Hola from Crete!

Ok, so I dont know how to say hello in Greek, but its sunny so Hola will have to do! I am using the internet in our hotel which costs a fortune and thus this will be the fastest ever blog entry in history - expect spelling mistakes and grammatical errors!

Quick update -

- We still havent trained but did get a sports massage yesterday. Not bad and my legs feel it today but I wanted to really get my arsed kicked and he wasnt rough enough. I like it rough.

- Funny how different the diet is on holiday. Lots of carbs. . all the time. Chips everyday at least once with ice cream to wash it down! 6 meals per day has become three over here. Protein is about 6 grams per day for feck sake.

- Police over here fine you 200 euros if you and the missus are bombing about on a motorbike tryig to get a tan in just shorts and no helmet. Have to pay that tomorrow, bastards.

- I thought I was in good shape coming out here but I must admit that its easier to look a whole lot better if you stand near an overweight german in his speedos!

Can't wait to get home and back in action. I may just lay off the weights for the whole 2 weeks and start fresh when I get back. In saying that though they have aqua aerobics here at the complex which looks pretty hardcore - a few of the chicks that do it look ripped to the max (lies)

Au Revoir!

Kettlebells

When Kettlebells came along, as with most gimmicks (bosu ball cough cough) I was quick to say nah, not my thing. But they have stuck around and after closer examination seem to be ideal for many guys and girls looking to get buff.

A kettlebell is basically a cast iron bowing ball with a handle.














Don't get me wrong. I won't be putting an end to dead lifts or squats in place of these bad boys but I will look at some of their pro's -

* Not everyone has the time to get to the gym and home gym kit can eat up space and money if you want to buy the proper kit (power racks etc).

* The kettlebell introduces variety to any workout which is always a bonus and unlike many fads out there you have room for overload and progression - vital for gains.

* Unlike exercises which target the chest or back, the majority of kettlebell work hits the whole body. Again great for the busy guy with an eye on the clock.

One of the guys on my plan swears by these bad boys and has been happy enough to give me both a testimonial and a few KB links -

Stephen -

"I am 40 this year, and felt had to do something about it, i did not want to be another fat 40 year old bloke. I looked around for advice, but too many plans were either not flexible enough for my lifestyle (i work international offshore, and travel a lot on long haul flights) or just seemed plain stupid. I found mention of Neil's Diet plan on the Men's health forums, and decided to buy it. I was most impressed, for once here was a sensible plan, easy to follow and flexible enough to fit it with my life style.

I also realized that the reason i put on weight was my eating habits had got so bad, that even the exercise i was taking did not make a difference.
I started implementing Neil's rules and started adopting his exercise ideas, I had fell into the long slow cardio trap which just did not work. I started using free weights, body weight routines and kettle bells as my main workouts and have also recently started kick boxing The fat has fell off, after 4 months i am back to 93kg and feel as fit as i have ever been to be honest. . "

Work in progress . .










Stephen's Kettlebell links -

Mike Mahler
Dragons Door
Exercises you can try


Right, I'm off to a swingers party, kettlebell swingers that is :p

Holiday !

We booked a holiday a month or two ago and that time is almost upon us. On Tuesday we head off to the Vasia Beach Hotel and Spa in Crete!

Rather than bore you with my itinerary of lying about on the beach getting oiled up, I will cover the questions everyone asks when I mention holidays . .

"So Neil, will you train?"

Yeah, I will. I just can't help it. Don't expect me to be knocking out one rep maxes on the front squats but I reckon the odd set of curls or push downs will be enough to keep me ticking over mentally. (I feel skinny if I don't pump iron, its true :p)

"Will the diet go tits up?"

Hot weather does kill the appetite so although I will be eating out, I wont be eating as much or as often. I will pretty much eat what I want when I want it for the 2 weeks.

As you know, I like to work on an Upper / Lower split but for the next three days I am going for more of a bodybuilding routine. I plan to hit chest and shoulders 2 moro, legs on monday and back and bis before I head off on tue. With this sort of split I plan to really wreck myself with volume I am not used to and in corporate some bodybuilding techniques such as drop sets and forced reps. Its just something a bit different for me and the holiday gives me a good chance to recover. When I arrive home I plan to do a full body routine to take the cob webs out, mma the next day, then back to a split routine.

