Eugene Teo spent his formative years in training dedicating his life towards bodybuilding. After achieving several state and national titles within Australia, he shifted focus towards helping others achieve their goals, and educating the industry in finding the most efficient and effective training methods for their goals.
He travels the world running in-depth educational workshops for industry professionals on biomechanics, program design and all things training. He founded Ganbaru Method, an educational training platform to provide his programs and educational content to the masses, and has recently launched a clothing label Ganbaru Culture as a creative outlet for design, music, food and more.
We’re gonna open this thread up now, but Eugene will be here tomorrow (even though his today is our tomorrow since he’s in Australia and time zones are a thing, but try not to think about that because it’s a brain-twister).
I don’t have any questions (yet) but I just wanted to say you’re one of the few fitness related accounts I follow on Instagram and I very much enjoy your content.
Hey Eugene! I know your not big on doing mobility prior to training. What do you do, if anything to prepare yourself and your clients? And do you sequence exercise in a particular order to prepare for the next exercise (eg leg curls before squats)?
Pretty boring answer for the most part. In this hypothetical situation, I want to be choosing movements not just for muscle building, but for overall joint health as well. So a couple of these aren’t necessarily the best picks to build muscle with, but they’re definitely my go to’s if I’m travelling or not training much while on the road to get as much in as possible.
Heel Elevated Bulgarian Split Squat
Wide Semi Supinated Grip Pull Up
Pike Pushup
Romanian Deadlift - Bonus points for a band around the waist pulling horizontally
Hanging Leg Raise
Long limb/short torso tips
For Lower Body - Unless you have ankles made of play dough, you’ll probably want to use a heel elevation and a slightly wider stance on squat exercises, or, opt for single leg variations so you don’t wind up taking an ultra wide stance just to get any real depth.
For upper body you’re usually a lot less restricted outside of general mobility which applies to short limbed folk as well
Depends what’s causing the lower back to be ‘tight’ in the first place. It’s not always purely biomechanical.
Quick go to’s from a training perspective are ensuring you’re training the hips through their full articulation - Hip Flexors being a big one people miss out on. I like Bent Knee Raises with a cable or kettlebell for weight - but many people don’t even need weight if you’re going for higher reps around 15-20.
Before adding things in, I always like to look at what you’re currently doing and work out if anything is contributing to it.
For example, going beyond your movement capabilities but forcing your way through it by letting the weight pull you down (eg. bottom of a squat not being controlled, but simply relaxing into the bottom and letting the weight fold you up) - will be a contributor here.
John and I tended to agree a lot on what we spoke about from a training/nutrition perspective - as expected since he was one of the first people I ever looked up to in the industry. The biggest nuggets I ever took away from him was the importance of family, connection and communication. The best stories he ever told me in private or in workshops on tour together were about times when he knew he the sport or work was taking it’s toll on his family or relationships, but he always made sure to communicate it openly, and make it up ten-fold after it was over.
I’m going through an aggressive cut right now. So I’ve pulled my calories way down into the gutter. I eat about 150g of protein a day (I’m 75kgs) - and that’s about it. There’d be roughly 50-100g total of carbohydrates that might make it through in trace amounts from vegetables, and 20-30g of fat coming from trace sources as well.
I post a lot of my food up on my Instagram Stories! It varies tremendously day to day. For example I just finished eating a beef and liver curry I made with some carrots
If they like. You don’t have to whatsoever. It gives you a perspective and valuable experience but it’s not the be all and end all. A coach should be good at one thing - Coaching. In the trenches experience as a competitor might help, but it might also hinder if it takes away from your coaching ability. Growing up I had a coach who was competing and he was an emotional wreck who would go AWOL on me for weeks/months at a time. I don’t necessarily think the experience and knowledge he had from competing was making up for that disservice.
Short answer - if you like it and are interested, compete. But if not, there’s no reason why you can’t just get dick skin lean for the hell of it and not throw on the tan.
Genetic ceilings exist, but I doubt anyone is ever going to get there. Even a guy like Ronnie Coleman. Because there’s ALWAYS something you can do better, more efficiently and with less downside. Look to solve that problem and you’ll forever be motivated. Be curious.
If they care about people instead of their notoriety, it should be a part of their day. I treat it like any other aspect to my job. I spend 1 hour filming a video for YouTube, why wouldn’t I spend 1 hour interacting with the people viewing it to help them out and get their feedback?