Bodybuilding prep update (11 weeks out?)

I appear to be wishing my life away! Every time I mention my comp on Facebook etc I say I’m 10 weeks out. I’m not… it’s 11 weeks.

I suppose it’s a good mistake to make – better that way round than thinking I’ve got longer than I really do have.

So – 11 weeks out tomorrow (unless deemed not ready in which case I’ll do a later qualifier).

I’m still training really heavy and low (for me) reps – for example, today’s session:

Conventional deadlifts: 100kgs (8 reps), 110kgs (6 reps, 3 reps), 100kgs (6 reps)
Sumo deadlifts: 80kgs (10 reps), 90kgs (10 reps, 10 reps)
Glute bridges: 60kgs (3×10 reps)
Pulls ups
Standing calf raises

Heavy, compound lifts will remain for another three weeks or so, and then I think things will change to higher reps, more volume and probably more supersets etc to bring in a bit of a cardio/conditioning element (since I don’t do any actual cardio, other than twice-daily powerwalks with the dog).

In terms of diet, I’m carb-cycling, with my high carb days seeing me eat more carbs than I did at any stage last year (including – gasp – a bowl of porridge just before bed, yep carbs well after 6pm ) There’s loads of variety, from oily fish to red meat, whole eggs, white potatoes, nuts, poulty and game. About the only thing missing from the diet which might surprise you is dairy. We took it out a few weeks ago and I don’t miss it.

I’ve got a good weekend of bodybuilding-related events planned: I trained this morning with my friend Sophie, who’s a powerlifter (and fellow journalist), I’m seeing a lot of fellow competitors tomorrow, and then on Bank Holiday Monday I’m seeing a load of local bodybuilder girlfriends for a bit of posing and routine practice (and probably a good chat over a coffee, too).

Tomorrow is BNBF posing club/meet at Body Bionic gym in Thatcham – these are held every month (and there are others held across the country too) – a great resource for posing practice, feedback, support, Q&As and advice from other competitors and BNBF Pro bodybuilders. It’s brilliant to catch up with everyone every four weeks and so useful to be able to get regular responses from people who only see me at “club” – four weeks is a long time in prep, so I’m always hopefully that people will have positive and constructive feedback about my progress between meets.

Bodybuilding prep update (11 weeks out?) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

So, I deadlifted 140kgs. No biggie.

Hi! Just a quick one from me today. I’ve got an exciting thing to tell you and my neighbour isn’t in, the guys in the shop aren’t really into lifting, and I think the dog is sick of hearing about it.

DEADLIFT PB all up in your face!

I hardly ever post about training and that’s largely because I don’t have performance-goals at the moment. I train for physique reasons and with a long-term end goal in mind: the bodybuilding stage.

I’ve never done 1 rep max attempts on any lift and really only know what I lift for 6-8 reps at a minimum. That’s just how I train.

Yesterday, I was down at The Training Lab (thefitdog’s favourite gym) to cover a workshop run by Andy McKenzie of IronMac Fitness and Andy Bolton of… well, of the first bloke to deadlift over 1000lbs (does he need a label?)

Andy Mc and Andy B have joined forces to deliver a series of workshops called “Brutal Strength and Explosive Power” (maaaaaan). Muscle & Fitness sent me along so I could write an article about it for the magazine.

After a lot of movement preparation to mobilise the shoulders, activate the hips and glutes and improve speed and movement across the entire body, we had a chance to be coached through the squat, deadlift and bench. When you have the opportunity to be coached and spotted by Andy Bolton on deadlift, you take it, am I right?

We warmed up with 60kgs, 70kgs, 80kgs and 90kgs and then Andy Mc and Andy B looked at me and told me to stop messing around.

They slapped a few extra bits of iron on the bar. I avoided the temptation to look at how much was on there and chalked my hands up, took hold of the bar and pulled.

It moved to about knee height and then I felt some peculiar sensations emanating somewhere deep within my soul (or bowels perhaps) and thought “nope”. End of a full-on day, plenty of reps already done, I trained deadlifts two days ago, today is a low carb day. Leave it.

The rest of the group got on with their deadlifts. Some PBs were smashed. I eyed up my bar. Andy Mc looked at me quizzically.

