Despite all the free health & fitness info in the world people still fail, and there’s ONE reason why…

As you may guess, I’ve become very tired of the majority and their attitude towards health & fitness.

One can only care for so long before the sheer foolishness of the masses becomes too much.

Keeping this in mind.

This is the one reason people fail to achieve much of anything beneficial regarding health & fitness.

It’s easier to be a victim.

That’s literally it.

People choose their suffering.

Be that obesity, physical weakness, immobility, declining health or general misery.

Take the most common goal – weight loss.

Here is how you achieve it on a very basic level.

• Create a caloric deficit

Of course this doesn’t mean there won’t be nuance or individual difference because there will be.

What happens though is that people go all around the houses to find any/every excuse they possibly can to absolve themselves of being responsible for their own personal level of fatness.

Some will have it easier than others, while unfair that is simply life.

You’ll find people only complain when the double standard in a situation doesn’t benefit them.

Yet when they are on the beneficial side of the double standard coin they’re happy as a clam.

Of course people will be up in arms and complain.

Usually cracking out lines such as – “You don’t know my story.”

True, I don’t.

And while I’ve spent many years trying to listen, trying to help and even save people because of a misplaced sense of duty it hasn’t done much apart form be met with peoples self deluded resistance and inability to take accountability for their own life.

In this life we all have barriers.

We all have struggles.

Choices that must be made.

But in the end too many will simply f**k about and waste their life, complaining how unfair it is and how it’s just so hard for them.

I don’t know…. Maybe it is.

Make no mistake though.

This doesn’t change the simple truth that the main reason a person can’t get from where they are to where they want to be is them.

Ultimately the majority of us are in control of our own lives.

Unless you’re a bed bound and damaged individual that can’t do literally anything for yourself then it falls to you to change.

It falls to you to take action.

Makes me think back to what Yoda said – “NO! Try Not. Do. Or do not. There is no try.”

Just a ramble from someone that’s now too tired to speak differently.

If you’re going to ego lift in the gym because it’s something you ‘have’ to do then you might as well double down to make epic progress.

Dodgy titles aside, this post actually has a clear purpose. 

It’s to give you a training option that…

• Tests your resolve 
• Sharpens your form 
• Builds your strength 
• Maximises your time 
• Frees your mind 

A simple bias in the style of programming you’ll often find from me is that of lower rep work. 

This doesn’t mean high rep work isn’t useful.

High rep work is great, provided you enjoy it and find it fulfilling. 

One epic training angle is sets of 20. 

Why?

Because there’s no easy option because if you chicken out of using a decent load then you’ll not find your training satisfying. 

Multiple sets of 20 to hit 100-200 working reps with a sub max load is great for building strength, size and fitness.

Hitting a top set of 20 reps with the aim of adding a fractional load each week also provides similar benefits. 

Neither is specifically ‘best’ per-se. 

They both have uses.

They both produce similar outcomes (with a slight difference due to the volume/intensity).

They both want to be done at least once in your training lifetime for a solid 6-12months.

But… 

Say you’re not interested in high reps.

What did the gesture towards ‘double down’ really mean?

In my experience, ego lifting usually focused on working to heavy singles. 

Singles are great.

Although they’re also the easy option because they’re just one rep. 

And if the majority of people are honest when they go for a heavy single, they already know they can hit the weight.

Or they’re at least 98% sure they can.

So they hit the lift without fear because they know people will say something positive.

This feeds their ego. 

Now there’s nothing wrong with feeding the ego at times, provided you’re not simply feeding it the same tripe each time because that will keep you from progressing. 

I’ve found most peoples ‘top single’ can be done for at least 2 reps, or a double as they’re known.

In some cases I’ve seen people hit what they think it their true heavy single for 5-6 reps….

Yea, they’ve been holding back. 

It’s no wonder people don’t really make it too far past their initial stages of beginner gains. 

As such here’s how you can double down and break your training plateaus.

Part 1  – The Double  

Work to a true weight that has you focus with intent to hit it. 

You’ll know it’s the right weight because you’ll be a little sacred. 

The thought of – “I might miss this.” – Is common and if present it means the load is right. 

I’d focus on 1 or perhaps two lift for this in session 1 (starting your week).

Part 2 – The Down 

Taking the top double you’ll want to use 80% of what you hit. 

