The Uneducated PT Podcast - #54 Luke Randall - Online Personal Trainer

Episode Date: October 10, 2024

In this episode of the Uneducated PT Podcast we speak to Luke Randall. Expect to learn some of the common nutrition mistakes people make when trying to get in shape, some of the biggest mistakes you see people make with their make with their training, some of your best practical advice if someone wants to maintain muscle mass and lose fat and much more!

Hello and welcome to the uneducated PT podcast with me, your host, Carlo Rourke. The goal of this podcast is to bring on interest and knowledgeable people from all walks of life, learn a little something from each conversation and for you, the listener, just learn something from each episode. So don't forget to subscribe to the channel, press the box below, show some support and I'll see you on the next episode. Luke, can you tell the listeners a little bit about the work that you're currently doing? Yes, of course I can.

So I've been coaching for 10 years and currently I work fully on. online now. So I went fully online in July, 2023. 2023 was a big year for me, challenges-wise, which kind of led me to the decisions I made around moving online. So throughout the year, I've dabbled in online since COVID because that's all we could do, so we had to adapt. And I did that. I kept it going. I joined a mentorship to grow my online a bit more and help me transition a bit more online, but do face-to-face. And I always said that I would never go fully online. But last year, so a few things happened. I lost my house that I was living in, so I was renting. And the landlords, basically, I went to move into a new house. And a week before I was moving,

the landlords basically pulled out, even though I'd had the place secured for two months. And they said, oh, we're going to give it to one of our relatives. So I was obviously gave the notice into the current place I was living in and just about to move week before. And I was like, okay, cool. You know what? They always say that they're giving it to the relatives when they, of getting someone paying a higher price. Oh, absolutely, yeah. So it was, it was cheap. Like, I found a good deal.

And I was like, yeah, I literally like snap their arm off to try and get it. Not literally, obviously. I'm a nice guy. But yeah, so he did that. And then, yeah, I was like, I was sat with my dad in the cafe. And I was like, dad, I'm going to have to come home. Because obviously, I had a week to try and saw myself somewhere to live. Like, it takes a lot longer than that.

And he was like, oh, really? I'm joking, obviously. anyway so came home and came back to my dad's which in my head I made a lot worse than what actually was so reason being was because basically like I always like my own space and like moving back to my dad I've got quite a small room just in case you couldn't tell and yeah I was just like okay like just make the best of it and save my money that I was doing that was making and make sure that I've kind of just keep all in on business and things that I've got going for me. And also my nan was very well at the time. So she passed away at the end of last year,

which was the second thing that happened. And that was a really big thing for me. Like she was like my mum, basically. So it was really hard to kind of lose her. So it was actually kind of a blessing in disguise, being back at my dad's, close to my nans. We're all together. It's quite nice in that way. And it just took me a little while to see that perception of it and stuff. So it was good, good lessons for me there. And then the last thing is I split up with my girlfriend. Me and my girlfriend, we split. we both kind of just decided it was the right thing to do. So it was quite a tough year and that's what pushed me to do online.

So the last thing was my nan's dying and that was like cool. So like went fully online in July, took care of my nan in the summer and just spent time with her. And then when she passed, yeah, I was already fully online and just carried on. So now, you were like a lot of people like what I see in the fitness industry, like a lot of people get into the fitness industry now and they just jump straight to the online. but you were coaching on the floor for what nine, nine, ten years before you? Yeah, so eight and a half years I was on the gym floor for. And I loved every minute of it. And a lot of people say, do I miss it now?

And I actually don't. And I just think I communicate more with my clients now than ever, because I know that that's part of what being an online coach is, the communication. So I meet up with them more. Okay, and I like communicate with them more. So I don't actually miss it that much. And I'm still in the gym a lot of the time because I train. myself and you know there's a cafe that I work there so it's not like I'm actually out of the gym

that much that makes sense so it was a big part of my life and it you know for anyone that does want to do online coaching they have to be an in-person PT first I believe because you just build so much character and you learn so much about people which is what you need to be able to do um so yeah but I think it's definitely made me who I am today 100% because I started at such a young age I started when I was 18. And since then, you know, it's helped me shape who I am today. So you've gone through a lot of changes over the last year and a half, two years in terms of going through a breakup, moving back home, losing loved ones.

And then you're also, you lose the house that you're living in. So you have all these changes going on in your life and you're trying to run a business as well. how difficult did you find that? I probably use my work as a way of keeping me grounded. So I didn't actually find it that difficult, which when NAM was getting worse, it was a bit tougher to keep it, stay focused. But throughout the whole of it, like I always stayed focused on some elements. Some elements maybe sort of dipped a bit, but always had things.

Did you find that you become sort of a workaholic? because I know, I could say from my own personal experience that, like, when I was going through kind of stuff like that, I would use my work as an outlet and as a kind of escapism. But then it can go, you can let it go to the extreme and things when it's like, okay, to keep yourself fully distracted all the time, you decide that, okay, I'm going to work. Yeah, absolutely. I definitely am. And the thing is, I don't think it's a bad thing as long as you recognize it. If you don't recognize it, then it's probably a bad thing. Yeah. But using it as a way of keeping you grounded, it's not it's not going to do any harm to you as a person so yeah so i am a worker i still am a

work i like to be fair but i enjoy it so you know i don't see it as a problem so tell me a little bit about the clients that you work with now so like what would be some of the common struggles that the people have when they come to you for help yeah so i work with clients that really struggle with consistency um no matter what they try they always have issues with consistency and the mindset stuff comes into that as well and managing their mindset around it because a lot of the beliefs they have around trying to be consistent obviously affects their consistency. So I work on the mindset stuff a lot with them and help them and coach them through their thoughts and behaviours and actions that they have to help them become more consistent.

And it's with majority of weight with weight loss clients, people that wanted to lose weight but have struggled. But generally, I try to get them to see it in a different perception as well as their health, becoming healthier, looking at other things that's going to impact them, like what their values are and being able to link it to their values to make it easier for them to become consistent with it. And that's kind of how I work with them. I cover their new, I help them with their nutrition. Okay, I kind of manage their nutrition and their behaviours around nutrition. I manage their training and basically the accountability outside of the gym to make sure they're still doing the day-to-day things they need to be doing as well, because that's where a lot of the progress

comes. And can I ask you a question? And so how did you end up in the fitness industry? So you've been working on the fitness industry for the last 10 years. Like what did the part look like for you to get there? Yeah, okay, it's interesting. So a lot of people have their own journey first. Obviously, I started when I was 18, so I was quite fresh out of the womb, to be honest. I didn't even took me a long time to grow up beer.