“I want to get it,” I said. So, I chalked up my hands, stepped up, grabbed the bar and pulled.

It went up.

140kgs.
(308lbs for my American friends)

HAVE IT.

No photos, sorry, but plenty of witnesses.

The online info for the workshop series does say “Who knows, it could be PB time”. Thanks, Andy Mc and Andy B!

I’ll leave you with a photo of thefitdog’s latest addition to his paw-tograph book (groan)

So, I deadlifted 140kgs. No biggie. is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

BCAA slushie (iBCAA from myprotein)

Phew-eee it’s hot today! Not complaining, like. It’s lovely.

What better on a warm day than icecream? Or sorbet? Or a tall glass of slushie? Yeah… except that I’m dieting for a bodybuilding show.

Hang on… there’s a way to get your aminos in and enjoy a summertime slushie treat, y’know. Just make a BCAA (or iBCAA in this case) ice slush drink! It’s easy as 1-2-3.

Gather your ice, your water, your BCAAs. I used these iBCAAs from myprotein, they’re a new product and in “berry blast” flavour which is a sweet/sharp berry combo taste.

Put it all in your blender.

Blend it up.

Pop it in a glass, grab a straw, take a break in the sunshine and enjoy.

Return to work feeling refreshed and full of amino acids. (And ice)

The myprotein iBCAAs are basically instantised BCAAs (branch chain amino acids) which you mix in with water – easier and tastier than taking a load of tablets/capsules and very refreshing in this weather. If you’re watching your sweetener intake, you should know that it’s sweetened with Sucralose.

You can have them during the day, intra-training or they’d be a great choice if you’re someone who does fasted training/fasted cardio, too. On days when I take the dog out for a powerwalk before breakfast, I make sure I have two things: BCAAs, and a black coffee.

This product gives a 2:1:1 ratio of isoleucine, valine and leucine (the current mega-star of the amino world) – amino acids which can’t be synthesised by our bodies.

How do you beat the heat?

BCAA slushie (iBCAA from myprotein) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

When tough times get tougher

Bear with me here.

This is a blog post which took me a year and a day to write.

You see, a year ago yesterday was the day that life (as I knew it) fell apart suddenly around my ears. I’m not going to go into details (there’s no need – and those in real life who need to know certainly do know) but it’s no secret that I have recently gone through a divorce, house sale, relocation.

The reason for this blog post? Very simple – although it seems very silly to me now, with hindsight.

I feel the need to blog a response to the question “can I prep for a bodybuilding comp whilst I’m getting divorced?”

I know… it sounds so silly, but I can’t tell you how many times last year I googled that exact same question, or variations on a theme, hoping to find some disembodied answer which would placate me, direct me or fast-forward me somehow through what was a truly awful time.

It wasn’t that I wanted someone to tell me for sure either way. I just wanted to know. Was it worth it? Prep is hard. Divorce is harder. Put the two together and, well, I can’t actually remember much of last year.

So what was I looking for when I googled over and over about the topics of divorce, separation, upheaval, trauma and bodybuilding competition prep? I was searching for someone, anyone, who’d been through this and would share their experiences. I didn’t want someone to tell me “yes you definitely can and you will place second and your posing music CD will play just fine and you will remember to pack your bikini top and bottom.” Nor did I want someone to say “no, don’t do it, it’s too much and you will implode.” I just wanted to read some shared experiences because, frankly, I felt so lost.

I didn’t find a single thing. Not a blog post, not a forum thread, not an article.

To illustrate just how bad I was feeling, here’s an excerpt from an email conversation with Kat Millar, my 2011 prep coach who valiantly stepped back into the role when I was also suddenly left without coaching support.

Me

Up and down, up and down… keep thinking “I’ve got this” then something knocks me for 6 and I react badly even though I so desperately dont’ want to. Can I really do this? Should I be sensible and accept that this year might not be my year? Put it off for a year and compete in 2013? Do you really think I can do this Kat?

Kat

…yes I absolutely, totally without a shadow of a doubt know (not just think, know) that you can do this. I don’t doubt you at all, whatsoever! You are the same person who stood on stage last year… that same winning spirit is still in you, whether you feel connected to it right now or not, it’s there – it’s always there to draw upon, and no one can take that away from you.

