Every once in a while a personal training client comes along who is a dream to work with. They follow your advice to the letter, prioritise their workouts above socialising, and immerse themselves fully in what I term the “educated effort” that makes up much of the overall Ultimate Performance experience. When an individual gives of him / herself in such a way then results will be guaranteed and physical and mental (most notably with confidence) transformations are commonplace. One such person is James, the subject of this post and whose spectacular 12 week physical transformation was matched in its intensity by his dogged determination to radically change his physique.
When James first walked through my office door he made it very clear that he was on a mission. He had seen some of the work that I had done with Wesley Doyle (the journalist who became the first 40 year old on the cover of Men’s Health magazine and had a great physical transformation journey of his own) and was on his own personal quest to both turn his physical appearance around and achieve something tangible. In fact, his stated aim was that he wanted to be one of the “before and after” fat loss transformations that he had seen on this very website! A lot of people say this, but very few really walk the walk and give it their all. For those who do however, the results are pretty clear (as the image below will attest!) and I like to think that we really are the only place in London that can furnish the committed individual with the necessary tools to achieve such success – genuinely expert advice, no other business has the depth of personal training experience (working with everyone from professional bodybuilders to Victoria’s Secret models, with personal trainers who have been GB representatives at both summer and winter Olympic Games / competing physique athletes), a methodology that has been proven time and again with numerous physical transformations, and private personal training gym that is far both from the madding crowd of commercial gyms and lightyears away from the small and hugely limited personal training studios that many PTs operate from.
Twelve weeks to achieve such a transformation hardly seems believable...but the photos don't lie!
Please note what I have just written – “furnish the committed individual with the necessary tools to achieve such success”. We can push, cajole, entice, bully, encourage, instruct, educate, and motivate, but we cannot do the actual work. We don’t lift the weights for our clients, and more importantly we don’t exercise the discipline needed to get to the gym on time, to say no to dessert, or to eat that protein portion when all that you really fancy is a cup of coffee and a couple of biscuits! We give shortcuts and provide the very fastest track possible, but the desire must come from within, and this is where James excelled. In his own words, he had slipped from being a relatively athletic teenager into an increasingly chubby and inactive man in both his 20s and early 30s. I’ll let him take up the story:
“A demanding career working long hours had meant that any exercise and visits to the gym were sporadic. I had always planned to get round to training specifically for physique, however something had always got in the way and whenever I did manage to go to the gym for any period of time because I had little dietary knowledge I just ended up looking bigger, not toned. At the end of 2008 I had started wearing 36” trousers and made a new years resolution to get the body I’d wanted since my early twenties, I weighed fifteen and a half stone. I started running and cutting out take away and junk food and by the summer had lost nearly two stone. This gave me the motivation to rediscover the goals I’d had for nearly a decade to get toned, but due to many failed past attempts I knew I needed some proper help and advice. I spent a lot of time searching on the internet searching for suitable trainers and gyms, and I contacted Nick Mitchell at Ultimate Performance after reading about Wesley Doyle’s transformation to Men’s Health cover model proportions.”
So please bear in mind that when James came to us he had managed to drop two stone already – this made it easier for us in one respect as he had the fire in his belly from seeing early results by himself, but also harder to get a real change as we all know that the first few weeks of any fat loss regime see the biggest improvements. So the tough job of a achieving a really spectacular transformation was well and truly on!
We didn’t do anything different with James than what we would do with any of our clients. A detailed discussion of what would work best for him, because he has a busy career I ensured that all our programmes fit around his lifestyle not vice versa, an initial BioSignature Modulation assessment so that my nutritional and supplement protocols were as precise as possible, and then into the eminently capable hands of UP Personal Trainer Rich Phillipps. Rich wrote a three times a week weight training programme, and over time we added to this with an interval training plan of my own that helped shift even more fat as and when James was ready for the extra intensity. Ongoing BioSignature tests with Rich (who is very accomplished at this) added the icing on the advisory cake, and then it was all down to Rich pushing James in the gym (yes, sometimes necessitating the odd toilet break due to “exercise induced nausea”), James driving himself onward, the social support that comes with working in a gym like UP London, and James knuckling down to the diet with gusto. One particular memory I have of his dedication is at about week nine, when he was starting to look really sharp, and I asked him how tight he was on the diet. A sheepish look followed, and the answer that sometimes he cheated…instead of one serving of blueberries he might have two…or two handful of nuts rather than one! If only we could all cheat so wildly!! This example of what he considered cheating, which of course can hardly constitute as such, more than anything highlights the dedication that he has and why he should take such great personal credit for his transformation.
The changes from the rear are just as impressive as the front, and that is really saying something!
And most importantly of all, how does he personally feel about this radical change in his life?
“I am extremely happy with the body I achieved with UP in just 12 weeks, I am 33 years old and had never seen the vaguest glimpse of my abs before. My sense of confidence and inner satisfaction increased significantly. I now appreciate that my body can do amazing things, and far from resting on my laurels I have gained a sense of knowledge and confidence to continue training to and achieve even bigger goals. “
For myself, speaking as someone who dedicates his life to helping others gain control over their bodies, watching James’ inner confidence blossom was even more rewarding than seeing the startling physical transformation. He started with us as quite a shy man who although very clear in purpose held himself in reserve a little and didn’t really relish being in the limelight. He finished off as a man who had gained control back over a body that previously had not matched the image he had for himself in his head, and the sense of accomplishment was tangible. To the extent that he was happy to pose for the photos in this post and even flash his six pack upon request in the middle of the gym!
I’ll let James’ words finish off this story, but I’d like to thank him for serving as an inspiration to all at UP, both trainers and clients, and to his personal trainer Rich who did such sterling work.
“I thoroughly enjoyed my time with UP, the professional approach, limitless knowledge on diet and training techniques as well as always feeling welcomed. I really found benefit from having the continued support from Nick as well as Richard my trainer throughout the 12 weeks, and plan to keep in touch with them both in the future for individual sessions and consultations for advice and support on my new training goals.”
Addendum: I should also add that these results were achieved with nothing extra other than by rotating through a small handful of Poliquin supplements. James’ budget wasn’t vast and the focus was on real food, real training, and dedication. Nothing more.
If you want to learn more about how he did it, and maybe try yourself, then the best way to contact us via Caroline@UPFitness.co.uk as I am not always in a position to answer emails as promptly as I would like. As ever though, do feel feee to leave a comment at the foot of this post as all feedback is more than graefully received!
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