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one of many life changing transformations.
Connor got into the best shape of his life ready for his wedding.
Connor originally reached out to me to help him get in the best shape of his life for his up and coming wedding and stag. He’s 28 years old, a pilot in the RAF and has always led an active lifestyle.
Connor was already in great shape by most people’s standards. Which likely makes you think why did he need my help?
Well he wanted to take it one step further and push his body to levels he had never been before and because of this specific goal he needed the extra knowledge and guidance. Plus as a RAF pilot we had to be very accurate with the plan we put in place.
It couldn’t be too aggressive or time consuming due to its potential impact on his work performance, which he couldn’t afford to let drop. So we went in with a very detailed but steady approach to allow Connor to build a progressive routine around his very busy job.
We aimed to maintain strength (this was also very important to Connor) with a 4 day training split and a moderate amount of daily activity with around 6-7,000 steps per day. The idea is that we were then in the position to make adjustments when needed and keep energy high.
I like to use the terminology of “having tools left in the bag” meaning that I can adjust calories, increase steps, or overall output throughout the journey when plateaus come around. Instead of using all the tools from day one, which yes will get quick results but will also lead to burn out and nowhere to go.
Me and Connor agreed upon the above as a team. I told him what the requirements were between both nutrition and output with his time frame, and he told me his preferences and what he thought he could implement consistently. Consistency being the priority in any transformation journey.
Now as with any transformation journey Connor had to face challenging situations along the way. From social events, work commitments, sickness and the first Covid-19 lockdown. As you can see this journey is never smooth or predictable, this is why it’s so important to be able to adjust and adapt.
So what did we do when he had these challenges? Well when his work output increased we backed off the intensity and/or the training volume in his gym sessions, as his work could be very physically demanding.
When the first lockdown kicked in we adapted the workouts to his home and with the training equipment he had available. This was to make the most of a worst case scenario, the lockdown was out of our control but we still could very much achieve his body composition target even with minimal equipment.
Now I know you are wanting to find out a little more about his nutrition and how we set targets throughout. I’m going to start by saying that every client’s calorie targets, macros, tracking style and the changes made are so different and hence why I don’t show the exact numbers.
We made very small changes to Connor’s nutrition and only changed calories twice. He had higher calories for his training days and lower calories for his non weight training days. I gave him a structure to follow, but allowed him to use My Fitness Pal (nutrition tracking app) if he wanted to make rotations to keep things flexible e.g. swap carbs or make changes to his snack.
However the main focus was always consistency with protein and nutrition quality. Building a routine that allowed him to get the most from his days and control his appetite whilst in a calorie deficit.
So did he have a social life during this time? Yes absolutely, but instead of going into the event eyes closed, fingers crossed and hoping for the best outcome we planned ahead. Connor would highlight any up and coming socials in his weekly check ins and we would discuss the best approach for him to enjoy them and stay as close to his goal (sometimes this isn’t always possible).
The main things we implemented were to control calories on the day, for example push the first meal of the day back to lunchtime and reduce his eating window. Then he would put a limit on the number of drinks consumed so that the calories didn’t jump too high over his set target. Finally ensure everything was in place ready to jump back to the regular routine and eating plan the following day.
It doesn’t sound like anything drastic or magical and that is because it’s not, however it is very effective with keeping a healthy mindset and getting that balance between lifestyle and progress.
As we approached the back end of Connors transformation and during the first lockdown he wanted to set himself an additional goal of running a garden marathon for charity, crazy I know. But as he was in such great shape mentally and physically by this point he felt ready to push his limits.
Within just 4 months Connor had not only achieved his best visual condition to date but also his best physical condition, allowing him to run his first marathon. Unfortunately the wedding didn’t go ahead as planned for obvious reasons, however Connor now has the knowledge and confidence to maintain his physique or adjust his lifestyle should he ever want to reach that condition in the future.
Grant was a client of mine back when I was a gym floor personal trainer and he reached out to help him lose weight and change his lifestyle. He knew he needed a different approach and was fed up with not seeing the results he wanted. Grant had tried multiple diets and workout routines of which some worked in the short term but nothing long term. He was initially skeptical, and understandably so having not achieved the body he wanted after so many attempts.
Now after having assessed the Grants start-up questionnaire and nutrition history it was clear that his limiting factor was the weekends, something I think we can all relate with. A consistent Monday to Friday but come the weekend his healthy routine went out the window. You see this is so common, and what often leaves so many people frustrated. The consistency and commitment throughout the week isn’t enough, and although this may help you to lose weight initially, what you get up to over the weekend can lead to you regaining that weight and putting you back to square one.
So, we put together an initial framework to cover his nutritional needs, which also took into consideration his likes and dislikes. After all there has to be enjoyment within the journey or you will end up resenting it. The key was to provide more structure going into the weekends, so that unlike before there wasn’t too much difference between a Tuesday and Saturday. But we would still factor in his social life and adjust nutrition and calories accordingly. After all, Grant was always social and although he was happy to adjust his approach, he didn’t want to cancel his social life.
We started him off with 3 training sessions per week using a full-body approach for no longer than 60 minutes in the gym. Often there is a misconception that you must spend hours in the gym daily to get in great shape, but this is not the case. We had to work around Grant’s busy work schedule and find a sweet spot between him getting great results and actually being able to consistently hit these sessions each week. Remember it’s not about what you can do every now and then it’s about what you can do consistently. So, 3 sessions per week for months is much better than 5 sessions per week every couple of weeks.
Grant made some incredible progress in his initial 1-2 months and found the plan comfortable to implement. Noticing progress in both his body composition, strength, fitness and confidence. When Grant’s progress started to slow down we made minor adjustments to either his daily calorie target or weekly output. Grant enjoyed his food so we often looked at output to create a bigger deficit. However it was also looking at what he enjoyed and for him that was cycling. A great low impact way to increase daily energy expenditure and provide a convenient way to commute to work.
I adjusted Grant’s training throughout his journey and not just for the sake of change. He had to deal with a variety of situations from covid and training from home to moving to a new gym. The training was always built for what he had available, what he could do and what would yield the best progress. During his fat loss journey he lost a total of 19 kilos which is an insane amount, but this didn’t happen overnight or by chance. A lot of hard work, consistency, and the right guidance.
When Grant moved to his maintenance phase the aim was to finally get him comfortable at his new weight and solidify his new routine and habits so that he didn’t regain the weight and wouldn’t have to crash diet ever again. Like with his fat loss phase the journey was gradual and consistent. Steadily increasing his calories to allow for more social flexibility and better day to day performance, no one will perform at their best in a calorie deficit. We also adjusted his output to something more sustainable long term for example reducing steps and/or cardio.
Over time Grant became more confident as to how to handle social events, how to train effectively in the gym, how to be more inclusive with the foods he enjoyed and all whilst maintaining a weight range he felt confident with. Over a year on and he is still active, enjoying his social life and in fantastic shape. More proof that anyone can get in shape and stay in shape if they Take Action and have the right plan and guidance in place.
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