Ask a Personal Trainer

Wardy257

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I am new to posting on this site but have been using it for years and thought it was about time I gave something back. I am a freelance Personal Trainer with a variety of additional qualifications and am happy to answer your questions about training be it for cardio, strength, power, sports or health.

The more information I have about you the better so please at least give me your sex, age, weight and anything else that is relevant (goals, training programme, experience, injuries etc.)

Please ask away, but please keep this on topic to aid people who will read this thread for information but perhaps not post.
 
Awesome stuff Wardy, great offer dude. :)

What are your thoughts on increasing high intensity endurance? I currently use a prowler (push and pull), hill sprints and shuttle runs. All I want is the ability to go as close to flat out as possible for 60-90 seconds.

I'm male 115kg, current bf 23%. I'm training for my first novice strongman comp in the summer and that's whee I see my biggest weakness being.

Cheers
 
Sounds like you are already doing the right thing. Other things to consider using from time to time:

Megasets of squats - sets or 40-50 with, for you, approx 100kg on the bar.
Complexes - ie T NATION | Rebuild Yourself with Complexes
Kettlebells - something like this T NATION | The 10,000 Swing Kettlebell Workout
Spinning, hear me out on this one, on leg day set a spin bike up at high resistance and cycle seated for 60-90 seconds, rest 1-2 mins and repeat.

With those you are going to have to choose an appropriate weight that is a challenge to your heart, but is still going to work the muscles to an extent too.
 
Hi wardy I'm a male 5'7 weigh 66kg but have a high metabolism and would love to gain some muscle any ideas? Thanks
Dave
 
Sounds like you are already doing the right thing. Other things to consider using from time to time:

Megasets of squats - sets or 40-50 with, for you, approx 100kg on the bar.
Complexes - ie T NATION | Rebuild Yourself with Complexes
Kettlebells - something like this T NATION | The 10,000 Swing Kettlebell Workout
Spinning, hear me out on this one, on leg day set a spin bike up at high resistance and cycle seated for 60-90 seconds, rest 1-2 mins and repeat.

With those you are going to have to choose an appropriate weight that is a challenge to your heart, but is still going to work the muscles to an extent too.

Good stuff thanks dude, kb's are on my list for increasing PC strength over the next few months whilst I turn my deadlifting into less of a weakness.
 
Dave,

Keep it simple at first with multi muscle exercises and concentrate on adding weight to the bar regularly. Something like this will work wonders if done properly.

Monday

Squats 3 x 12 reps
Bench Press 3 x 12 reps
Rows 3 x 12 reps

Wednesday

Squats 3 x 12 reps
Overhead Press 3 x 12 reps
Lat Pull 3 x 12 reps

Friday

Squats 3 x 12 reps
Bench Press 3 x 12 reps
Rows 3 x 12 reps
Bicep Curls 3 x 12 reps
Tricep Pushdown 3 x 12 reps

The essential thing is to keep an accurate written log of all your training which about 95% of gym goers fail do to. The logging is important so you know what you are going to lift each session. So if on Friday you managed to bench press 40 kg for all 3 sets of 12 then on the next Monday you need to lift more, 42.5 kg normally and so on If, for example, you only managed 10 reps on your last set on the Friday then you repeat 40 kg on the Monday. This is simple progressive overload which works perfectly well for the majority of gym goers and is used effectively by top powerlifters and body builders too. Try this for 6 -8 weeks then post again with your results.

Also, you have to get the food in so on training days aim for about 3000 calories (healthy!) and non training days around 2500 calories and see how you get on. If you start gaining fat dial back, if you arent gaining anything (muscle or fat mass) add a bit more. Log it all.
 
Hi, Wardy
I'm male. 85kg aged 35. I was 105kg feb this year and did keto diet and circuit training for 6 months and went down to 75kg by end of august. Went on holiday in sept and have not done anything since hence my weight gain.

Now I want to get going again in the new year and finish off what I started last year which was to have a athletes body mainly like a footballer.

Could you give advice on nutrition and plans on weight training.

