A Personal Trainers Journey: Part 4 – Week The Finish Line

The Final In Mobile Personal training Specialist Brad Carroll’s 8 Week Journey!  If you haven’t read the entire series yet it a must read for anyone who has undergone or is planning to undergo a body transformation!

22/12/13

 

The Finish Line

Hey 4 U Body fitness fanatics! The 8 weeks is up and all the results are in. I am quite impressed with my results and what can be achieved in 8 weeks as I gave it pretty much everything I had. First and foremost I would like to thank a few people who helped me along the journey as without these people I would have most likely cruised through the 8 weeks rather than pushed to my absolute limits. My training partner and brother Sean who never let me give up, take a day off from the gym or go into a session flat. The 4 U body fitness team whos positivity and knowledge helped me to become the best trainer I can be. Tim Morgan who I pitched this idea to and he had backed the idea from day 1 and has always given me the confidence and positive feedback to share my story with all of the 4 U body fitness family. I would really like to thank all my clients who have inspired me with their hard work and dedication to their sessions. I would like to give extra special thanks to Tania Abouzaki, Sarah Bruitzman and Noel Hanna who have given me such positive feedback and have really helped me mentally as this project has been very physically and mentally draining. Also my beautiful girlfriend Kirsty who had to put up with my strict diet change and also gave me plenty of encouragement as well as taking all the progress photos. They have been a constant source of inspiration and without all these people, I would have no inspiration to start or finish this 8 week period. Thank you all!!!!

 

The last two weeks I will remember for a very long time. The training was the most brutal and mentally challenging training I have ever done. The train the trainer session was intense and Bianca Haycroft pushed me to my absolute limits and although I did not throw up, I certainly felt it for the next 3 days. Footy training and training with Sean did not let up either. I PB’d ( Personal Best ) my 5km run, my bench press, shoulder press, dead lifts and plank time. Although I was getting better, I do admit that I overtrained and did not give my body adequate rest time in between sessions. It is extremely important that when we do train, that we rest our bodies in between sessions. Pretend our bodies are like formula one cars. They need special fuel to run ( Healthy food ) and if we push them too hard for too long, the engine will give out and things like injuries and low energy levels will most likely occur. We are all eager to achieve awesome results, however first and foremost it is imperative that we look after ourselves with proper rest cycles and perfect technique. You can’t win the race if the car is in the garage!

 

At the week 8 test session, I do admit to being incredibly nervous, however extremely excited to get it done. Overall I improved everything which was tremendously satisfying. I see the happy smiles my clients get when they see all their positive results and I’ll admit there were a few fist pumps and high fives when I saw all my results. Nothing beats the feeling of when all your hard work, pain, sacrifice and determination pays off. It is something I want to feel again in the future!

 

Here are the results for my test session on the 27/10/13 and the 8th week session on 22/12/13

 

TEST RESULTS      27/10            22/12

 

Push ups                    72                 83

Step ups                     62                 66

Med ball pickups             35                 42

Plank                        2:24              4:41

Laying rows                 51                 57

Aerobic test                 36                 49

(2mins burpees)

 

Measurements

 

Left arm                 40cm             40cm

Right arm               41cm            40cm

Chest                    107cm           109cm

Belly                      98cm            92cm

Hips                      100cm           98cm

Bum                      111cm          108cm

Left Thigh                63cm            65cm

Right Thigh              62cm            64cm

Left Calf                 41cm            42cm

Right Calf                41cm            43cm

 

Height                 191cm

Weight                 107.5kg          103.3kg

Body fat %             26.7%            18.6%

Muscle %              32.3%             40.4%

Water/other %          41.0%             41.0%

 

 

The thing that stood out the most to me was the change between the muscle and fat percentages. A healthy diet with plenty of vegetables and lean meats i believe is the main reason between the change as well as the weight program that I put myself on with plenty of cardiovascular exercises. I did a lot of high intensity exercises that built strength and power as well as endurance. Here is a guide of what my training schedule was like

EXERCISE GUIDE

Monday- 5km run, 300’s ( 100 push ups, 100 jack knife sit ups, 50 burpees, 50 squat jumps ) Chest session at the gym 90minutes, 30 mins of cardio.

 

Tuesday- Core session at the gym 45 mins (planks, jack knife sit ups, russian twists) 30 mins of light cardio, Football training session

 

Wednesday- Back and Lats sessions at the gym 60 minutes ( bent over rows, sitting rows, dumbell flys, Dead lifts )

 

Thursday- Leg session at the gym ( Squats, 45 degree leg press, leg extensions, calf raises ) 5km run, Football training session 90 mins

 

Friday- Rest day… Might do a 300 with bear crawls if I pull up very well after leg day.

 

Saturday- Shoulder session at the gym (military press, shrugs, t-bar rows, rear deltoid extensions) 30 minute core session, 5km run.

 

Sunday- Complete rest day. ( except for train the trainer day )

 

DIET GUIDE

 

Breakfast- Skim milk fruit smoothie (Skim milk, banana, handful of blueberries, strawberries, tablespoon of Greek yoghurt, one cup of oats, 2 scoops of protein powder)

 

Snack- 1 tin of tuna with steamed vegetables, handful of nuts.

 

Lunch- Steamed vegetables with chicken.

 

Snack- Protein Shake after workout or gym session

 

Dinner- Steak or chicken with at least 5 different vegetables… sometimes spaghetti bolognese if I know I have an extremely difficult day ahead of me

 

Drinking plenty of water throughout the day as well.

 

As you can see that although it is a very dull diet with not a lot of changes, It is what works for me and helped me to get the results I achieved. Sometimes its about sacrificing the foods that we like to achieve the goals that we want to achieve. Yes I did have some cheat meals in there as I am human and I do crave delicious food from time to time but I used it as a reward system so if I felt I deserved a big bowl of chips or a pizza, then i rewarded myself. The key to the whole weight loss thing is burning more calories than what you put into your body. If you can eat the right foods all throughout the day, not only will it assist with your weight loss goals, you will simply feel better and have more energy to tackle life head on!

 

Progress Pictures 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This last 8 weeks has completely changed the way that I look on life. If I have learned one thing from this whole experience is that if you want something, go and get it. Life is far too short to sit back and wait for things to happen so you must make then happen. How many of you that are 25, 30, 40 or 50 plus years old thought back on something and thought “Gee I should have done that” or, ”If I had my time all over again” It is not too late. I was unhappy on how quick it went downhill and pear shaped for

me, so I chose to do something about it, but here is the thing, I am no better than each and every one of you! I, like you have strengths and weaknesses, I have doubts and fears and like some of you, analyze every possible scenario and outcome. Sometimes it is just better to jump right on in and fully commit to something and living with the outcome rather than analyzing something and deciding not to do it at all. I feel confident, powerful and ready to tackle anything life throws my way. A very different outcome compared to 8 weeks ago.

 

Trust yourself no matter what anyone else thinks, there will be knockers

and nay-sayers along the journey to try and put you down but if we listened to them all the time, we would not do anything. What’s the point if you were put on this earth to be just like everyone else? Sometimes you just have to break the shackles, free yourself and commit to making yourself better every single day. It is your journey and when you finally get to that destination, you embrace the steps taken to get to that destination, feel happy and proud, then set a new destination and goals and push again. This is what makes not only fit human beings, but quality human beings as well.

 

You can’t climb the ladder of success with your hands in your pockets.

 

Thank you to all that have read these blogs and thank you for all the positive feedback.

 

Brad Carroll

4 U Body Fitness Personal Trainer.