wow! Interview with The UK’s Leading Fat Loss Expert
Posted under: Hi guys and gals,
I Just thought I would share this with you, as I had a rather interesting interview request this week! I was really privileged and felt quite humbled yet really excited to be asked to do an interview by the UK’s leading fat loss expert- Paul Mort of thefitnesscamp.co.uk .
Paul tours the UK and Europe teaching Personal Trainers and fitness instructors how to get great results and he’s personally mentored me.
Here’s some of the interview we did:
PM: So Matt , can you tell us a little bit about how you got into the business of weight loss and a little about your journey. I know you love to keep in the best shape possible.
ML: Hi Paul firstly thanks for asking me to talk to you about my journey fitness profession. I feel that perhaps compared to others mine is relatively short and I still learn every day but I have learnt a lot in that time! I really got into Personal Training about 2 years ago, when I started my company, Functionally Aware Fitness, based in Launceston, Cornwall. Things really haven’t looked back since; I have built up a very committed and successful client base that has really reaped the rewards of structured and systemized training.
I actually started my fitness journey back at 16 where I worked at my local leisure centre as a gym instructor giving generic gym inductions; I knew then that I wanted more! I then went to University in Cardiff to study Sport and PE and continued my vocational fitness qualifications. I then went to Los Angeles, to work at the world famous Gold’s Gym, Venice Beach, you know the one where Arnie trained?! It was nuts! I learnt a lot and this really showed me the direction I wanted to go in! I travelled to Long beach whilst I was there and attended the World Functional Training Summit hosted by Perform Better. I met so many awesome trainers and coaches here, and one of them was JC Santana. I needed to find out more, so I invested in a mentorship with JC at his world famous Institute of Human Performance and had the best week of my life. That guy, is so humble and knowledgeable, it’s ridiculous!! Here I took my Functional Training Specialist qualification and headed back to UK with some awesome ideas.
Since then I have been working with my clients to help them shed body fat in a fast, safe and sustainable way which has helped me to develop to where I am currently. I actually put together an online fat loss programme, which people are following at the moment. It has daily emails, videos, a nutritional plan, and much more with typical results ranging from 7lbs-22lbs lost in 4 weeks, with inches lost all over but particularly round the midrift and hips!
Today, I am really enjoying the variety of clientele I have and it keeps me buzzing and striving for more each day, Love it!!haha
PM: Wow, you really have ‘been there, done that’ in a very quick time frame. Now let’s get into the meat of the interview. What would you say are the 3 MOST IMPORTANT things when it comes to losing body fat?
ML: wow!! Well that’s a great question, I would say that there are way more than three, but if I had to pick three?!!…..
Umm… well firstly, you have to eliminate all sources of intolerance, whether it is dairy, wheat, alcohol, chocolate, processed foods, pasta etc it doesn’t matter. You need to eat clean, wholesome foods, high in nutrient value as opposed to calorific value. You really need bang for your buck when it comes to eating well.
Secondly, you need to choose the right intensity of exercise! A lot of people simply don’t train hard enough. My moto is, ‘if you are healthy, you must train hard’. What I mean is that you dint have to beast yourself every day, but none of this 30 minutes steady stuff on the treadmill, followed by 15 minutes steady on the bike, that’s a waste of your time and money!
The third…well this could one of a few but I will stick my neck out and say perseverance. I think you have to go through some tough periods of training where some results are not as great as others, but all of a sudden, BANG, you will blast through that and come running out of the other side. So when it gets tough, pick yourself up and kick ass!
PM: Great stuff. So what would you say are the 3 BIGGEST MISTAKES you’re seeing people make?
