The Uneducated PT Podcast - #30 Q&A With special guest - Sean Lochran

Episode Date: May 20, 2024

In this episode we do a Q&A after a presentation with special guest Sean Lochran 

You'd think after doing some of these I would be able to do it. It's just because I've got an old laptop and I'm on a Mac now and see their windows. Yeah, no, it's just. Sure, so we can do it after anyway. I have a couple of questions anyway. Hema has a few questions that she wants to ask as well. Hema goes, maybe I missed it, but when is the best time to test with increased load or more reps? So, yeah, so when's the best time to actually, like, I know you touched on it there,

that you don't have to progressively overload every week and sometimes that people will end up sacrificing good form for just increasing the weight all the time. And like you're not going to go up in weight all the time. You're not going to go up in reps all the time, especially the longer you've been training. But when do you think would be the best time for someone to test that, to increase that load

or to add more reps in, do you think? Well, if you're looking, just say, for instance, to get between 10 to 12 reps, just say, if you're getting beyond that then it's time to bump up the weight slightly but expect to have less reps so again once you do that you might not be able to get to your 10 reps

you might end up only 8 so then all you're doing is you're in a lower rep range so then you're either looking for to build up the reps on the weight that you were at a be a bit more before you can back down or else you're just going to stick to that and build the reps back up to the 12 that you were at it really depends on the exercise and what's the reason for the reprise that you're looking to do.

I find the one that I have the greatest challenge with testing load or reps is on things like flat pull down and the cable roll. Yep. So it's because it's too much a jump going from where the pin is to the next pin. Oh dear, Sean. I like I like the way you look and I like the way you sound, but dude, I can't understand every word you say. No, sorry. So you see the pins on the weight stack?

Is it because you're going down one and it's too heavy for you? On to the next pin, if you get what I mean? So it's, so Carl would know this. I'm kind of stuck at doing the same load for quite a lot. long time. And I, it's, um, I think it's probably form. Like from time to time, I, I do feel a bicep engaged, mostly my right bicep sometimes on a lap bull down. For example, the cable row is not quite the same problem. Um, so yeah, I'm just, I don't know if the idea is to go down and do like say 15 reps at a lower weight.

And because you only have a certain amount that you can increase right at the gym. That's the other thing. So it's like you're jumping from 60 to 70. There's no 65 in some instances, right? So we're a 61. And so with a 70, say I could do like 8 to 10. With a 60 I could do maybe up to 15. but I do feel from time to time the bicep is less engaged.

So it sounds to me like when I'm rationalizing it, that it's a form thing. But I'm just stuck. I'm stuck at what should I do? Should I stay at the 60 or 65 and just continue to do the 15 and weight it out to see if I can increase the reps on that before I try increasing the load? So how long have you been stuck for? Well, so I'm going back based on memory. I've been out of the gym for a while with an injury. But I think I was stuck for like, I don't know, four weeks probably or three.

Yep. So we could be looking at the forum to start off way. If you're engaging your bicep, your kind of a width might be in a wee bit. So you want to be bringing that out a wee bit more. but again if it's on the especially if it's on the lap pull down

you could there's two ways that you could look at it so you could bring the bar down a bit then pin the stack which means there's a lower

motion so you're only going up that so then you can get used to the heavier load at just a shorter range and then go back and then go back into the kind of a more range

and that way once you get down you're already used to the lower portion of the movement. Either that or if your gym has got like a wee kind of a small 1.25 kilo disc you can then just pin that to the stack. Yeah, that's what I was going to say. I'd say because if it's a 10 kilo jump,

that's a huge jump, especially the first, like you might be able to jump up 10, 20 kilos a lift when you're first starting out on the gym. But like after a while, once you start to go up and up and up, the gaps for you improving or progressively overloading gets smaller and smaller. So I'd say the same as Sean there. It's like once you start to get, let's say a certain number on, let's say the lap hold down, let's say you're pulling 70 kilos or you're pulling 60 kilos.

And it's too big of a jump to go from that to 70 or 65 even, like a 1.25 kilo plate and putting that on top of it, that's not actually part of the lap pulldown machine, just so you can get that small increments of push. Okay. And that the idea of range is an excellent tip as well. I've adjusted that, but not on my own will. It's because others are messing around with it. And so when I get to the machine, I'm like, why is it like that?