My only question to you would be – do you want to? Do you really really want this? Because if you don’t, you won’t fight for it and nothing me or anyone else says will help.

Whatever you decide, your worth doesn’t come from what you do or whether you compete – and if you do, where you place.

As your coach and friend, I want what’s best for you… But from a physiological perspective, you do have enough time and if you believe you can do this and want to, you can.

Could you take a day or two just to forget about it and see what your subconscious decides? Would writing all the reasons for and against be helpful? What would you regret/not regret?

The bit in bold was such a relief to read. Sounds crazy now, I know! But that right there was what I was so desperate to hear. That is was physiologically possible to prep during a time of crisis. I did not know.

So, here’s my blog post, written in the genuine hope that one person, one day, at some point, will find it when they are feeling as desperate as I was.

Can you prep for a bodybuilding comp when your world has collapsed around you? I’m sure you can. I did, and I’m nothing special.

Am I glad I did?

Yes. But it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done and there were days when I thought about jacking it all in. After my atrocious performance at the UKDFBA, I thought very hard about carrying on for one more show, and asked a lot of people’s advice. Some of them kindly and constructively said no, stop now, start off-season and move on. I do wonder if that might have been a good idea. But, I didn’t, and no harm done. However, I can remember the moment that my place (… last place!) was called at the NPA Finals (my final show of last year). The thought process immediately went “OK, right, fine, next up is moving home.” I was ready to move on, get my bodybuilding season over and done with because I finally felt a furious need to physically move away and get on with my new life.

I can’t tell you if you should compete or carry on with your prep, only you know that. But can you? Yes. You can, and maybe it will give you something to hang on to, something for you when everything else seems to be shitting on you from great heights and draining your emotions and energy.

I remember coming to the conclusion that, yes, prep and competing was a stress, but it was a stress that I wanted. It was all the other stresses that I didn’t want. So, by deciding not to compete, I’d have got rid of something I actually wanted to do, but I’d still be left with all the other crap.

Things which might help

If you do decide to carry on, these things may help. They certainly helped me:

- good friends. Goes without saying but honestly you are about to find out the power of true friendship. You are also about to discover who your true friends are. It may surprise you, in good and bad ways. The people you turn to first may end up screwing you over (happened to me) and the people you thought had forgotten about you completely may end up a year later being back in your life in big ways (also happened to me).

- an inner circle. It’s always a good idea to only listen to one or two trusted advisor-types during prep but when you’re also trying to deal with the exhausting noise of divorce and house sale etc, you’ll probably only have energy (and trust!) left to listen to one or two

- training partners. Again, often helpful but a wonderful support at this point in time. You need to find the right person but, if you do, they will play the part of mentor, coach, accountability partner, sounding board and much more

- getting in to a routine. If you suddenly find yourself alone, prep can go very screwy. Meal times? What are those? Bed time? Oh I suppose that was a few hours ago. Get up? I suppose I should, I mean it is 10:45am. You get the picture. Do try to carry on as normal, even if inside you feel far from normal.

- a dog (if you like dogs, that is). If you’ve got one, fight to keep it. If you haven’t got one, get one to celebrate your new life. Your pup will get you outside on days when you don’t want to go anywhere, will make you smile and will remind you daily about trust, love and the power of living in the moment.

Pros and cons…
…of competing and prepping last year at the same time as going to Relate sessions, getting divorced, trying (endlessly) to sell a house, planning a relocation and dozens of other frustrating and upsetting things

Pros
- Sense of pride at a time when my confidence was on the floor
- A positive, healthy distraction/set of habits at a time when I honestly could happily have ended (or started) some days with gin
- Maintaining contact with a very tight-knit and supportive community online and offline
- Routine, habits, structure
- A goal which was nothing to do with anyone else, just me
- A high point or “good thing” in an otherwise shit year

Cons
- Often very stressful
- Physically and emotionally exhausting
- Pressure (on myself) that I often didn’t need
- Kept me in one place long after I wanted to move away
- Change in lifestyle (single person with dog to walk/house to run) meant sudden change in energy output
- Change in lifestyle meant sudden change in routine, meaning I could (and did) very easily eat/sleep badly