ML: That’s a bit easier Paul, too much sugar, too little sleep and a lack of preparation. Sugar came to my mind first as this is such a hidden horror when it comes to fat loss, as people read the packet and see low fat, but that instantly says to me high in sugar! As you know sugar is responsible for the insulin spike that leads to massive fat storage. The sleep is crucial as well. Cortisol another hormone , responsible for a lot of fat storage and the depression of our thyroid , which is supposed to keep us happy and keep our metabolism revved up to the max! Cortisol also tells our body to hold on to fat and sugar and use protein as an energy source. Disaster! It feels weird me telling you this Paul, but I guess your readers may enjoy reading it, but cortisol rises between 10pm and 2 am and this time is crucial for mental and physical repair and by going to bed you have instantly halved your potential to repair and replenish your body. You do need to be shooting for 7-8 hours per night and get into bed around 10pm at least 4 nights per week. Preparation, it’s a cliché, but ‘fail to prepare, prepare to fail’. It’s so true though, when you are trying to lose body fat you cannot afford to get caught short when it comes to your food and exercise routine. Lack of prep in the kitchen means you will choose sugary snacks when you get low on energy, horrific for insulin levels and the nutritional stress you are placing on your body! When it comes to exercise, you need to have a planned and periodised programme otherwise you don’t know what you are doing from one session to the next! Not good, you wouldn’t get on a plane if you didn’t know where it was going would you!! Well some people might I guess.
PM: you know, I see those all the time too and it makes me a little sad. So what would you say to motivate someone to finally get into great shape, even if they’ve tried everything?
ML: I would say that ultimately, you get one crack in this world, be the best you can! Don’t take the easy option, strive something better each time. Try to be really good at one thing to start with and be determined. One thing I am instilling with my clients is that they are in control of the processes that will ultimately lead them to their end goal. What I mean is, go to your PT sessions, do your home workouts, follow your nutritional plan given to you and you will end up at your end goal, but focus on the how and not the result, as you are in control of the process but not necessarily the end result!
PM: You have been telling me that you are going to starting your fitness camps in the 2011. Can you tell me a little bit more about them and the training and nutrition plan that seems to be getting superb results?
ML: Yea sure, again I feel honoured that you want to know what I am doing, seeing as you are the UK’s leading boot camp owner. Right, I am in the early stages of the prep for it, but I have got the nutritional plan ready for the camp members, the sessions are almost there, just need a venue for my evening camps, got the morning one sorted. I am setting up a community network for my camp members so they can have a sense of community and share ideas and get to know more people. One of my goals for 2011 is to reach more people in 2011 and this is going to help a lot of people, I hope! I have sorted out a link with a local restaurant as well. They will be serving food that’s fully compliant with my nutritional plan; this will be amazing I am so excited about that! What else……..I guess this will be very different to a show up when you want class, I am not into that at all! So my fitness camp won’t be for everyone, I expect commitment and dedication; it’s a two way thing though, as you know, because this is similar to the model you use in South Shields!
PM: Sounds amazing, in fact a lot of the principles make complete sense. So where can people find out more about you?
ML: yea, if they head over to www.fa-fitness.co.uk and use the contact us page or they can email me at info@fa-fitness.co.ukThis e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and I will personally respond. If they want they can call me on 07841136302 and will be more than happy to help.
PM: Thanks so much for your time Matt, amazing stuff you are doing down there, hopefully we can hook up soon.
ML: My pleasure Paul, take it steady.
IHP – Day 5
One word.
WOW
It’s extremely hard to explain just how amazing this past week has been. Mind blowing stuff, and capped off this afternoon with the most intense, and stimulating lecture I have ever experienced. I’ll take you back to the start of today.
We got to IHP bright and early this morning, and managed to get in a sneaky workout prior to the start of the days program, which really set us up for the day. The morning kicked off with a lecture from Elvin, another one of IHP’s fantastic trainers. We looked through business skills, the importance of education, philosophy, and communication through JC’s CLUEPRO model.
We then had a session with Cesar in which we went through the Fitmoves protocols. This is an excellent way to train people in small groups for an amazing aerobic and strength workout at the same time, and follows the 4 pillars of human movement also. The way it works is an aerobic exercise in the centre (such as stepping, crossovers, skipping, or a million other methods), and then one exercise for each pillar of human movement around the outside (so one push/pull, one locomotion, one rotation and one level change). This is the very same method of training that Cesar used himself prior to becoming an IHP trainer, and lost 3 stone in fat, and now stands in incredible shape. Bottom line = IT WORKS! He then took us through a few other protocols and methods of training, and threw in a bunch of cool aerobic exercises too.