The amount of attempts, when I look back from my content, I look for how many times I tried to grow up being. I just couldn't. That makes me laugh now. But anyway, so I started off. I was working in Next and a leaflet came from my door for a new gym that was opening. And it was ladies only gym. I had a ladies only gym. But it also had a big kind of weights area and like normal gym as well. So I was like, I like, I like training. I really want to try getting into the fitness industry as a job. And I was like, now I'm going to apply. I was 17 years old and got offered an interview. And it was in slough. So I was like, okay, my dad took me to slough because I couldn't drive. at the time and then had the interview and one of the questions the guy the manager at the time asked me and I think this is probably the answer that got me the job was like he was like what's your perception of pay to like the work that you do and I said well I just I believe that for the amount

of responsibility I have I believe I should get paid worth the responsibility that I'm that I've got and he's like as my responsibility increases I would expect to pay rise relevant to what I'm doing. And he really liked that answer. It wasn't exactly like that, but it was along those lines. And he was, hey, like, we had a good chat after. And he actually asked me, do I want to be a PT? Because obviously, I was just going for the gym instructor job.

And I'll be honest, I didn't know what PT was. I just said, I wanted to be a firefighter. And again, I think he just liked the honesty. So I got a call the next day, and they left a voicemail because I was at working at next. So I didn't have my phone on me. And I rang him back 19 times to try and tell him, that I accepted the offer.

Obviously he was in a meeting or whatever, but I left, I didn't leave in 19 voicemails, but I left him a couple of voicemails. And then, yeah, the next day he called me, got the job, and then I was a gym instructor. So throughout 17 to, yeah, 18 and a half, I guess, I was gym instructing. And then during that time, I got promised a promotion

to, like, club supervisor, which was permanent, not zero-hour contract. I was coming out of college. I needed that job. And I was like, yeah, that's perfect. I've been doing really good work. Members have been talking about me. The staff, like the managers

would recognize how good I was working and the effort I had and they wanted to have that obviously permanently. So when the job came up, I still had to interview for it, but I was like, yeah, that's fine, I'll interview for it.

I've only had two interviews and that was one of them. And my best mate at the time also went for the job. We worked together. He went for the job and we were just like, what, whoever gets it, gets it,

that's fine. He was already a PT. He was a little bit older than me. And then when it came to the decision, The reason why he got it is because he was 24 and they just had a bit more experience. And I was like, I'm 18. I was like, I'm not going to win that. But they know how hard I can work.

And at the time I was bummed out, I really wanted the job. However, being young, fresh face, ready to go, I was like, I know there's different opportunities out there for me. So I went and I booked a PT course without having the money for it. And I opted for the loan scheme. So the loan scheme was like, basically, you'd pay it over five years. sorry, you paid it over three years, but then it's three years and there's interest on it. So it ended up being like five grand or something, but the course was three and a half.

So I was like, right. Okay. And I didn't have the first payment come out until two months after the course was finished. By that point, I'd done the course and I was PT in. I had people wanting to be PT in by me because I've been doing classes in the gym and things like that. So yeah, before that payment came out, the first payment came out, I managed to make the money I needed to, with a little buffer from my uncle because it was my birthday, to pay off the course before the first payment came out, so I didn't have to do the whole like five and a half grand over three years or whatever it was.

It was just the upfront payment, which was a nice feeling. It's like quite a good kind of milestone for me. And I was obviously still working at the gym as well as PT in. That got me to a good level, good position. And then as soon as like I started getting clashes with like shift work and clients wanted to book in, and I went to a Phil learning seminar and then that was like the kick

to like get me out of like working for the gym and going self-employed. So I was like 19 at this point went fully self-employed and never looked back you know and I'm a bit like I was actually chatting to someone about this earlier and I'm very grateful for how all of that happened because I would not be in the situation I'm in if I'd got that supervisor job when I was 18 so. Yeah it's such like the experience you must have gained

by just being that. that young and being exposed to working that young in the industry and then having all them years of being on the floor and working with clients and working with members. What advice would you have for any kind of young people out there listening now who want to be a floor PT, maybe are doing their personal trainings? What, like, what do you think makes a good floor PT? What do you made you a success on the gym floor? Teaching classes at the beginning when I was like fresh. Because it put me in the deep. I was nervous. There's anything to teach you. I didn't have anything like before and like I'd say between you and me but this is going out to the public between you and me

I wasn't even qualified to actually do any of the other classes to start off with but because I knew what I was doing he was just like yes fine just like it's it's the insurance side of things that wasn't essentially covered but that was a long time ago now so whatever and he did actually get in trouble for it by the big bosses eventually and obviously because nothing really bad happened he kind of got away with it to a certain extent but yeah so just getting yourself out there and talking to people is one of the biggest things. I think that's one thing I've learned massively over the last few years, especially is the communication side of things.

I'm just talking to people, being happy, being the energy that you want to create. It's so important. Like, you know, I get people messaging me and talking to me all the time saying I give out such good energy. And if you want to be able to stand out, that's what you've got to do. You know, so if you are someone that is quite introverted and stuff and you want to be in the fitness industry, the best way to try and do that is just get in front of people still no matter what.

Would you say that you, even from a young age, you were naturally confident and had energy. Or do you think that was something that you built up over time? It's definitely built up over time. I used to be quite like a not nervous. Like I'd always be like chatting and stuff, but not to the point where like I'd be quite introverted about it still. And like even my clients now,

so I've got two clients and they're basically like a second mom and a second nan to me. And they're like, we remember when you were just a little, baby face you like re-interpreting couldn't grow a beard yeah couldn't grow a beard and then um all of a sudden now you're just like a yeah a man um and it's it's funny because they always remind me of that and it is nice to to be able to kind of look back at that and like i'd actually removed my old instagram like my personal one when i got my professional one and i regret that because i would love to have gone back and seen like what I was like back then to like on the camera and stuff like that as well.

Yeah. Like obviously we've met through different seminars and stuff like that. And my first perceptions of you were very energetic, very confident in his skin, very like commands the room. But obviously like that's somebody who sees the finished product essentially doesn't see the years of kind of putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation where you have to interact with people and become a better people person

and kind of like that only comes from the repetition of probably doing it. Yeah, exactly that. And that's actually just brought me to you. Something I always start my seminars off with now is my very first public speaking like gig I had. It was in, so it was two years after finishing college, which I did BT Sport, which is like basic,

is the closest you can get to a PT qualification. like it's exactly the same stuff, maybe a little bit more in depth on the PT course. Anyway, I went back in after two years. So the students I was talking to, and I got to the classroom that I was in. And I got there early, like, and the tutor was like 10 minutes late.

So I was standing outside with all the other students in the class. And they're all like 18, 19 year olds, and they're just looking at me. Like, who the fuck's this kid like coming in halfway through the term, or whatever, like starting? And I'm there like, this is my little bag. I'm smaller than all of them as well, because I'm quite short. And I was like, oh, this is embarrassing.

And then all of a sudden, the nerve started kicking in. I was like, I don't actually know what I'm going to talk about. I haven't planned it. I didn't have slides. I didn't have like any idea. So I got in front of them. I started talking and then I just froze. I couldn't say anything else but swear words.

And my mouth was dry. My sweat, like, stains on my shirt were massive. And I was just, oh my God. And then my mate was in the class. He went to the gym so I knew him. And he's like, do you need a bottle of water, mate? And I was like, yeah. He said, here a bottle of water, but I just couldn't do that.