Anyway, so great tip there. Thank you. Sean, Annalisa, I said, do you recommend some mobility stretching before or after your workout or bow? see this is a funny topic because some people will say to do some mobility stretches before you go to exercise and other people will say to wait after. Now you want to do a warm up in my opinion before that's just basically getting yourself moving getting a blood flow everywhere. I don't really

recommend stretching too much before it again it just depends if you're going to be doing some squatting and you've got tight hips on that you might want to stretch them out before you do it and so it really just depends. It really just depends. and how you're feeling and what you're going to work that day. So if you're sore somewhere, maybe try and stretch out a bit before you workout.

But if you're feeling fine, it's just about getting loose and getting ready to exercise. Yes. Some of the mistakes I used to make, I don't know if you made them, Sean, but like I used to go into the gym and I'd spend like 20 minutes warming up and doing stretches and stretches for things

that wasn't even relevant to what I was about to try. Like if I was going into squat, the quickest way to warm up for squatting is to squat. to add a lighter weight. Yeah, basically, yeah. And that's mobility as well, isn't it? Yep, yeah, 100%. So, like, you have to kind of go in and ask yourself,

what's the question? Like, what am I trying for? Am I going into, like, am I going into the gym to get stronger and I only have 40 minutes of an hour? Then why do fuck my waist and 20 minutes working on my fucking stretching? I can stretch at home. Yep, exactly.

Yeah. Yep. Orla asked, recommendations for those who find the gym work isolating and lonely, group classes perhaps or is that less productive than weight training? You know, it's less productive for weight training if you're looking to build muscle. Yeah. But it's a low barrier to entry to get you in the gym to get you started in about.

But again, it's not the most ideal when you're looking to achieve a goal. It really depends on where you're at in your journey as well, doesn't it? Because like you could do like boot camp style training and stuff. circuit style training and if your goal is just like fat loss and just improve your overall body composition and you're going from like not training at all and and quite out of shape like you're going to see results doing anything once you're moving and and getting in control of your diet but then that will only take you to a certain point won't Sean yeah yeah definitely well um I mean there is people out there that obviously I really like the classes because again it is more of a group and

they feel good because there's people around about them but trust me that if you can get into the gym and start to learn the exercises and that. It's great to have somebody but you won't necessarily need them. Yeah. And I think what you touched on there as well, it's like once you start to learn the exercises because I know for a fact that the biggest reason most people want to do group training

or, you know, fall into that style of training is because one, they're not comfortable or confident in the gym and that's usually because they haven't been there long enough they haven't learned the exercises that they need to learn. They don't feel competent in what they're doing. So therefore they feel more comfortable, you know, having someone look over them and stuff like that.

And like, don't get me wrong, I think there's a massive value in group training and a training in like a community. And I think there's lots of different benefits to that. But in terms of like Sean said, body composition and actually just getting stronger, and build a muscle, like you need your own specific training program for that that you can, like Sean said, progressively overload every week and do the same things week and we go. Because if you have a group, if you go to a group training class, which could almost be a different instructor every week, like they'll just make up fucking training sessions on the spot.

You don't know if you're doing one workout, one week, a different workout. Now you're doing fucking burpees. Next week you're doing fucking car wheels. Like, they're just, you're basically like a fucking hamster on the wheel at. And I say this as someone who has done group training, coached group training for years. Like, it's a catch 22.

Sometimes what I like to do with some people is like I'll get them. Okay, they want to still do group training or to feel like, you know, they want to get out of the house and they want to interact with other people. So it's more so for their mental health, more so than anything else. So it's like, okay,

you do a group training class maybe once a week and you follow your kind of specific, training program maybe twice or three times a week depending on how much time you have available to do so. I actually normally say to people who want to do they can have a group stuff as we try and fit it once a week and if need be I take a jump session away for them and then they can do that because the problem is where they sort of groups as well is that

they can have a force you to do exercises that might not suit you and that's where it becomes a bad thing because you can actually get injured at them more than you can get injured in the gym doing the exercises that suit you. Yeah, because they're not, they're not specific to maybe your mobility, injuries and stuff like that.

You're just, it's like, okay, everyone does the same thing, even though, you know, fucking Janice is a 50-year-old woman who hasn't moved in the last 20 years and fucking, you know, Jake is an 18-year-old, you know, footballer who, like, is fit

and athletic and has mobility. They're both probably doing the same workout, which is a bit ridiculous. And some trainers that do group training, and they're literally just fresh out of, out of doing their cert and they don't know how to kind of program or regress correctly for for for each person in the in the class so it's a catch-22 isn't it like there's there's benefits to it's like okay you have community it's you feel great after you know

you can get results out of just doing that because at the end of day most people just need to get in and do something and move but then eventually it's like okay like if you want to take this further and not have someone hold your hand the rest of your life you need to just lean into that discomfort and be like, right, this is my training program I'm just going to go in and get it done and I'm going to learn as I go. Yep.