After that, we had a little time off, which enabled us to get a little prep in ready for our Functional Training Specialist exam which we were set to complete in the evening. Following on from that, JC gave an inspirational lecture, in which he developed what Elvin had already gone through with regard to business and philosophy, and then went into the 4 L’s. Live, Love, Learn, and Legacy. To some, initially, these will just be words, but when interpreted and developed upon in the manner in which JC has done, you can see how each one has helped forge the legacy that is IHP and JC Santana. When broken down as they have been, those 4 words are all you need to worry about in business and in life, and by ensuring all 4 are as good as is humanly possible, success is there for you, whether you’re wanting to make £1 million, lose 10lbs, become a professional athlete, or simply maximise your human potential.
An hour or so after this lecture, the three of us from the UK sat the Functional Training Specialist Exam, and JC was so excited to see the results that he had them marked within the hour. The result? All passed with flying colours and we have now become the ONLY people in the whole of EUROPE with this certification, and everything that it and IHP stands for. This however is just the beginning, as the journey is longer than a week, longer than a year, longer than 10 years. But for now, what’s next is this. In July 2010, myself, Andy Sloan, and Danny Hague have been invited to come back out here to Florida as assistant coaches for the next IHP International Mentorship. The opportunity to help other people from the all over the globe to gain what we have in this week is a real honour and privilege, and we can’t wait to get back out here.
Tomorrow we’re popping back down to IHP with JC to hammer some last minute training, but then it’s back to the UK, ready to give YOU, even more amazing results.
I’ll soon be posting a pile of videos from the week so that you can get even more insight into what’s been happening here, as well as an interview with JC that we have just come back from filming.
Have a great day.
Matt
IHP – Day 4
Day 4……this week is going far too fast! JC picks us up from the hotel and we head to IHP, with some Santana (the guitarist) music in the background on the CD player.
The first lecture was taken by JC, this was probably the best so far…not quite sure how they keep getting better and better but they do! We learnt about programme design and the stages required to optimise performance. With this we learnt how to adapt this to help clientele with limited time or specific individual needs.
We discussed the volumes and frequency required to train each sub section of a programme in a progressive manor. We later focused on power; this can be a combination of force and speed or amount of work done in a specific amount of time. JC shared with us some of his latest findings from the training floor about how to improve power and how to measure increases in power just using a stop watch to record time. This kind of information is not in any books, journals or any publications at present, so it is great to get our hands on this to give our clients the benefit as early as possible.
JC presented us with a very clear and easy to follow template for programme design that takes all the element of risk of leaving a particular movement pattern out of a training programme away. We then talked about the transfer from training room to outside world. JC then discussed his opinions on the need to not over emphasise the increase in absolute strength but more to develop strength you can use. For example, on a rugby field it’s unlikely that you will need to pick up more than 200Kg, so there is no need to keep striving to improve this 200kg figure, why not strive to improve your ability to pick someone up and throw them backwards. This is where the functional exercises give you the edge, transferring absolute strength into something you can use in whatever situation it may be. He is not saying that you don’t need to be absolutely strong to perform well, but when you get to this level, perhaps it’s more beneficial to work on transferring this into a powerful specific movement, rather than worrying whether you can lift 5Lb’s more!
JC also shared his views on the over training culturisation that surrounds swimming and endurance sports. He proposed that most endurance athletes train too much because they believe that because this is how it was done before, and internationally, this is how they do it in my country so this is how I must train! We need to replace high quantity with high quality. Ultimately it’s not the person who trains the most that wins; it’s the person whose training is most effective that will win!
A practical illustration of this is a swimmer who does a 30 length warm up and swims 10 x 100m and 5 x 150m sprints. If the swimmers event is 50m, then why not train at the pace you want to achieve but for shorter distances, so you know how it feels to go at that pace not at sub maximal paces over distances that aren’t even applicable to your sport.
Right that’s it for me…..tomorrow is the last day…lectures and practical in the morning, then the Functional Training Specialist exam and then a workout with JC to finish me off.