And then Stuart, the guy who was the tutor for the class, it just said, like, this is just an example of, like, how someone wants to kind of do better, but just didn't plan it. And I was just like, yeah, it's a great example. You have a great example of a car crash. Yeah, that was the very first time in a public speaking gig. And that was petrify, and probably one of the most embarrassing times for me. But it taught me so much.

And I've done like eight or nine speaking things since then. I still get really nervous about them. but it's like a practice, a plan, I organise it and, you know, I action what I need to. And I think a big thing there as well is that like, you know, when people catastrophize things in their head, whether it's like going to the gym, they get real nervous and anxious and then they don't go or, you know, having a public speaking event or like whatever it is, like, if it does become like a car crash where it's like, it goes as bad as it goes. And then at the end, you're like, oh, well, I'm still okay.

I'm still alive. Like that kind of shows you that like it's a like if you fail at something, you know, the worst thing that could happen happened and you're still fine and you can go again. Yeah, exactly that. Yeah, yeah, exactly. It's just how you look at it. Isn't it? Yeah.

Yeah. So over the last 10 years of coaching people, of training people, of helping them with their consistency with training with their nutrition, what would you say are some mistakes that you made as a coach that you look back on and think, okay, they were mistakes I made that I've learned from now and have made me a better coach in terms of helping people. Yeah, one second. I'm not going on. Right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Work away. Right. I think I'm good. So, mistakes I've made as a coat on perfect, so I haven't made any. No, I'm joking. So I started off, like, obviously, when you first start, you just take on anyone and everyone. but I never really paid attention too much to

to what the individual kind of needed more so obviously I paid attention to all their goals are and stuff and then I'd always put them through certain structure but never really adapt it for anyone like obviously there's a template everyone every coach has and then you're adapted for the person but I'd always give people the same things and I never really did programmes for people that often

when I was actually in the gym with them if I was in the gym with them I wouldn't do programmes for them I'd just take it for a workout and like never that is there was no proper structure there. I did that for a little while. And when I started out instructor and programming two people's training, it just took things to another level. So that was one thing I did. And like, you know, I think, again, I started to young. I didn't really kind of pay too much attention to all of that. You don't actually learn that much about doing that in the PT course either. But it was when I actually

was like, hold on a second, I've got program for myself. I need to give a program to my clients as well. And it was just organized someone more. And I never got clients doing progress. Now, it's not all about progress pictures, but they do have such an impact on people when they actually see them. So as much as everyone hates doing the beginning ones, like who's going to enjoy doing a beginning photo? Not many people at all, the ones that I work with anyway. At that time, your confidence is low, you feel sluggish, you don't feel great. You already probably don't want to get in pictures as it is. Exactly.

But I can't stress enough how important it is because that's what's going to keep you going when you see the progress in the pictures. because people don't see the progress in themselves for a very, very long time, even when they are making progress. And they just pay, like, you know, people will pay attention to one area of their body, forget about the rest of it. But it's so important. I never did that with clients. And then when I started doing it, people's adherence got better, even though they didn't like it at the beginning. But I tell them, it was like, in four weeks' time, you're going to love it. Like, you're going to glad you did it.

So that was another thing. and I guess when moving online, I tried to take on everyone and anyone again. And reality is like that's not the best way to be because you're online. It is tougher to coach in a certain way because you need to have that more trust there and stuff. And I was, again, taking on everyone and everyone.

But there were people that wasn't the right fit for how I am as a coach. And as I got more into online from after, this was like during COVID time that. And after that, I was like, right, I need to pay attention to people I'm talking to more and actually ask better questions and get more out of them rather than just taking them on for the sake of it.

And that has now helped me become a better coach because I work with people who are a better fit for my coaching program. And I benefit to work with them. And it just, it just clicks better. they get better results um so yeah yeah makes sense when you're younger it's all about getting as much experience as possible and working with a with a huge demand of of different people and then as you get older and as you get more experience you can almost niche down a little bit more and be a little bit more um not particular but like you you're you're almost looking into the finer details a little bit more

because you have that experience even with programming and stuff like that and like you said, asking, asking better questions. So you can actually find out what. Because sometimes the clients will tell you that they didn't do something or they weren't able to stick to that. And when you're able to ask good questions, you actually find out what the real problem is of why they're not adhering to their training program or why they're not adhering to their nutrition.

And I think when you're younger, I know for me anyway, it was like I was always wanting to give the answer, give the solution, you know, talk more than I was listening. and then as I started to kind of get a little bit older, then it was more about, okay, listening to what they're actually trying to say, even if they're not saying it. Yeah, exactly, yeah. And then picking out certain bits and being able to like,

as you said this, what does that actually mean? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So there are some of the mistakes that you made as a coach or things that you improved on over time. What are some of the common nutrition mistakes that you see people making that want to get in shape? Yeah, so the first one is just trying to, to do everything at once, try and make all the changes.

Right, the best, like, if you set up a diet where you're eating stuff you don't like and it's completely different to what you're normally eating, there's no sustainability in that. And you're not going to, like, you're not enjoying it. So you're not going to, like, stick to it. And that's the biggest thing is, again, when it comes to the consistency side of things, which is what I work people on, is like trying to get them to eat as familiar food as possible whilst making small changes over time is what's going to help them stick to it more. And it's fascinating because people, like, are amazed,

when they realize that they can eat the foods they're already eating. It's just managing it in certain ways, whether it's portion control or simple swaps or anything like that. So rather than just making complete changes from having like a burger every Friday night to a salad every Friday night, like that's two different ends of the spectrum. Like having something in the middle or along the way is so much more manageable and enjoyable. So that's one. Makes sense.

What are our nutrition mistakes do you see to make? Yeah. I think just hitting the fuck it button every time they go out for food. As soon as they think that they can't, that's it, you know, like as soon as they eat something bad or something that's not aligned with what they're trying to do, then they think that's it. Booze in, like people think as soon as they get drunk, like, you know, you can have drinks and you can get drunk, that's fine. And it doesn't necessarily mean you're off track, but what does make you off track is probably the next day if you choose to then eat like shit. you feel like shit. Like if you can manage that next day better,

no matter how drunk you've got the day before, you're always going to be winning because you don't give in to the shit feeling and getting that short-time satisfaction. And then I think just a lot of people just put a lot of pressure on themselves about it. When there's no need to put any pressure on yourself, like only you is putting that your pressure on you.

No one else is. And that's something I've learned to do recently, more recently. It's just help them take the pressure of themselves about doing it because then it becomes easier. Yeah, they expect too much of themselves and then when they can't live up to that expectation, then they go into self-sabotage mode. Yeah, exactly.

That's it. And that's it. Yeah, it's the common mistakes of them ones are the main ones, like people doing too much too soon or putting too much pressure on themselves or like just hitting the fucking button too easily when you don't really need to if they understand it more. Yeah, it makes sense. And what about the biggest mistakes you see people make in terms that are training when they. Too heavy too soon.

It does make, like, it makes me laugh because, you know, it is, it makes me laugh from people that it's the lads that do it and they go too heavy too soon. Like when you're just watching and it's just like, you can say something, but no one listens because it's unwanted advice. You didn't ask for it, did they? And that was one thing like I used to do when I was on the gym floor. I'd walk the gym floor. The gym floor that you were on

Was it a big commercial gym? Yeah. So you'd see all sorts. Yeah, exactly. I've offered help before and it's been taken, but I've also offered help before and I've been told fuck off.

