DIET PLAN COMPLETED !

At last, it's complete!

The book is short and sweet and contains lots of great information for you guys to get leaner than Bruce Lee . . . after he died.

Check the right hand side of the blog for more info or click







When you get into awesome shape drop me a testimonial or at least leave a comment on the blog boasting about your washboard abs.

I am off to bed to dream about Paypal buttons, HTML, Ebooks and other such geeky stuff that was almost beyond the reach of this iron head, protein guzzler.


Testimonials from the guys who attempted the original draft of the Diet Plan -

"In January I tipped the scales at over 19st and decided to hit the road until a sprained ankle threatened derail my regime. I had read over Neil's thoughts on how weight training was the key to fat loss, I was skeptical but gave it a whirl, in less than 5 months I lost just under 6 stones in weight."

O.J. Liverpool

"The diet and food plan worked and is still working a treat! Cheers.
I'm now down to 14.8% body fat and have still retained muscle mass. (I was 18.6%)

I'm losing 2 lbs a week which is just perfect."

David

"I thought I knew about what I should/shouldn't be eating and when, however I pretty much noticed results in the first week of putting the principles into effect. I went from 16.5% Body Fat > 11.9%BF (goal was to get sub 12) and actually didn't lose any strength, which I was very surprised at. I had never even considered putting carbs in my post work out drink until Neil suggested it (being a bit carbophobic). I am now using the same principles to 'bulk' with minimal fat gains and although it’s only been a week I've got good results."

Marc

"When I started Neil’s diet plan in April I hadn’t seen my abs for a good few years. I’d tried other diets and followed advice from various sources, but it all seemed contradictory and overly complicated. Neil’s plan was simple to follow, clear and something I could stick to, without having to abandon all sorts of a social life! I started to notice the fat dropping off straight away, I also felt healthier and had more energy!

I was 15 stone in April. I’m now 12.5 stone and my body fat is down to 10%. (August)

Thanks Neil I owe you one!"

Hywel

"In April I was 13 stone and 17% body fat, I was disappointed to lose sight of my abs and wanted to get back down to 10%. After 3 months of using Neil's diet plan, I dropped to 12 stone with 10% body fat, which shows I have also gained some muscle! This is incredible and probably due to the absence of planned ‘cardio’ and the very nutritionally sound guidelines."

Ben Stretch, Lancaster

I saw your picture on your blog and the Men’s Health site – great stuff!

The diet is very good I have passed it on to a few of my friends! I have lost roughly 9lbs and I have not been that strict with it. As a guideline it is brilliant. I have eaten carbs everyday but have lowered them considerably and only consume carbs in the form of brown bread i.e. scrambled egg on toast or sandwich before gym.

Michael Coady

I e-mailed Neil for a copy of his cutting plan and in the space of 7-8 weeks I dropped 10lb of fat, whilst still improving strength on most of my lifts. Down to 12 stone 10 now and I can see my abs due to the shedding of body fat on the plan.

Can't thank you enough mate,

Adam.

"The plan set out by Neil keeps cutting simple. A straight forward approach to each meal, which can easily be tailored to suit your working day.

Using this plan over a four week period I lost half a stone in the first week alone. Most importantly I saw results in the mirror!"

Lee – Derby

The Diet Plan

Contains no gimmicks or bullshit advice.

You will not need to bring a calculator if you go out for a meal.

See how I got in shape for the Men's Health Competition.

What to eat and when to eat it to suit your goals and lifestyle.

Gym FAQ on what to do and what not to do.


BUYERS SO FAR -

“Just read the book, fab, defo worth the money, lots of great advice, well written, congrats on great job!”
GB

“I’ve spent the last 4 weeks trying to find a decent book regarding diet information as well as work out etc etc. I’ve searched everywhere and no-where seemed to have everything I wanted in one book. After buying the book only around 5 minutes ago at a glance it has everything I’ve been looking for, and from what I can tell a bargain at its price.”
Simon

“Just wanted to add a post for anyone undecided whether to buy the diet plan. I bought it today and have read it all and its quality - full of great tips and straight forward easy to understand advice. There’s no messing either, each page is useful information and there’s no pointless padding or flowery bullshit anywhere which is great. Anyone still wondering about parting with cash, its a worthy investment and most of all realistic - it doesn’t promise any crap like lose a stone in a week or whatever like some magazines etc.. meaning you have a real chance of incorporating this into your life rather than trying it for a few days before giving up due to its ridiculous conditions like a lot of magazine rubbish.

Top work fella, well worth the cash”
Craig

“Just read it... gotta say I'm impressed.
If anyone’s read the last diet plan, the best way I can describe it, is that the old one was like a conversation over a pint in the pub with a PT friend... whereas this one is like attending a fitness seminar with a good keynote speaker.”
Chris

“If you want to lose then you need the help of someone who knows his sh*t, hell you only to look at the guy to see this guy knows his sh*t..."
BBA

“Bought the plan on Monday and am well pleased with it.”
Tommy

“Got the plan earlier today and you have not disappointed!”
FP

“Mate I've just got round to finishing the read and I can say it's top drawer. For someone who is new to training and dieting I would heartily recommend it over anything else, there are good books for training, and good ones for eating right, but this covers the two and overlaps them really well. Considering myself as a relatively experienced trainer (nearly 3 years now) I've still picked up some great tips in there so it's definitely not just for the new guys”
Trane

Power Bar

I recently received an email which mentioned the Power Bar. Basically it's for doing chin ups at home but it doesn't require any screws or fittings. Portable too.