Catch you tomorrow
Matt
IHP – Day 3
Wednesday started early with an observation of Conan Silveira, ( the owner of the American Top Team workout. This was another chance to see the triplexes (combination of 3 exercises) in action, with a strength emphasis. He was doing a heavy exercise, followed by a cable/band exercise then followed with a Stability ball exercise. All of these exercises were specific to the movements performed in MMA.
The first lecture of the day was with Griff Fig, IHP’s most senior trainer. Griff discussed the need for rotation exercises for the improvement of speed. This was illustrated with a video analysis of a top Olympic sprinter. This rotation is a result of core strength from the ground up, so implications in terms of core exercise prescription need to be based around exercises that are performed in a standing position.
We then discussed various warm ups and how to integrate dynamic movements that are specific to the movements performed in the actual working sets. Griff then highlighted how traditional exercises can be paired with functional exercises to provide the performance related gains that every client is looking for.
The afternoon session was a practical with Cesar (another excellent IHP Trainer) and this was a chance for us to feel how a biplex (e.g. 2 exercises- one traditional paired with a functional exercise working opposite muscle groups) or a Triplex (e.g. Pushing exercise followed by a pulling and a core exercise) session would be for a client. I really like the triplex as it allows the fitness professional to create a great balance between upper and lower body work and upper or lower body balance/core work.
I then finished off the day with a Legs dominated training session with Cesar, based around the biplex method. I concentrated on a heavy first exercise followed by a functional exercise for the back of the core, as my abs were on fire from Tuesday. Here’s how it looked!
1. Barbell Squats (3×12) (Heavy legs)
2. Reverse Hyperextensions on Stability Ball (3 x 15) (Functional back)
1. Dumbell Split Squat (3×10 each leg) (Heavy legs)
2. Band Swimmers to Bicep Curl (3 x 15) (Functional back)
1. Barbell Deadlift (3 x 10) (Heavy Legs)
2. Band Step & Press (3 x 20) (Functional chest and front core)
Wednesday night was the IHP Mentorship social where the trainers, ‘mentorees’ and JC went out for the evening. This was a great chance to find out more about the diverse backgrounds and interests that all the trainers have, which is what makes IHP such a special place and is one of the reasons why IHP’s Training Systems are the best in the world, proven by results!
Speak soon
Matt
IHP – Day2
Day 2 started with a workout with JC, we did 5 exercises in a circuit, with 30 seconds work and 15seconds rest for 40 minutes nonstop! This included ropes, stability balls, grip trainers, slings, hydraulic push pulls and a lot of effort! So we were all set up nicely for the day!
The first seminar of the day was a one where we discussed the biomechanics of the core musculature and the applied applications for a number of exercises and movement patterns. Carlos, explained also, the implications when we are trying to improve the performance of various movements for our clients.
Once we had finished this we had the privilege of being invited to watch the American Top Team training. For those of you who haven’t heard off the ATT, they are Mixed Martial Arts and Ultimate Fight Championship professional fighters. We observed a conditioning session and talked with the fighters after the session, gaining a great insight into some different ways to condition and train for different movements.
Then we headed back to IHP and we discussed Body weight training circuits, both indoors and outdoors. Cesar, one of IHP’s top trainers discussed the design of top circuits for improving agility and body composition, which will be an invaluable reference tool for when we get back to the UK.
We finished the day with a brutal session of short but very intense sprints towing a 150lb tyre! Look out for pictures and videos soon!
Take care
Matt
IHP – Day 1
So here we are at the end of day 1 of our IHP mentorship, and we have started with a bang.
First up was the great man himself, JC Santana, discussing the IHP philosophy and the 4 pillars of human movement. This basically defines the way in which we move as individuals, ranging from top level athletes to the elderly. At IHP and Functionally Aware Fitness we train movements not individual muscles. Heres a brief outline of the 4 Pillars:
- Locomotion- being the way in which we move
- Pushing/Pulling
- Level Changes-moving the bodies center of mass
- Rotation
These 4 categories enable us as fitness professionals to design training programmes for clients that get great results. This allow us to assess muscular strengths and weaknesses and implement progressive training exercises and protocols for anyone. We then spent an hour with one of IHP’s senior trainers, where we looked at functional assessment methods, addressing posture and correct techinques for key movement patterns.
