Matt Cox Personal Training

is absolutely flying 🚀

10kg weight loss is the first big milestone reached and we are just getting warmed up 🔥

Losing weight, especially around the menopause can often feel like an impossible task. Having an approach that is:
✅Right for you
✅Fits your lifestyle
✅Realistic
✅ (most importantly) SUSTAINABLE so you can be CONSISTENT over an extended period of time

It’s often made even more difficult when everyone tells you you need be:
❌fasting ⏰
❌going vegan 🌱
❌ eating like a caveman 🧔🏼‍♂️
❌ completely sober 🥃
❌ eliminating carbs 🎂
❌not going out for dinner to socialise 🍽️
❌ sitting in an ice bath every morning 😂🥶
❌ just eating eggs, steak and having butter in your coffee ☕️

What you actually need to do:
🎯keep things simple by creating some structure - makes life easier when 💩 hits the fan and you’re not in your perfect routine
🎯choose some exercise you enjoy 😎 - if you hate running, do something else 🤦🏽‍♂️
🎯 Don’t turn a “bad” night into a bad 4 days - “I have ruined this week, I will start again Monday” 🤦🏽‍♂️
🎯 get in a grump if the scales go up, even if you have been in a calorie deficit for the last week - it’s NOT BODY FAT! ⚖️
🎯 have someone in your corner - use your partner, friend, family member or a coach to support you and keep you accountable! 👫🏽

Well done - next stop 30 pounds down 😉

🗓️ Time frame: 16 weeks (Jan 23 - April 23)

🚀 Mission: feel great again after having 2 children!

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧 Lifestyle: has a super busy life juggling work, 2 young children, a social life and a dog

🥇 Result: nearly 10kg lost, pre baby clothes fitting and feeling good. Here is what Frayni had to say…

🗣️ “I can't believe the results in such a short amount of time, the training has been easy to follow and interesting and I eat more now than I did before! The support from MCT has been unbelievable and really kept me motivated!”

What we did:
👉🏼recorded food and made small adjustments
👉🏼 sensible and realistic training which was flexible and time efficient
👉🏼 step target
👉🏼 checked in to stay accountable

The goals are often different but the approach is usually very similar…

If you’re not doing this for fat loss then you’re making things much harder than they need to be:

✅ eat more protein
✅ get more steps in
✅ manageable and enjoyable training

Things that don’t make life easier:

🚫 restricting calories too much then binge eating
🚫 all or nothing with training
🚫 cutting out all the foods you enjoy and being miserable
🚫 expecting the scales to consistently drop and never go up
🚫 feeling like you’ve ‘fallen off the wagon’ and restarting on Monday

Even with a busy lifestyle progress can be quick and rewarding. Don’t set massive, unrealistic targets and then get despondent and quit when you feel like you’re not achieving anything.

Start with small changes, stick to them and watch what happens!

The most impressive transformation for hasn’t been with the way he looks (he’s done exceptionally well) but with how his mindset has shifted. Really proud of what he’s achieved 👏🏼 Words from the man himself:

……’After spending time not really getting anywhere, and finding myself in a place where I didn’t know how to progress forward, I reached out to Matt for help. Having previously having some lockdown programming from him, and our interactions in the gym, I hoped he would be able to help me get my lifting back on track.

We had a chat, where it turned out I didn’t really know what I wanted to work on specifically, but it appeared I just wanted to get better at everything.

Matt was buzzing with ideas, and within a few days a plan was formed. Nutrition, training and mindset.

With Matt’s enthusiasm and guidance, it all fell into place. The transition felt much easier than I had expected, progress was fantastic and my outlook on training and food changed dramatically.

I honestly feel without seeing him, I would still be bumbling around, not really getting anywhere.

If you are wanting help, 10/10 would recommend.’

Wow! has absolutely blown it out of the water - what an accomplishment 💥

Tash has managed to achieve some incredible progress whilst juggling going back to work after having a baby, looking after the little man, planning a wedding and working around her now husband (😍👨🏼‍🚒).

Change is never easy but Tash got the work done and stuck to the plan even when a busy life had other ideas.

Well done Tash, you absolutely nailed it 🔨 and congratulations on your wedding - you guys looked amazing and what a special weekend 🕺

And this is what we love to hear from Tash…… ”Still eating what I love, doing some good exercise and generally all round good place and balance with life! THANK YOU!!!!”

👏🏼👏🏼

CLIENT:
MISSION: Get shredded 🔪
RESULT: success ✅

Is it easy to make changes and stick to a new routine? Absolutely not ❌

Does having a busy job, a little one, family holidays and travel for work make things harder? absolutely 🤯

Can you make progress regardless? Hell yeah 🤓

Choose a goal, make a plan and then keep working away 🔨📈

Well done Alex, proud of what you achieved big man 😎

💥1 month transformation 💥

Amazing what you can do in 4 weeks 👀🤥

Obviously progress takes longer than 4 weeks but a lot can be achieved in a short amount of time. Creating lasting habits starts by adjusting what you’re currently doing and making a conscious effort to get sh*t done!

I challenge you to choose 3 things to work on daily for the month of May. I suggest 1 fitness goal, 1 lifestyle goal and 1 nutrition goal. (You could also choose relationships, reading a book, something for work or even a skill for a hobby - literally can be anything!)

