April fools ![]()
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Oh man, was it that obvious?
Please make a thread with that post! Lmao it would blow up!
I nearly believed it, however the rest periods gave it away. If you stuck with the first bit but said a legite training program i would’ve been hooked ![]()
Yes!!
Gotta do that next on next April fools day ![]()
I thought of using a legit program for this but I wanted to have a “what the hell”-factor
But I did take sport specificity to a whole another level with the program I laid out! ![]()
Diet update
Today I noticed that I’ve been missing some calories in my diet
I was supposed to be eating 270p/180c/75f but I’ve been doing 260p/150c/60f
So it seems like I’ve misclicked when I was putting in foods to myfitnesspal as I begun the diet. (So I may have put in that I’ll eat 100 grams of rice and then I’ve been eating 75g)
Now what do I do? I roll with it. These macros have given me a good amount of weight drop, and it seems that it’s starting to slow down a bit. - I have a very adaptive metabolism. It’s a blessing when bulking but when dieting, well, let’s just say I’m glad that my body can take a lot before breaking down.
So no, I’m not upping my calories to match what they were supposed to be. That doesn’t make Amy sense to me as I need to lower them from where they are now soon enough. It’s not like 270/180/75 is a magical combination for me.
Only problem with my current macros is that they give me a lot less room to adjust downwards, so I may have to adjust my adjustments a bit. Like, after 4 carb drops (of 25g) I’ll be only consuming 50g if carbs and that’s my intra and post-workout drinks, whereas with 180 carbs that would’ve taken five drops.
Probably gonna go with dropping 25g of the carb source instead of carbs (so eat 50g of rice instead of 75g, for example)
But any way you put it, I’m quite sure that there will he a time during this diet when my only carbs are in the intra-and post workout shakes and there’s nothing much but protein left in my diet. So I’ll be enjoying these 150 grams of carbs and 60 grams of fat when they still last.
General life update
I really like dieting.
I find it so fascinating when new veins and striations appear. For me it’s incredibly cool to see how my body reacts to different thing training- and nutrition-wise, such as dieting down and then having a cheat day (yet to happen on this diet) or going to the gym and just watching as the muscle contracts and relaxes.
I don’t know what it is about me but I like that kind of stuff. Right now I’m waiting for some good deals just to have an excuse to buy bf calipers at the same time. (I’m not gonna pay 5 euros of shipping when I can order whey at the same time and save that)
I found some of my old bf test results and noticed a weird trend: no matter how fat or how lean I was, (ranged from 8% to 25% bf) I’ve never had any visceral fat. (That would’ve gotten registered). And that’s a really good thing. One would’ve though that at 25% there was some visceral as well, but no. Oh well, lucky for me.
Tomorrow I have a job interview, hopefully I get it. If I don’t, well, I’ll have to come up with something. I also have about 300 pages to study for entrance exam’s entrance exams. Nice. (It’s a two-part exam thingy for all of the schools)
Diets been good, weight moved down again this morning after being stagnant for a couple of days.
Training clients has been very good, they are all making heaps of progress. I’ll share it comes the testing day for my mother, which will be in about two weeks. I could write a post about some of the things I think you should consider when training people if anyone is interested.
Overall, things are good.
would love to hear it!
Okay, so - personal training
Lately I’ve seen a lot of “personal trainers” in the gym - that makes sense as summer is close and people want to look good at the beach. The problem is that a lot of these trainers are completely lost.
Let’s begin, well, at the beginning of the workout. Actually, let’s go even further. A lot of these guys expect that their clients know how to eat before training and don’t say anything about it to the clients. What ends up happening is that their trainees have not eaten in hours before the session and they can’t do anything about it. Personally I remind my clients about the importance of pre-workout meal pretty often (more often in the beginning). In addition to that I’m always prepared - I have dried berries, protein bars (also nut-free bars), a bottle with whey and a bottle with aminos and maltodextrine with me every time I go train someone. So if someone if not feeling well or has forgotten to eat, I got it.
Now, to the beginning of the session. A couple of times I’ve seen PTs train with their clients (no) or give a paper with the movements written down to the client, then training alone for an hour with the client in the same gym and then going up to them and asking if they are ready (wtf bro). When you have a client he/she is everything that matters to you in the world for those 45 minutes. You do not train yourself and you definitely don’t leave them to train by themselves when they’ve payed for training.
Now to the session and what it includes.
As a personal trainer you have to accept that your client does not have the patience nor the time to do 15 minutes on the bike followed by half an hour of stretching and activating. (Not that they should do any of that). Keep the warmups brief. What I’ve been using as a template (to which I add an exercise or two depending on the client):
As a circuit, done for two rounds:
- Around the world with a broomstick
- Face pull with a band
- Bodyweight squat
- Back extensions with your hands on the pad (to focus on hams and glutes)
We usually start with 12-15 reps and build up to 20-25, the whole thing takes less than 5 minutes and after that they are ready to go.
Next up: exercise selection.
Almost everybody is either married to the big movements or to the meme exercises (think one-legged front raises on a bosu ball while spinning at the same time). Then when a client can’t do an exercise, say, the back squat they panic and don’t know what to do.
You cannot except that your regular middle-aged working man/woman can do barbell back squats, front squats or even goblet squats. That’s why you need regressions. Only squatting I have my mother doing is bodyweight “D-Squats” (so upright box squats with a pause). I base her training around rack pulls at the knee instead of squats, because that’s something she’s able to do a lot of work on safely and it hits the posterior chain really well. So look at the client, how do they move? What can they do? How can you build up to performing harder movements?