Lessons learned
- let yourself feel whatever you need to feel. There’s nothing wrong with being sad, angry, mildly hysterical or anything else you care to feel. I can tell you right now that over the past year I have cried in Tesco supermarket, in the Post Office, and walking down the High Street on a Saturday afternoon. Oh well. You have to let the feelings out, and then sort of past. They won’t stick around forever I promise. Just because you spent all of yesterday crying it doesn’t mean you’ll spend all of tomorrow crying (although if you do that’s OK too)

- spend time on you. This one really helped me. I don’t mean having bubble baths and going on a silent retreat. I mean really digging about and getting to grips – for the first time ever – with who I am, what makes me tick and why I really am quite awesome thank you very much. I went to some therapy/counselling (not sure what you’d call it). I read a lot of self-help/emotional intelligence books. I watched my Google reader’s contents subtly shift from food and fitness blogs to sports psychology and emotional wellness blogs. One of the most valuable things I did was sit and write down my own personal values. This might not work for you, perhaps you’re not as driven by words as I am. But I found it interesting, enlightening and very strengthening to know what’s important to me, so I then had a kind of values blueprint against which to align my life.

- go with your gut. This kind of links to the values thing. If last year taught me anything, it was to trust my gut instincts. I no longer care very much what people think of me (not in a callous way, more in a “look I know I’m a good person, if you disagree or come to some odd conclusion about my life then that’s your issue not mine” way) I am much happier to trust gut instinct and do things (or not do things) that I know are right for me and for the people I care about, probably because I have a much better idea now of who is worth caring about. Do listen to what your gut is telling you. Good and bad. If it’s telling you that person is slightly odd and probably a bad influence in your life, get rid now. It’ll happen one way or another anyway. If it’s telling you that person was amazing all along and you really should get back in touch with them, give them a call. They’ll be back at some point anyway!

- nothing’s set in stone. If you do decide to compete, remember that you can stop any time. That might help ease the pressure. Obviously it doesn’t quite work the other way around – if you decide not to, you’ll probably find it hard to jump back into it if you change your mind. But if you do take the tough decision to carry on, don’t be proud enough to stop if you no longer feel prep/competing is doing anything positive for you. I promise you that nobody will think any the worse of you (in fact they may be relieved, or may not notice at all!)

Oh, and one last thing? You will be OK, and whatever happens/wherever you find yourself, things will be better. Maybe not in the ways you expected or predicted (or even wanted) but they will be.

There.

In signing off today I’d like to say the hugest and most heartfelt thank you to everyone who helped me through the past year. You know who you are. And to the people (because there were a few) who didn’t help me, well, thank you too. You played a part in getting me here, but I’m afraid you won’t be the ones who get to play a part in celebrating it.

Peace out

When tough times get tougher is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Bodybuilding prep update (16 weeks out?)

Morning! I thought it was about time for a contest prep update

I had a face-to-face catch up with coach Vicky Bradley yesterday – she hadn’t seen me for a few weeks and was delighted with the changes. We speak (text/whatsapp/tweet/instagram/facebook – haha!) most days but of course seeing me in the flesh is different.

I’m currently either 16 or 18 weeks out from my first show, depending on which qualifier I do. I’ve had my wibbles and wobbles (of confidence, as well as glute-fat ) but I’m starting to think I’ll be in good shape for the earlier of the two.

Vicky calipered me again yesterday, and I do my measurements: in 12 weeks of working with her, I’m down approx:

6kgs
We think about 7% body fat from Vicky’s calipering.
5.1cms hips
8.2cms waist
5.9cms chest/back

Here are comparison pics two weeks apart (although the most recent of these was taken three weeks ago now)

I’m still training the same split
Saturday – deadlifts, hamstrings, glutes, back and calves
Sunday – chest and triceps
Tuesday – back and shoulders
Wednesday – squats, quads and calves

And doing posing practice, stretching, foam rolling and postural/remedial work a couple of times a week at home. Still no cardio (other than two fast dog walks every day – which are getting longer now there are more daylight hours).

My training has changed (at least once) since I last blogged about prep – still low reps (or what I call low reps anyway!) but with a bit of a conditioning element in there now, supersets, walking lunges, weighted steps ups etc. Every time my programme changes, the specific exercises I do aim to correct an imbalance, fill out a slightly lacking area or bring an area up so the final “package” I reveal on stage is as complete and as “Physique category” as possible.

