of the mind and physical body. The next part of the blog will focus on this stuff – don’t be afraid, it’s truly fascinating...and actually quite scientific!

My Wild Physique Unleashed: Part 3

Last time I left you with my journey through school, getting well into my training regime and maintaining my hench status :-) Doing everything a teenager did just with a huge passion to train.

I went through the rest of my school years like this until I hit my college years. This is where things took a drastic turn...........

I had a well established routine going on that I stuck to religiously. I hated missing a training session but didn't lose any sleep if I did. I was 15 years old and started investing in fitness mags such as Men's Health, Men's Fitness, Flex, Muscle and Development, the list is endless. I was amazed by the guys I saw in these mags, so big and ripped, just how I wanted to be.

The thing that caught my eye that I had never before even thought about was nutrition and in this instance, meal plans to get big and lean. I looked at them only to be shocked as they were nothing like what I was eating. For me it was Frosties for breakast, fish & chips for lunch, chocolate and Dr Pepper, not to mention my post workout meal of deep fried chicken and chips from the Chicken Cottage across the road from the gym. I still have memories of my bus journey home and being that pumped and tired from my workouts that even holding up my chicken leg to eat it was hard work :-)

I knew instantly that I needed to change my diet and also the mags were screaming and shouting about protein shakes amongst other supplements. Of course I had to get me some of that.

Things changed, I started having eggs or porridge for breakfast, drinking water instead of Dr Pepper, wholegrain sandwiches instead of chocolate. I introduced protein shakes post workout, in fact my immediate post workout meal was a protein shake and a banana and honey sandwich. I used to look forward to this about half way through my workout. It was amazing.

I may have been young but it was not long until I really noticed a difference in my physical appearance and I was getting heavier and most drastically stronger.

On my next visit to the gym I was informed on arrival that system indicated I was due for a review of my workout and a body stat analysis. A body stat measures your body fat, lean mass and water etc I thought why not. So the instructor linked the leads up to me entered the relevant data........"Wow you're 5.2% body fat", he said, "Is that good", I replied. Apparently it put me in the same category as an elite athlete, so you could say I left the gym that evening feeling pretty good about myself.

Dun dun dun............the juicy bit

I thought - I had gotten bigger, stronger and leaner and now been told I was like an elite athlete. It had to be the new eating regime I was on I thought. But I couldn't help but feel that I wanted to get to 4% body fat. And if only I reduced even more fat in my diet I would get even more gains.

All of a sudden, I stopped adding sugar to my porridge, I didn't put butter in my sandwiches and I refused to add tomato ketchup to anything (looking back this was crazy as ketchup was my favourite thing in the world and was added to everything I ate) but it was full of sugar and I decided it had to go. I became obsessed with reading the calorie and fat content on everything I ate and if the fat was high or it had a lot of calories, I didnt touch it with a barge pole.

Slowly my portions got smaller, my food became bland and boring as in my head nothing that tasted any good could possibly be healthy. My post workout chicken and chips was a distant memory and to be honest I was obsessed.

I would refuse to eat a sandwich that had butter or mayo, I would turn away desserts put in front of me, nor would I eat chocolate. And I'm talking never, not even a little bit. I became gaunt and ridiculously lean to the point where my family were worried about me.

I felt abnormal, whilst all my friends were eating burgers and chips, chocolate and ice cream, all things I was so desperate to eat but felt overwhelmed with guilt just by thinking about it. It was clear I had developed an eating problem, one that actually took over my life for almost a year......seriously. I was miserable, didn't eat out with friends, I felt depressed and felt like a weirdo but I honestly felt as though there was nothing I could do about it. The months went by and the more miserable I became, my training became a chore that was purely just another part of my obsession with being lean, strong and big.

Men's Health saved my life:

Now, as much as I don't rate the magazine nowadays, back then I believed everything I read. I remember this issue very well, it was the summer holidays and they had a six week, bigger and stronger training regime by some top sports coach. This seemed perfect as I had 6 weeks off until college. It covered training over a 6 week period and also had a diet plan to follow. The regime was split into 2 halves, the first part was targetted towards getting big and the second was all about getting strong. Now the thing that struck me about this pull out was the guy featured in it. He was huge and was completey ripped and was lifting what appeared to be huge weights. I wanted to look just like that. I was so excited at the thought of going back to college and being the man mountain that was on every page of this pull out.