With this load you’ll be doing 50 doubles, giving your 100 working reps.

Once again taking double as the base weight you’ll be taking 90% from the top double. 

You will be aiming for 25 doubles at this weight. 

Set up wise this would be 3 session of your training across the week.

Session 1 – Top Double Day
Session 2 – 80% Day
Session 3 – 90% Day 

I know this seems like a tall order and it is. 

There’s nothing easy about this training set up.

But that’s where its beauty can be found. 

You can’t hide, you can only put in the work to achieve what is set out above. 

This leads us to this thought – “What if I don’t hit all the sets for the week?”

GREAT, BRILLIANT, FANTASTIC!

It means you will keep the loads the same until you hit all the required sets. 

So you’d be working with the 80/90% loads until you hit your target volumes. 

This means you might not re-test your top double for many weeks and in that time you’ll be able to build strength, lean mass, confidence and a resolve to finish what you’ve started.

On paper this is how 4 weeks of training may look.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Top Double Day	Filler Day	80% Day 30/50	Filler Day	90% Day 15/25
80% Day 34/50	Filler Day	90% Day 17/25	Filler Day	80% Day 40/50
90% Day 19/25	Filler Day	80% Day 42/50	Filler Day	90% Day 22/25
80% Day 47/50	Filler Day	90% Day – 25/25	Filler Day	80% Day 50/50

*80% of your double is about 77% of your 1RM and 90% is roughly 87.5% of your 1RM, if you go off the idea that a true double is about 97% of max, just FYI.

Once the work has been hit you’d be able to re-test the top double and repeat the cycle.

This can be with the same lifts focused on the movement patterns you selected (Push/Pull, Push/Hinge, Pull/SQ etc) or you may choose two variations of those lifts or new patterns entirely.

Easy on paper but something very effective. 

Feel free to pinch this and go play.

If you’ve also got any questions then please do leave them below. 

Enjoy, 
Ross 

3 things no one told me when I started working in fitness that would have changed how I did things (for the better)

We’re here to learn from those who came before us.

Yet it’s rare that we ever actually do this and instead try all too hard to do things ‘our way’.

I was no exception to this.

Being guided by nothing but my own wits and perception of how things worked.

Essentially this meant just speaking to anyone willing to have a natter in the gym.

While some small successes were had there was nothing concrete regarding a solid system that I was following.

Instead it was all done by feeling and the overall flow of conversation that happened and this leads me to the first thing I wist someone had told me starting out.

Having 3-6 emotionally prying key questions to ask people really helps narrow down what people really want.

These don’t have to be scripted, although that is actually very useful to do as a reminder.

In this incarnation they can act as a ‘check list’ of sorts.

I’d suggest adding these to your arsenal so they’re ready and waiting for the next time you start chatting to someone in the gym.

• How are you looking to feel as a result of achieving your result?
• Why is that feeling important to you?
• What will you feel if you don’t achieve the result you’re after?
• Why would achieving your goal improve your life?
• How would achieving your goal improve your life and in what ways?
• What would be the cost of not achieving your goal?

Knowing a little more about what drives people on this level helps one understand the person as an individual.

While people typically tend to have similar answers and drivers, giving them the opportunity to speak about them is quite important because this is usually something they’ve never been given the chance to do before.

You’ll find listening with intent to a person really helps in building a deep rapport.

This leads into the second thing I wish someone had told me.

Show people you care because that will gain your more clients than slick sales lines.

The old saying of ‘People buy people’ is very true.

Often times there needs to be a connection of sorts whereby a potential client feels like they can trust you.

Most importantly they want to feel you’ve got their best interests at heart.

When you get this across it changes everything because people are willing to invest in those that have faith in them.

Unfortunately there’s a lot of people that don’t have many stories of a time when they felt someone else truly believed in them.

You have the chance to change that.

Do so and you’ll find people speak very positively of you and this in turn brings in a lot of business in the way of referrals.

An additional element worth remembering is that the more people talk about you the more general enquiries you’ll get.

This means you’ve got a chance to apply the first two points multiple times.

But don’t think it’s all about getting new business.

Too many times to people chase what is novel and new and the expense (and cost) of what they already have.

It’s worth being grateful to those that have given you the chance to change their lives.

Going beyond the realms of expected for them is something you NEED to be doing.