My shoulders seem to have taken on a life of their own

Diet has changed a little bit: we are now carb cycling and we’re about to really go for it, with much more carbs than I’m used to on training days. This is partly as a result of a total diet-wobble I had a couple of weeks ago, where I careered off-piste without Vicky’s blessing (or knowledge). Not good, but (there’s always a positive!) we did discover than I’m pretty carb-tolerant. After two days of over-eating, one of which involved a family party, and undisclosed amounts of cake, brownies and mini-scones (very nice they were too), I put on…. 0.5kgs. So, we’re going to be playing with more carbs, and different sources of them. Now’s the time to do it – if it’s doesn’t work, we can change again.

As I said to Vicky today, I feel as if the next 2-3 weeks will see some exciting changes in both my fatloss and my shape. I don’t know why I feel that way but I do! It’s exciting. This period of prep – when there’s months and months to go, but you know you’ll wake up one day soon and only have 4 weeks left – is a funny time. But I’m definitely seeing very good changes and I’m really excited to get closer and closer to competition condition!

A couple of pics from a week ago: posing in the gym with Figure competitor Karen (right of the pic) and Physique competitor Kathy (left). I love this pic, we’re so smiley! We’d just had an awesome deadlift session together – I’d never met either lady before but have emailed and chatted to them both online for over a year now. Brilliant training partners!

And lastly, Karen and I did a bit of posing practice after training and I borrowed her Figure shoes for a bit. Once I’d got myself upright (and stayed there!), I tried out a few Figure poses. What do you think? Shall I switch divisions?

Anything in particular you want to know? Let me know & I’ll attempt to answer!

Bodybuilding prep update (16 weeks out?) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

It’s back…. Notch Watch 2013

Remember Notch Watch? It’s something I did last year, starting at New Year (possibly not my finest idea!) and I kept monitoring the notches of my lifting belt up until two weeks out (when I ran out of notches).

I realised I hadn’t watched any notches yet this year (not my own, anyway) so took my belt in with me today for squats and snapped a quick pic before getting started.

Well – excuse the mega-baggy vest – but here we are on notch 6 of 8 with 20-ish weeks of prep left to my qualifier! (For comparison, I was on notch 5 of 8 at around this time last year.) I was pretty surprised by that. And it wasn’t even that tight – it was as tight as you’d do it up for squats but comfortable enough to walk about in.

I can already tell that this year’s prep (and life in general) is different, and is showing itself as such on my body. I’m much leaner on the abs than I was this time last year (in fact I reckon I’m leaner on the abs than I was at about 6 or 8 weeks out). That’s cortisol for you! As ever, the human body fascinates me.

I still have a long way to go before reaching the kind of stage condition I intend on presenting this year, but that’s just as well, in fact it’s really quite handy because there’s a way to go on the calendar too. I have a feeling it will all be timed just right.

Things with coach Vicky Bradley are still going great. I’ve started a new set of training programmes (I mentioned that here) and since my weight hasn’t moved much for a couple of weeks, I’ve also just started a slightly changed diet, to get things moving again.

Other than that, not a lot to report, because I’m happy and confident and feeling very positive!

Stay tuned for more Notch Watch – as and when I remember, that is.

It’s back…. Notch Watch 2013 is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Bodybuilding prep update (20 weeks out?)

It’s been a while since I talked about training, prep or this year’s competitions, so here’s an update.

I’m currently either 20 or 22 weeks out, depending on which show I do. Sorry to be vague and cryptic but I’m not 100% sure yet, and I won’t be revealing the show til a lot nearer the time anyway (although those of you with the various federations’ calendars at hand will be able to work it out fairly easily!)

I’m still working with Vicky Bradley and everything is going really well, I’m very happy with progress and excited to see how things turn out.

I’ve been under Vicky’s small but surprisingly muscular lats for nearly seven weeks now. I’m onto my second lot of training sessions with her – the first block focused on my bigger lifts, great technique, lower reps (very low for me!), working out just how much weigh I can handle and getting some more muscle on me. This new block of training is bringing in work which will bring more balance and shape to my physique.