But then I got to the diet part..........

It was here I was left somewhat confused. As I was back where I was the previous year in that everything it said I should be doing was the complete opposite to what I was actually doing. Now I was on the right track in terms of what I was eating but more so just how little I was consuming. I will never forget the words "To get big you need to lift big and eat big".

I was told to eat healthy fats, get plenty of carbs and lean protein in my diet. Pasta, bread, cheeses, chicken and tonnes of vegetables. I felt low, like I had been wasting my time for a year although I was only doing what i thought best. I believed it all being the naive kid I was. I went out with my grand parents that very day with a shopping list.

Oily fish, nuts and seeds and oils all very calorific and high in fat (good fat) foods which before would have been avoided like the plague were piled up in my shopping basket. Peanut butter, pasta and brown bread were also present. I also stopped off at holland and barrat on the way back to get a big tub of protien.

I figured if i wanted to look like this guy in the mag, I had to do exactly what the strength coach said. I followed the routine and eating plan to a T. It was just what I needed, I was enjoying my food again guilt free, I was getting stronger, bigger and I just felt so excited about every training session. I got my mojo back and it felt great.

Like I said, Men's Health is not something I follow now but back then it really did save my life, I don't know what I would have done had I not found that pull out.

I went back to my first college year with my new found focus and still managed to maintain my hench status :-) Even my PE teacher Mr Lloyd who was 6ft 7 and built like a brick sh*t house was impressed.

I maintained this similar body split routine and eating guideline throughout my first college year. My passion for training was through the roof, I loved it and no one ever got in the way of my training. This frustrated my girlfriends but I was set in my ways and it was just something they had to deal with.

My first year of college was over and to be honest I hated it. Instead of studying I spent most of my time planning my workouts, reading training articles and watching training videos. I was so bored at college and dreaded most days. I was so excited when the bell went and it was time for my pre workout meal.

It was the middle of the following summer holidays and I was doing my summer job as an ice cream man (such a great job). I was averaging about 5 ice creams a day, a great mass gainer ;-) And it hit me - I wanted to become a personal trainer.

The summer holidays were over I went back to college with a letter stating that I was leaving for my own reasons which was that I was ready to start a career as a personal trainer. The headmaster thought I was mad and told me I would never make a decent leaving without any A levels but I didn't care, I knew what I wanted to do.

I left that day and booked straight on to a 2 week intensive level 2 fitness instructor qualification. I have never looked back since.

So to recap, I developed an obsession which led to an eating disorder and a lack of motivation and illness, I rediscovered my focus and my passion was back, I meant business again and I was on the path to fulfilling my dream to become a personal trainer.

In the next part, I will share with you how I evolved from my body split training routine and how I all of a sudden was on a level with all the guys at the gym who once upon a time were so far ahead of me, infact guys who I thought I could never possibly compete with.

Train smart, eat well and sleep peacefully,

Matt Whitmore

My 5 Day Cleanse

Why Did I Do A Cleanse?
Well aside from all the reasons stated in Keris Marsden's blog post explaining the scientific stuff, my personal reasons were as follows:

1. To Reduce Inflammation:
   Over years and years of training I have, of course, developed little niggles in places and got my aches and piais. Most recently my right shoulder has felt somewhat inflamed and a bit tender. I've been going heavy lately with 5 sets of 5 reps and think I just overdid it a bit. Anyway, after reading up on other people's experiences from doing a cleanse a lot of them mentioned that joint/tendon pain had massively reduced, if not vanished. I'm keen to resume my training regime so reducing inflammation is top of my list.
   
   
2. Reduce Body Fat:
   Now, I don't feel I need to lose any body fat (I hope you will agree), however I'm more curious to see how much bodyfat one can lose in just 7 days. Simple as that.
   
   
3. To Rebalance My Gut:
   It's no secret, I fart A LOT. I'm not ashamed of this and I will continue to do so, so get over it people ;-) I also eat a lot and I suppose it's only right I have gut problems but recently I have felt really bloated and had to make one too many trips to the toilet (Nuff said). Gut healing is one of the big perks to this clense and I would love for my stomach to feel normal again.
   