This will have them remain loyal and gain a massive amount of value/benefit from your service.

It’s also easier to have those that are already paying customers invest more with you than it is to drum up new business.

Now that doesn’t meant don’t go after new business.

Just be sure to look after the clients you’ve already got.

Which bring up the third crucial nugget of wisdom.

Look after your people because there’s plenty of PT’s that don’t look after theirs and as a result will lose them.

Yep, this happens a lot.

No it isn’t the case one PT poaches another clients.

It’s very much the case that the PT that is losing clients is doing so because they are not looking after their clients.

I’d suggest keeping these point in mind to run through every week to ensure you’re keeping on top form with your people.

• Be in regular communication – do you know how people are feeling?
• Discuss with them the small changes THEY wish to make and will take action on
• Ask for a weekly update regarding habits, behaviours, etc – this allows for realtime adjustments to be made
• Don’t tell people you care (that’s not enough), show them you care by being attentive and taking the initiative for them

The first points are self explanatory.

It’s the last one that catches people out.

We’re not talking about massive gifts or grandiose gestures here.

Being attentive can be something as simple as sending them a link to an article that related to something they’re interested in or a question they ‘kinda’ asked or hinted at and even some problems they might have mentioned they’re having because doing this shows you LISTEN to them.

Essentially they secret to being attentive is to listen actively and then take action.

And there you have it.

Three things I’d have found epically useful if I was told them starting out.

Hopefully you’ll be able to use this info to your advantage in building your client base and fitness business.

Before we go I’d like to give you my own bit of wisdom.

Don’t try to be everything to everyone because that’s the fastest way to burn out and fail.

Too often do I see people following trends and trying to tick multiple boxes so that they appeal to multiple audiences.

This rarely ever works within fitness.

In fact I’ve yet to see it ever work in fitness because the only people you’ll attract doing this are the ones that want everything for nothing and wouldn’t have every invested with you in the first place.

Be clear on the person you want to work with and WHY this person in particular.

Do you have common grounds?
Are there shared life experiences?
Is there a problem you’ve overcome that they also want to deal with?

Don’t just opt for the easiest option or even the most obvious because this again is a trap.

I’ve known a lot of female PT’s to want to work with ‘new mums’ and most of them fail in this endeavour.

When you’re choosing your target or ideal client ask yourself these questions:

• Why does this person NEED my help?
• What is their problem emotionally?
• Who do I need to be to best help this person (and am I)?
• Where will I find my people?

Don’t be too quick to work with just anyone.

By all means put out your feelers and trail working with various people, just remember you don’t have to continue working with them.

Enjoy,
Ross

Only high value people care about the experience they receive from a business what everyone else cares about is convenience

The simple solution.

The quick and easy.

The hassle free option.

No lengthy instructions needed, plug and play or a cookie cutter approach 

This is a battle tested approach to running business.

You’ll see it a lot in fitness (online and face to face).

I’ve noticed a lot of people just want to be told what to do and feel that they’ve accomplished something at the end of their session.

Fitness business isn’t rocket science 

If I had to give it a formula or written set up it’d be this:

Initial Phase: Focus on peoples FEELINGS 
Second Phase: Focus on peoples problems 
Third Phase: Focus on peoples education (behaviours) 
Forth Phase: Focus on peoples lifestyle & experince

These phases can last 3-6 months at a time.

Starting out people just want to feel that they’re doing the right thing.

Once they get past their beginners gains/results and things slow down their actual problems can begin to be addressed because this is what will help continue to appease their emotional needs through continued results 

After this point is where true behaviour change happens. 

People will either be ready or they won’t.

This means you’ll have clients truly dig deep and commit to the process of change or they will bounce because they feel they need new answers and will go to a coach that will just give them another cookie cutter sweat fest to follow 

You may like these clients, but understand they’re not ready to change.

Once those that have been better educated have made it through that phase some big chances are on the cusp of happening.

These are now the people that are ready to full experience what coaching is all about 

They’re ready to openenly communicate.

They’re ready to ask for help and then apply what is suggested.

They’re ready to become who they want to be.

This is where things get interesting in fitness business.

