ben-e-fit

Are abs really made in the kitchen?

Wed, 19 Apr 2023 15:40:02 GMT

You've likely heard this phrase before...

"Abs are made in the kitchen"

But is it true?

Yes and no

You see, what most people mean when they say this is that food is the thing they struggle most to control enough to lose adequate body fat to reveal their abs

At it's very simplest

To reveal those abs you need to consistently be in a calorie deficit for long enough to become lean enough

And a decent chunk of that deficit is going to relate to food

But let me ask you this?

Would you say that biceps, or triceps, or chest were made in the kitchen?

Probably not right?

So, it's not ONLY in the kitchen that the work needs to happen

Sure, that does play a significant role

But you also need to be training with enough intensity

Progressing where possible

In the gym

To develop the muscle beneath

And build strength

Direct ab work may not be the way to create those visible abs

(Sorry to disappoint anyone that might be thinking thousands of crunches is the way to see them)

But it will help to develop the muscles, build strength & create greater structure in that area

When you are then lean enough to see things

So, remember this...

It is not solely the work that you do in the kitchen

Just as it is not solely the work that you do in the gym

All of these things work hand-in-hand to achieve results!

And if you've been trying for a long time without success to get those abs popping

Get in touch and let's have a chat to make sure you get the results your effort deserves!

Make this change to boost your muscle growth

Thu, 13 Apr 2023 14:31:06 GMT

If you want to make more progress & add more muscle...

Add in more single arm/leg movements

Why?

Almost all of us has a stronger side

It’s pretty normal

If you’re right-handed or right-footed

You’ve spent as many years as you are alive strengthening that side

Naturally, it becomes stronger than the other side

And what can happen

Even without you realising

Is that your strong side takes over when things get tough

So, if you’re doing a squat, or a press, or a row

As you begin to tire

The stronger side is going to take over

The amount of that shift could be really small

Almost unnoticeable

But it is there

Which is why I think it is so important to incorporate more single sided movements

And when you do this

Always begin with the weaker side first

And just match that with the stronger side

This will hugely help to even out any imbalances

As well as allow you to focus solely on the connection quality of one side at a time

Game changer!

Want to know what to eat to hit your goals?

Wed, 15 Mar 2023 07:39:54 GMT

If you’re ever unsure what to eat, you need to do this!

Stop thinking so hard

And making things more complicated

This super simple hack will change your life

Choose 2-3 options for every meal

2-3 Breakfast options

Eggs

Porridge

Smoothie

2-3 Lunch options

Chicken Salad

Tuna Sandwich

Last Night’s Leftovers

2-3 Snack options

Shake & Nuts

Protein Bar

Fruit & Yoghurt

And then 2-3 Dinner options

Spaghetti Bolognese or Chilli con Carne

Chicken Curry (with Rice or Jacket Potato)

Salmon & Med Veg

Batch cook as much as you want to

Get everything organised in advance

Save time

Save money

Stay on track

Make progress!

And if you want some recipes for any of the above meals

Click this link & grab yourself some inspiration

Struggling to Add Muscle? Try this

Fri, 27 Jan 2023 12:13:12 GMT

If you've been trying for months & years to add muscle, but yet to make significant progress... read on

The real reason your (chest, arms, glutes) aren’t growing

You’ve added all the weight

You’ve added all the reps

You’ve added all the sets

You’ve tried every movement known to hit that area

But you’ve missed one crucial element…

EXECUTION

I cannot tell you how much this will change the game for you

Lose the ego

Leave it at the door

Learn how to really lift the weight with the intended muscle

And watch how much you progress

Feel the difference

You’ll get those DOMS like you’ve just stepped in the gym for the first time again

Because this is now a new stimulus

A new sensation

Targeting the muscles properly

And now that you’ve nailed the basics of execution

Now you can start adding weight & reps

Applying progressive overload

And achieving that muscle growth you’ve been chasing for years

How to bring up lagging body parts

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 11:39:43 GMT

Have you found yourself with some lagging body parts?

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What is the best rep range for growth?

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 11:36:09 GMT

Have you been married to a certain rep range for the gains?

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When should you change an exercise or workout?

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 11:31:59 GMT

You might be changing things a lot sooner than you need to

When should you change an exercise?

A lot less frequently than you might have been told before

Progress comes from consistency over time

And it’s very difficult to be consistent if you’re always making changes

With any new plan or movements, you’ll go through a series of phases

1️⃣ Patterning – simply getting used to the movement

How it feels

The perfect setup for you

Performing plenty of reps to practice it

This stage is really important & may take a few weeks to really bed in

But it sets you up to make progress moving forwards

Don’t neglect it

2️⃣ Progressing – making the small, incremental improvements

This will come in a number of forms

Weight progressions

Rep progressions

Execution progressions

And they need not be huge leaps each week

An extra rep, an extra 1kg

Those all add up over time

3️⃣ Plateauing – progress stalling

There will, in all likelihood, come a time when you simply struggle to keep progressing a movement

It’s normal, otherwise we would all be competing in World’s Strongest Man each year

This may be the time to think about a change

That might be a swap for another movement – for a short time, or to repeat the above process

It might be a break from lifting altogether to recover fully

It might be, and this is one that I don’t see used often enough…

Stripping a lift back to basics

As weight & rep progressions happen, there can be a little drop off in execution

Pulling some weight back & re-patterning to go again can be a very valuable tool to use

Calorie Targets vs Structured Meal Plans

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Tue, 14 Jun 2022 11:27:22 GMT

Should you be following calorie & macro targets or more of a structured meal plan approach?

Which is better?

Well

It’s not so much about ‘better’

And more about ‘prefer’

If you prefer to have some target numbers for calories & macros

Which you then pop into an app

And track what you’re eating to aim to get close to those targets

Go for it

For some, this is incredibly handy

Allows more flexibility

And can even act as a little bit of a game or competition

For others, myself included, having greater structure is preferred

I just want to clarify here that ‘structure’ doesn’t mean ‘prescriptive’

I am not saying that the meals on the plan are the only thing that can be eaten… ever

It is simply a guideline

For me, and those who generally prefer this approach, it simplifies things

It’s easier to batch cook & prepare for

It takes away the uncertainty or decision making throughout the day

Makes it easier to shop for, knowing roughly what will be needed

And, overall, just simplifies life

Where many also get confused is in thinking it has to be one or other

I’d say that most people have a degree of both

It’s not uncommon, for example, to eat a similar breakfast every day

And take the same snacks & meals to work

And then, perhaps, have a little more flexibility for the evening meal

Finding what works best for you is where the magic happens

Because once you’ve figured that out

You can be consistent

And see results

Fat Loss Mistake Number 4 - Lifting wins

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 07:21:08 GMT

STOPPING WEIGHT TRAINING

(or reducing in favour of cardio)

The belief that more cardio is the best way to lose fat is one you should get out of your head…now!

Building muscle is the best way to burn body fat

And you cannot do that without lifting weights!

You see, when you lift weights, the session itself may not burn a huge number of calories

So, you’d be forgiven for thinking that it isn’t very effective when fat loss is the goal

However, it is quite rare that fat loss is the goal without also wanting to at least keep the muscle you already have, if not grow more

If you stop weight training, or really reduce it, to do more cardio, you are sending signals to your body that the muscle you have isn’t required in the same way

And your body will respond by wanting you to become more efficient at performing the cardio

Which may result in reduction of muscle mass

Why is that?

Muscle is very energy inefficient… your body uses a lot of energy to hold muscle tissue

Hence why building muscle is so beneficial for fat loss

The more muscle you have, the more energy your body requires just to keep hold of it

Not to mention the continued demand for energy (calories) for up to 72 hours after a workout for the recovery processes

So, if you really want to lose body fat… and look incredible…

PRIORITISE YOUR LIFTING

Fat Loss Mistake Number 3 - Changes Too Soon

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 07:19:16 GMT

MAKING CHANGES TOO OFTEN

This results either from poor advice given or a little impatience (or maybe both)

The ‘reduce 100 calories every week’ sort of stuff

When trying to lose body fat, you typically want to see a downward trend on the scales

And that might happen as expected in the first week, even the first few weeks

But what about any week where there is no change?