   
4. The Challenge Of It:
   Anyone who half knows me knows I love to eat, so this was always going to be a huge challenge for me. I knew I would have to apply a serious amount of discipline to get through this and wanted to see if I had it in me.
   
   
5. A Great Blog:
   I knew, due to this being so far out of my comfort zone being a big foody and all, it would make a great blog post. I kept a daily log of what I consumed, the ups and downs, the moods, the cravings and the benefits. I will also log my training each day and how it felt. I'm hoping there is light at the end of the tunnel and my reasons for doing this are fulfilled. Either way I will log my honest feelings and opinion and put it out there at the end of the 5 days.

Officially this cleanse should have lasted for 7 days but I thought - let's not get carried away. Besides I didn't want to spend my Saturday night drinking a shake. No ta.

What physical exercise will I be doing to support my cleanse?
Charles Poliqiun recommends doing 10 sets of 3 reps to avoid lactic acid build up, but I won't take this approach. I will stick to 3 reps but only do 5 sets, I would get seriously bored if I done 10. I'm also going to do plenty of mobility work and stretches and a couple of yoga sessions too. I plan to keep the weights nice and heavy for my 3 reps and im very curious to see how my strength fairs under these circumstances.

What will be hardest part?
I will simply just miss eating, there really is not much else to it. I'm a huge coffee fan and I know I will miss this dearly too. This is a guy who normally consumes 7-8 meals a day and around 4000-4500cals so just the sensation on chewing will be deeply missed.

SO HERE IT IS:

Please forgive me as some is written in past tense and some present due to the stages I wrote the post.

Day 1: Monday 25/7/11
So, it's the first day and I am some what excited to get started and give this a go, which is surprising considering I love eating and I eat a lot. I have many people who can vouch for this. I am mentally ready to do this.

Its 5.15am and I kick my day off with 3 scoops of UltrainflamX mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's and a green tea. As you can imagine this did not even touch the sides compared to my usual feast but at this point I felt good and was ready for the day.

It's now 8.30am, I have drank plenty of filtered water and I now have an hour before my next client and I am starving (I would normally have my second breakfast now) and all of a sudden not feeling so sure about what I had got myself in to. The worst thing was, I had forgotten about the cleanse, as I was finishing with my client I was thinking about what I was going to eat........then it hit me, I couldn't eat. I had a shake and a load of pills to look forward to, great :-(

I wanted to structure my shakes in a similar way to my meals, so I spaced them out over about 6 shakes. My day was roughly as follows each day:

5.15am: 3 scoops of ultrainflamx mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's and a green tea.

8.30am: 3 scoops of ultraclear plus mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's.

10.30am: 3 scoops of ultrainflamx mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's and a green tea.

1pm: 3 scoops of ultraclear plus mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's.

4pm: clean greens drink mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's

6pm: 3 scoops of ultraclear plus mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's.

9pm: primal fibre drink mixed with 10g of glutamine, 5 BCAA's

As you can see it was all liquid based and yes I was weeing every 20 mins but this was to be expected.

Believe it or not my energy levels remained high right up until 9pm. However this is where I crashed and burned, I couldnt even string a sentence togehter, although it had been a busy day this was not how I would normally feel.

I didn't train today as was still recovering from Saturday's beasting (Keris' 'Kettlebells for Strength, Size and a Sixpack class).

Aside from feeling hungry all day long, it really was not as bad as I was expecting. Infact one of the biggest benefits to not eating is that you now have so much time on your hands. I got so much done today because I was not eating anything. It was a great feeling as it was a very productive day.

I applied topical magnesium to the backs of my knees and neck to aid my sleep. I slept really well aside from waking up once in the night for no reason in particular. Apparently this is due the the liver detoxyfying so its a good thing.

Day 2: Tuesday 26/7/11

Please note I used the same layout of shakes as I did yesterday, I just rotated the ultraclear plus flavours slightly between vanilla and banana/pineapple. Neither of which taste amazing but they taste a darn sight better than the ultrainflamx which is simply rank.