The first phase is plug & play and tends to need this approach:

Low cost, easy application with a high perceived value 

Here is how this might look – 

• Training template with a focus on FEELING*
• Basic nutrition to follow with appropriate macros 
• Basic contact to begin probing into their problems 
• Cost between £100-200 seems to be the easy sell
• This is LOW EFFORT from your end

*By feeling I mean giving them what they want in their training. Say they want fat loss, they want to feel hot/sweaty, or if they’re looking to build muscle they will want to feel a massive pump. Basically meet their perceived expectation based on their bias (what they think needs to happen).

Phase two starts to get more interesting and nuanced:

Start to add specific solutions to their individual needs 

Here is how this might look – 

• Training update to a more individually focused program that addressed perceived PROBLEMS
• Nutrition begins to become more refined & specific
• Request more contact and deliberate tracking (commitment) from the client 
• Cost between £200-250 seems to be the easy sell

Phase three is where real coaching can begin:

People are starting accept their choices need to change 

Here is how this might look – 

• Training starts to take a specific pathway based on an outcome beyond instant gratification
• Nutrition tracking becomes more deliberate and refined
• Regular contact surrounding habit, behaviour and overall lifestyle change starts to become more frequent 
• Cost starts to increase a lot here due to more effort being required, any less than £300pcm isn’t worth your time as a coach 

Phase four is for the super serious that want complete change:

There’s a high commitment to long term progress 

Here is how this might look – 

• Training is fully specific to their needs
• Nutrition is fully specific to their needs 
• Daily contact is common 
• Cost is best set in an upfront payment of 6-12months because this is for those fully committed to change and can range from 6k for the year for newer PT’s and 10k+ for experienced ones

Keeping the above in mind you’ll have to ask yourself this:

What kind of client do I want to work with & why?

If you’re happy to work with people for say 3-6months at a time then phase 1 or 2 will be best because you can keep the costs down for people and appeal to their base emotional needs/desires 

Charging £100-200pcm works well here and allows for a low barrier to entry.

Just remember you’d not be ultra specific in your coaching here.

From this point I’d personally not focus on phase 3, I’d be pushing phase 4 because that will separate those that want their emotional needs met versus those that are looking for solutions to their long term problems that will result in a full lifestyle change. 

It’s what some call the ’10x boost’.

A lot of PT/coaches try to go in in fees by 10% and this is just pointless, whereas aiming to take the 10x approach really makes all the difference.

Charging 10x the fee really makes it stand out as a ‘high vaue’ product.

So you could have your cookie cutter bits for £100pcm, or your FULL COACHING service for 10k per year 

It’ll make people’s heads spin, but it’ll certainly draw in the right people for each option.

But….

Remember people pay for convenience first and foremost. 

They want things that are easy to apply and hassle free with a large emphasis on how it’ll make them feel, so for most the £100 training template with a plug & play angle will often make a hefty chunk of cash in a short space of time. 

So long as you’re constantly talking about it. 

One final question – which of the above would you rather pay for?

Everything you need to know for creating effective HIIT sessions

Go back a few years and it was HIIT this, HIIT that.

Many dove right off the edge in their commitment to the high intensity interval training gods.

The price for their fealty, injury…..

It also want uncommon to find a hint of frustration in the mix as well.

Unfortunately people confused what was meant to be with something else entirely.

The followed a false light.

A lot off people thought this was how a HIIT session needed to be:

• Work for a period of time giving all your effort – say 30-50 seconds

So far so good in theory.

• Rest for 5-10 seconds then repeat multiple times

And this is where the wheels fell off for many.

Going balls to the wall for 30-50 seconds to only rest 5-10 seconds isn’t going to result in multiple efforts of working at a near max voluntary intensity.

I’d say people would get on average 1 effort that actually qualified as HI, the rest were just garbage.

In the end people accumulated a massive amount of FATIGUE with very little beneficial stimulus.

Without sufficient rest high quality repeated efforts can’t be performed.

In the end people just go through the motions and put on a good ‘effort face’.

Harsh as it sounds, this is why I have no issue with saying to people that they don’t look like they do HIIT training.

Because they don’t.

Anyone that performs it correctly has a certain level of result/outcome that comes from their training.

It’s one of the defining elements of inescapable reality that will always be deeply imbedded within fitness.

Your outcomes are the direct result of your EFFORTS and if you don’t ‘walk the walk’ there will be no result.

Simple really.