Or worse, what if the scales show an increase?

It’s easy to think that one week of no change (or the ‘wrong’ change) on the scales is reason to make adjustments

But

There are so many things that can impact progress

And scale weight is just one measure!

Not to mention several things that will directly impact the scale weight itself (sleep, hydration, stress, training, last toilet trip, to name a few)

So, one week of the scales not playing ball, should not immediately result in changes being made

At least not without further consideration as to what has happened during the time between readings

(FYI – this is where the independent opinion of someone else can play such an important role to assess what has happened without the emotional connection to the outcome)

The more frequently you make changes, the sooner you’ll be down to a low level of calories & have no room to further adjust!

Make SMALL, INCREMENTAL changes only when needed

Let your body have time to adjust to the new approach, consider progress over the longer term & against multiple metrics and, only when needed, make a change!

Fat Loss Mistake Number 2 - Cardio

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 07:16:02 GMT

DOING HOURS & HOURS CARDIO

I know, I know

Everyone’s favourite, isn’t it

Well, you might be pleased to know that the mistake made is going to change your opinion…

Mistake number 2 is…

DOING HOURS & HOURS CARDIO

Combined with the first point ( see previous post ), this is a very commonly seen approach that will really harm your progress, especially if you have any desire to maintain/build muscle mass!

And again, I understand why you might be thinking it’s the way to do things

You may well have heard this phrase before…

‘Eat Less, Move More’

And logic says the less you eat, and the more you move, the faster things will happen

I know, it’s like I can read your mind, isn’t it?

Cardio is a great tool to have in the bag when needed to increase the energy out side of the equation

However

In a similar way to reducing food too quickly

If you go hell-for-leather on your cardio from the get-go, doing hour & hours every day

You give yourself no room to increase it as you go

And that sense of stuck returns again

Assuming you have goals to maximise muscle mass alongside getting lean

You absolutely must prioritise your weight training – it will ensure you keep & build muscle while losing body fat

Never sacrifice that weight training for cardio

Only bring in cardio, in increments, as needed to keep the fat loss going

That means you don’t need to be spending hours on the treadmill everyday ��

I told you you’d like the outcome of this one!

Fat Loss Mistake Number 1 - Cutting Calories

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Fri, 24 Sep 2021 07:12:34 GMT

REDUCING CALORIES MASSIVELY STRAIGHT AWAY

This is really common & I get why it happens, too

You’ll have read or been told that you need a calorie deficit to lose fat

And you might then also think that the bigger the deficit, the faster the results will be?

There are some major issues with this…

You are setting yourself up to fail

Sure, you might see some ‘fast’ changes taking place

But, relatively quickly, your body will adapt to that low level of intake & you’ll have no room to progress

You’ll probably also feel like shit!

Tired, hungry, moody, lethargic

And you get really stuck

You can’t take any more food away as you’re already living on celery soup & shitting through the eye of a needle

And the absolute fear of eating more & gaining weight becomes very real

To the point where you have no idea what to do

So, what should we do?

Aim to keep calories as high as we can for as long as we can

Eat as much as possible

Enjoy the process, enjoy the food, enjoy the energy

And - most important - give yourself the maximum amount of room to adjust moving forwards

With this approach, you’ll feel bloody fantastic… while making progress, while losing fat & knowing that you’re able to make changes WHEN NEEDED to keep that progress going long-term

If you're business minded... you'll love this

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Tue, 03 Aug 2021 07:35:03 GMT

Building a body is very much like building a business

You start from the bottom (that might even be a literal bottom, if that’s your goal ��)

You need some initial capital… these are your base calories & macros

You have your Assets on one side… your training, cardio, steps, food, sleep

On the other, your Liabilities… the weekend takeaway, the nightly bottle of red, the dessert after every meal

Overall, you want to see the Assets increase more so than the Liabilities

That’s how a business increases its worth

There may well be those days or weeks where Liabilities outweigh Assets

You know the ones… you’re away on holiday, it’s your mates stag do, or you’ve been rushed off your feet so order that pizza when you get home

They happen, its fine

But don’t let them add up to the point that they start eating into your assets

That’s when you’ll start moving backwards

The more you can consistently build those Assets, the less impact the Liabilities will have, too

Essentially, you create a reserve

One that you can dip into from time-to-time in emergencies

That reserve is your muscles

The more muscle tissue you carry, the more food you can eat & the ‘damage’ caused by straying from the plan is much more limited

It’s why you might see those lifelong fitness influencers in incredible shape scoffing 5-6k calories per day

It’s taken them years to get to that point & they have adequate reserves to handle that amount of food

And they have also established great habits when it comes to their training & lifestyle to remain active & utilise the energy being consumed

If you’re a crazy busy business owner or professional finding it tough to figure out how to also have the body you want

Try treating your body in the same way you do your business

✅ Create a plan

✅ Grow the Assets

✅ Manage the Liabilities

✅ Build the Reserves

How can you monitor progress?

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 05 May 2021 08:42:02 GMT

All too often we view progress as a number on the scale

We want it to move down every single week

And if it doesn’t

We get frustrated

And feel a sense of failure

But

And this is a big but

�� I like big butts & I cannot lie ��

Sorry…my mind wandered! ��

Have you considered all of the other ways we can monitor progress?

How you feel
How you look
How your clothes fit
How your performance in the gym has been
How you managed a stressful week of work without reaching for the biscuits

Those are only a selection of things to think about that are often overlooked

But they are so important

That one single number on the scale doesn’t define you

It is a moment in time metric

I guarantee you won’t look back on this day in 6 months’ time & worry about what that number was

But you will remember how you spoke to yourself when things got hard

How proud you were of getting through your incredibly busy week without face planting the biscuit tin

That PB you hit on your squat

Your fitness journey should always compliment your life

Not complicate it

Celebrate ALL of your wins along the way

They’re contributing to your amazing new lifestyle!

Top Tips for Training Your Chest

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 10 Mar 2021 09:00:03 GMT

If you're training your chest, think elbows, not hands!

If you’ve been lifting to bring your hands together, you’re going to use more bicep (as the biceps contract to flex the elbow joint)

You could actually bring your hands together without using any chest at all

The lower arm is largely irrelevant

Your pectoralis major is the large, fan-shaped muscle on either side of your chest

It has the primary function of bringing the upper arm towards the midline of your body

Due to the upper arm being the key attachment point, your focus should be on driving the upper arm towards the midline of the body

You can see this for yourself by doing this simple exercise right now

Stand or lay down with your arms outstretched & elbows fully extended

First, simply bring your hands towards one another by bending (flexing) at the elbow – you’ll note that you feel nothing at all in your chest

Now, go back to that same starting point, keep your arms outstretched & bring the elbows towards one another – you’ll now feel this solely in your chest

Apply this feeling whenever you perform any chest movement to maximise the contraction & stimulus

5 Ways to Maximise Your Results – Nutrition Edition

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Tue, 09 Feb 2021 08:00:01 GMT

These 5 things will revolutionise your fat loss

Which will, in turn, transform your physique

1. Start High

THE BIGGEST MISTAKE I see is people cutting calories way too much, way too soon!

You are hugely limiting your potential progress by reducing things so much, so soon!

2. Prioritise Protein

Not only will protein help to protect (& even build) muscle while losing bodyfat

It is also very satiating & will help manage hunger, too!

3. Fats won't make you Fat

Another big mistake is reducing fats to very low levels

Fats are essential for life, hormone regulation & nutrient absorption

Without them, you will feel terrible & limit your fat loss potential

4. Make use of low-calorie filler foods

As calories begin to reduce, make good use of low-calorie foods such as salad items, green vegetables, tomatoes, onions, mushrooms etc that will add a lot of volume to your meals without much impact on overall calorie consumption

5. Small, incremental changes, only when needed

The last common mistake is to make changes too frequently without the need to

Weekly reductions, just because

If something is working, & your body is responding, it doesn’t need to change

5 Ways to Maximise Your Results – Training Edition

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Fri, 05 Feb 2021 10:25:03 GMT

These 5 things will revolutionise your workouts

Which will, in turn, transform your physique

1. Form first...always

Leave the ego at the door

If you can’t connect with the intended muscle, it’s too heavy

2. Use a logbook

Without logging your lifts, how you feel & how you perform, you’ll have nothing to improve upon!