When I woke up I felt really bloated for some reason, I felt this way for at least the first 2 hours of awakening but once it went I had that hollow feeling like my stomach was competely empty.

I got to around 2pm I had treated myself to a massage. When finished I was desperate to eat, my energy levels were high but I just wanted to eat. I read Charles poliquins blog entries from his cleanse and noticed he ate celery sticks. This was awesome news, I went straight to Tesco to buy a pack of organic celery sticks. Anyone would have thought they were dipped in chocolate the way I sank my teeth in to them. I have never in my life enjoyed a stick of celery so much.......AMAZING. Just the crunching sound alone was something else.

Once again, my energy levels remained high all day which I still found very surprising. However, I was in a cafe at around 2pm having a green tea whilst being nasaly raped by the smell of a grilled ham and cheese panini being made, I was trying to get through some emails and I was really finding it hard to concentrate on the task in hand. The temptation of not only the sight but the beautiful smell of food was really testing and incredibly frustrating. It was here I called Keris and told her I was struggling, a few words of encouragement and I was back on track :-)

Tuesday is always a long day at work for me and I was devastated at the thought of not going home to a hot dinner. I felt really tired so figured it would be a shake, an episode of 'Rescue Me' and then an early night.

I had a workout in the morning today but it was really basic stuff sticking to the nice heavy 5 sets of 3 reps with my main focus on back, then a good stretch afterwards. Felt like I was going through the motions more than anything else so not the most satisfying of workouts.

Again I applied the topical magnesium to aid sleep.

I was in bed and suddenly something had dawned on me.......for the first time that I can remember in my life, I had gone a whole day without doing a poo. Sorry for the detail here but I'm a 2-3 times a day man, I mean a lot goes in so a lot's gotta come out :-) but I didn't feel bloated or anything, I'm sure it was purely related to the reduction in the volume of food.

I had an awesome night's sleep, didn't wake up once and felt alert, awake and ready to go on Wednesday.

Day 3: Wednesday 27/7/11

Again when I woke up I had the same bloated feeling as yesterday, but today it was more uncomfortable.

Ah there we go........my first number two in 48hrs, and it felt good :-) Bloated feeling gone and feeling normal again.

My energy levels were really high in the morning up until about 2pm, although I had a pounding headache at around 11am. So 2pm came and then boom, the ultimate energy crash and all I wanted to do was sleep. I felt so lethargic and rough I was ready to jack it all in. I then had a whole organic cucumber to eat and a clean greens drink and within minutes I felt so much better.

Although my energy levels picked up in the afternoon and remained high until the evening I was really struggling to concentrate again. My emails felt like they were taking forever to write, it was like my body was ready for a big heavy workout but my mind was at snail's pace (no comments please, you people are so predictable), very weird.

All my clients were very supportive and encouraging which really helped keep me on track.

Today was easily the hardest day and I was looking forward to it being over. According to others' experiences, the 3rd day is a killer. This reassured me that better days were to come.



I deeply missed eating and again coming home after a long day and no dinner was really hard, so I treated myself to a nice relaxing soak in an Epsom salts bath. Then applied some topical mag and off to bed I went.

Thursday: 28/7/11

I had an awesome nights sleep, the best for a long time. I woke up with no bloating for the first time so far and felt energetic.

Had a busy morning but I always finish work early on a thursday. After my last client I did 30 mins of mobility work and stretching as I planned on having a heavy session on Friday.

When I got home, I lightly steamed some organic broccoli and organic asparagus, again just the sensation of eating solid food was overwhelming. Felt so much better for eating it (mood wise).

Today is my best day, my energy levels are high and finally feel like this cleanse is doing me good. Don't get me wrong an English breakfast would go down a storm but I felt pretty damn awesome all day long.

Sat down in the evening to watch a bit of TV and at 8.30pm I was struggling to keep my eyes open. So I applied my topical magnesium and hit the hay. Excited at the thought of 9hrs sleep.

Friday: 29/7/11

I had the worst night's sleep of the week, it felt like 3 hours sleep as appose to the 9 hours I was so badly looking forward to.