Progress is being made: not only do I look and feel better, but I’m getting stronger, and the stats are there in black and white. In six weeks I’m down:

3.6kgs
We think about 4.5% body fat from Vicky’s calipering.
2.3cms hips
6cms waist (!)
5cms chest/back

The only thing which hasn’t budged is arm measurement, although body fat/skinfold has come down.

This is from about 3 weeks ago…

This is from last Sunday at a BNBF club/meet at Body Bionics Gym

As is this….

I’m in the gym four days a week:
Saturday – deadlifts, hamstrings, glutes, back and calves
Sunday – chest and triceps
Tuesday – back and shoulders
Wednesday – squats, quads and calves

And doing posing practice, stretching, foam rolling and postural/remedial work a couple of times a week at home. No cardio (other than two fast dog walks of about 45 mins every day).

Eating (I can’t really call it dieting yet!) is simple and enjoyable. Lots of meat, fish, eggs and veg, good fats and veg (including spuds). The plan is to slowly bring bodyfat down to a reasonable “year round” level, teaching me and my body good, sustainable habits along the way. Never mind the comp, this is about finding habits and routines which work for me and can then work for me all year round. Then, from there, we’ll worry about “prep diet”. But the idea is that, by then, there won’t be a huge amount to lose anyway.

How about you – how’s your training going?

Bodybuilding prep update (20 weeks out?) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

These are a few of my favourite things: the hydration edition

People will often ask me where I get my supplements, food, workout gear etc from. I have a few discount codes for some of my favourite companies, and am generously supported in one way or another by some others. Then there are the companies, brands and products which I just straight-up love, without discount codes or freebies! I thought I’d start a blog series telling you about these “favourite things” – and extending the discount code to you where one exists. All these “favourite things” posts are on one page.

We all know how important it is to drink enough water, whether we do endurance sport, strength sports or no sport at all (everyone needs to stay hydrated). It’s about more than just not getting thirsty. Proper hydration carries nutrients to cells, helps prevent muscle cramps, keeps you alert and focused, nourishes your skin, assists your body in digesting food, improves your sleep, helps your body recover after exercise (or injury/surgery) and even helps you maintain healthy hormone levels.

I admit I never used to pay a great deal of attention to whether or not the water I drank was actually doing its job. I was then recommended elete hydration drops (thanks Andy McKenzie) and haven’t gone a day without it since. It’s such a simple little product, but I honestly think it’s so important. Not just for people doing sport, for everyone of all ages (although certainly if you do train for sports then you should definitely be taking this product!)

elete is an electolyte product you add to water which contains all four of the key electrolytes (magnesium, potassium, chloride and sodium) along with 60 other naturally-occurring trace and ultra trace elements.

It’s 100% pure and natural and contains no sugar, sweeteners, additives, preservatives or calories (like most “sports drinks”). It doesn’t need to – you just add it to your water (or any other drink) and that’s it.

And it’s such good value for money (working out at less than 20p per litre of water). It comes in a concentrated form so you can carry it about with you if you need to, or just add it to your water at home.

elete has been scientifically developed and is backed by numerous bits of research and peer reviewed published studies. And it’s got the Informed Sport mark of approval.

I tend to add one serving to a litre of water in the morning, and then again to water which I make sure I drink straight after training. It doesn’t taste of anything at all (although you can get a citrus version, but I haven’t tried it). Full recommendations of exactly how to dose it are on the website.

Drink up!

You can find elete on Twitter and elete on Facebook as well as their own website (including research, testinonials and FAQs)

These are a few of my favourite things: the hydration edition is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

What I learned from the Phil Learney Fat Loss & Performance seminar

A few weeks ago, I went up to Stoke to attend a
seminar led by Phil Learney, PT/trainer/coach who currently works at UP Fitness. The topic of Phil’s two-day seminar was Fat Loss and Performance, and I went along in the interests of personal development and general interest (I think everyone else there was a coach or PT of some sort).

It was a fascinating weekend and I learned so much (and also had my thoughts and ideas on some things clarified or confirmed). I admit it was all quite full-on for my non-PT-brain but I think I more or less kept up Phil is a really great presenter/lecturer and made sure the content was tailored to the group and everyone’s questions were answered.