This is one of the main reasons a lot of the HIIT acolytes didn’t make much progress beyond the novel neurological gains that occur within the first 2-3 weeks.

We’ve also got to consider another key element that many didn’t quite understand along side not resting enough.

That being the level of actual effort required to constitute an effort falling into the realms of high intensity.

A lot of people lack the base strength and ability to produce sufficient power in a short enough time to do real HIIT.

Take this simple example….

Someone runs 200m in say 25 seconds, that’s what I’d call a high intensity effort.

Few people can run 200m that fast, and to be fair most that claim they train mostly HIIT can do it in 30 seconds.

This leads to the recovery period.

Rest before repeating an effort of say 25-30 seconds for 200m would want to be at minimum 3x the effort, so 75-90 seconds.

Such a long rest period would have many proclaim with deep indignation – “That’s not HIIT, the rest is TOO LONG!”

Oh my sweet summer child….

How foolish you are.

Some would say that’s rest ratio (3x the work) isn’t long enough and most would do better with 7-10x the work period for rest.

210-300 seconds of total rest will most certainly allow for a recuperation of 90%+ of the creatine phosphate required for another effort of matching intensity, but the neurological recovery can be much longer – 15 to 30min according to some scientists.

However resting such lengthy times just isn’t practical for a lot of people.

When it comes to interval training a 1/1-work/rest ratio is pretty solid for most to go by.

This is more anaerobic glycolytic and tends to leave people feeling like they’ve done something worthwhile/productive and it’s more focused on lactate tolerance, buffering it’s performance diminishing effects and being able to sustain an 80%+ effort for a decent chunk of time despite how much is burns/sucks balls.

HIIT is typically more anaerobic a-lactic and is focused on minimising fatigue.

You see this is why the Frankenstein style of HIIT took off so well.

It was merely anaerobic work that allowed people to push ‘kinda hard’ and left them a hot sweaty mess at the end.

And they LOVED it because to them and their inherent bias it meant they did something right.

The feeling of their effort being good also sparked better lifestyle, nutrition and behavioural changes and these lead to results, not necessarily the training itself.

Conflation was very real.

HIIT training = results (- taking into account the other changes that got made)

So what does all of this have to do with putting together an effective HIIT session?

Everything….

First you need to be honest with yourself in answering this question.

• Are you strong/powerful enough to go from 0% to 100% (or damn close to it) within a few of seconds?

If the answer isn’t an instant YES, then you’re probably not ready for programming HIIT just yet.

Fear not though, you can utilise standard interval timings and work as hard as you can in the anaerobic glycolytic pathways.

Working on your lactate tolerance and threshold is what most people enjoy more anyway.

I say enjoy….

In a sadomasochistic kinda way.

For this style of interval training here are my suggested set ups for you to plug and play.

• 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 30-40 times (about 21min of work) – 1/3 work/rest
• 12 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 20-30 times (about 18min of work) – 1/2 work/rest
• 24 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 10-20 times (about 16min of work) – 1/1 work/rest

Doing these on something like an erg, rower, aerodyne, assault bike, battle ropes, hairstyle KB swing, KB snatch (single or double) and essentially anything you can go from 0-100% (or close to it) almost instantly will give you the best bang for your buck.

It’s also worth having something that forces you to keep generating constant tension as well.

This will really help in regards to increasing your potential performance for sports.

Now you don’t need to use my timings above, you can create your own.

All I’d suggest is to keep your total amount of working time at 20min for a max when starting out.

It’s okay to only get out even 5min too.

From there you can build up to a longer training period.

In fact here’s a couple of programming options.

Classic Progression – Adding Sets – Perform twice per week with 3 days rest between each

Week 1 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 10 times
Week 2 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 14 times
Week 3 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 18 times
Week 4 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 22 times
Week 5 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 16 times
Week 6 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 20 times
Week 7 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 24 times
Week 8 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 28 times
Week 9 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 20 times
Week 10 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 24 times
Week 11 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 28 times
Week 12 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 32 times
Week 13 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 36 times
Week 14 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 28 times
Week 15 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 32 times
Week 16 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 36 times
Week 17 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 40 times – goal hit – repeat once more then de-load and change program.
Week 18 – 8 seconds work, 24 seconds rest – repeat 40 times – consolidation effort – now choose new program.