Okay. Sorry, just one more thing on that. Just like I'll just say, the thing is well to remember that when you're in a group setting like that, if you're forced to do something that you know in your head that you don't want to do, you're still going to do it because you're embarrassed because other people are about.

But yet people will then turn around and say that they're too embarrassed to go to the gym. but the difference is you have the ability to choose what you want to do. So just remember that. Yeah, that's a good point. Any advice for someone going back to full-time work, so I will have less free time and will really battle with myself to go to the gym

after work late in the evenings. I also have a one-year-old. Just if you have any tips on how to juggle that, yeah, which you probably see a lot. Yeah, so again, it's about looking at kind of what your overall week looks like. You know, is it feasible for you? to get to the gym before work? Obviously, you're not really want to go after.

Do you get a lunch break? Do you get an hour's lunch break? Is it feasible then for you to go and hit your workout during your lunch break? And then, you know, if you only get an hour, can we get out? Can we get a 30 minutes to 40 minutes gym session in? Although I know I said in the next slides there about 45 minutes to an hour is ideal time. That's the most ideal, but that's not ideal for you. So it's what you can fit in to what you're having to. do within that week. So it's about looking at where you can fit it in and what you can

achieve within that time and building a plan around about that. And does said, do you think pliometric stuff should be part of people's workouts? I lift, walk and do jiu-jitsu, but I do wonder if I'm missing out by not doing any plio circuit stuff, it would help, would it help endurance? You kind of answered my question, Cal. It almost, it really depends on what the goal is, doesn't it, Sean? Yeah, yeah, it's This is the thing, but a lot of people also ask questions

and sometimes you always say it depends because it really does just depend and it really does come down to you, your body and what you're trying to achieve. And Wadette, Wadez, she came in looking for body composition changes. So, you know, the main goal is obviously then to build muscle and to reduce body fat.

So, you know, doing exercises where you have a lot of stability so you can progressively overload, so you can build, that muscle is obviously really important. Now, like, you know, if you want to add in a little bit of a ploy of work because you have a body composition goal, but you still want to feel kind of mobile

and light on your feet for sports performance, you know, there's nothing wrong with adding in a couple of that stuff as well. But just also remember that you can't have everything all at once as well. So maybe it's like just say, okay, you know, this phase,

of my life these next 12 weeks it's going to be purely based upon, you know, optimizing my physique or, you know, optimizing sports performance or whatever it is. So, you know, the goal will dictate your training program essentially.

I think the biggest thing is Sean, like when people go through their training, then we get this kind of shiny object syndrome like, oh, that exercise looks good, maybe I'll add that in. Or that exercise looks unique. Maybe I'll try that. And that's something that we kind of need to try and pull back as much as possible.

Yeah, I get that quite a lot because everybody wants a new kind of a training plan quite a lot, whereas you want to try and stick with exercises for as long as you can so that you're progressively overloading, progressively building that over time. Now, eventually you might stall and it might become a point where you swap that exercise out, but you want to be trying to do it for as long as you can. Yeah. If anyone has any other questions, jump in or put them in the chat and we'll answer them.

Sean, I just had a few questions for you. First and foremost, how long, are you still do shift work or are you finished doing shift work? No, I still do shift work alongside online coaching. Okay, what work is it? Well, it's basically it's a shopping centre and I'm one of the managers of the shopping centre.

So I run all the day-to-day business of the shopping centre. So when, and you've done shift work for a long time, correct? Yeah, so basically I've been in security for years after I was in construction. And then I kind of just bought my way up for just being like a normal security officer right up to obviously being the manager of one of the showment centres now. So when did the transition into fitness start to happen? So that would be about 12 years ago.

Basically, my partner told me that she was going to be, well, she was pregnant. She was going to obviously have my child. That's put me on to think. And I know it's bad to say for some people, but that's burdened my head. I don't want to be the fat dad turning up to pick up my way in for school. I was about 18 and a half stone at that point, so I was quite overweight. So that's put me on in my own fitness journey.

