How I got started?

I was a chubby kid with asthma. After my first asthma attack at the age of 12, doctors recommended that I avoid intensive sports. I was a 12 year old kid who dreamed of being like Bruce Lee or Mike Tyson so I thought it was the end of the world! At this point I didn’t know a thing about bodybuilding but I just wanted to get stronger.

Most days would wake up early and do 10 push-ups and 10 sit-ups first thing in the morning and then repeat it in the evening.

As time went on I slowly got stronger and my asthma began to disappear. By the age of 15 I could do 70 push-ups 70 sit-ups in one go and became pretty good at most sports in my school. This taught me that if I was persistent, patient and consistent I can achieve more than I ever expected which for me are the basic principles to achieve the body you want as a bodybuilder.

So what is the bodybuilding training routine that you use to achieve that killer physique? What I find works best for me is VARIETY and CHANGE. I don’t let my body get used to a routine, week, after week, after week. If you get used to a routine, your body has no reason to physically change. Some days I’ll go running/sprints, some days weights, and some times I’ll go boxing. Whatever I am doing I make sure it’s intensive and I’m pushing myself to the max every time. When lifting weights I make sure I’m lifting the same or more than I was the previous week. When running its always further or faster, etc… , I never look back, I’m always better than I think.

An upper body weight training sample is as follows:
1. Warm up – 10mins Skipping, x20 push-ups, x20 sit-ups.
2. Cable Crossovers (Inner chest) – 12, 10, 10, 8, 6
3. Incline Bench Press (Upper chest) – 12, 10, 10, 8 (on the last set take it down to a light weight then do as many reps until exhaustion).
4. Shrugs (Traps) – 12, 10, 10, 8 (heavy weights)
5. Pull Ups (Upper back) – 12, 10, 10, 8, 6 (wide grip)
6. Barbell curls/21's (biceps) (light weights) – 7 full reps followed by 7 half reps from the starting position to half way up followed by 7 half reps from half way up to the top of the movement. All of this counts as one set. I usually do 3 sets.
7. Weighted Dips (triceps) – 12, 10, 10, 8, 6
8. Hanging Leg Raises (Abs) x20
9. Hanging Wipers x10 (Abs)
hanging wipers
10. Warm down – 10mins Skipping, x20 push-ups, x20 sit ups.

When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?

I do both HIIT and normal cardio they both work, but I prefer interval sprinting or skipping. Although recently I am learning to love the sense of achievement when long distance running and am planning to run the London Marathon for charity.

What is your Diet like?

I eat five to six meals a day, everyday. My diet consists of porridge, chicken breasts, fish (Halibut, Tilapia, Cod or Tuna), almonds, egg whites, brown rice, sweet potatoes, green tea, and vegetables. Here is a sample of my daily diet intake:

BREAKFAST –7.30AM
*Porridge oats with skimmed milk sprinkled with flaxseeds and a teaspoon of syrup.
*Green tea

BRUNCH – 11AM
*Green tea
*Apple

LUNCH- 1:15PM
*1 whole large sweet potato, (chopped up, grilled and seasoned with a little paprika and ‘spray soy protein’)
*300 grams of chicken breast (grilled and seasoned same as above, I use the ‘George Foreman’ grill by the way)
*Cup of water
*Half a handful of whole Almonds

TEA BREAK – 3:30PM
*Green tea
*half a handful of whole almonds

PRE-WORKOUT
* A banana
* A bottle of water

POST-WORKOUT/DINNER
*3 Egg Whites
*Brown rice, or 1 whole sweet potato
300 grams of chicken breast
*Portion of boiled vegetables (peas, carrots, sprouts etc)
*Half a squeezed lime and hot water.

What is your supplementation like?

I don’t take protein shakes or creatine I just stick to multivitamins and fish oils. This seems to surprise a few people but I get all my protein and carb intake from my meals, so I just follow what has proven to work for me.

Plans for the future?