I’m going for:

Exercise: 50 pull ups, 50 dips and 50 split squats🏋🏽‍♂️

Nutrition: 3L of water and 5 fruit/veg 💧 🥕 🥗 🥦

Lifestyle: (get my arse to bed for 10pm on weeknights) 😴 🛌

I’ll aim to tick these off everyday and let’s see how I feel at the end of May 👀

If I miss a day of my exercises I’ll get add them onto the next day! 😐

If you join in and complete the challenge with me then I’ll randomly select one person to coach for the month of June 🙋🏽‍♂️

So I know you’re joining in just comment below with your selections and tag a mate to do it with! 👬👭

Hopefully I get more than me and doing it, that girl loves to get involved 😂😂

Anyone else excited for restrictions to be lifted so we can all get back to doing stuff as a team!?

Absolutely loved this competition and such a good reminder that things will get back to normal!

Can’t wait to be training/competing/socialising and generally taking the p**s out of each other again soon.

Hang in there guys, we got this 💪🏽

😂 nearly cost us the triple last time 👀😂 @ The Park Club Milton

💥2 STONE LOST💥(one for the mums)

Really proud of for her commitment and determination since January!

Esther has two small children (most recent was around 9 months ago) and the goal was to lose weight post baby.

January rolls round and we are discussing the best plan of action. Esther’s goal was to lose 3 stone and we chatted about different strategies.

One thing that was mentioned was a meal replacement diet. Although this approach seemed really appealing due to the potential for quick weight loss we decided there are some alternatives which may be easier to stick to long term.

Esther decided she wanted to try intermittent fasting and see how it worked for her.

Turns out it worked bloody well and she’s loving it!

Esther understands the principle of a calorie deficit so creating an eating window makes life a lot more manageable. It takes the guess work away and keeps her strong mentally.

Is it necessary to do Intermittent Fasting to get results? No ❌

Can it be a good strategy if it fits your lifestyle? Absolutely ✅

Take away points: (not actual takeaways)

✅ everyone is different: lifestyle, work, childcare commitments, training, health, age.... different strategies are needed! 👶🏼🧑🏼‍🎓👨🏽‍🌾👩🏻‍🍼👩🏾‍🚒

✅ there is usually more than one way to skin a 🐈‍⬛ (don’t actually)

✅ you can still eat “normal” meals, have dinner with family and eat birthday cake and make progress 🎂

✅ if you’re not seeing the results you want, then your strategy needs changing 🧐

✅ if you’re not sure, ask someone who has experience. You wouldn’t have a go at fixing your own car if it wasn’t driving properly (and don’t ask Dave down the pub, he’s not a mechanic👨‍🔧)

✅ Mums - You can do this! (Sounds cheesy 🧀) you don’t need hours of cardio or eating like a rabbit 🐇 🥬 to lose weight - just the right strategy.

This is awesome 👏🏼 I can’t take all the credit for this by any means but I’m proud to be a part of this guys journey. Now will someone please tell him to be kinder to himself and actually give himself a massive pat on the back?!

When people accomplish awesome things with their bodies it can appear like ‘the shrinking’ is the most impressive thing but quite the opposite is so often true...... the psychological growth and what happens between the 👂s is the best bit. There is so much to be said for being kind to yourself and focusing on the positives whenever possible. Perfection isn’t important and progress (whatever that looks like) is 🤴🏽

🎩 off to you Russ 👏🏼

Now get that gym open so we can get back to doing what we love

CARBS 🤯🤯🤯

A number of clients have chatted to me this week about losing body fat. All of them said they were going to cut their carbs right down and one person suggested having them once or twice per week max! I asked them why and they said ‘because that’s how you lose weight’......

Picture on the left: a deliberate phase of eating more food to gain muscle and get as strong as possible. I hit all my max lifts in this phase and my diet was high protein, high carb and high fat. I put on weight because I was in a calorie surplus and was eating EVERYTHING in sight.

Middle photo: this is a fairly typical phase for me. I eat to fuel training, feel good and have plenty of energy. I enjoy treats at the weekends and my diet is fairly balanced. I have a moderate amount of carbs, fat and protein and I don’t often feel hungry.

Picture on the right: this was a phase of deliberately getting very lean for holiday (that’s not fake tan 😂). My diet consisted of moderate protein, low fat and HIGH carb. At points I was eating 1000g of potatoes and 180g of oats per day. That’s a huge amount of CARBS! I was training a good amount so needed the fuel but the training alone didn’t get me lean. I used a CALORIE DEFICIT to lose body fat and I didn’t shy away from carbs at all.

Take away points:
❌DONT JUST CUT CARBS: You don’t need to cut carbs to lose body fat - it can work but so can reducing the total number of calories you consume. I don’t believe anyone who says they don’t like pizza or bread!
✅BE CONSISTENT: It’s probably the reason you’re not seeing the results you want. People are good for a week or two and then slip back to old ways.
✅RECORD WHAT YOURE DOING - be honest with yourself, are you actually nailing it or are you letting yourself off?
❗️PROBABLY best to wear normal size boxer shorts when you take pictures of yourself in the mirror.... you never know when you might post it on Instagram 😂

Feel free to ask if you have any questions about your current eating habits, how to lose weight long term or just if you’re looking for support with your tanning regime 🙋🏽‍♂️ 😂