And obviously you're going to remember the ones that say you to fuck off more, right? And that was one of the most petrifying things to do as a PT when you're in the gym. It's just go and speak to people on the gym floor when they don't want to be spoken to. It's like, nah, I did it, but I try to not be like,

go straight in and be like, hey like do you want beating i was like hey do you might have offered a bit of advice sometimes it's such a skill to be able to do because you're trying to you're trying to um you're trying to like let people's you're trying to like smooth people's ego like giving them advice because they're doing something wrong it's like but also um correcting what they're doing at the same time and it's like how can i how can i put this information across where i can help this person where they don't feel like they're an idiot and they actually take it on board and appreciate it when a lot of people don't like being approached yeah they don't like being approached and like even if they are

doing it wrong and they know that they're doing it wrong then they still don't like being approached because it's bringing like spotlight attention on them that they probably don't want yeah exactly so that's what that's the biggest thing but it's more like say it's more the lads that do it and let their ego go over um another one is like people not do it like sticking to like a certain workout routine. They're chopping and changing every session. And whilst I understand like variety is nice and it makes it like more enjoyable in a way,

at the same time, you're stunting your own progress because you're not going to be able to get consistently stronger if you're doing something different every time. People that just do the classes and they do like three or four classes in a day, you know, you could have one workout that's half an hour, 40 minutes and it'd be much more effective than doing three or four classes

that are all 45 minutes long. Yeah, did you find that that's a common thing with, let's say, members who start to get hooked with going to the gym, but then, you know, they're doing like circuit classes in the morning and spin in the evenings and they find it very hard today and, you know, actually less is more and actually if you just did a training plan where you just stuck to that and broad intensity to that plan, you would see more results because they end up going from not exercising and all to now loving the gym, but now doing much more than is needed. And also, there's not a huge amount of intensity in terms of the amount that they're lifting with them classes as well.

Yeah, exactly that. Like, it's, obviously classes are great for people that are just starting out or need some community vibe or, like, need a bit of motivation. They're great for that. But in terms of, like, the benefits that you're going to, like, someone's going to get from going to a class, is only going to be limited. like to the when they first started and after that it's not going to be something that like let's say if your goal is physique development yeah you're only going to get so far with classes yeah exactly and you know i think just people like they like to like to be pushed and worked hard but they think that's still going to be productive because it's in class and you know just people do

like it kind of leads nice into the next one people doing too much like like say in terms of like not understanding that less is more um that's been the biggest thing for me over the last three years. Like I've, I went from doing like five to six sessions a week to four. And my progress changed massively. Like it happened so much quicker. I'm probably in the best shape I've been in

and actually managed to sustain it on four days a week. And for me, that's amazing because then I've got more time to put into my business instead of my training, like not instead of my training, but as well as my training and getting more out of it. Because I push harder in four, as opposed to trying to do six and killing myself.

For the people that are listening that might not understand, understand why do you think that is? Do you think that's because your recovery is better? It's going to be recovery. I'm going to be able to put more into four sessions as opposed to trying to do six average sessions for good quality, good quality sessions are much better. You know, you enjoy it more because you're actually doing less, you're seeing more progress. And it's just about being able to understand that and then not try and be like, oh, well, if I do five, like surely I'm going to get even better. Like it's not the case. It's like that fine line of balancing it in this green phase here, which is the four session.

and then or however many you can do. And then if you try and go six or seven, that's the red zone and you're not going to get the benefit because you're then not recovering and you'll then not be able to push as hard. So, yeah, it's, even though I knew that, like I went from five, like five sessions isn't bad at all either, you know, but like between two and four is what I think anyone needs

and it depends on obviously their availability as to whether they can do the four or whether they do the two. And that's fine. I genuinely, anyone that's like comes to me now, I always look at their schedule. I'm like, you don't need more than four, except wait sessions. If you want to do five or six,

then add in some cardio sessions or whatever. That's cool. That's what I say, but weights, yeah. Yeah, I think that's such a difficult mindset for people to get into, especially if we touch back to like even the going from class-based training

and to now feeling competent in the gym. So now you're following an individual program that you might have made for them. And like, I find that even people that go from that kind of a background, they find it really difficult to like even rest between sets because they're used to like, you know, 30 seconds working as hard as you can, 15 seconds off, 30 seconds as hard as you can, where it's like you're giving them a two minute, three minute rest in between sets and then they're like, what am I, what am I supposed to do for these two or three minutes?

Yeah, exactly. It is that, isn't it? And it's just like getting them to understand that. But that's like part of the journey, isn't it, I guess, going from classes to the gym and learning the difference. And it's funny, you can kind of like, I had a lady who would do loads of classes. She came to me and she was like, I want to do gym stuff. And I'm like, right, if you do you want to do this, you need to cut down the classes at least a little bit.

And she did, but you like when we did our sessions, her squats were like super fast, super quick. And then like you put the weight, like you say, she put the weight down for 30 seconds and try and pick it up. I'm like, whoa, slow down, slow down. We need longer rest. She's like, why? I'm like, because you ain't going to make the second set if you, if you do that. But yeah, it was, it was funny, but that was like a really good learning point for her. And now she trains, she does the classes occasionally still, but she trades in the gym much more and she's strong as focused. I don't have like this dichotomous thinking around. It has to be classes or it has to be like individual programming.

But like it's like, all right, if you want to see progress in terms of building strength and building your physique, like there is boxes that need to be ticked off every week. But that doesn't mean that you can't still add in a class once a week that gives you that kind of community aspect that you probably desire. Yeah, exactly. And I actually have a new client start this week and she does classes. and she's like to have to stop them.

Well, they don't have to stop them now, but we'll have to reduce them so that you can do this instead, so you still get the recovery benefits, and then you still get your class. You can't do your seven classes a week, followed by your four days split as well. So what are,

so for the people that are listening to this, that are maybe just starting out in the gym and are looking to get in the best shape possible, what are some practical pieces of advice that you would give in terms of people maintaining muscle mass while losing body fat? so definitely weight training and when I say weight training that doesn't mean doing your big squats and deadlifts and stuff like that because I don't even do deadlifts anymore I only do squats

when I feel like I want to do them and the reason like obviously like a few years ago up until now really like people are always saying if you don't do your squats you're not going to get your results and you know squats are great but if you don't like them then you know there's plenty of other exercises you can do so resistance training and weight training movements that you enjoy Get some compound movements in there, which are multi-joints of big movements like squats and like rows and presses and stuff. Make sure you get them in there. Then protein is making sure you're eating enough protein. And that's obviously there's many different ways of calculating it.

I've always gone for like 1.5 grams per kilo plus. So for anyone that doesn't know what that means, times your body weight in kilos by 1.5. then that's going to be the amount. Now, if you're someone that's so far away from that, and it seems like a big chunk, like just try and increase it, consciously try and eat more. That's all I'd say.