However, nothing was going to keep me from smiling today, as today I could introduce brown rice to my diet. How exciting. I got up early and boiled some organic brown rice and some broccoli and asparagus for my breakfast. Starting the day with a solid meal felt so good, although within moments of finishing I felt so bloated. It was like my stomach had shrunk, although my mood was much better for eating and my energy levels were through the roof, infact the best they had been all week. This was great news as I planned to have a nice heavy training session with my training partner Rich today.

Although neither of us felt as psyched as we normally would, we both managed some nice and heavy lifts and even some PBs which lifted our mood. Although, we would normally finish our sessions with a tasty post workout shake followed by a feast of a meal. As this was not the case today you could say we both just felt pretty miserable and sorry for ourselves.

I decided to have some more brown rice after my workout as my appetite was through the roof, this really helped.

I was busy with clients today which helped keep my mind off things. Although my energy levels were through the roof I was more and rady for this to be over.

Day over, and again I was overwhelmed with joy at the thought of spending the night popping pills and drinking a shake for my dinner but I was only 1 day away from completing the cleanse and there was no was I was going to break.

I HAD DONE IT.

Saturday was here and I was so excited to eat and I must say feeling incredibly proud of myself.

So, let me share the ups downs with you:

The Ups:

1. The pain I was experiencing in my right elbow had completely gone, it felt this way from the Wednesday. I was so pleased.
2. My energy sky rocketed, I felt awesome. It was consistently high all day.
   
3. I felt less bloated and my stomach felt nice and flat, it as a good feeling.
4. I had for sure lost some body fat, nothing drastic but you could see a noticeable difference in my abdominal definition and also my shoulders and arms looked leaner.
   
   



5. I found it really easy to wake up for some reason, I was naturally waking up early and had no problems getting out of bed when the alarm went off.
6. I realised that I was drinking coffee out of liking it as opposed to it being a necessity. This was good to know as I had always told people that I just loved coffee it was never something to get me through the day. I missed it but was more than happy with my herbal teas.
7. I felt victorious, I felt like I had accomplished something that I'm sure many believed I would never pull off. It made me feel incredibly disciplined, I felt mentally stronger for doing it.
8. Overall, by the end of day 5 I was feeling hungry but pretty damn awesome and can certainly say there were benefits to what I had put myself through, but........

The Downs

1. I had a constant feeling of hunger, I was thinking about food 24/7 and this is not a very nice feeling. It made it hard to concentrate.
2. At times I actually felt quite miserable. Not eating meant I had more time to work, I am a bit of a workaholic and as much as I love working I felt as though it was all just work, work, work. Food and training are my release and I missed them both.
3. I was not doing a number 2 regularly enough and I kept getting waves of pretty bad bloating, however I must admit I'm sure I was not consuming enough fibre with my drinks. But now I know for next time.

To be honest these are the only real downs that come to mind, so as you can see the good well out weighs the bad which is always a positive thing.

But the question is - Would I do it again and would I recommend it to others?

For sure I would do it again, I would alter it slightly for my own needs. I have learnt so much about my body over this 5 days and would love to give it another go putting everything I have learnt into place. I can't say I saw or felt the difference I was expecting but what can I say, I'm a very optimistic person and although I was initially very dissapointed with the outcome I soon reminded myself that
a) I didn't do the full 7 days
b) I sometimes forgot to take the suggested supplements
c) I certainly was not getting enough sleep
and
d) I really was way too optimistic.

It is very tough and you have to be mentally ready to do it but I would most definitely recommend people try it although don't try and wing it, consult a Biosignature practitioner like Keris Marsden first to learn the ins and outs and to be properly adviced. If your going to do this you may as well do it properly for maximum gain.

I can't lie, although I did it, I really struggled to stay on track but I think it's so important to test yourself, throw yourself out you comfort zone and really test your boundaries.

I feel as though I have been reset and I feel highly motivated not to throw it all away. Even 3 days after whilst following a clean paleo style diet, I am feeling great. I can't wait to have my first workout, I'm feeling energetic, strong and incredibly focused.



So what are you waiting for contact Keris at Keris@fitterlondon.co.uk now to hear all about it.

Have a great day,

Matt