3. Focus on progression

Use your logbook & aim to better your lifts each week

Don’t think that is only in weight moved

It could be same weight more reps, same weight & reps with much improved execution

Even regressing the weight to ensure the execution is spot on is progress!

4. Don’t neglect your rest

Perhaps the most common mistake I see is overtraining & the belief that more is better

You will grow when you rest

So optimise your rest, recovery & growth

5. Manage your intensity

Another common mistake is not understanding when to really push & when not

If you’re trying to take every single set to failure, you’ll struggle massively to make any kind of progress!

How many are you currently implementing?

CREATINE - The supplement that had your mum thinking you were on steroids

Wed, 20 Jan 2021 12:29:30 GMT

But, is the hype true?

Before we get into the supplement itself, I think it is going to be worth starting with some basic knowledge of the energy system that supplemented creatine may help with

You may have heard of ATP, or Adenosine Triphosphate, as being the body’s ‘energy currency’

Essentially, ATP is the biochemical way to store & use energy, consisting of an adenine nucleotide that is bound to three (hence the ‘tri’) phosphates

When your body, or more explicitly, a cell, needs energy, one of the three phosphate bonds is broken and free’d, leaving behind ADP, Adenosine Diphosphate

It is the energy generated when that bond breaks that your cell will use, when required, such as when you contract a muscle and, as the required work of the muscle increases, more & more ATP is consumed, which then needs replacing to allow the continued movement

If the cell has excess energy, it will store that energy by creating ATP from the ADP in the system plus an additional phosphate

Which is where creatine comes in to play!

There are three ways in which ATP can be sourced from within the body

Via the Phosphagen system;
Via the Glycogen-lactic acid system; or
Via the Aerobic respiration system

For the purpose of this article, let’s focus on the Phosphagen system, as that is the system by which creatine has an impact, in particular when discussing muscle contractions as, after all, that’s what you all want to know about!

As mentioned above, ATP contains three phosphates

And, your muscle cells will have a limited amount of ATP within them, which is available for immediate use. However, that immediately available ATP is only enough to last for about 2-3 seconds

Once those immediately available stores are used, your muscle cells need to replenish the ATP levels pretty quickly to provide the additional energy required to keep working at that level of intensity

This is done as a result of your muscle cells containing a phosphate compound, creatine phosphate

From the creatine phosphate, the creatine kinase enzyme removes the necessary phosphate to be transferred to the ADP (after the ATP bond has been broken to produce energy) so that ATP can be formed, ready to be used again

This process of ADP-ATP-ADP occurs very rapidly within the cells for as long as the cells have access to available creatine phosphate and, while the energy can be supplied at a very high rate under this process, it will only last for about 8-10 seconds before those creatine phosphate stores have been depleted

And, this is where supplementing with creatine can be useful

Your body can only store a limited amount of creatine at any one time, and, you can get a decent amount of creatine from your diet, primarily from meat & fish

Any excess will just be excreted out of the body (via a process that breaks down the creatine into creatinine to be passed in your urine)

Supplemented creatine may help to ensure that your creatine phosphate stores are always topped up (particularly if you follow a plant based approach to nutrition)

So, is it worth adding a creatine supplement into your diet?

And, if so, which do you choose and how much do you take?

To answer the first question, it may be worth considering the second one beforehand

Creatine Monohydrate is 100% effective, is very cheap & very easily accessible

NB – you only need to purchase creatine monohydrate. The other varieties are, essentially, cleverly marketed to have you believe that you need some ‘advanced’ form, but as mentioned creatine monohydrate is already 100% effective so don’t spend any more than you need to!

In terms of dose, again, clever marketing will have you believe that you should ‘load’, and also cycle off. This is basically just a way of encouraging you to use more…think about it, if you take that advice & load 20g per day for 5 days, and then cycle off for a week every 6 weeks, before ‘loading’ again when you cycle back on, you are going to be using quite a lot of the product & need to purchase more often…marketing!

You only need to supplement 3-5g, every day if you wish, or there may be logic in only supplementing on the days that you weight train, and are, therefore, actually using the stores you have

To come back around to whether it is worth you adding in a creatine supplement, providing that you have the other areas of your training & nutrition in a good place, give it a try & see if you notice any benefits

You may notice a small increase in your ability to generate additional power, or keep pushing for that little bit longer….or you may not….individual response can vary

BE INVESTED IN THE PROCESS

ben@ab-fit.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:20 GMT

This one simple step could be the difference between you making little-to-no progress

And you making HUGE progress!

What is it?

BE INVESTED IN THE PROCESS

I know what you’re thinking

“ That sounds like a sales pitch to me! ”

100% honesty

To an extent it is

But, here is the thing

I don’t want you to simply invest your money in me as your coach as you still won’t achieve the results you’re looking for

Sure, being financially invested can make a difference in the adherence as nobody likes to feel as though they have ‘ wasted their money’

But, if it is solely financial, the investment that you make is likely lacking one huge factor that will see that progress go to the next level!

Do you want to know what that thing is?

EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT

Yep, even more so than money, when you are emotionally invested in the process, you are far more likely to achieve what you set out to achieve

Our emotions are SO POWERFUL!

More so than many realise

If you have a very strong emotional connection to the goal, that strength will keep you going no matter what!

You have an enormous desire to reach the goal

Whenever any slight dip in motivation occurs, that emotional connection will pull you back on track & reinvigorate you!

One of the first things that I will do when I speak to anyone that reaches out to me is ask them to tell me what they value most in their lives right now

That could be anything from their children to their business to their health to their physique

When physique, or health, are ranked very highly in your own personal values, it is quite easy to commit to the process of improvement

But what happens when they aren’t ranked so highly?

That is where it gets even more interesting & exciting!

We link those health & fitness goals to things that DO rank higher!

The emotional connection is created within that linking

So, even if money is one of the things that you highly value, the investment of money itself is actually an emotional connection

If you are ready to TRULY TRANSFORM your entire life FOREVER

Please do get in touch

The methods I will share with you can be applied to each & every scenario that you face, and will ever face, during your entire life!

To me, what I provide is so much more than transforming your physique

It is TRANSFORMING YOUR LIFE!

Bullied

ben@ab-fit.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:18 GMT

When I was 11 I was bullied

Bullied for being successful

I’ve mentioned previously that it was at this age that my potential career in professional football got serious

Ipswich Town FC required that I cease playing Sunday league & it was solely them & my school that I could play for

My closest friends reacted badly

Teasing, name calling, total isolation

All for being successful

And it created a huge internal battle that I fought for many years and, to an extent, probably still do

I was, and still am, very competitive! I play to win!

Whether its Monopoly at Christmas, or a ‘friendly’ game of volleyball on holiday

I’m there for gold!

However, there is always a nagging fear of what success may bring as a result of that childhood bullying

If I am successful, will I bring conflict?

And I’m still not a big fan of conflict

In fact, I will shy away from it whenever possible

I have, however, developed mechanisms over time to cope with this much better as I have gained a better understanding of the positive & negative forces at play in all events

There are times when conflict simply exists when two or more people strongly stand by their opinions, and that can be extremely valuable in hearing another side to a story that you may not have considered

Conflict can simply mean being challenged, physically, intellectually, emotionally

And I do enjoy being challenged

So I try to see potential conflict as a new challenge to embrace

Now, don’t confuse that with going out seeking a fight!

That really isn’t me

But a healthy debate, with the option to question and be questioned, I am open to

I have also found a path in life where my own success comes as a direct result of the success of others

If my clients succeed in achieving their goals, with my support, that’s the greatest feeling ever!

And my desire to ‘win’ means that I want the absolute best for each & every client that I work with

I truly care & am invested fully in their results

They get the very best of me, always!

That is a very blessed position to be in

And one that I relish every day!

“I thought you’d have a better body”

ben@ab-fit.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:17 GMT

I felt quite reflective last week

Not too sure why, but I actually pin-pointed one moment

And I have never shared this with anyone!