And it just basically kind of a thing. What was the lifestyle like before that, like when you were at that way, and what were the things that you started to slowly implement to make them changes, especially while continuing to work shift work, which obviously makes it 10 times more difficult. So basically back then before it, I was your general guy that would eat your kebabs and eat whatever I wanted.

Although, to be fair, I was also one of the type of people, I don't really eat much. So, I mean, I don't really know what's happening. But it's then when you start to understand, okay, I wasn't eating a lot, but it was really, really high-calorie stuff. So it was a lot of calories at the time. and then so once I started to get into the more fitness side of it I kind of started maybe in a bad way that I don't recommend other people

being honest what were the mistakes that you used to make when you were for starting out so I went on a kind of a strict bodybuilding type diet so you can imagine it's your plain chicken plain rice your tomato sauce a bit of a banana here and there yeah now total gumpf and stuff that you don't need to it's great at the start and you can strip loads of fat and you know that's the bulk kit but it's not good for long term and it's not it's not good for your long term mental health if that's not what you're willing to do

yeah yeah you always say you were you were just essentially following your own mail plan or a mail plan you had got online and just trying to lose it as quick as possible yeah basically I started to I knew I started to get to know a few people in the gym started to watch what type of things they and started to build up on that and then I made more on me plan don't go wrong, I lost a lot a lot of weight within a short period of time

but it's not something I've ever recommended I got to a point where I was saying that to people at the time. I don't recommend what I've done so don't do it but this is what I would recommend. Did you rebound back or were you able to maintain it? No, I was always able to maintain it but again it's just because

that's the type of person I'm are, I'm quite strict so I can be you know, this is where I'm or this is what I've got to do, you know, I'm regimented like that. I wasn't always before, but since I started in the gym that that's made me that way. What are some of the other things that you implemented that have helped you to be able to kind of maintain the healthy lifestyle that you actually need now? I think it's more just, you know, it's looking at yourself and looking at what you're trying to achieve. If you're looking to

achieve certain goals, then you're more likely to do what needs to be done. But you've got to find a balance, which did take me time to have. Even though everybody around about me still enjoyed stuff, I wouldn't allow myself to enjoy it. But then over time, I've now been able to do that. And especially within recent years, I've been diagnosed with something called IBD, which I don't know if many people know.

So now I do really need to take particular attention to a lot of type of foods and the way of train and things like that. So it gives you a different perspective of life when you know that there's something that you now need to watch that other people don't. And it kind of makes you help other people understand that it's not that I'm bad or you're good, but it allows you to then see that, you know,

something could happen tomorrow, which might not allow you to continue to do what you're doing. So let's try and achieve it when you can. What are some of the kind of things you have to keep an eye on in terms of your nutrition with IBD? So basically I just need to watch for what I eat. So right now, you know, I've been in. what's deemed as a flare

and I've been in that for a few years they've not been able to get me out of that so I've went through loads of tests because ultimately you need medication but it's trying to find the right medication to sit with you. So you're trying to keep something at bay as much as you can so

like fibre I can't eat a lot of fibre but yet I'm one on social media saying to eat fibre you know it's but as I could spin that narrative because I can't do it then nobody should do it but that's not that's not right

you know so your fruits your veg you know I recommend them highly I just can't I just can't eat that protein again you know I'm fine by protein but I can't have any high fat a protein so I'm around the kind of I would take chicken over chicken thighs and stuff like that so it's just trying to keep the fats

that I'm in a kind of a lower end and then you would have to monitor what you're eating and then if you have any flare ups it's like okay what's did you have to do some sort of like an elimination diet at the start yeah yeah I did But again, even now, you know, unless you're medicated and it's working properly, it's very hard to know what causes the flare up. So I could eat normally, but I'm still deemed as in a flare, but I could eat something that annoys me, which just makes it tenfold.

So it's just trying to find that balance, and that's where I've kind of started to notice symptoms of, you know, I can tell when something's going to happen. That's why I'm very good at it as well. Maybe pinpointing some foods in some people that maybe cause of irritation. again just because I felt quite a few people with that as well. What are some of the training mistakes that you made when you were first starting out, if you can remember back? Over training big time. Yeah.