Power Progression – Power – Add sets once power is sustained – Perform twice per week with 3 days rest between each

Test average power (watts) for 10 sets.

From here start your training at 20 working sets and aim to hit all 20 while sustaining the same average power you did when you tests the all out 10 sets.

Once power is consistent add 5 sets and repeat until you’re maxing out your work at 40 total sets.

This program length can vary based on the individual and how quickly they adapt to the training.

Each adaptation curve won’t only be based on ‘genetics’ FYI, it’ll come down to these factors as well:

• Sleep Quality
• Nutrition Quality (and over all Kcal)
• Life Stressors
• Habits/Behaviours
• Training Age
• Chronological Age
• Environmental Stressors
• De-loads – this means listening to your body and tracking your overall fatigue the the above markers and taking a few days off or brining the sets down for a week or so while needed before then rebuilding.

The last element is the one people fall down on because the larger majority of people don’t like to feel as if they’ve gone backwards.

They see doing less as a defeat…

I can tell you from experience this is 100% their EGO getting in the way and needs to be addressed.

Taking a step or two backwards so you can take a giant leap forwards is an essential skill many people lack and even fewer develop in their training lifetime.

Don’t be one of these people.

Be smarter.
Be better.

And on that note it’s time to bring this ramble to a close.

Do with the above information what you will, although my hope if you’ll apply it and break through your HIIT plateaus.

If you’ve got any questions please fire them across.

Enjoy,
Ross

Science in fitness is great, but how often do you see anyone in the lab applying what they know to themselves?

The problem with most ‘studies’ surrounding fitness is that they’re done on untrained individuals – agree or disagree 🧐

Personally I also find it very limiting that along with using typically untrained lifters, studies usually select single leg extension, bicep curl, bench press and sometimes leg press all the time.

Thankfully this can differ when you really get into the weeds.

One issue there though is that the study participant numbers are low 😕

I’ve found this is where anecdote and lived experience helpful.

While a lot of people will say that anecdote is the lowest form of evidence, it’s still evidence in the end and can provide some answers to questions the more stringent studies can’t.

After going down a massive reading rabbit hole for years on various papers I came to this conclusion…

They’re worth reading to keep up with what’s going on BUT there is rarely anything new that hasn’t already been stated in the writings of successful lifters that didn’t have scientists following them around.

For a good consolidation of studies get a MASS subscription 💪

The stronger by science crew really pick apart the info and get out some great write ups that will save you having the go through it all yourself.

In addition to this you’ve got various forums, blogs and articles people pump out daily that will add to your knowledge base 🧠

I read the following sites when I’m sat with a coffee ☕️

• Elite FTS – articles
• StrongFirst – forum
• YouTube – lectures (NSCA, CSCS, UCLA etc)
• Old Books – various successful coaches/athletes 👇

Three books I recommend EVERYONE ought to read:

📕 – Power a Scientific Approach by Dr Fred Hatfield

📗 – Transfer of Training in Sport by Bondarchuk

📘 – The Science & Practice of Strength Training by Zatsiorsky

The work of Helms and/or Schoenfeld are great to follow for all things hypertrophy specific.

Here’s 5 key piece of info I’ve learned over the years, they may help you or be something you already know.

• Volume is king for size, provided you’re average workload/intensity is around the 60-80% 1RM mark and sets of 10-20 with a slow/controlled eccentric seem to give the best hypertrophic bang for your buck.
• To build strength you want to train as often as possible but not to complete MU failure (avoid excess fatigue). You want to feel STRONGER at the end of a session focus on the skill/practice of lifting and improving your neural connections.
• Full ROM (where possible) usually trumps partial ROM and when you achieve a perpendicular angle of loading in relation to your target muscle you’ll generate more tension which leads to more overall motor unit recruitment.
• The muscles you feel stretching the most will grow the most, this can also aid in increasing the TUT you experience and as a result (according to the lab coats) helps increase mTor activation.
• Inadequate and/or insufficient nutrition, sleep and quality (and amount) will hamper your results. Protein is key and 1g per pound is a minimum guideline amount with 20-35% of total daily kcal best coming from fat which means any remaining come from carbs. Too often people try to out train, and out recover poor nutrition/sleep choices and it rarely works which results in gained being left on the table.

One final note – YOU’VE got to put in the time, effort and make the sacrifices needed to achieve your goals because no one else will do it for you.