It was a school trip to Spain

I was 17 years old and hadn’t been on many foreign trips

I think it could even have been the first without my parents!

A fairly small group of us attended that took an introduction to Spanish course as part of our A-Levels

And, one day, a few of us were having a few drinks (as was typical at that time), a few guys and a few girls

I can’t recall exactly when or why, but we were probably just getting undressed having returned from a night out or even getting changed ready to go out

And one of the girls looked at my half-naked body and said

“I thought you’d have a better body”

I’ve stated before that I was not a confident teenager

And that shattered my already fragile confidence!

BUT

I am truly grateful to the girl that uttered those words

Because it fueled a long-term passion to change!

To change my physical appearance

To get healthy

To stop drinking & smoking

And start thinking about what I was putting in my body

It was the catalyst I needed to totally change my life

To discover how much exercise and nutrition could do for my body and mind has been the greatest journey and one that continues to develop day after day!

I am in the best shape of my life, physically, mentally, emotionally

And it all started some 16 years ago with one seemingly innocent sentence!

Planning an effective workout routine

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:15 GMT

Are you a little lost and confused by the vastness of available information on the internet?

It’s no surprise, and you’re certainly not alone!

We are constantly bombarded with the latest exercise or workout craze to sweep the fitness world and being told that it’s “the best [insert relevant body part] builder you can possibly do”.

So, naturally, you want to add it to your very next session!

And then, next week, someone else you follow (or even that same person) releases another video with “the very best [insert relevant body part] workout for maximum growth”.

To simplify things into a few easy to follow steps, I wanted to share with you a great way of building your own workouts for you and your goals.

Follow these simple steps to get you started:

Know your GOAL!

Without this crucial step, you will have no idea what you want to achieve!

This is more important than you might initially think.

If your goal is to run a marathon, but the workout plan you pick from the internet is to “build a huge chest and arms”, you may find that, come marathon day, you struggle to complete the distance!

Try to be specific with your goal(s) too. The clearer they are, the easier it is to structure the plan.

And think about the long term goal, which you can then break down into smaller chunks, as required.

Figure out how much TIME you have available during a typical week

Be realistic, here. But also be honest.

Think about how much you value the goals you set in step 1.

If you value those goals highly, you will create more time than you may initially believe that you have available.

Is your time in the mornings, lunchtimes, evenings, or a combination of time slots?

Could you separate your cardio sessions from your weight lifting sessions and perform more than one session during the day?

You don’t want to create a 5 day plan if you only have 3 days available!

At this stage you may need to reassess points 1 & 2 if they don’t align!

If your goal is to lose 25kgs of body fat in 12 weeks and you only have the capacity for 2 x 30 minute sessions every week, you will likely find that very difficult (subject to your starting point) and we don’t want to set ourselves up to fail!

However, if the goal of 25kg body fat loss is rated extremely high in your personal values, you may discover that you actually have much more than 2 x 30 minutes available.

You are prepared to get up 30 mins earlier each day to create a further 7 x 30 minute slots.

You might forgo the hour of Netflix in the evenings to ensure that you have a good 60 minutes to workout.

With points 1 & 2 aligned, consider your WORKOUT SPLIT

This will vary dependent on your goals and experience level.

If you’re newer to the gym, think about splitting your muscle groups in line with your availability, which might mean full body work or upper/lower splits.

For example, having 2 available slots could mean that you perform two full body workouts per week.

Or 3 days available might look more like a push, pull, legs split.

4 days could be upper/lower/upper/lower or a muscle group split, e.g. chest/back/shoulders/legs.

Also allow sufficient time to stretch and recover. Factor in a minimum of two rest days each week.

There are numerous options here, but stick to simple principles as mentioned above initially and consider further development of those in due course.

EXERCISE SELECTION

Again, subject to goals and experience, although focusing on proper form should always be the primary objective to reduce injury risk and instil the correct mechanical motion of the exercise.

Don’t be that guy or girl swinging lots of (too) heavy weight around, instilling poor form into your mechanical/muscle memory and creating poor habits from the get-go!

Also, remember to take the muscles through their fullest range of motion (ROM) that you are safely able to. If your ROM is small when you begin, it will improve over time providing that you consciously think about extending it every time.

Ensure adequate balance within your split exists.

Don’t overload your chest and forget about your back, for example!

Or train only your upper body at the expense of your legs! Nobody wants a chicken legged body shape ;)

EXERCISE ORDER

Generally speaking perform your compound lifts (those requiring multi-joints/muscles, such as a deadlift or squat) at the beginning when you have the most energy.

This will ensure that you can focus on the principles of progressive overload (the gradual increase of stress placed on the body during exercise training that is beyond its current capabilities) when you are at the strongest during your session.

Ordering these compound exercises at the beginning of the session also focuses your energy on maintaining the best form and preventing injury.

Leave the isolation work (single-joint/muscle, such as leg curls or triceps extensions) towards the end.

REP RANGES

This can vary hugely, but as a general rule of thumb for muscle building, stick to 6-12 reps, particularly for those compound lifts and don’t be scared of doing some much higher, 15-20+ reps for those isolations to maximise that burn (metabolic stress)!

Remember, these rep ranges are often just a guide!

You also need to think about intensity levels and when you should and shouldn’t take a set to failure.

With the compound lifts I like to think of my sets as increasing intensity warm-ups until my final, top set, which is all out, pushed to failure!

If the rep range I was aiming for was 6 reps on that final set, I stop when I fail, not at 6 reps if I knew I could do one or two more! If I hit 7 reps, next week the weight goes up and I aim for 6 and see how many I get.

GIVE IT A WHIRL!

Try it out and don’t be afraid to play around a bit until you find the ideal split and exercise order for you.

You might find that the sessions are taking too long.

Which might mean that you’re resting too long between sets, just be aware!

On the whole I wouldn’t rest more than 60-90 seconds between most sets and perhaps 2-3 minutes between exercises.

You may have included exercises for which your gym doesn’t have the equipment and you need to find an alternative (that’s where the internet can come in handy!)

So have a go, see how you get on and make any necessary changes within that first week of sessions.

Then, stick to the plan for 4-6 weeks, focusing on correct form, progressing the major lifts and fully committing.

FINALLY, if you have any questions, make sure you ask someone!

Be it someone in the gym, a friend you trust or a coach (hi), make sure you are comfortable with them and their knowledge.

For any coaching enquiries, please do not hesitate to take a look at my options and book in for your FREE consultation to discuss your goals, your needs and the best approach for you!

3 Tips for Morning Gym Goers

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:13 GMT

Do you prefer to train early in the mornings?

Or are the mornings the time when you have the availability and capacity to workout?

But do you struggle with motivation, organisation and structure to utilise that time to go to the gym?

Below are 3 TOP TIPS that will help you set yourself up for success!

SAVE TIME

Prepare your clothes and food the night before.

This one is key!

It will not only save you time but it will create the connection in your mind that you are getting up and training in the morning.

Creating the positive habit of morning exercise is a perfect way to set yourself up for the day ahead

Rather than scrolling through emails or social media, get up, do some exercise and reap the rewards for the rest of the day!

If you will not be returning home after the gym in the morning, also have the rest of your days meals prepared the night before and take those with you so you are completely set for the rest of the day!

WHAT TO EAT

This one can be a tricky one for some.

Either not feeling hungry in the morning or not wanting to eat a big meal and then go and exercise.

Exercising in a fasted state is an option, but the intensity levels will dictate effectiveness – I wouldn’t advise weight training in a fasted state, though.

If you plan to lift weights, I would advise fuelling your body before, during and after that session to maximise performance and recovery.

And I would stick to protein & carbs, primarily!

You can even have these in liquid form (a protein and powdered carb shake, for example) which will digest more easily and not leave you feeling full to then train.

If it is steady state cardio activity being performed, for example, doing so in a fasted state is fine due to the much lower intensity of the exercise.

Referring back to point 1 above, have the shake ready to go the night before so that you can just grab it and go!

REST DAYS

So you may be thinking that your rest days are your opportunity to lay in?

I would advise you to get up at the same time as you would if you were going to the gym.

Why?

It maintains your circadian rhythm, which is important for many functions including sleep cycles, hormone release, eating habits and much more!