And as time goes on, as you start to consciously eat more, then you can start to try and push it higher. It doesn't mean if you don't hit it anywhere near it, it's no point. It's like you build up to it. Just like training, funnily enough,

when you first go in, you're probably not going to be very strong. You might suck at it. But in order to get better, you keep going. And then as you get better and stronger, then you can start doing bigger movements. Then you'll probably start doing,

enjoying the big squats and stuff because you're actually able to do more and stuff. So that's another one. It's just making sure you progress it over time and don't just get stuck in doing the same things because it's easy and comfortable. Can I just ask you a question there? Just because that would be a really good point in terms of people listening. So like you said, there's no one exercise that you need to do and there might be a misconception that, okay, you need to do your bench press and your deadlift and your barbell back squat.

So like what would be a good, let's say someone hates doing barbell back squats, what would be a good alternative that you would choose in terms of getting your lower body work done? Yeah, so if you don't have barbell back squats, goblets squats are much nicer, in my opinion, in terms of how it just worked with the body's mechanics, and they are easier, so they are a regressed version in a way, but you still get to load it from the front, so that's a goblet squat holding the weight at the front. Leg extensions, it's a machine-based, so if you are looking to build strength up, that's a good way of doing it as well, because you're going to get that.

initial, again, this is for people that are just starting out. Like leg extensions will build that initial strength. As you get stronger, then it is important to move on to bigger exercises like squats and progress it that way. But at the same time, leg presses as well. So more stable because you're in a machine and you do hit pretty much all of the leg in the leg press as well. So, you know, it's a good alternative. And then there's single leg stuff like lunges and things like that,

which, you know, most people will probably know about because they're done in class is quite a lot and stuff, aren't they? Yeah. And. for let's say novice trainers listening who might be like, oh, well, should I be doing free weights or should I be doing machines? What would your advice be around that?

A bit of both preference, really. Whatever you prefer, do more of. But at the same time, when you have the free weights and stuff, you do require more stability, more core engagement. So you do get a bit more bang for your buck in that way. But machines give you more stability. So if you are doing it at the end of your session,

the more stability is going to give you, sorry, the fact that it's more stable means that you're less likely to get injured from it if you are tired and you make a wrong move or something like that. So a bit of both. And then as you progress, you know, you'll more than likely choose the exercises that are relative to you as you get stronger. Yeah, great advice. And you touched on one of the mistakes that you see people make in the gym is kind of changing their exercise program weekly and, you know, trying to have too much variety in their program.

If you were to kind of stick to, what would you say would be a suitable amount of time for someone to stick to a training program in terms of seeing the results that they want? As long as they can, as long as they enjoy it. I have done the same program for the last 18 months because I've got really good results from it

and I'm enjoying it. I've swapped out an exercise here and there, but the whole structure of it stayed the same in terms of the big movements. And like, you know, some clients come to me, oh, can I change my workout? And I'm like, well, you're enjoying it. Like, yeah, but I just want to change some exercise.

I'm like, cool, you can do that if you want. But I look at the exercises they're progressing in most. And if they're doing really well in them, I won't change them. And it's only going to be either rep ranges I change or it's going to be the odd exercise here and there. And it's about educating, like, my clients and anyone about that. And it's like, you know, yes, it does get repetitive. But when you start seeing progress and results, it doesn't really matter that much. Because you enjoy it because you can see your body and physique change.

And you just need to have that initial patience at the beginning. So for let your body to adapt, rather than thinking you need something different every time. And that's what it is in it. Like people just like, like, everyone wants results quick. And you think like, oh, if I keep changing things, it's going to happen. But unfortunately, it's not the case. Like, you still change.

It's the shiny object syndrome, isn't it? It's like, oh, I've seen a new exercise on TikTok. I need to try that because I'll get better if I try that. Whereas if you just sort it, whatever it is, the leg press machine, and rinse and repeat that week in, week out. And your lifts are going up and up and up. that's the quickest way you're going to see the progress

that you want to see. Yeah, exactly. It's just TikTok, in it? Fuck. TikTok shop is the world. To be fair, even before TikTok was around, I used to make that mistake as well.

It's made it worse now. Yeah. Well, it's definitely worse now. But yeah, I think that's exactly it. It's like if you tried to change your program even every month, it's like,

you're just starting from the start again and again and again and again, whereas like you're only starting to make progress a couple of months in. So why would you want to start from the start again. Yeah, exactly. There's a quote I actually heard. It's easier to keep going than it is to keep starting over. Yeah. And that's the thing like, I've got that in my seminar. That's a little exclusive teaser here for my seminar. I've got that in my seminar talking about like

the amount of people that are just constantly starting over because they can't, they struggle to stick to something or they just think they've hit that like I said at the beginning or during the podcast is when they hit the fucking button and they keep hitting it. I'm like, you all, making it harder for yourself by continuing continuously starting over. Whereas if you just kept going, when you hit the fuck, instead of hitting the fuck, I've just seen that you made a mistake, try and reflect and learn on it, which is also what I'm talking about on it, and then moving forwards and keeping going rather than thinking you have to start again.

Yeah, makes sense. Makes sense. And like, you know, when you get a program and, all right, you've been doing it for a couple of weeks, well, like, now you know the routine and you know the exercises, which means you walk into the gym feeling a little bit more confident to know that. Oh, and I know that I have to go from this machine to this machine, and this is going to be my finisher. And, like, you're making life easier for you by doing the same thing over and over again.

Exactly, yeah. And that's the thing. Like, they're the benefits that people don't necessarily see is, like, actually, like, I did the same thing. I'm just going to get more confident. It's like driving, in it? Like, no, when you drive more and more, you just get more confident at it. And then, like, yeah, the first time you start driving, like,

you get out of the car and you're absolutely zapped of energy because you've been trying to concentrate. so hard you're sweating you're trying not to crash into people but after a while it's just on you're just on autopilot honestly it's nuts in it like everyone drives on autopilot and like and i mean most people do i drove for a red light the other day and i was like fuck is that real i i did not know because it's always green all the way around and they changed the signals so they weren't and i was just oh fuck thank for there's no camera so um can you tell me a little bit about so didn't you compete and bodybuilding for a while i never competed mate no you never competed no no no no

I've been told and I've been asked if I do and that I should, but I just like training. I've obviously got good genetics. I've done it from when I was 16. So these are all things that I've gone in my favour to keep the physique that I've got. And I just, yeah, I've never, never competed in bodybuilding. I just really like lifting weights. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

What, so what would you say? So you've built a substantial amount of muscle over the years. And that's why I presume that you were bodybuilding. So what would be some advice? Let's say there are some young males in listening to this who, you know, want to gain muscle, feel like they can't gain muscle. What advice would you have for them, for them, lads?

Keep training. Don't stop. That's one thing I've done. I've never stopped. I've trained for 12 years. I've never ever gone for a period of time where I've just stopped. Like, it's just so you just keep doing. If you're starting at a young age,

it's a lot easier because, like, obviously everything's, When you're starting something younger, you do learn quicker, you build a routine quicker and stuff like that. So, you know, you have less kind of habits to unlearn sort of thing. So it is easier when you're younger. But at the same time, just don't stop training. Don't stop eating. And in that first year, fucking train hard. Like take it seriously.

