2021 has been a rollercoaster of a year. I thought 2020 was tough but 2021 was like “hold my beer”. I’ve done my best to bring you a blog each month (personal goal for me) despite the year we’ve had and I’m closing out the year with this… Whatever you decide you want to achieve in this life all comes down to whether you’re ready to take the actions to bring it into reality. We may hit some stumbling blocks along the way and it may feel like we’re not making any progress at all, but If you’re taking those actions towards your goals I can assure you that you are making progress. It’s important to remember that these pauses and obstacles during your journey are things that you can learn from and will lead you to make better decisions in the future. Time waits for nobody, and it will pass by you whether you do anything or not. So I encourage you to take some time to reflect, think about things you’re thankful for and start brainstorming/planning for 2022. Me, I’m thankful for my family (Emma and Elijah) and my new job to provide for my family. Happy New Year from Total Transition Personal Training 😀😀

This blog was inspired by a member at Buzz who told me she didn’t know what to do in the gym. These are the top tips I’d give to anyone starting or wanting to train in the gym. Before answering the main question it’s important to ask yourself this; “What am I trying to achieve with training? I believe this needs to be asked because if you’re trying to bulk up/put on lots of muscle, then spending most of your time on cardio equipment isn’t going to help. Once you have a clear understanding of your goals then you can be more specific with what you are doing. Inductions - If you’re new to the gym and feel intimidated, book onto an induction so your instructor can demonstrate how to use equipment properly/safely. There’s nothing worse than going onto a machine, only to realise you’ve been using it the wrong way. This happened to me when I first started going to the gym and if I had just asked for help or booked an induction, I would have been felt more confident. Hire a PT - PT’s are experts in the field of health and fitness. If you’re not sure what to do then sign up with one, even if it’s for a couple of months. I know there’s a lot of information out there online on what to do, but it doesn’t beat the experience of having someone there to see over your technique and progress. Training Frequency - So let’s say you’ve done the above right but still want to go it alone …no problem. Look at your weekly schedule and see realistically how many workouts you can get in per week. There’s no point doing an arm workout if you can only get into the gym once per week, especially if you’re looking to lose weight. I’d recommend a full body workout if that were the case. Once you know how many workouts you can do per week then you can sensibly choose the right routine. Prioritise The Bigger Muscles First - The bigger muscles tend to be more complex and more fatiguing so if you can, prioritise these first e.g. chest early in the workout, biceps towards the end. Compounds Before Isolation - A compound exercise is an exercise that uses multiple muscles and joints e.g. Deadlifts (ankle, knee, hip joint & glutes, hamstrings traps to name a few muscles). An Isolation exercises works a single muscle or joint e.g. seated leg extension (knee joint & quads). Now that we know the difference between the two, as a rule of thumb, you should be putting your compound exercises towards the start of your workout and the isolation exercises towards the end. Compound exercises tend to be more mentally taxing and tougher to perform. The last thing you want to be doing is a heavy set of squats at the end of your leg workout. Machines Over Free Weights - When it comes to strength training, I’ll always advise people to start off by using the resistance machines before moving onto free weights. Why? Because most machines will have the name written on, a picture of what muscle you’re working and how to set it up. Resistance machines are designed to make you work the muscles properly and safely so once you’ve mastered them, that’s when you can then move onto using equipment like dumbbells and kettlebells. I could go on and on but these would be the things I would focus on if you’re not sure what to do in the gym. So let me summarise: Figure out what you’re trying to achieve with your training so this guides you on where to start. Book an induction or hire a PT to help you with what to do. If you plan to go solo think about how many times per week you can train. Focus on the bigger muscles first and start with compound lifts Let me know if you found this useful and as always if you want help getting started in the gym….get in touch via the website by hitting the sign up button or just click here. Great, Elijah is 13 months now, he’s mastered walking and we’re baby proofing the whole house - the tv cabinet has a screen shielding it and we have magnetic locks on drawers in the house. I wouldn’t change anything about being a dad. My advice to parents - have patience, Elijah tested me this evening by throwing his sponge on the floor during his bath. I try not to lose my cool around him. Eddie Hall or The Mountain? Eddie Hall (former strongest man) and Hafthor Bjornssonus (The Mountain from Game of Thrones) are having a boxing fight and I think the mountain will win. It’s currently delayed because Eddie Hall tore his bicep. Do I speak Spanish? Hables Inglese? (Do you speak English?) What’s the best pre workout snacks to have? My go to pre workout snacks are: Bananas which I’ll have 30 mins before a session, Fruit smoothie which I’ll have an hour before a workout. Porridge 1-2 hours before a workout. I have tested training on an empty stomach and I definitely need food before a training session. I used to train on an empty stomach when I was younger, but at 30 I can’t do this anymore and leads to