Use the additional time to do something you enjoy.

Whether that is meditation, stretching, mobility work, reading, cleaning, whatever it is that gets you going!

I hope that helps you set yourself up for success with a solid morning routine!

I’d love for you to implement these tips and let me know how you get on!

Accountability = Results

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:12 GMT

Do you have an accountability partner?

Whether it’s a coach, training partner, life partner, work colleague or friend, having someone to hold you accountable is HUGE as a tool to progress, make changes and continue progressing.

The decision to make a change ultimately comes from you, so you first have to be accountable to yourself.

And that can be a big first step to take if you’re coming from a point of little-to-no exercise and nutrition experience.

Or even if you have been training for a while, being honest enough with yourself to consider reaching out for greater accountability can be a bold move, but one that will be of great importance to your ongoing progress.

Thankfully there are plenty of people available to help, including friends, family, personal trainers, coaches, and many more.

And once you have that accountability partner, you create a link in your mind such that you don’t want to let them, or yourself down, which can be amazing in those moments when you feel like cheating on the diet, or skipping that training session.

That person will be there to keep you on track. They will remind you of the goals you shared with them and the reasons that you’re doing what you’re doing to reaffirm the importance of keeping going!

That person doesn’t necessarily have to have the same goals as you (if they do you can both reciprocate the accountability but it is not essential).

I have shared my goals with my friends, family and coach but I train alone most of the time, I follow my own nutrition plan and that means I have to be accountable to myself first and foremost.

You can do this in many ways but below are a few ideas that have helped me:

BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF
Be accountable to yourself first and don’t try and cheat or lie to impress anyone else!
Be 100% honest with yourself about your training and diet…weight lifted, reps performed, deviations from diet…these will all be essential to make progress in the longer term!
SHARE YOUR GOALS/PROGRESS
An incredibly important method is to share your goals and your progress with someone else.
This creates accountability to someone other than yourself and you are more likely to achieve your goals when you have vocalised them and created an externalised commitment.
LOG YOUR WORKOUTS
This is VITAL
Whether in physical notebook form or electronically on your phone/tablet etc, record your sessions, exercise, weight lifted and number of reps as a minimum.
Each session, refer back to the previous week and attempt to better it – an extra rep, an increase in weight, it’s all progress!

Barbells vs Dumbbells vs Machines

ben@ab-fit.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:10 GMT

When it comes to exercise selection, you might wonder what’s best – barbells, dumbbells or machines.

Like a lot of answers in the fitness world….it depends!

It depends on many factors, a few of which are discussed below:

Availability of equipment
If you are lucky enough to have access to more than one option, keep reading!
Note also, that you might be restricted by the maximum DBs in a gym or the maximum weight stack on a resistance machine!
If you only have access to one, your options are heavily limited to either
USE THAT
Find a new gym!
Connection (and correct form)
I’m referring here to the mind-muscle connection often mentioned!
Some people will simply find that they prefer certain exercises over others because they are able to more effectively connect with the target muscle, and a more effective connection will recruit more muscle fibres to contract more forcefully!
For example, I prefer chest pressing DBs to a barbell. I just find that the motion allows me to focus on my chest as the bar’s fixed position can feel uncomfortable.
Variety
While I stated above that I prefer DB pressing, I will incorporate a mixture of all three at various points in my plans to make sure that I am targeting my muscles from different angles to promote the most muscle fibre damage and enable maximum growth!
Machinery also varies, from the typical plate/cable types to Hammer Strength (or equivalent) – all have their merits in different circumstances!

There are benefits and drawbacks to each of them also.

Using ‘free weights’ (barbells, dumbbells) will require greater stability in the movement, recruiting many of those stabilising muscles to support the lift and recruit greater muscle fibre activation.

However, that freedom of movement can also lead to the target muscle not being worked as effectively, normally due to lifting too heavy a weight and needing to bring in the surrounding muscles to finish the reps.

That’s not to say that that we should never try to push our limits and bring in those surrounding muscles to really fire up the intensity levels for the last few reps of that final working set! Progressive overload, correctly utilised, is the way to grow muscle!

Resistance machines can be incredibly useful for isolating a muscle. Due to the limited range of motion, really focusing on the target muscle can be much easier!

Machines typically have one plane of motion. While this can be very useful for increasing strength, due to removing the need to stabilise as such, that plane of motion may not be optimal for the exercise or your individual structure.

Smith machines being used to bench press are a good example of this. The generally accepted correct motion of the bench press is to create a slight arc up and back towards the rack for each rep. With a fixed straight up and down motion that the smith machine dictates, achieving that curve is not possible.

Machines are often referred to as being ‘safer’ to use also. I disagree with this. An incorrectly used machine, with a fixed, perhaps dangerous plane of motion for the individual could be very damaging. Using a chest press machine, set at the wrong angle, with the incorrect seat height, could result in the user putting an enormous amount of pressure and stress on their joints, shoulders in particular, and doing some serious harm!

The key for ensuring the safe operation of the equipment, be it barbell, dumbbell or machine, is to first be shown the correct way to use it by a member of the gym staff and by doing your research to find suitable demonstration videos, and subsequently start light, perfect your form and only then begin increasing the weight!

With all of that said, I believe that the use of barbells, dumbbells and machines will depend on the factors mentioned above as well as your own goals, capabilities and preferences!

There is no one size fits all!

KEEP IT SIMPLE

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:09 GMT

I have spoken to several people this week asking for help regarding their progress towards their fat loss goals.

And a few really simple things cropped up almost every time.

Do you track your food & drink intake?
Are you consistently exercising?
Does your daily activity fluctuate significantly from week-to-week?
What are you basing ‘progress’ on?

If we look at each of these in turn, there are some pretty simple guidelines that can be followed.

Do you track your food & drink intake?

If the answer to this is no, it is nigh on impossible to progress. Without first understanding and acknowledging your starting point, there is nowhere to go!

If the answer is yes, that’s a great place to start.

Typically my next question is to ask if you are tracking EVERYTHING – this is where it can get a little interesting!

You make a note that you had a coffee – but fail to record the 2 sugars added

You jot down that you had ‘cereal’ – but have no idea how much and forget to also record the milk it was eaten with

You don’t even consider those biscuits you grabbed in the office, or the slice of cake for someone’s birthday (and if you are in a decent sized workplace like I was, it is ALWAYS someone’s birthday!)

So, be really honest with yourself here.

Record EVERYTHING.

Understand the importance of measurements and quantities to ensure you are recording consistently.

2. Are you consistently exercising?

Are you training the same number of times per week?

Is the intensity of those sessions consistent?

Did you miss a session or two this week?

Again, understanding why these are important to monitor progress is really key.

If you missed a session, or the number of times you exercise is very ad-hoc, there will always be fluctuations in the results you see from week-to-week.

Being consistent is the best way to monitor longer term progress.

3. Does your daily activity fluctuate from week-to-week?

Another area that can potentially have a greater impact than the gym or exercise sessions could be your daily activity levels.

Do you know how many steps you perform each day, or over the course of a week?

Did you have something during one week that created a greater activity level than the previous one or two?

You may have gone out shopping for the day, for example, and been on your feet all day. Or attended a family function.

On the whole, many of us probably have, on average, fairly similar patterns of movement, particularly if we work for a certain number of hours in a very similar role each day.

While I do not currently own any kind of movement activity tracker, and would question the accuracy of those which provide calories burnt measurements, I do believe they can be a very useful way of monitoring and understanding general movement patterns.

So if you have no idea of your daily activity levels, or would like to have that something to ensure that you hit certain targets, one of these wearable devices could be of help.

4. What are you basing ‘progress’ on?

This could be very subjective!

Is it your weight?

Certain body measurements?

How often are you taking such measurements and at what time of the day?

There are a lot of variables here.

I would always advise a weight measurement to be taken first thing in the morning upon waking, before the intake of any food or fluid, using the same set of scales in the same place of the house.

This ensures, to a large extent, that conditions are predominantly the same from measurement-to-measurement, enabling consistent comparison to be made.

I would also advise that the measurements are taken weekly, ideally on the same day each week.

