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