poor performance. What stretches should I do for a click knee? Can’t advise on a clicky knee but general stretches for muscles around the knees I would be doing are the quad stretch where you grab your ankle and pull your heel towards your bum and the hamstring stretch where you slightly bend one knee and keep the other knee straight whilst trying to touch your toes. My favourite workout? Strength training is my favourite workout and I love a lower body workout. I’m currently doing an upper/lower body routine but I find the lower body workouts more rewarding especially after a long day whilst fighting the internal battle in my head to give up. I feel better for it. Had to tweak my lower body workout and put easier ones in haha recently (don’t judge me). Is the smith machine a good for building muscle? In my opinion yes but depends it on the muscle you’re trying to hit. Equipment in gyms are there because they will help you build muscle. It just comes down to what muscle you’re trying to train then selecting the ones that gives you the most amount of stimulus for the least amount fatigue. When to do steady state cardio? It depends but also its down to preference. I advise people to do it after strength training. You accumulate fatigue before lifting resulting in the quality of your workout. You can always do cardio on a separate day to your strength training session or do 1 in the morning and the other in the evening as an example. Is ‘Time Under Tension (TUT)’ a good thing to implement in training? I have a blog coming up on this and I do go on to explain TUT in the video so go watch the explanation there. Long story short, TUT is definitely a good thing to implement. My thoughts on counting calories and intermittent fasting? Both work and comes down to preference. Choose a method that you can continue for ‘x’ amount of time/becomes the norm. Calorie counting gives your more detailed information on where your calories are coming from (protein, carbs and fats). Intermittent Fasting especially when the goal is weight loss can help you lose weight by restricting calories through the day. What food do you eat when you first break your fasting? Something carb heavy and something protein filling. Is it ok to do just full body workouts or Upper/Lower? The type of workout you do depends on how many times you can realistically get into the gym. If you can only go 1 day per week stick to full body. Ideally you want to train the body at least 2 times per week. So whatever workout allows you to train the muscles at least twice based on how many workouts you can do is the one you should be doing to see good consistent results. Examples include: 2-3 full body workouts, upper/lower, upper/lower/full body. Tips for going to the gym when you’re really battling your mind and you don’t want to go and what have you found helps? Make sure you’re packed your gym bag the night before and make sure you take your gym bag with your to work. That’s half the battle won vs not going. You’re not really going to go home and pick your gym bag up after a long day of work and head to the gym. Chances are you’ll sack it off. Keeping my goal in mind keeps me on top of going to the gym so keep on telling yourself ‘why’. Why should people train with TTPT? I help people reach your their goals. We look at Deep Health (relational, existential, mental, physical, emotional, environmental). I make sessions fun and the highlight of your day. Ask any of my clients (past and present) and they’ll tell you they love the sessions. I give a damn about what you’ve got going on in life - I’m not there to just count reps…Ruth (longest client) plays regional netball, Gaby (second longest client) is a cheerleader and made it into one of the top level teams with Coventry. How to relieve pain after you’ve had cramp in your calf? I used to get calf cramp in the night after playing 90 minutes of 11-a-side football, it was horrible. Keep yourself hydrated, have something salty salt, stretch your calves and have a bath before bed. This should reduce the cramps. Most common question I get asked is “how long will it take for me to reach my goals?” This depends on YOU and your commitment and how realistic your goal is. You need to be doing stuff outside of training sessions e.g. keeping on top of your nutrition, making sure your sleep is on point, making sure you’re recovering from workouts. Give 100% to get 100% back. PT is an investment but come into it fully committed to do the hard work. Favourite things to do on rest day? Definitely not walking haha….I like to put my feet up and watch YouTube (I’d have an 1st if Youtube was a degree). I’ve been going to Bicester a lot, it’s a nice area. In the evenings when Elijah is asleep I’ll play the PS4 and have a general browse online. If I could only eat 1 meal for the rest of my life, what would it be? Lasagne cooked by my mum. It’s my favourite dish. Favourite thing about being a dad? (This question got emotional and I shed some tears too). Having someone being dependent on me and Emma and getting to guide Elijah through his life. I’m still learning how to be a good dad, how to communicate to him, trying not to lose my cool. I ALWAYS try to make him smile everyday. I never had my dad around when I was growing up (passed away when I was young) therefore I had no father figure. I’m trying to be the best dad I can be and trying parent to Elijah how I feel my own dad would have parented me. It’s one of the reasons why I love to be involved his life and see him hit his milestones. Why is Nigerian Jollof better than Ghanaian Jollof? Haha it’s because we don’t use Basmati Rice haha. It’s seasoned better, flavoursome, delicious. So that was the Q&A, if you have any other questions, feel free to drop them into the comments section below. I may do another live Q&A so follow me on my social media channels to find out when they’ll be (social links at the bottom of the page).