12 Week Body Transformation Challenge

Six clients have now started the 12 Week Body Transformation Challenge - all want to lose body fat and build or retain some muscle.


The recording of diet has been made as simple as possible - it involves selecting one of three choices per meal (6 a day including snacks), entering the letter and the time eaten. So far compliance is perfect.


Three people are training with me in the FISH studio but the others have elected to train by themselves following programmes I have written. They all have copies of the diet plan and record sheets and unlimited email support.


Whilst it is naturally ideal to do the challenge with a trainer, not everyone can spare the cost; but its amazing what can be achieved with a good plan, access to support, clear goals, and (most of all) dogged consistency.


Good luck to everyone. 2nd November is not too far away. 12 weeks out of your whole life is nothing, so you might as well succeed.

If you have any queuries please don't hesitate to contact me on derekprior@yahoo.co.uk

To view FISH Personal Training services and products please visit http://www.derekprior.com/

If you would like to participate in the challenge either with a trainer or by yourself send me an email.

Derek

F.I.S.H. Calling Personal Trainers

If you are a freelance Personal Trainer with Level 3 REPS registration F.I.S.H. would like to hear from you. Our fully equipped studio is available to rent on a "pay as you go" basis. There are no contracts and no fixed rent: you simply pay a percentage of each session you give at the studio.

Personal Trainers are encouraged to bring their own clients to the studio and may also advertise their own Personal Training business both at the studio and on our blog site. Due to the high volume of Personal Training currently undertaken by F.I.S.H. we may also be able to refer new clients to freelance Personal Trainers using the studio.

For more information, and to come and look around, please contact Derek on 07871760054 or email fishfitness@tiscali.co.uk

F.I.S.H. Studio Photo Update

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Arnold Schwarzenegger has taken on something akin to mythical status in the world of bodybuilding. Despite the decades since his departure from the competitive stage Arnold is often the first name to spring to mind when bodybuilding is mentioned. He has his critics, of course (Lee Haney described himself as having "a more complete" physique than Arnold in the '80s, and current Mr Olympia, Jay Cutler, reputedly told Arnold he knew next to nothing about modern bodybuilding).

However, Arnold still bears comparison with the current crop of bodybuilding "freaks" whose proportions have become ludicrously inflated so that they resemble bloated Cardassians more than human beings. Arnold won the "Best Built Man" title early in his career: the modern heavy weights would no doubt be excluded from such a competition on the grounds of species.

There have been internet polls comparing Arnold to Ronnie Coleman, the previous Mr Olympia. Coleman may well have been awesomely huge, but Arnold came out on top in the polls due to his superior aesthetic. At his best, Arnold retained something of the classical physique, and in some ways his "weaknesses" (his legs were nowhere near as huge as the those of modern bodybuilders) may well have been his strengths.

Another recent poll, this time in a bodybuilding magazine, compared the chests of top bodybuilders from the past to the present. Arnold came first with Lou Ferrigno close behind.

Training philosophy has certainly changed since Arnold's day. He used to advocate gruelling two hour workouts often twice per day but research has shown that working out beyond the 45-60 minute mark produces high levels of the catabolic hormone cortisol. Obviously Arnold was able to achieve great results with his prolonged training sessions (due to genetics and anabolic steroids) but he may have achieved even more had he trained a little less. That said, Arnold's "Basic Training Program" in his "Encyclopedia of Modern Bodybuilding" is excellent. The more advanced programmes are probably a bit over-the-top in terms of volume (as Mike Mentzer's prescriptions are woefully inadequate in terms of complete motor unit recruitment).

Arnold has a shoulder exercise named after him, the "Arnold Press", which is a sort of combined lateral raise and shoulder press. He also has "The Arnold Classic", one of the most prestigious bodybuilding competitions (which also hosts an array of other sports).

Whatever one may think of Arnold, he remains an inspiration for many and probably the greatest icon of bodybuilding - so much so that we felt obliged to put a poster of Arnold up in the F.I.S.H. studio behind the power rack (perhaps one last rep of squats could be squeezed out by appealing to this demi-god of training).