Like that's the thing I see these days is all the young kids in the gym. They're in massive groups. They're not really taking it that seriously. And like, I'm quite grateful that I was in a position where I wanted to take it seriously straight away. because you make so much quicker progress in that first year because it's a new stimulus, your body's like adapting quicker and you just take advantage of that first year definitely. Yeah, do you think that, like, I see it all the time in the gym,

like 18-year-olds and 19-year-olds all going in to train with each other and there's like five and a weight and a machine. Is that killing their gains? Yeah, it is in a way, yeah, it is, you know, like they're still training, which is cool, but five of them around one machine, just train on your own. Like, I've always liked training on my own. and sometimes my mates ask me to train and I'm like, oh, yeah, okay.

I mean, even training with one extra person, like, at least you're not going to be waiting 10 minutes per cent. Yeah, exactly that, yeah. But just take, like, take it seriously, train and, like, push yourself hard. Be willing to, like, learn as well. And ask questions for people that are bigger in the gym, that's what I did. You know, I like, whenever people ask me questions, I always respond, like, I'll always kind of talk back to them unless they ask me during a set, and then I'm like, no, wait.

but like like because I was there and I know exactly what it's like and I even see I saw a young PT at um IFS which is a fitness event um that was just just on and he reminded myself so much because he started he started at such a young age so like we've chatted quite a bit but it's the same training like anyone that like if you're if you're new to the gym or you're young and you wanted to get into the gym ask for help with people out there that are in shape because they're gonna they're probably are they probably are where you want to be and you can't can learn from them. And yeah, just that was, that was a big thing for me. What, uh, what techniques have you used or would you use with clients in terms of getting them to train a little bit harder?

I think, you know, like, you know when you're starting out, you think you're training hard and then you realize that you're not actually training as hard as you thought you were. Yeah. I like using two reps in the tank. Yeah. So, um, what's that for anyone listening? Basically, just pushing yourself to you've got literally one or two reps left in the tank. And some people still don't know what that is. Um, essentially on the last set, if you've done two reps in the tank and you've got three sets, on the last set, if you can push and you get more, like, get you to go to failure to keep going, even after the magic 12 reps. And if you get more than two more reps, you probably didn't do two reps in the tank. So then it's learning from that next time. Um, I like that one. And then I also like two sets as well instead of like three or four sets. So like,

back in the night, it's always kind of been three sets of 10 or four sets of 10 or whatever. I like quite like doing two sets of eight or two sets of 10 or two sets of 12 because when you, and I when I frame this to my clients is like, I'm like, you know you've only got two sets. So I want you to give it your all in those two sets because you can still get the same benefits as three. You're just in fewer sets. You're just in fewer sets. So eventually you'll be pushing more weight because it's fewer sets. You'll be pushing harder because you know it's fewer sets. And it's just the mindset you're going with it and just making sure that you're like,

okay, this is only two sets. Like, I've got to push hard on this. Yeah. That's a good tip because I think it is still a mindset in people that just started out on the gym. It's like three sets of 12 and I stop at the 12th rep and doesn't matter. Like it's, they don't actually think that, oh, I could have three more reps, five more reps, 10 more reps, left them tank. It's kind of autopilot. All right, the 12 is on the she.

I'm doing 12. That's it. Yeah, exactly. So I always say, like, if it is the resets of 12 that I've given someone, I'll set all, like, not always, but for a lot of exercise. I'll put, if you've got more in the tank at the end, go for them and like push yourself. And then if you, I'm like, if you get more than like three, just go up and wait. And one of the things that people struggle with, isn't it? They struggle to, like, know when to increase weight.

So that's, there's like, I've got videos in my education hub that talk about that and stuff. But it's just knowing when to increase the weight and actually not being afraid to and not being afraid of it hurting. It's meant to hurt. When you struggle, don't stop. You're supposed to struggle. It's just those things as well that people need reminders for. Yeah, it's, you're getting used to feeling uncomfortable, feeling sore. And like, that's actually a really good analogy for life even that, oh, yeah, I'm supposed to feel uncomfortable and I know that I can keep going and get a few more reps in. Yeah, exactly that. And that's what it is getting the reps in it. You can still keep pushing. It is meant to be hard. That's what she said. So, yeah. and then for and then for so let's say the the the lads who are listening to you now who okay they feel like they're training hard but they're still not probably eating as much as they probably should what what advice would you have for them or sit down um keep eating eat more like it's it's not bad problems have is it like being able to eat more food um i know it's hard and you know I still get at times where I have to eat quite a lot, and I'm like, oh, I can't be asked.

Still, don't like, rather than looking at more food and thinking you have to have loads of different foods, just look at what you're eating already and just increase the portion sizes of them because it's so much easier that way. And, you know, there's nothing wrong with leaning on shakes and stuff like that to get more calories in. But try and try your best to get it from foods because it is going to be easier if you to digest. Yeah. Not easy food to digest, sorry, it's going to be easier for your body to use. So, yeah, like those sorts of things are definitely going to help. And sleep, managing your sleep as well.

Because sleep makes it easier for you to eat more or eat less, depending on what your goal is. When your body regulates, it regulates itself properly, which is what it does when you sleep. You then, you know, I find it so hard to eat when I've not slept very well because my appetite is through the floor. But if I know that I'm like in my head, I've got to eat this amount of calories and I've slept well. like I have more of an appetite to try and get those calories in. So that's why I'd say for that. Yeah. So getting to bed earlier, just eating a little bit more than you were currently in.

And then obviously if you need to use some kind of drip, if you need to drink your calories, then creating shakes and stuff like that. Yeah, nothing on that. Definitely. And then just, you know, if you do like a bit of slatterier foods from time to time, haven't. There's nothing wrong. If you need to get a high amount of calories. Do you think that what a lot of young lads make when they're trying to put on size

is that they try to eat quote unquote clean? Yeah. And it is so hard to do it with clean foods because, you know, you do get fuller quicker. Not a lot of calories and salads. Yeah, exactly. Not a lot of calories in broccoli. So yeah, you just got to eat bigger portions of the foods that are going to be more calerific that you're already eating.

And there's nothing wrong with eating some slices. your foods because one they taste fucking good you get to enjoy them a bit more because you know you've got more calories it's just making sure that you don't do it at the detriment of your health um which you know i'm pretty sure you'll figure that out pretty quickly if you know you start getting red face for no reason and things like that yeah yeah so yeah eating the eating the Eddie Rockets take away and magdalo's ever two or three times a day if my business are gonna do it um okay tell me a little bit about this seminar that you have coming up well what's it about what's the what's the goal of this seminar thank you for asking

and I thought you'd never ask. So it is called nail the basics and change your life. And the reason why I was speaking about this is because it's basically when you, when you, when people start out, they always think they need to be doing certain things that TikTok, Instagram or Facebook or whatever has told you to do. There's loads of fancy different workouts that we've spoken about, you know, dropping your calories super low, thinking, yeah, the, the bigger the drop, the faster your results will come. And it's just not that the case.