With being away and Rach saying I cannot use a computer at all, I will be pretty limited in terms of posts and comments but will do my best to make you all jealous :-)

Expect pics of me in July looking like this -

Shout out . .

I wanted to do a quick blog entry just to give a shout out to a few guys I know. Check out the Myspace tunes of Andy and Marty and tell me what you think. These guys write, sing and perform a lot of their own stuff which I always find very fecking impressive.

ANDYS MYSPACE - Listen to 'meet your maker' and 'not that day'. My 2 favourites.

MARTYS MYSPACE - This is his own stuff (check out 'dirty tuesdays') but he also does some pretty good swing stuff!

Should also say that Marty is a client and good friend. At his fattest he was touching 19 stone. Not now though. I think he is about 13 and a half with a 6 pack at maybe 6'2 in height. Will get better pics off when he gets back from Turkey with a tan (he is super vain :-)



Before























More recent






















Listening to you both at the mo and I have yet to hear a song mention my website ??!?! Just throw a neilmct dot com in there somewhere before you hit the big time.

Quick update

(Rach was taking this pic and told me to lean my shoulders forward a bit which gives me a fecking hunch back - thanks Rach for making me look like Quasimodo)













Just a quick update.

After bulking up to about 14'10 I have now cut down to about 14' 2 ish. Just 8 pounds off in about the same number of weeks.

Excellent result as my goal was steady fat loss without losing any muscle at all. I actually feel like I have added muscle all over and unlike last year I didn't need to drop size. My goal was to stay as close to 14 stone as possible.

Strength is pretty good to with 140kg on the front squat for 3 after a few work sets.
(I was dropping 130kg less than a year ago and I only started front squats again last month).

I had my body fat tested on 2 electronic machines in work just out of curiosity and while one had me at 15% another put me at 8%. These machines can vary greatly depending on how dehydrated you are, how lean you are already etc. Best to go by how you look. (I used the 2 machines just to show how different results can be depending on the methods).

Not long until my holidays so I plan to train full on until then and rest as much as possible when I'm away

Crazy Kids

Gymnasts always impress me. Gymnasts that haven't yet discovered acne and chicks. Even more impressive!








MORE VIDEOS FROM THESE CRAZY KIDS

Neil McT Gym . . .

I'd love some feedback from the regulars on here. I have always dreamed of my own gym but have often been put off by rent, rates, etc. But what if it could be done, how would it be done?

(I did ask this a while ago on another blog entry but every month I see new readers and always appreciate new input)

Heres my idea -

1 - A one to one studio.
2 - Staff handpicked by me and all trained in my methods.
3 - Hand picked kit based on effectiveness, not want people think they need (ie ab crunchers, leg abductors).
4 - Healthy eating section with quality supplements.
5 - Results based.


To go into a bit more detail lets break it down.

1 - Large gyms can intimidate people and Monday night at 5.30 can seem like a war zone in any gym chain. A 1 to 1 studio would have less peaks and troughs like a regular gym as many users would be self employed / own their own businesses and not be tied to the 9 to 5 shift.
2 - As I would be overlooking the studio I would be choosing staff and training staff in the same way. Rather than a gym with 10 trainers telling you 10 different things you would have no confusion.
3 - When people tour a gym they see rows of machines and fancy kit. Often the kit can look the part but be useless. The great thing with having my own place would be the fun I could have choosing my own kit.
4 - Look around your gym when you next call in to train. You may see chocolate bars, crisps or other 'not great' foods on offer. I would like to have a healthy food bar where you could pick up fresh turkey breasts etc
5 - Looking at ordinary gyms people are attracted by the pool, sauna, steam room, classes etc. In my studio the results would sell the memberships. Join this gym and work with us and you will look great and feel great. Forget about paying membership for a pool you will never even dip your toes in. Join here to train, not arse about.

Your thoughts would be great -

What problems would there be?
Is it economically viable?


I would love to add other things like a sports massage area or a mixed martial arts area but for the mo lets just consider the gym side of it. :-)