The day then moved to a practical element where we were observing and taking part in the UFC Fighter training circuits , getting to rub shoulders and train with some of the top fighters in UFC, including Cole Miller, a recent winner of the best submission in the UFC. It was great to see the 4 pillars in action and at the same time as you see a young tennis hopeful and an OAP using the same philosophy, but with different exercises and intensities.
The end of the day finished with a Professional volleyball circuit. This was a circuit that was designed to really improve all aspects of strength and conditioning needed for beach volleyball. These included an integration of some of the more succesful traditional exercises, with some of the latest functional exercises really mimicing the movements in the sport.
Tommorrow is going to start with a bang, 7:30am where Myself, Andy, Joel and Danny are having a training session with Carlos Santana.
Catch you all tomorrow.
Matt
IHP Mentorship – The Day Before
Functionally Aware Fitness heads to the IHP, Florida
So, I’m currently in my hotel room with my good friend Andy Sloan from Procision Fitness in Boca Raton, Florida, at the end of the first of what will be 7 amazing days.
We are out here with another 2 fitness professionals, Joel Proskewitz and Danny Hague, about to embark on a journey with the world’s leading functional training expert, Juan Carlos Santana, right here in Florida at the Institute of Human Performance
The reason for our trip here is to be part of the first ever international IHP functional training mentorship program, and to become the first people in the UK to gain qualification as an IHP Functional Training Specialist, while working with the no. 1 man in the industry.
For those who do not know about JC Santana, check out his bio here http://ihpfit.com/component/comprofiler/userprofile/jcs.html for some info into just why he is one of, if not the, most sought after fitness expert in the world.
Through completing the 5 day mentorship and qualification, we will spend 5 intense days (more than 40 hours) working with JC and his top trainers. We will be gaining first hand insight and experience into his world renowned training protocols and systems that he has developed over an amazing career spanning for well over 30 years, and now implements with everyone from world class athletes to CEO’s, to stay at home mums and rehabilitation clients.
This mentorship is going to enable myself, Andy, Joel and Danny, to further enhance the services we provide our clients with day in day out, helping them get better results, faster and even more effectively than ever before. The knowledge that we will be acquiring here really is priceless, and is going to be invaluable for us all to provide the highest quality of service and performance to our clients.
Over the next week, I’ll be writing a daily blog, detailing exactly what it is we have been going through here, so you can gain just a little insight into what is to come in the future of Functionally Aware Fitness, and Andy’s Dorset based organisation, Procision Fitness.
Enjoy
Stride Cornwall
Stride Cornwall , Lanhydrock on the 15th November for Cancer Research UK
On Sunday 15th of November I took part in the Stride Cornwall walk at Lanhydrock House, near Bodmin. The day was a great success, with 500 people taking part; together we raised over £32000 for Cancer Research UK. As you can see from the photos I dressed as the Pink Panther, this seemed like a great idea at the start. By the end I think the costume had absorbed 5Kg of water in each leg. This, coupled with my trainers acting like slicks in the Cornish mud, made for some exciting climbs and descents around the route- all for a good cause though! Thanks to http://www.equafleece.co.uk/ for supplying the ‘Dog Tankie’ for my dog, kept her dry and clean for the journey home!
Pinkest Person
As you can see, I fulfilled the promise of being head-to-toe in pink and was easily the most pink person there and made it into the newspaper. Even the cheeks were pink by the end of the walk -the fur was toastie!
You’ll all be glad to hear that at the half-way station I opted for fruit over a Mars bar. Good nutrition at all times!
Muddy legs
Note the muddy legs (great weight training!!)
I would like to thank everyone who kindly sponsored me, and if there is anyone who would still like to sponsor, I will leave my ‘Just Giving’ page open for another week, until 27th November 2009. http://www.justgiving.com/MattLuxton
Gold’s Gym Testimonial
Testimonial from Gold's Gym
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