I thought I’d write a short round-up of the things which really stood out for me, or were new to me, or have particularly stayed with me now it’s been a few weeks since the seminar. It’s going to be a bit of a brain-dump, but I’m happy to try and answer questions in the comments, or you can find Phil on Facebook and Twitter, he’s very good at answering questions. (He also has a very good blog which covers a lot of the points below in greater detail).

The seminar covered body types and assessment (of clients), nutrition, specific protocols including carb cycling, carb backloading and fasting, optimal feeding patterns, hydration, health (from the inside out), training protocols, contest prep and tons more!

Here’s what I took away from it…

- “The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing”
- “Only a fool never changes his mind”
- Body type assessment using somatotypes and phenotypes (I think this was kind of “client assessment 101″ for most of the people in the room but it was a fascinating start for me!) (I am totes a mesomorph… of course.. what’s that? You too? )
- “We aren’t what we eat; we’re what we digest” – the importance of food quality, gut health, digestion
- The importance of protein turnover (the balance between protein synthesis and protein breakdown) – the more we break down during training, the more we have to synthesize to maintain an anabolic environment
- Leucine! We should look to take in 3.2g leucine (minimum) per protein serving. Phil then showed a fascinating table, demonstrating how much we’d have to take in of a few different protein sources, in order to get 3.2g leucine. 230g chicken (237 kcals/53g protein), 190g steak (375 kcals/54g pro)… 1070g (yes, more than a kilo!) pork (1223 kcals/224g protein). There’s a reason why bodybuilders eat chicken and steak! And I’m glad I’ve never liked pork…
- The importance of kidney health, what poor kidney health means for the rest of the body/its functions, and how we can boost renal function
- The massive importance of fluids and electrolytes (something I know I’m guilty of ignoring – but not any more – a review of elete electrolyte drops to come on the blog!)
- Endocrine (hormone) manipulation and macronutrient (protein, carbohydrate, fat) intake and why this is so important/beneficial (hugely interesting to me as a natural bodybuilder)
- In fact everything Phil said about the endocrine system, the “master hormone” (insulin), leptin, ghrelin, the thyroid hormones and how they all relate to creating/maintaining anabolic growth was great.
- “We build, or we break” - referring to everything we do in training/nutrition for physique/strength/performance sports being either anabolic (regenerative) or catabolic (degenerative).
- A lightbulb moment was when Phil said something which most attendees probably thought very simple and basic: he pointed out that achieving a lean and muscular physique, particularly for natural females, is more about retaining (and fiercely guarding!) the muscle we have got (especially as we diet down) rather than constantly thinking about building more. He likened it to finances: you could say you want to earn £10K more next year. Why not spend £10K less? Same outcome, different outlook.
- It’s about preservation – decreasing catabolism – as well as growth/anabolism…
- “Why diets can’t work”… a look at why the “calories in vs calories out” model really misses the point, and discussing what happens to key hormones when we restrict calories. “A report in the April 2007 issue of the American Psychologist showed up to 66% of individuals following the caloric model of weight loss end up fatter two years later than they were when they started the diet. Any other model, in any other discipline, with a failure rate this high would have been discarded long ago and labelled as useless.”
- An in-depth look at various nutritional protocols with a view to stabilising insuling for optimal hormone management (and the male and female responses to each)
- A look at advanced nutritional strategies including carb cycling, food rotation, refeeds/”cheat meals” and when/how/why you might employ these
- On training, the discussion about absolute strength and the force equation was really interesting to me (and reinforced what I already know about my woeful lack of power and acceleration!)
- The practical work we did – on glute activation, hip/glute mobility, squat and bench technique and force/acceleration were an eye-opener and have really added a great deal to my own sessions.

If you’d like to hear more about the seminar, why not listen to performance nutritionist Ben Coomber’s podcast (you need episode 19), where he and Ru Anderson (a PT – and fellow competitive natural bodybuilder – who was at Phil’s seminar) talk about the content and what they took away from it. And Ru’s own blog round-up- of the seminar is here on Ru Anderson’s blog.

What I learned from the Phil Learney Fat Loss & Performance seminar is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Updated for 2013: my favourite fitness and nutrition podcasts

It’s been a while (… years!) since I blogged about the podcasts I listen to, and it’s definitely time for an update. Not only because I listen to a lot more of them now, but because my list of favourites has changed. Some fantastic new podcasts have come on the scene, I’ve discovered others, and some on my original list are no more.