Progression is another thing like this, either the trainer is fixed to the idea of adding 2.5 kilos to 3x8 every time you train or there is no progress scheme at all.
I’ll give you an example of my mother again. Last time we did two-handed dumbbell rows she did 4 sets of 12 with 9 kilos per hand, 40 second rest periods. It was hard and ugly at times
That’s 864kgs of work (48 reps of 2x9=18kgs) in about 168 seconds (given that one rep lasts about a second). So she did 5.14kgs of work per second.
I knew she couldn’t go up to 10kgs per hand just yet, and staying at 9 wouldn’t have been the best option here as her form wouldn’t hold up. So I calculated.
We ended up doing 6 sets of 10 with 8kgs per hand, 960kgs of total work (96kg more) with 20 second rests, so it took a total of 160 seconds with one second per rep. That comes to 6kgs of work per second, which is (6/5.14=1.167) 17% more efficient than last time.
Maths. Use it.
This brings me to the next point: coaches lack equipment. Most of them don’t even have a watch, let alone a stopwatch and thus their clients end up resting ten minutes between sets and their sweet chest/bicep session takes 90 minutes to complete. Also, the coach has no idea of how long their clients are resting so they can’t use it as means of progression. My clients usually perform their full-body sessions in 40 minutes or less, and we are doing stuff like seven heavy sets of rack pulls followed by six sets of rows and so on.
Another thing you should have is bands. In my gym there’s only one piece of each equipment, so if you don’t have bands and/or imagination, you’re in deep shut if the thing you need is being used. Case in point: leg curls can be done in the machine, with an exercise ball, hanging from a rack, with dumbbells, in the cable station and with bands. But if you lack imagination you’re fucked when someone uses the machines. (And if you do have imagination but everything is being used you are screwed without bands)
A logbook is also one thing you want to have, because you want to see what your clients have been doing in order to properly plan the next session. A 40 year old stay-at home mother does not need (nor should she) to start with a RPE -based autoregulated program.
And lastly in this list, the lack of follow up-sessions. Many coaches just go once with their clients and then leave them to train on their own. Don’t do that. Have a session where you test where the client is at, a session where you teach the client all required movements for their program, one session for each day your program has (so if it’s an A/B program, two sessions) where you actually train them and then have a follow-up session for each session one to two weeks later. After that have a follow up every other week or every third week at least. Personally I also send my clients videos of correct exercise technique for each of their lifts (self-filmed) so they can remind themselves if they are unsure of something and don’t want to ask about it.
That’s all I could come up with from the top of my head
Great post man! You really have the personal trainer thing downpact.
How long you been a pt for?
Plz come to Queensland ![]()
Not all that long, I’d say 2-ish years if we think of the time I’ve been making money off of it, but if we think of how long I’ve been training people as a hobby I’d say about three years
Are you in need for personal training that’s more intimate than most people’s relationships? ![]()
Uhhhh I’m a bit hesitant now you put it like that
but yes please haha
I don’t do pt. Tried it a couple times and it’s like talking to a brick wall. You tell them your goals and you may as well be saying “I’d like to tone my body and get rid of excess fat.” coz that’s all they seem to know and understand.
I’ll bring you a glass of water if you get thirsty at night
That’s because losing fat is really easy and the results come fast - the client will get hooked
Second easiest would be getting someone to the level that he looks like he lifts and has some pretty good numbers - so getting someone that “gymbro” status
People who aspire to compete in strength sports or physique shows are really the worst clients you can have in terms of workload and planning - they are needy and require a lot of work
General life update
I got hired to a local grocery store today.
Went to the job interview this morning and five minutes in they said “yeah, we’ll hire you, when can you start?” So I guess I gave them a good impression?
That’s a really good thing because it’s close and it provides me with some extra money - I’m not that picky about the type of job I’m working. Also with their contract I’m able to ask if any help is needed with their other stores 'of which there are plenty and they all need help) so practically I can do as much work as I want.
On the field of personal training I’ve also been lucky - one of my clients hinted that a couple of her friends would be interested in my services. I asked her what “a couple of” meant and she said something between ten and twenty, so that’s a win.
Not to be over-the top positive, my mother is gone for 10 days, so she’ll return on Monday two weeks from now, we’ll get two sessions in and come Thursday it’s testing day. That means she will be missing out on seeing a bit of progress. Given that she was gone last week too, she’s been out for ~16 days in total of the 30 days between tests. Well, you’ve got to play with the hand you have. I have her doing bodyweight stuff when she’s on the move, but to be honest, that won’t make up for the lack of weight training. We’ll see what comes of it in two weeks.
The feast has begun.
It’s about midday and we have just started eating (it’s my girlfriend’s birthday party and her cheat day so I’m eating as well because I want to feel disgusting and bloated in the evening)
I’ll post my calorie count in the evening when we’ve finished up with this.
Enjoy ![]()
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Thanks man, definitely will
Also, note to self: no more 2000 Calorie snacks an hour before leg sessions
And the total comes to…
14435 Calories
410g protein
2157g carbs
463g fat
I’m actually not even feeling too bad at the moment, definitely feeling full but not like I was going to throw up
Weight is up 8kgs/17lbs from the morning