In addition there are also a few key points I’d like to highlight

Progress is not linear!
Do not expect to see the same results occurring every single week
One week, you might lose 3lbs, the next 1lb or nothing at all
This is to be expected as your body adapts

As you become leaner, fat loss gets harder!
Your body will fight to retain those energy stores

Don’t try to lose fat too quickly!
You could impact your health
And also potentially develop unhealthy relationships with food and exercise

Creating or increasing a calorie deficit does not have to mean less food!
There are other options – increase your energy output

I hope that goes some way to helping you understand where a good place to start is and some potential pitfalls along the way!

If you’d like any more advice, support and guidance please feel free to get in touch with me, I’m here to help!

Making the best of a bad situation!

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:08 GMT

This year, some things have happened that would previously have massively impacted me.

Two cancelled photoshoots after prepping for them, the gyms having been closed for about 6-7 months of this year, being locked down for a second time with limited access to the outside world.

All of these things had built up to take their toll on me physically, and mentally…I was pretty drained to be honest.

Now, I am not very good at resting! I am more and more aware of its benefits, but I just don’t like staying still for too long or missing my training sessions, they’re a huge part of my life and my daily routine.

A few years ago, I would probably have just continued training, believing I could somehow do the equivalent of ‘running it off’ from my old football days (read the first blog to find out what that did for me)!!!!

And, I would likely have found that it took forever to recover and hinder my progress in the meantime.

So, now much more educated and aware of why that rest and recovery is so important to progress, especially for an injury, I knew I was in for a few days off…

I was a little frustrated knowing that progress had been really good all year, despite the challenges of working out from home for long spells of time, and just wanting to push and push, but I soon realised that time away from training was going to give me more time to be productive in other areas!

I had a great opportunity to really knuckle down on a few things that I wanted to pour myself into:

Getting ahead with content creation for social media and my upcoming revamped and truly amazing website (which you are all now using!). This has been awesome as it frees up those time slots for the following week to be filled with something else or to get even further ahead.
Dedicating even more time to learning and expanding my knowledge! I have been doing so much more reading and listening in 2020 than ever before and just keep soaking up the information!
Creating a Fat Loss Masterclass to provide all of the tools you need to maximise your Fat Loss Progress now & sustain it! Just click the link to find out more!

What that time off also does is focuses my mind on getting back to training and builds that excitement and enthusiasm again. Sometimes we go through lulls in energy and motivation to train and taking a break and rediscovering that love for it can be absolutely amazing for progress!

Something I have learned is that there is always opportunity in adversity!

My decision to leave employment

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:06 GMT

Some of you will know that I left the employed world at the end of March 2018.

As a qualified accountant with 15 years’ experience, 9 of which coming after I had completed 6 years of study to obtain my qualifications, I had climbed my way up that corporate ladder to a well remunerated position that enabled me to live a pretty comfortable life financially.

However, the job itself had left doubts in my mind for many years and the thought of doing it for another 40 years simply scared the s&^t out of me!

I always felt I wanted something else, deep down, a desire to create something special, to use my passion for fitness to promote healthy living to a wider audience and use the knowledge and experience I had gathered along the way to provide a service for people starting out, or those looking for that next step in progressing their physique and mind!

A lot of things ran through my head as that day drew nearer…

What about the mortgage and bills?
Is this really the right thing to do?
Can I really change career paths this ‘late’ in life after investing so many years getting to where I am?
Will I succeed in my new venture?

I was afforded a bit of time through an offer of redundancy. Sure, it eased my mind for a short period of time, but that money wasn’t going to last forever and I would need to reinvest elsewhere to further my personal development into any new field.

There was also another huge factor in my decision…I had been in a long distance relationship for some 3 years by this point, only getting to see my girlfriend once a month for a long weekend and a couple of holidays each year!

I wanted to make a change for us. To be together for more than 14 days at any one point would be quite strange but something we both desperately wanted to happen to progress our relationship.

And so, that decision was made. 31st March 2018 marked the end of an era. The end of 15 years working for the man. The end of being told how many days off I could take each year and when I could take them.

It was an incredibly freeing feeling, which also came with a little fear of the unknown!

I’ve always said I like to be challenged, though, and this was just another challenge to overcome. One that I was very excited about as it was giving me the time to breath, the space to think clearly without the looming worry of having to return to the office the next day and the opportunity to understand myself and the direction I wanted to go!

Fast forward 10 months or so and I have all but moved countries to be with my girlfriend, I have launched my new venture and am offering my services as a fitness & lifestyle coach to those committed to making positive changes to their health and mindset!

I am happier now than I had been for a long time and I put that down to being able to pursue my passion each and every day!

Taking such a big leap is not for everyone and I am not necessarily telling everyone to simply drop everything as I did. BUT, if your situation is not serving you, it is certainly worth considering.

You could start small.

What is it that sets your heart on fire?

What do you wake up excited to be doing on a daily basis?

How about doing that thing as a side project to begin with?

Your day job can pay the bills, allowing you to spend time away from that day job focusing on you, on your passion and on creating something incredible!

That hour or two that you spend slouched in front of the TV screen each night, spend it doing something that excites you, something that provides value to yourself and those around you!

With that fire reignited every single aspect of your life will improve.

Turning up to that day job won’t seem quite so bad when you know you spent the previous night developing something amazing and can do the same as soon as you get home again tonight!

Your family won’t dread that miserable face coming home from work as you’ll be buzzing to be back and ready to get to work on your side hustle!

And make sure you also find time to exercise! It really will make you feel amazing, more energetic and ultimately happier in body and mind!

How Fitness Fuelled My Confidence

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:05 GMT

To set the scene, I was far from confident as a child. Intelligent, polite, well-mannered, but incredibly timid.

I excelled in the classroom, top sets in all subjects, good grades, incredible curtains (that’s a haircut, I didn’t walk around wearing curtains!) – I know, what a catch, hey!?

But I was so very shy, especially with new people.

Around my closest friends, of which I had a small group, I had more confidence but would still likely be the last one to be noticed or speak out.

However, there was one place that I felt particularly comfortable, and confident…on the football pitch! I loved football! I would play at every opportunity. I’d be at school an hour early just to be kicking a ball around the playground before lessons. Every break time, lunch time, after school, all of my time away from my studies would be spent playing football, whether alone or with friends!

And I was good…really good! The first time I got a sense of how good I must have been was when I was in Year 2, so perhaps 6 years old. Now, back in Primary School, I think it tended to be only years 3 and 4 that ever played competitively against others schools, often as a mixed age team, but only those two years!

So, when I was asked to play in that team of year 3 & 4s, as a year 2, I knew something must be working!

I don’t recall too much else from those Primary school days actually, but my parents tell stories of certain matches or tournaments and I would regularly bring home the ‘Top Scorer’ or ‘Player of the Tournament’ trophy!

I’m not sure exactly on the timing or age I was (maybe 9 years old) but my next experience of finding out that I had something was at a summer football camp put on by Ipswich Town FC, my nearest professional club. It was just one of those standard 1-2 day events that parents paid for as much to keep us kids occupied as anything else during that endless 6 week holiday!

So I go along with many other of the local kids from our estate, as it was being held just around the corner from our house on a local field. I just put my boots on and those metal studs clicking away along the pavement as I was so eager to get straight to it!

And that was that, being put through a series of drills and having fun kicking the ball about, being taught new skills, standard stuff!

And then, I think perhaps after the first day, when my parents came to pick me up, the coaches called them to one side and asked how old I was. A little surprised that I was so young, they promptly told my parents that if I kept playing the way I was, Ipswich Town FC would be interested in taking me on when I was old enough next year!

My fear of meeting new people also very nearly led to my football career ending no sooner than it had begun! I must have been about 9 or 10 years old, perhaps having just left Primary School to attend Middle School (I was in a three tier system in my local area), which meant that the weekend training/matches came to an end and, if I wanted to carry on playing, I would need to find a Sunday League team to join.

I’d grown very comfortable in those surroundings and familiar faces and to a quiet, shy kid, being comfortable was everything to enable me to excel.

My Dad had seen an ad in the paper for a big open day for several new local teams looking to start up in preparation for the formation of a new league and he knew that’s where I needed to be to keep playing and get those Ipswich scouts’ attention!