It’d be great to know where you get your info from 🤓

Do share your resources below.

OTM Excellence

OTM stands for on the minute.

You also see it as EMOM – every minute on the minute.

Essentially its interval work.

Originally starting out as a weightlifting tool that those practitioners used to accumulate a decent chunk of workload that was relevant to the sport of weightlifting it has long since grown from here.

CrossFit use it a lot, kettlebell lifters plan it regularly and so do those seeking better conditioning (fitness)

I’m going to give you one of my set ups for OTM training that you can pinch and enjoy.

It’s using a heavy/light/medium rotation and will provide you with plenty of training options.

Heavy	6RM – 2-3 reps	Every Min – 30min total
Medium	8RM – 3-4reps	Every Min – 30min total
Light	10RM – 4-5reps	Every Min – 30 min total

This seems quite easy on paper.

I can assure you it’s more challenging than it appears.

To accumulate sufficient fatigue selecting one movement works very well.

Or you could utilise a complex that results in the suggested rep range for the day – say 4-5, corresponding with a single movement for each and that may look like this:

Light – 30min OTM – Power Clean, Front Squat Push Press, Pendlay Row – rest remainder of minute.

This style of training can be done 3-4 times per week for one or two 30min blocks per session to yield excellent results.

And provided you have enough variability in your movements you can do it daily as well at just 1x30min block each day.

Here’s 20 sessions I’ve personally used in the past.

The loading will be dictated by a H/L/M note next to it.

Use a pair of kettlebells for this movement rotation –

Swings – H	Pistols – L	Pull Ups – M	Clean & Press – M	Pull Ups – M
Pistols -L	Swings – H	Pistols – L	Pull Ups – M	Clean & Press – M
Pull Ups – M	Clean & Press – M	Swings – H	Pistols – L	Swings – H
Clean & Press – M	Pull Ups – M	Clean & Press – M	Swings – H	Pistols – L

After these you might choose to keep the same base set up from above and change the bit of kit.

Say you opt for a barbell, here is what the lifts might change to.

Swings > RDL
Pistols > Squats
Clean & Press > Close Grip Bench
Pull Ups > Yates Row

There’s not real limit beyond your own physical skill and ability here.

Have a think about the above and apply it to your training for 2023.

Enjoy,
Ross

If you’re a PT looking for knowledge to kick start your development in 2023, all you’ll find here is coffee fuelled cynicism

All joking aside….

I am truly becoming more and more cynical as I get older.

No amount of help I try to give
Energy I share with others
Or effort I give seems to amount to anything more than a slap in the face

As someone that’s been involved with fitness and working with people for over 20 years now it’s safe to say I’m very tired.

Tired of people making excuses
Tired of how they bring each other down because they want others to share in their misery
Tired of all the bullshit spouted just to make a quick buck

I’m so very tired of it all.

There’s very little soul left in the fitness industry anymore.

To get noticed you NEED to become the following thing…

An extremist.

Making ripples in the local pond isn’t enough, although it never really was.

Even making waves in the ocean won’t have anyone turn their heads.

Unless you create an unstoppable tsunami that’s going to wreck a sizeable area within the fitness industry and call into question a lot of people long held or deeply emotional beliefs then you’d be better off becoming a post-man.

Early starts with early finishes and the ability to resist any weather.

Perfect for when you go on strike.

Although it seems the posties have gone back to work in some form as there’s no parade of boards outside the depo currently.

Anyway.

I’ve seen many PT’s come and go over the years.

Most were terrible and it was no surprise.
Others had endless potential but couldn’t perform well in the sales element of the role.

Personally I’ve had highs and lows, always coming down to the sales aspect, or more specifically the marketing side of it.

Getting ones name known isn’t too difficult if you’re willing to go to some extremes and be controversial.

Although even that isn’t so shocking any more.

It’s one reason I will encourage people getting into fitness to truly sharpen their coaching skills.

Great as it is to have unrivalled knowledge of training, movements and so on.

The coaching style itself is the bedrock of PT.

As such here’s 5 thing you can do to become a better coach pretty much instantly.

1 – Ask people why they want to change now and how this time will be different from previous?

2 – Only sell 6 month training agreements because this will immediately cut out people that are not truly committed to change.