I haven't tried it as I don't train at home but it may be of interest to the guys that do. Check out the site and if its any good please let me know. I am happy to promote anything you guys find to be useful and could be of use to other readers.

Power Bar

Face Yoga

I was trying to make breakfast one morning and Rachael was literally wetting herself watching TV. Turns out there was a girl on a breakfast show demonstrating facial yoga. The picture shown is quite mild in comparison to some of the faces the woman on TV was pulling!

Would you go to a class and pull faces?

New Kit

This post is more of an expansion on my previous post detailing my weekly plan. Fitness First Newtownabbey has just received some great new kit which I want to throw into my new routine. Today I got to try this leg press machine which is great for something different on legs day.













Also new - a 'free bar preacher bench' which is probably one of my all time favourite exercises. The gym has a machine preacher bench but, as with most machines, the fixed pivots just make it too awkward to use so I very rarely bothered with it.












Finally - a decline bench press which is something I have only tried maybe once or twice. As with many people I have put a step under a bench to make a decline for dbell use but to have a proper place for them is excellent.












In my routine I had planned to bench press on tue / sat and make dips my chosen chest exercise on thur, but with this piece of kit I may just go for flat bench on tue, dips on thur and decline bench press on sat.

I'm not sure what other 'toys' are due to arrive (if any) but I'd like to give a shout out to Barry for picking this quality kit. The Hammer Strength stuff made by Life Fitness is excellent. If Barry wasn't so ugly I would kiss him. (And by ugly, I mean circus ugly)

New Routine !

Recently I was training with a textbook bodybuilding split. Just to hit each body part with more volume and reduced frequency.













My new routine is basically the opposite. I've went back to increased frequency and dropped the volume to fit extra body parts / lift into my hour in the gym. I also started playing football during the week, nothing major, just a bit of astro turf footie with the older brother and a few guys from his work.

Ok my new week -

Mon - Legs -
lots of the big lifts as well as good morning which I haven't done in ages and varied super set with calves and split squats.

Tue - Upper body -
Includes bench press, flys, bent over rows, straight arm pull downs, clean presses from waist and side raises. The compound lifts = 5 sets of 7 and the isolation stuff = 2 x 20 with little rest.

Wed - Football - All short bursts - none of that steady state stuff :-)

Thur - Upper body -
Different exercises and rep ranges. I plan on doing body weight stuff like chins / dips and I might just try to go for reps on this day rather than concentrate on weight.

Fri - Legs -
I am considering starting with stiff legged dead lifts rather than having quads hit first on mon and fri with the footie in the middle. I may just duplicate mondays workout and play it by ear. If I feel its too quad dominant I'll mix it up.

Sat - Upper body-
Repeat the heavy upper day I did on tue. Use the same rep ranges but heavier than tue.


The volume has been dropped to fit more into each workout but its fine as the frequency has increased. This workout is also totally different to my last few weeks which will be good for me both mentally and physically.

Thanks to Thomas at the North Belfast News for the Photograph.

What is it ?

Q - Any ideas what this piece of kit is for ?


A - Highlight invisible text for answer -

Its a harness which helps you front squat. Check link below picture for more info.







LINK

Worst Biceps Ever

And the award goes to . . . drum roll . . . . .

Blogs Birthday !

I was just checking through an old post there and discovered that the blog is just a few days away from its first birthday!

What started as a hobby for me to rant about the fitness industry gimmicks and to log my own gym progress has now developed into a global source of information for guys as far a field as Australia.




In the beginning I started with literally a handful of people logging into the site each week - now there are hundreds every day which just totally amazes me.


Id like to say thanks for all the kind comments and emails which have helped me keep the site going - If this blog helps just one person get the body they want then its all been worth it (lol , what a load of clique bullshit)

Fitness Made Difficult !

Charles Poliquin

"Fasted vs. Semi-fasted morning cardio? I don't agree with either. We're made to throw a rock at the rabbit, not to chase it. We're basically anaerobic animals. The quickest way to get lean is through diet."

- Charles Poliquin






Charles Poliquin is my all time favourite coach. He comes out with top notch advice for real world body transformation although his forte is working with athletes.

Check out some of his articles and tell me this guy isn't the dogs balls.

Articles

Poll Results !

A Personal Trainer should be -

1st - Lean and Muscular - 59% of total votes
2nd - In better shape than the client - 38% of total votes
3rd - Fit and flexible - 9% of total votes
4th - Big and strong - just 4% of total votes


The reason I set this poll was due to the number of conversations I had witnessed online by guys talking about the staff in their gym being out of shape. This poll reinforces what I have said in previous posts - if you want to work as a Personal Trainer you don't need to be Superman but being lean, muscular and in better shape than your clients will make your job a whole lot easier.

The Rock Workout !

Not a million miles away from the Sean Sherk workout video I posted a while back. Lots of speed work and explosive lifts rather than steady state running in one direction. I might try those towel chin ups he does at the end. I saw them mentioned in a magazine years ago but never actually tried it.

Good news and bad news

First, the bad news - I didn't win the competition but you can check out the winner on the Men's Health UK site. He is also featured on the cover of the October edition of the magazine. (Available on the 10Th of September).

Secondly, the good news - Men's Health want me to work for them on their recently improved website. My role as Online Fitness Editor / Advisor will see me answering questions and doing what I do best - going on and on about lifting weights ! Details to be confirmed this month.

Not winning is obviously disappointing but the job offer is great for me and my career in the long run. I imagine it can only benefit me as a Personal Trainer and I enjoy writing about training as much as I love teaching all things training related.

Stay tuned and I will pass on the details as they come to light.

PS - The awards party in London was excellent. What a night !