I was PETRIFIED. Slightly hazy memory but I can imagine the fear and panic. Having to be coerced into the car, and then out again. Walking hand-in-hand with my dad up to Hardwick Heath, an enormous space that had about 6-8 football pitches side-by-side, all of the new clubs having at least half a pitch to themselves. And that meant A LOT of people! Kids, parents, dogs, the works! And my anxiety just kept increasing with every step I took towards the club my dad had, I assumed, contacted to let them know that I would be coming to try out!

I actually don’t know why it was that team that was chosen. A couple of my closer friends at the time also went for trials, which settled my nerves slightly, and I have zero recollection of the day itself, but that club, Sicklesmere Tigers, became my team for the next 2 seasons!

I must have soon settled after those initial nerves as I went on to score over 100 goals in those two seasons and even netted 13 in one game (I think I had about 6 or 7 in the first half and my manager told me to stop taking the piss, but I couldn’t help it, I just wanted to be the best)!

Ipswich Town’s attention was grabbed! And I was offered a place at their School of Excellence not so long after starting with the Tigers, which meant a couple of additional training sessions each week, while continuing to train and play for my Sunday League and school teams!

Ipswich was another minefield for me. More new people, most from all manner of places across East Anglia, some of which I got to know a little better through playing against them in my Sunday games, but I found it very difficult to get truly comfortable there, just not enough time to find close friends and that comfortable space I needed.

Three events followed which turned my world upside-down!

At the tender age of 12-13 part of the process of playing for Ipswich Town’s School of Excellence was that you had to stop playing for your Sunday League club, the place I had really found my home and was loving my football! I had a choice to make…take up the opportunity of a lifetime that might allow me to play the sport I love as an actual career, in spite of all the fears inside me about not knowing people, not feeling comfortable and the nerves I felt each and every time I went to train or play with ITFC. Or, say no to opportunity and remain comfortable.

I opted for challenge, I said yes to ITFC. This was my chance to become the professional footballer every young kid dreams of!

So, you think that this would be one of the happiest moments of my life right??

My closest friends at that time were two lads that I went to school with, played Sunday league football with and pretty much did everything with.

They should have been absolutely thrilled for me! For their closest friend being given the opportunity of a lifetime, grasping it with both hands and potentially doing the thing we all dreamed of…how wrong I was!

In fact, not only were they not thrilled, they couldn’t have been further from elated. I immediately became the butt of all their jokes. I was ridiculed, harassed, mocked, called names, you name it, they did it to me!

My frail confidence…absolutely in pieces! Gone!

At a time when I needed support the most, the two people I thought I could rely on turned on me, and to this day, I still don’t know exactly why they did what they did, but I do know that jealousy is an awful character trait to have!

Do I hold a grudge? No, we were kids, and we probably didn’t really know any better to be honest.

Have I spoken to them since? No, I made a decision on that day to distance myself from negativity. I hope they’re different people now, I hope they’ve found peace with whatever it was that meant they acted the way they did.

That was the first event, losing my two closest friends in pursuit of success!

The second came about a year later!

After one season of playing solely for Ipswich Town (and the school as they weren’t allowed to prevent you playing for the school) I was told that I had not made enough progress over the previous 12 months for them to want me to continue.

A year after losing my best friends, I now felt like I had lost the other passion I had, football. I was now being told I wasn’t good enough! It wasn’t a huge surprise. I really didn’t enjoy my time there. I wasn’t having fun and I felt like I had gone more and more into my shell, wanting to hide away from everyone.

I didn’t react very well, regardless. Cried (a lot), took a good bit of time away from football as I simply couldn’t find the passion for it that I once had any more.

Again, I’m not sure exactly how the next steps unfolded but I ended up signing for my Sicklesmere rivals, the Lions! I knew quite a few of their players, either through being at school together or having played against them at various points, so perhaps one or two of them reached out to see if I was looking for a new club. Anyway, whatever happened, I signed for them!

And I was enjoying football again. Scoring goals, having fun, finding some new friends that shared my passion for the game!

I think it was during this time that I also moved to Upper School.

I found myself in a whole new world! Changing schools is weird. You go from being the oldest at one school, having grown in confidence and stature, to being the youngest in a matter of weeks! My shyness was kicking in again, just as I was beginning to feel a little more at ease!

I ended up getting to know a group of teens that all lived on my estate, a mixture of those in my year and the year or two above. And we would all hang out more and more, during and after school, at weekends, whenever! And it was a group that had developed some habits, as many experience at some point, of drinking and smoking. I wanted to fit in. I had found a group of people whose company I enjoyed so of course I wanted to do what they were doing!

I genuinely don’t know how my time at Sicklesmere Lions came to an end. I may even have just decided at the end of one season that I’d had enough. The team may have ceased. I just don’t remember. Making it pro wasn’t going to happen, so I wasn’t interested anymore!

So I had a year or two of just being a bit of a nightmare, for which I apologise to my parents as they were never anything but supportive! My dad doesn’t drive, and I’m one of 4 brothers, which meant that my mum would ferry me around EVERYWHERE to play football and I had repaid them by giving it all up!

I’d be out drinking, smoking, pushing the boundaries of when I had been told to come home! Causing my parents no end of worry, completely unnecessarily! But I guess I needed to vent and it has helped shaped the person I am today, so I wouldn’t take it back!

During one of those drunken evenings, a couple of my friends, who were still playing Sunday league for a team managed by their dad, convinced me to sign for them!

I’m not sure how legally binding that contract was ;)

So I signed for Bury Town. I can’t say I was giving it the full attention it deserved but it got me up and out on a Sunday morning, often with a bit of a sore head!

Cue the third of those events!

One Sunday, in full flow towards goal, ball at my feet, I stumble. Left knee goes one way, the rest of me the other way! The pain is pretty bad, let me tell you!

But, in true Sunday league style at that age, 15-16 years old, we had no substitutes! The managers son had already come off with an ankle injury so I was told to play on…”run it off” are the usual words of encouragement!

But after only a few minutes attempting to “run it off”, I couldn’t carry on, I could barely walk!

A consultation with the doc, scans etc at the hospital and key-hole surgery revealed that I had ruptured my ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) and torn my MCL (medial cruciate ligament)!

Reconstructive surgery came about 12-18 months later, then rehabilitation and that is what ultimately led me to the gym, and to discover my passion for health and fitness, and the desire to help others.

So what are the messages here, I hear you ask!?

In life, we will face adversity. It will happen. We don’t know where or when, but it will inevitably take place one or more times. It is how we respond to that adversity that shapes who we are!

My initial response to seek success in football, playing for ITFC, in spite of all my fears and doubts showed my determination and passion for something I loved.

My friends rejecting me could have dissuaded me, changed my mind. But I wasn’t prepared to sacrifice my dream for others jealousy.

Sometimes you might be required to remove negativity from your life in order to become better! You might lose some friends in the process. But those cannot have been true friends in the first place if they were prepared to be so dismissive of you, your goals and your passion!

Surround yourself with nothing but positivity and support!

When I ruptured my ACL, it could have given me a reason to completely go off the rails, fall further into the alcohol, and potentially drug cycle, which many of my friends had begun dabbling in, and spiral out of control.

But instead, I used it to fuel my desire to change my life. I spent about 2-3 weeks with minimal movement, strong painkillers and A LOT of time to think! I vaguely recall watching all of the Alien films!

I didn’t want this to be me. I wanted to be back active again. I had not long turned 17 and wanted to learn to drive, to have my freedom.

OK, football may not have been the outlet but I needed physical challenge back in my life, and that came in the form of physiotherapy and subsequently bodybuilding.

The moment my knee had recovered enough, I learnt to drive. I pretty much stopped drinking and smoking there and then (and I know that sounds a little odd as I was still just 17 at this stage). I was hitting the gym with more and more regularity, loving how I was feeling and looking, learning more and more about the body, my muscles, nutrition and falling in love with all things health and fitness.

Challenge - physical, mental and emotional, ultimately makes us stronger if we can learn from it and develop the skills required to use it for positive reasons.