3 – Have your clients tell you what they think they NEED to be doing to achieve results because most will have ideas and once spoken they will be almost bound by them and their application due to the principle of consistency.

4 – Be sure to seek out help from more experienced people in the industry as they will have answers to questions you don’t know you need to ask.

5 – Set up a free Facebook community group for the purpose of sharing USEFUL info that people can take away and apply.

The last point is essentially giving away freebies.

In return just ask people to tag you in them doing what you suggest while also sharing it with their audience and referring your group to others as a credible place for people of a like-mind to congregate, learn and gain endless fitness benefits from.

I can promise you that applying even one of the above 5 points will change how you coach for the better.

It’s down to you to apply them though.

Enjoy,
Ross

What ‘Thor Love & Thunder’ has to do with becoming a better PT in 2023

Out of all the films in the MCU this was the most recent one I saw.

I’d give it a solid 5/7…

Very slap stick in it’s overall set up and generally aligned with the modern narrative.

The returning cast were all on top form as per the norm, but even with their skills there was a lot of moments that had the screen stolen by a certain someone….

Christian Bale.

He really nailed Gorr.

Conveying the message of true disappear and the loss of faith that culminated in creating pure malice.

He’s always able to …. his acting skills and ….. to the roles required.

Very good acting indeed.

But what does his acting in L&T have to do with being becoming a better PT in 2023?

Two things specifically.

Those I blanked out.

Christian Bale is always able (and willing to)….

Evolve & Adapt

I’ve noticed a lot of PT’s get very much stuck in the mud when it comes to their overall approach to coaching/training.

This leads to so many refusing to evolve their approaches and use this sentence to justify their stance – “It works for my clients and they don’t need anything more complicated.”

Possibly the case.

Although not that probable….

It’s rarely the case their clients aren’t ready for more and often that the PT’s in question don’t know enough to provide more to their clients.

They’ve failed to evolve via continued learning and progression of their skills.

One reason this happens is because of an irrational fear many have.

This being that if they make things different they will lose clients and end up with nothing.

It’s understandable.

But the issue is that trying to stick with only working with the raw beginners just stepping into the field of fitness will come with limitations in earning potential because a lot of PT’s are fighting for that same slice of the pie.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a large piece of pie and there’s always new people to pitch a ‘fat loss transformation’ to.

And provided you get a constant influx (in a high volume) then things will be good.

However that’s all that will be available because of not choosing to evolve through continued learning.

This is where the second element comes in – adaptability.

Marketing has changed a lot in the fitness realms.

While flyers, posters, business cards etc all still work in some areas, these days more people are hopping on google to search for local or even online help with their fitness goals.

Again PT’s get stuck.

They find one way that works and suddenly stick with it firmly and forever.

By all means use things when they’re working however keep an eye on the shifting tides.

Facebook pages used to be great for business
LinkedIn tried to take hold but wasn’t so good
Then Instagram stormed the gates as the ‘go to’ place
Next Snapchat cropped up
Now TikTok is gaining traction

Of course all of them still work.

Just not as well as they initially did because times change and with those changes PT’s need to adapt or get left behind.

I’ve made the mistake of not adapting soon enough and it caused issues, don’t make this mistake.

To avoid making this one yourself take action on these two bits of advice.

1 – Review what marketing, outreach and overall ales process you used in 2022 and HOW effective they were.

Be honest in your review.

Look at the good stuff that worked, the things you thought would work but flopped and the indifferent elements that just kinda didn’t give as much return as they could have (perhaps you missed something or the timing was wrong).

Then delve into WHY what worked worked, what failed failed and what could have been better wasn’t.

This will allow you to reuse what was successful provided it is still relevant or break down how to recreate the same outcome.

You see knowing the why behind things often reveals a lot of core principles that when adhered to give you a solid ROI.

2 – Continue your education so that you can train people beyond the beginner stage.

Book yourself on to at least 3 courses this year.

Attended networking events for the purpose of gaining new clients, connecting with other coaches and getting your name known.

Read 5 books that cover business, sales, psychology and apply ONE THING from each of them.

Hire a coach of your own to learn from and also keep you making progress in the realms of fitness too.

If you take the above knowledge and put it into action you’ll find 2023 a very productive year growth wise.

Feel free to fire across any questions you’ve got.

Enjoy,
Ross