Thanks
H
 
H,

Sounds like you did too much cardio to me as that what most circuit training is in gyms these days. Try using the plan I posted for Dave (above) for 6-8 weeks.

Diet wise keep it simple, avoid hi GI carbs, anything processed etc. Also avoid all the pseudo health foods such as anything labelled as "low fat" such as Activia/Muller yogurts that have little nutrition and lots sugar.
Make sure you are getting enough protein in, approx 1.2 g per kg of lean body mass (your weight minus fat). This should come from diary products, green veg, fish etc as well as lean meat such as chicken and turkey.

You can use an app like myfitnesspall for calorie counting or follow the Schofield Equation:

Determination of the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR) - Schofield equation- Dieting and nutrition tool.
 
Nice of you to offer The wife and I are starting slimming world in the new year so I will probably have a couple of questions but basically I am hoping to loose the middle age spread the rest of me is skinny ish
but at 45 not expecting miracles
 
Luckysim,

Good luck with slimming world.

H,

I would just use cardio to warm up and cool down only, for now. So about 5-10 mins each with the heart rate no higher then 120 bpm.
 
You will need more on a keto diet to compensate for carbs. There is no harm in eating more protein as long as your overall calorie consumption does not get too high. I would keep it simple for now though.
 
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It's different for each person, we are all different. Choose something sensible and stick to it and see how you get on. Something like 40% carbs, 30% fats, 30% protein could be a good place to start.
 
Hi Wardy, first of thanks for the kind offer :)

I'm 19, male, 5'11" and weigh 70kg. I do regular exercise, mainly running and body weight stuff atm due to temporary lack of access to a gym right now. I would rank myself as slightly more muscular than average, can bench about 60 maximum last time I tried if that helps. Right now my abs are not very well defined and I want to build a six pack for the summer, any tips would be much appreciated :D if you want to know anything else just let me know, thanks again!

PS. Is there a way to estimate body fat percentage without specialist equipment?
 
Hi wardy!

I'm female age 21. I have put on two stone in the last year. I used to play rugby and football so when I stopped all my muscle turned to fat. My body shape is fine, I don't want to be skinny nor built I would just like to get rid of the wobbly bits. I do not necessarily want to change the shape of my body I would just like to tone up.

I'm thinking a combination of cardio and weights for me? Also how many days a week? Should I be taking protein shakes?

Thanks for the help!
 
Hi Wardy, first of thanks for the kind offer :)

I'm 19, male, 5'11" and weigh 70kg. I do regular exercise, mainly running and body weight stuff atm due to temporary lack of access to a gym right now. I would rank myself as slightly more muscular than average, can bench about 60 maximum last time I tried if that helps. Right now my abs are not very well defined and I want to build a six pack for the summer, any tips would be much appreciated :D if you want to know anything else just let me know, thanks again!

PS. Is there a way to estimate body fat percentage without specialist equipment?

You can only go so far building your abs with body weight exercises unless you have something like TRX. You build a lot of ab strength from the likes of heavy squats and deadlifts which you can not currently do. If you can find any way of doing weighted ab exercises then that will help. It is also no good have big abs if they are covered in fat so work on the diet.

You can by calipers for measuring body fat for a couple of quid on amazon.
 
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Hi wardy!

I'm female age 21. I have put on two stone in the last year. I used to play rugby and football so when I stopped all my muscle turned to fat. My body shape is fine, I don't want to be skinny nor built I would just like to get rid of the wobbly bits. I do not necessarily want to change the shape of my body I would just like to tone up.

I'm thinking a combination of cardio and weights for me? Also how many days a week? Should I be taking protein shakes?

Thanks for the help!

You need to get your diet under control and exercise more. Protein shakes should only supplement your diet if you can't get enough protein from meat, veg, nuts etc.

The chances are that when you stopped playing rugby then you carried on eating the same amount of calories despite that fact you no longer need as many.

There is seldom reason to train more than 3 times a week, if you can train more than that you probably aren't pushing yourself enough. Cardio has its place but adding muscle is far better at burning fat, giving a healthy shape and injury prevention.
 
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