And that is why I am also such a big believer in personal development. Without learning about ourselves, understanding out boundaries and challenging our limits, we simply won’t grow. And I am not prepared to standstill or wilt!

The gym provides so much more than physical changes too. It instils discipline, provides a positive outlet for emotion, can offer an escape from the world and a community of people all striving to become a better version of themselves.

Where do I even start!?!?!

ben@benhowardfitness.com (Ben Howard) — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 10:56:02 GMT

If I think back to my early gym days, they were mainly focused on physio and rehabilitation for reconstructive knee surgery that I had at the tender age of 17 following a ruptured ACL!

This meant lots of work to strengthen the muscles surrounding the knee joint - the quads, hamstrings and calves predominantly. Starting very light and gradually increasing the resistance as I regained the lost muscle tissue that had wasted away through weeks of inactivity, as well as gaining some new tissue as I progressed.

Seeing this new found size and strength triggered something inside me to want to do this more and more and thus, a love for the gym evolved, relatively quickly.

But with my enthusiasm came a lot of bad habits!

I became a little too absorbed with what the guys I was aspiring to be like were doing, the weights they were lifting, the products they were promoting and I tried EVERYTHING (legal)!

The internet is both amazing and confusing! The vastness of information available at the click of a button is truly mindboggling, and for the young, enthusiastic and impressionable mind like mine, an absolute minefield!

My first few months were a whirlwind of new training plans, none lasting much more than a week or two until the newest thing came out. A hunger for ALL the products - mass gainers, protein bars/cookies - supplements I had never heard of before, all because they are very cleverly marketed by my lifting idols!

And because I was new to this lifting game, I was seeing results. The earlier in your lifting life you are, the more responsive and adaptive your body is to new stimuli, and therefore changes occur that much quicker!

So what did I do?

Like anyone seeing results I continued to apply these methods. New plans on the regular, training more frequently, latest supplements purchased and consumed…but progress stalling!

At this point I was starting to gain weight in places I didn’t want it, mainly around my stomach, my strength just felt like it was going backwards, and my motivation was dwindling!

I needed to reassess where I was and what I was doing so I began reading up. My go to source of info was www.bodybuilding.com, a well-known website for all things bodybuilding! And when I could I would also pick up copies of Men’s Health and Muscle & Fitness to see what these magazines had to offer.

These sources of information gave me some valuable advice regarding training, in particular…a training plan needed to be constructed over a period of 4-6 weeks before being changed. This allows your body to make progressive steps over those weeks, whilst not becoming too accustomed to certain movements where it no longer wants to adapt and grow!

I also looked to these magazines and articles for help on nutrition, a hugely overlooked part of most people’s thought process – “I go to the gym so I can eat what I want” doesn’t cut it if you want continued progress! That’s not to say you have to be completely restrictive but we will save that for another time.

So I also learned that structuring my diet was going to further enhance my progress and optimise my results…so the obvious next step was to simply find out what my bodybuilding heroes were eating and do exactly what they were doing!

Cut to me mass preparing chicken and rice (and little else) without really measuring anything out or knowing why I was eating this stuff, but all bodybuilders eat is chicken and rice isn’t it?? Oh and lots of cheat meals, because those too are always posted about on social media platforms or in magazines!

Not only did I end up hugely falling out with chicken and rice but my progress still wasn’t where I wanted it to be!

But why??

Well, again, what it takes time to understand is that it is imperative that a diet plan is tailored to your individual goals and needs. You can often find general advice on how to structure a diet online and that’s how I began macro counting. Working out the quantities of protein, fats and carbohydrates that I believed my body needed based upon my weight, activity levels and the figures quoted in these articles.

And bam! Progress again…for a while!

Now what?!?!?!

I’m following the plans to the letter, my training is structured around 4-6 week plans, my diet is based upon more science than luck, and yet, my progress is stalling again!

Aaaaaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhh

Keep in mind that I am now talking about a process over the course of several years, probably around 10 years actually, trial and error, learning what does and doesn’t work.

At this point I’m completely bemused. I feel like I’m doing everything my information sources are telling me, eating right, training right, supplementing right….”is it all steroids?” running through my mind…”Is that what it is going to take!”

No, I have always said, and I stand by my decision, that anabolic steroids are not for me. I simply wouldn’t get the same satisfaction of achieving my goal physique, even if they did work!

So what next!? Where do I turn now?

It was around this time I had started to notice more and more online PTs, a concept that intrigued me. I obviously knew of the in-person PTs in the gyms I had been to and believe they can be of huge value to their clients but I had also seen those in-person PTs as mainly motivators for those people who may not enjoy going to the gym but feel more of a sense of duty when they have paid for that 1-2-1 service and have that PT with them every step of the way! There is a lot more to their job, let me just add. A good in-person PT will be far more than simply a motivator, they will be there to educate their clients on form, technique, good practice and much more, subject to their qualifications and experience and they have a huge place in the industry!

But I didn’t need motivating, I loved going to the gym, as often as I could! Investing in an online PT seemed like the most logical option for me so I started looking around for someone. I knew of people using online PTs so I reached out to them first, was given some names and recommendations and I went out and enlisted the help of my first online PT. I had an initial email conversation, liked what I was told, and paid my money for a 12 week package…and then I waited, and waited, and chased, and chased…and about 3 weeks after having paid my money, received my plans with a slightly disgruntled message from said PT. OK, not the best start but I was excited to get going. Lots of different exercises and a proper nutrition plan, tailored to my requirements, followed to the letter! Progress was being made, I checked in weekly as required, but wouldn’t always get a weekly response. Sometimes it might be fortnightly or more, a few changes made to the plans and I’d go again. Checked-in, waited for a response, go again. A cycle that repeated several times and I was getting frustrated…the only saving grace, if you can call it that, being that this particular PT can’t have been great at admin as I must have got about 6 months’ worth of plans from him having only paid for 12 weeks!

But he soon realised, and the relationship came to an end.

I then enlisted the help of another online PT following a few more recommendations and, unfortunately, the experience was very similar. Replies were late, updates not being made when they really should have been and that relationship also came to an end rather abruptly!

As you can imagine, I was becoming a little disheartened with the process by this point but also very determined to find the right approach for me.

During this time I had moved house and found a new gym and in return for some financial advice (I was an accountant in my former life, FYI), I was offered 10 free PT sessions with one of the club’s in-house trainers. And, despite my reservations mentioned above, found this to be very helpful. The PT in question was a competitive powerlifter and gave me some very useful advice on form for those major lifts, bench, squat, deadlift, as well as being very knowledgeable about training the accessory muscle groups too and much more.

So, was this the way forward? I couldn’t help but think it was quite an ineffective solution for me as I didn’t really ‘need’ someone standing next to me telling me what to do.

I also really like training alone, it’s my time to zone out, crank the music up, and just enjoy being in the gym doing what I love! So having that in-person PT just felt a little awkward at time - complete personal preference there!

So back to the drawing board (or social media board as is more appropriate, these days)!

I can’t recall exactly how I came to follow Adam Bates, but I think it was on Twitter, a social media platform that I had used the least actually. I was seeing some amazing transformations happening, some great testimonials and Adam himself in remarkable shape, the kind of physique that I aspired to have! So, I reached out, explained my previous experiences with online coaches and my reservations and he quickly put me at ease and explained that his clients are his number one priority, their success is his success, which is a truly amazing mantra!

And that as they say, is history! 5 years later I have never looked back. The changes I have seen in my progress since working with Adam have been insane and I’m looking forward to competing later this year for the first time under Adam’s watchful eye!

To sum up, and thank you if you’ve read this far as I appreciate it is a fairly lengthy read, online coaching is an amazing opportunity to work with someone incredibly closely, who is knowledgeable in many areas, and much more available.

It may not be the most appropriate option for everyone, but it has definitely been the right approach for me!

Which is why I am now offering my services as an online coach, too. All of the years’ experience and knowledge mentioned previously, combined with 5 years of guidance from one of, if not the best online coach in the business, means I am ideally placed to provide the highest level of service and support to you guys!

Six steps to success

pietro@avantiy.com (Pietro Saman) — Mon, 10 Jun 2019 14:54:29 GMT

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