Podcasts are a great way to “get your learn on” and are a brilliant way of turning long car drives, commutes or dog walks into productive time. Of course, sometimes it’s nice to head out for a walk without earphones on at all, to really be in the moment, but if you walk a hell of a lot (as I do), you’ll often want to listen to something. So why not make that something informative, inspirational or a little bit challenging?

Here’s my current list of go-to podcasts (I download them all via iTunes – you’ll be able to find them by searching). If you give them a try, come back and tell me what you thought.

Access Bodybuilding
Access Bodybuilding is a behind the scenes look at the bodybuilding industry, covering events, news, competitors, gossip, industry developments and all sorts. It’s American, and doesn’t only look at the natural side of the industry (in fact I’d say mostly not – but only because that reflects the size and balance of the industry as a whole). It’s funny, interesting, irreverant and a good “magazine” style show to listen to.

Ben Coomber Radio
Ben’s a mate of mine but that’s not why I listen to Ben Coomber Radio. Well, it is why I started listening, to be fair. But it’s not why I’m still an avid fan. I love this show because it’s funny, in-depth, very interesting, well-researched and extremely informative (and English! Most S&C/nutrition/fitness podcasts are American which is fine but means a lot of the references, resources and recommendations are lost on me). I always learn at least one new thing and am inspired to try something new with my own nutrition, or go away and research something in greater depth. Presented by Ben, who is a very well-respected performance nutritionist, and sometimes co-hosted by Anna of Proteinpow.com, the show usually has a guest: in the past he’s had Phil Learney, Joseph Lightfoot and James Monk. Ben usually breaks this short-ish (30-45 minutes) show into news and views, then an interview or listener Q&A.

Heavy Muscle Radio
Heavy Muscle Radio is another podcast from RX Muscle. It’s funny. I know that the presenter, Dave Palumbo, isn’t to everyone’s taste but personally I find him and his commentary hilarious. It’s another magazine type show, looking at news and events from the world of bodybuilding (but mostly the USA), it has interviews and show reports and all sorts of chit chat. The shows can get pretty long but you can pick and choose the bits you want to listen to.

Muscle Girls Inc
I love MGI! Presented by two bikini Pro competitors, it’s like getting your FBB mates together for a god old gossip and giggle. The first half of the show is usually a bit silly and often has me in fits of laughter (it’s meant to be about bodybuilding but often goes off-piste to discuss food and boys and stuff) and the second half is always an interview with a female competitor. I love the interviews; it’s so interesting to hear from competitors across bikini, figure, fitness, physique and bodybuilding classes and there’s often some meaty stuff discussed, like metabolic damage, disordered eating, relationships, etc, as well as all the stuff about prep and competing as you’d expect. I really look forward to MGI every week.

Natty Talk Radio
Natty Talk Radio is one of very few podcasts I’ve found which talk only about the natural/tested side of the sport and that in itself is enough reason for me to listen. This show interviews natural bodybuilders, has Q&A discussions about hot topics and draws on plenty of scientific research to back up the anecdotal evidence and chat, which makes for good listening.

Robb Wolf’s The Paleo Solution
I’m not Paleo but find the research and ideas behind the Paleo way of life very interesting. Robb Wolf is one of the leading names in the Paleo game and he’s a great presenter. His radio show The Paleo Solution is packed full of information and a great listen for anyone interested in the natural, healing aspects of nutrition, or in eating for performance and strength and physique sports. It’s been going for years and I’m currently working my way backwards through the early years.

Your Physique Radio
Your Physique Radio is great because it’s presented by two Irish guys (although one lives in the States now) so it feels a little closer to home. They discuss bodybuilding shows, competitors, news and industry developments, review products and gyms, and have some great guests. My only bugbear is that it’s not updated more regularly – in fact I think it might have ground to a halt? Still, there’s a good back catalogue of shows so, if you’ve not come across it already, you can spend a few hours working your way through the shows they’ve already done!

I also still listen to The Fit Cast podcast, The Strength Coach podcast and TED talks as mentioned in my previous blog post about podcasts

Which podcasts do you recommend? Have you ever been on a podcast – or do you have your own?

Updated for 2013: my favourite fitness and nutrition podcasts is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.