So like the idea of getting you to understand the basics, first of all, and knowing what they are for you. And then without anything in like any area in life, if you don't nail the basics, you're not going to be able to succeed in whatever result you're looking for. Okay. Like whether it's like laying the foundations to a house, if you don't lay the foundations to a house,

you ain't going to be able to build it. You know, if you want to save a load of money. If you don't have a savings account, you're not going to be able to save loads of money. Or if you got bad spending habits, like you're not going to be able to save loads of money. So it's about nail it. nailing the basics around that first as well.

But nailing the basics in terms of your nutrition, your training, your lifestyle habits and things like that. And then building on that is like looking at how you can reflect on things when they do go wrong. So that's a big part of it is talking about the fuck it mentality side of things is when you hit the fuck it button. Okay, so what happens after that? Do you like how do you look at how you can reflect on it is essentially what I'm going through and what questions to ask yourself. okay like going through the river of change so the river of change is basically like this you've got time so it's massive like so you're on this side got the river here and then you're like new kind of results

are on this side and as a coach for me my job is to help you get through this river of change but this river of change has self-doubt this river of change has nerves this river of change has frustrations has slip ups mistakes all of these things that cause people to just stay where they are kind of starts here. My job is to help you understand what questions you can ask yourself how you can reflect better, how you can overcome these challenges and barriers that you constantly have so that you can start getting these new results that you want more confidence, better close-fitting, more energy and better focus, all of these things that come about as you go through this river of change. And that's essentially what I'm talking about in that. And that covers the basics of

like being able to stick to your food more, understanding like yes, okay, it's about calories in calories out, but it's also understanding what your relationship with food is like, okay, and like what ties you have with food that make it harder for you to stick to the calories and calories out equation. So that sounds like it's quite complicated, but it's, in a way, like when you have the pictures in front of you, it's easier for you to understand and when I talk about it'll prove. So make sense. And can I ask you a question? So how, for you personally, how would you define success in fitness? Oh, that's a fantastic question. actually, I'll add on to that.

So how would you define fitness for yourself or how would you define success in terms of fitness for yourself? But then also, how would you define success for your clients in terms of fitness? So for me, I think just making sure that I'm nailing my basics, which is my water, my calories.

I don't track my calories all the time. But just making sure that I'm eating the foods I need to eat, make sure I'm hit my protein intake, making sure that I've got the sleep in check and making sure that I get my steps in. But why? What is the outcome of them things for you personally? So for me personally, that's when I'm feeling my best

is when I've got all of them. And that's what the success is for me. So that's when I've got those in check. And that's essentially why I'm doing the seminar the way it is because that's what makes you feel good is when you have your basics in check. And it's so easy to lose that. So it's the same for my clients,

to be honest. Like when my clients feel good from what they're doing and they've got into a good routine, they're consistently doing it, which doesn't mean perfect, just consistently doing it. So it means like, you know,

five out of seven days they're still doing it or, you know, they've got through tough times, but they still manage to keep up certain aspects of it. And then getting them to see how that's still making them progress. Whereas, again, it's like if one little thing goes,

all of it goes, but in reality it didn't need to, it's just that little thing that went. But if you've kept up, everything else, like your steps and, your calories and your water yet you miss the gym. That's still really good.

And you're still going to make progress from that. And it's getting to understand that. So that's a lot, like, again, nailing the basics and how it will change your life. Because when you start feeling good more often, like it's easier to be consistent with these things. And what do you think is the end goal for you in terms of, all right, you've been training consistently for 12 years.

Is there an end goal to it or is it more just how you want to feel on a daily basis? Yeah, I think it's how I want to feel on a daily basis. I don't think that, like, I've always said there's never an end goal. There's just checkpoints. And when those checkpoints are, you just make sure you actually sit in it for a bit and be like, yeah, I did this. And I look back at what you've achieved because that's what's important. And that's what I've done over the last year is just look back at like, you know, what's changed for me in terms of like Manan passing all the stuff I spoke about at the beginning

and how I've managed to keep myself going with what I've been doing because that's what makes like makes me feel good is making sure that I'm keeping on top of the things even when the challenges are there and how I've adapted for it because we all have stuff that happens whether it's losing a job losing a loved one splitting up with a good partner or losing a house or whatever else like going bank dropped or whatever it is like those challenges are going to happen and if you can keep on top of how you're feeling by managing the basics it's then obviously going to allow you to still move forwards and be what's the word proactive instead of reactive mindset. Yeah. Yeah. And it helps you to be more resilient to probably the struggles that are

happening in your life as well. And that's what training does. Yeah. What training does to you? It allows you to build your mindset strength as well as your physical strength because like we spoke about a second ago, when you're pushing and, you know, instead of three sets of 12, you push for more, you're learning how to go through that struggle and that pain and that burn that you get when you're training and that actually allows you to understand that in life a bit more as well that makes that makes perfect sense that it's a great analogy for a life i think it's preparing you for for a life and feeling uncomfortable at times because stuff's going going on um if you were to start your fitness career again what would you do anything differently uh when i look at like now no because i i'm really

happy with where i'm at um is there anything you would do more of that makes sense yeah I probably I guess like in the mindset I mean now compared to when I was when I was younger

like I wouldn't be afraid of talking to people more now yeah because like the worst is going to happen you are going to get told to fuck off and that was the worst thing that happened but it doesn't matter

like not everyone's like that and I think that would be a big big thing is not being afraid to talk to people more and put myself out there a bit more than what I did and that's like being doing more of that and then not procrastinating so much on ideas and like one thing I've

learned recent over the last couple of years is failing forward so like more often to but keep keep failing because that's where you learn and be able to kind of still progress even though it didn't work out if that makes sense do you know what I like about the gym is and I was talking to a client about this sooner day it's like failure is always perceived as a bad thing in in every other domain but when you go into the gym and when you train failure is exactly what you're trying to strive towards. Yeah, it's funny on it. Yeah, I think that's a good

analogy how that replicates into life as well. Yeah, definitely. And that's it. Like, I think a lot of people, people are afraid of failure, aren't they? Like, one of my coaches, Paul Moore, he always says like, you're either afraid of looking bad or afraid of failure. They're the only reason, two reasons why people don't do things.

And the reality is, like, no one's watching so like who you're looking bad to and yeah like we said about failure it brings about lessons then it so no matter what you're always going to have an outcome whether you do it or don't like so you may as well just do it because you're still going to have an outcome and if like like if you're afraid of doing something because if it not working but you're not doing it it's already not working yeah yeah so you have to you have to frame it like that to get yourself a little bit of kind of energy to ignite and to go and doing the thing because yeah it's very

crazy to just get wrapped up in your head and or to kind of, uh, just crawl into yourself and not do the thing that you know, you probably should. Yeah. But then when you, when you look at it objectively, like the worst thing that could happen is probably not that deep. Yeah, exactly. And I'm going to take back to the talk I did in front of the college students. Yeah. It's the worst that could have happened. And now, I know, and now look at you now. You're about to put on your own big seminar. So there you go. Yeah. Um, you, you've obviously gone through. a break up as well. Let's say for any of any young lads

who are listening to this who might be going through the same experience, what has helped you to get through that? Yeah, I think this will go for women as well, to be fair, any women that go through a breakup as well, because, you know, I feel like the coping mechanisms I use could be for anyone. It's how your mindset works at the end of the day.