I was, you know, when I first started out, I was going seven days a week. I was training everything, loads of sets, loads of reps, just thought I had to be there and grind myself for two hours long, and it's just not needed at all. Yeah, you just think you need to punish yourself. The more you punish yourself, the quicker the results will come. Yeah, yeah, basically. And it's when you start to slow down and take yourself out of that environment and then look back in,

then you can pinpoint where you're going wrong and then what you should be doing to achieve what you're looking for. What's your opinion on things like, so obviously you work with a lot of shift workers, so they're not going to have two hours to spend in the gym, a lot of them have kids and so on so forth. What's your opinion on things like supersets and tricets and stuff like that with working with clients? Yeah, so I do have some people to do that. like it, some people don't. It really depends on the goal and what the person's trying to achieve.

Even if I've got people doing supersets, I still like them to concentrate on maybe the first two exercises on building strength, so that would be your skorts, your bench and stuff like that. But then if we moved on to kind of your arms and stuff, so biceps, triceps, superset them. Because ultimately

you're not going to be able to make big jumps in them anyway. So by supersetting them, it's not really going to do that much to your workout. Yeah, I agree. I think get your big compound lifts out of the way. Give yourself enough rest in between sets for them and then if you don't have as much time,

then kind of isolation exercises, super set them and kind of get out of there. You also touched on like, so you were 18 stone, but the thing that kind of drove you into action wasn't to do it for yourself, but because you were going to have a child. Do you think that's like an important answer?

aspect for people when kind of going on these health and fitness journeys that, okay, it's important to do it for yourself, but you're probably going to push yourself that little bit harder if, you know, you have other people relying on you. Yeah, well, I think as much as it sounds about the thing, maybe, you know, you need your why, everybody needs a reason why, whether that's yourself and maybe something's happened in your own health or whether it's to look better or be better for somebody else. Now, obviously, I've worked with some people with IBD that just want to be. be able to get up of a chair.

You know, that's how much they struggle. So you've got to look at it for a point of view, what's your goal? How much pain are you in that do you actually want to make a challenge to this? Yeah, I mean, nobody's really going to get anywhere. If you've not got a proper why and a proper reason, you might stick to it for so long, but eventually you're just going to dip off because the why is not strong enough to keep driving you. And you only really need that at the start until you start to see the changes in yourself

and how you feel. And then generally you'll be able to kind of engage yourself from there because that will keep you there. Now, everybody's going to have their slip-ups here and there, but the majority of the time, you'll be fine. One thing that you touched on, which I thought was really important, was even just, you know,

going out for that little small walks in the morning and getting that bit of sunlight on your face and helping with your circadian rhythm. Like, in terms of right, setting the bar as low as possible, like, if someone was to do that every single, day they probably see huge changes over time but they probably think that oh well a little 10 minute walk every morning isn't enough i need to go to the gym seven days a week i need to eat chicken price and broccoli

i need to run myself into the ground with you know 15 000 steps like do you find that you have to um make people understand that it's them little small actions and behaviors done every day that actually compound to make the biggest difference Yeah, I do. I mean, it's one of the ones where you've got to get people to understand it. It's the smaller things that actually make a bigger difference over time, because the smaller things you can implement into your life without any resistance, and they'll lead better over time. Whereas if I turn right, if they're not wanting to do that,

you need to go to the gym seven days a week. That's a bigger barrier to entry then because they're not going to be able to sustain that. Whereas if we make everyone smaller chunks that just slot into their day-to-day life and their day-to-day business, it becomes more over time. Yeah, and them little small actions and behaviours have a knock on effect for the rest of the day as well. Like, you get some sunlight on your face, so therefore you sleep a little bit better that night,

so you wake up with a little bit more energy, so which means that you have more energy, you're more motivated to go and train. You know, you have more of an appetite then to eat the meals that you probably need to have because of that. So it's all these things that are building up momentum upwards from them little small actions and behaviours. one of the biggest things that people see the biggest changes is when I get them to at least try it

because a lot of people do show resistance until they try it is that just when they get up out of their bed to get out that walk it does make things tenfold different yeah they have that kind of all or not in mindset like you probably did when you were starting out going really fast really aggressive at the start which for most people doesn't usually end well yeah well the thing is most people rebound on that unless you've got a really strong mindset, you're setting yourself up to you feel by following that. Yeah, yeah. Does anyone else have any more questions

or will leave it at that? Or is everyone happy? Annalise, any questions in the chat box on training? Hym, any questions on training? Lucy, Sarah, let me know. We're good, yeah? All right. Sean, that was unbelievable, mate.

We really appreciate your time. I have that record, and I'm going to send it into the rest of the group. and if the gang have any more questions they can shoot them on Instagram now, right? Yeah, that's great. Thanks very much, guys.