But, and you're going to hear this from your friends when you break up with someone anyway, they're going to be like just focus on yourself for a bit and it really fucking is that. Like, focusing on self and what you enjoy self-care, is so important anyway. And when you've had something like that happen, like making sure that you still do

like focus on yourself, that self-care, whether that's taking yourself for a massage. I actually took myself away both times. So I split up with a long-term relationship in 2021 and then I split up with a girlfriend last year in March. So both times that happened. I actually took myself away. Now I know not everyone can do that,

but like taking yourself to your own space. So and not just sit in. in like the negative thoughts and stuff like yes sitting and also kind of like actually reflect on it and like how you can be become better yes but also just how you can overcome the feelings that you currently sitting in because it's so important too and I think a lot of people shy away from it um it's like when they're feeling bad they like you know they'll drink or they'll do stuff that's quite destructive for them and long term that's going to have worse effects whereas if you if you're able to look at it in a different way and do something that's that's more constructive

you and build you up to become better in your next relationship, then it's better, you know. Yeah. You went away to Australia, didn't you, by yourself? Yeah, so I went to Australia at the beginning of this year. And that was not the first trip I did. So I actually went to Alcante first. And that was like to get away and just have a little sit and think about things. Australia was, after my nan passed.

I booked it, like the day after. And I was just like, yeah, I just need something different. like completely different and it was amazing life sales amazing. What advice would you have for people who were listening that you know might want to do you you went by yourself as well didn't you? Yeah so I tried yeah yeah because it can be a scary thing for people to decide to go

halfway across the world by themselves what would your advice be to anyone who was kind of solo travelling or thinking about solo travelling but might be like afraid of doing things on their own. Yeah curiosity is one of the best performance enhances you can have in life and

where like if you're going to, if you're in toying with the idea of doing solo traveling, you're curious, right? And lean into it. Lean into being curious because it really does change the game. Like solo travelling is probably one of the best experience anyone could do. Because you just learn so much about yourself, but also like about life. And, you know, it does get into that sort of like hippie region where you're like, fuck, like, this is really cool. And like, you know, you just like, you can literally do anything you want with when you're on your own because you've not, no one else to worry about just yourself. and that allows you to kind of just be so much more freer

with how you think, how you feel. And you become more self-sufficient as well. Like you're not relying on anyone. You have to rely on yourself, which is a good thing rather than a bad thing. Yeah, exactly. So like, yeah, just never overlook the idea of solo travelling if you get an opportunity to do it and you want to do it.

Even if a little bit of wants you to do it, it means that you still want to do it. So I wouldn't do it because it really can just make you such a better person in general. Yeah, a lot of the times you can just have fear, hold you back, like, now's not the right time, I'll just put it on the long finger, and then a lot of people then put it on the long finger so long that they end up just regretting it years outside. That's the big thing, isn't it?

It's like you don't want to get to, like, when you settle down, you know, I wish I'd have done this. Yeah. And, you know, that's, yeah, and that was one thing I took when my nan died. I saw her dead body, and I've always said I never want to see a dead body, but I saw a dead body, and I was just like, where's she gone? I was like, because she's there, but like, she's not. and it just made me think.

I was just like, what, like, I'm sat here, and I'm like, it's not like I'm not happy because I've got, I've got things good, you know, like, I've got good family, I've got good friends and stuff, but I just wanted something more. And I was just like, why am I not doing what I want to do? And that's why I booked it the next day. I was just like, I want to go and explore more. Like, you know, it really puts things into perspective

that life is very fucking short. Yeah, exactly. And, like, this sounds like so cliche, because you always hear it about people when they lose someone and stuff. But it really does. But you just, like, fuck like that's like she's had a good life yeah but it's just it's over and like and i think about this so much now as like how quick time goes time like and it's fascinating like because it becomes

a smaller part of your life as you get older it goes quicker even though nothing really changes and like yeah alex or mosey said shared a good post about it actually um and i can't remember the exact quote that was on it but it was just like 20% of your life is x amount whereas a five year old it's like one year but like that takes that obviously takes a lot longer so it's just really fascinating like how it does get quicker yeah and it's like the only thing that like like and i also think like as we were speaking about failure and about putting yourself out there more when you have that perspective or when you like when you sit in that like realization that things are moving really quick and like you're going to be gone before you even know it it actually it gives you a little bit of

that boosts actually go and do the things that you are scared of doing. Get your shot, as they say. Yeah, 100%. Okay, deadly. Right, so I'm going to give you one more question and then I'll let you go. You've been unbelievable. So if you were to see a younger Luke walking into the gym for the first time

and you're on the PT floor, what advice would you give him? What advice would I give him? Oh, I see a long... His first training session, walking through him. A younger Luke. What advice would I give him? I think it's what I've already said. It's just don't stop.

Do not stop. Like, there is no reason to stop training because it's a health, like, benefit and habit that you're doing. It's a life pursue, isn't it? Exactly. There is no reason to stop training. Like, even if you feel like it's not going to amazing, you just go through it. Like, you're going to get times where you don't enjoy it.

You're going to get times where it feels like it's shit constantly. But those are the times that you keep going. That's what keeps you consistent. And over time, that's what's going to get you a result because you've kept consistent through the times that it wasn't feeling great and it felt like shit and you didn't want to do it. And it's those are the times that people give up in and that's why they don't get a result because that's when they lose the consistency. So you just keep going no matter what, about how it feels.

It's so funny because like the fitness industry is full of like five week, six week, eight week, 12 week challenges and like like you just spoke about there. Like, okay, we've been training in the last 12 years and presumably not going to stop until you're in the grave basically. Exactly. That's it. And the, like, do you know what, I find it really hard to respond to this. People, a lot of people, like, inquire about me.

And I'm like, oh, what are your goals? I'm not to look like you. I'm like, keep training. That's all I say. And it's just like, it sounds like shit advice, but it's not. Yeah, it's like the simple advice. The simple advice is usually the right advice, but people want something more complex because they're looking for complex.

They're looking for complex answers to just simple solution, simple but not easy. Yeah, exactly. That's the, it's just the longevity. of it. So yeah, it's fascinating, isn't it? Yeah. All right. And last question then. If people wanted to reach out, reach out to you, inquire about

coaching or just wanted to even ask you some general questions, where can to find you? Luke Randall Fitness on Instagram and Facebook. That's what I've got, to be fair. Yeah, of Instagram and Facebook, I've got like a web, like a landing page. There's Luke Randallfitness.com.ukh, and that's got all the information about my program.

but if you just want to have a chat yeah, find me on Instagram Luke Randall Fitness and yeah, message me I'm happy to chat to anyone social media is the way to go I'll keep everything in the show notes so people can find you

Luke this has been unbelievable today I really appreciate your time thank you so much I really appreciate you asking me on thanks for watching if you like that episode and you want to see more content like this make sure you're subscribed

and I'll see you on the next one