Matt Powell Training

Choosing the right weight training split can make all the difference in your fitness journey!

Here's a look at some popular weight training splits and their pros/cons:

1. Full Body:
Pros - Efficient, hits all muscle groups in one session, great for beginners.
Cons - Less volume per muscle group, can be challenging to recover from intense sessions.

2. Upper/Lower Split:
Pros - Balances upper and lower body workouts, allows for more volume per muscle group.
Cons - Requires more days in the gym, may not provide enough recovery time for some individuals.

3. Push/Pull/Legs:
Pros - Targets specific muscle groups with each session, good for intermediate/advanced lifters.
Cons - Can require training up to 6 days a week (if you want to train each muscle group 2x a week) can be time-consuming.

4. Bro-Split / One Muscle Group per Day:
Pros - Allows for maximum focus on each muscle group, popular for bodybuilders.
Cons - May lead to overtraining, less frequency per muscle group per week.

Ultimately, the best split depends on your goals, schedule, and personal preference! Experiment to find what works best for you. 💪 "

Join myself and Niamh for Pretty Muddy 2024 to raise money in memory of Chrissie Carroll and Chris Powell. 💛🩷

3 mistakes people make when tracking calories to lose weight

- not tracking everything - tracking calories requires you to be 100% accurate about what you're eating and drinking, if you forget to or don't track everything this can lead to inaccurate counting and hinder your weight loss.

- not tracking calories from drinks and condiments - drinks such as coffee, fizzy drinks and sports drinks have calories in them don't be fooled that just because you aren't eating there aren't any calories! Same with sauces, butter, jams etc

- only counting calories - not all calories are created equally and only relying on the calorie count and not the nutritional content of food can harm your overall health and hinder weight loss. Focus on choosing nutrient dense food, instead of empty calories from junk food will support your weight loss journey.

For more weight loss / fitness advice keep following or send me a DM and I will help you 😊

What is DOMS?

You may have heard people mention they have DOMS or say "I have really bad DOMS after that workout"

So what is it and have you had DOMS?

DOMS or to give it its full title is Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness is the pain/stiffness that you feel after a tough workout or a new exercise/workout you haven't done. This is completely normal and will generally last for a couple of days and begin to ease off after the first 24 hours.

3 ways you can help ease DOMS

- Rest, avoid any strenuous exercise on the area that DOMS is affecting, for example if you have DOMS in your legs, avoid any strenuous leg exercises for a few days and train other muscle groups.

- Hydrate, keeping well hydrated will help your muscles recover as dehydration will can make your muscles feel more stiff and sore.

- Stretches, gentle stretches on the area can help ease stiffness and increase flexibility.

My top 3 strategies to break through plateaus!

Plateaus are a natural part of the fitness journey, this can be frustrating as your working really hard and then not seeing results you deserve. Below are 3 strategies to break through these plateaus.

- Try different exercises

Swapping out old exercises for new ones may make your body respond differently. This will make your body respond differently to help encourage progress.

- Change your routine

Changing your routine stops your body becoming too used to what it is doing and shock your body into progress.

- Get enough rest

Make sure you are allowing your body enough time to rest and recover. Getting proper sleep, hydration, nutrition and incorporating stretching help promote better rest and recovery.

When you are measuring your progress don't just rely on the number on the scales, this is just the number of your total weight and does not tell you the whole story! (It doesn't tell you how much lean muscle mass or fat mass you have)

It is more beneficial to measure yourself, as this will tell you if you are losing fat and/or gaining muscle mass.

The main sites to measure are your waist, hips, chest, arms and thighs. If you weigh the same on the scales but have lost around your waist, this mean you have lost fat, and that is progress!

Other ways you can measure progress are how your clothes fit and feel, if the pair of jeans you were struggling to get into suddenly become easier to get on thats weight loss, if the t-shirt sleeves you have been trying to fill out start getting filled then your arms are growing!

Remember along the way to celebrate the small wins, running further, faster, lifting heavier or more reps with the same weight.

If you were to start weight training and you have never done any sort of strength training before, these are the 5 exercises I would recommend you start with to build a good foundation of strength

- Chest Press - use dumbbells or machine - good for building up the chest/front delts/tricep muscles.

- Seated/Bent Over Row - use dumbbells or machine - good for building up back/rear delt/bicep muscles

- Squats/Leg Press Machine - use dumbbells or machine - builds strength in lower body, glutes/quads/calf muscles

- Leg Extension Machine - builds muscles in the quads, strengthens knee joint and squatting movement

Leg Curl Machine - builds muscles in the hamstrings, helping balance your leg development complimenting squats/leg presses/leg extensions and also strengthening the knee joint.

A simple workout for you as a beginner to try would look like this

Chest Press - 3 sets of 15
Seated Row - 3 sets of 15
Leg Press - 3 sets of 15
Leg Extensions - 3 sets of 15
Leg Curls 3 sets of 15

If you would like to know more about strength training feel free to PM me.

I also offer a free taster session, if you are interested please PM me for more details!

How do you spread your calories out through out the day?

I was talking to someone in the gym last night and they said they were coming home from work and felt so hungry that they were having a head battle about going to pick up something convenient/fast food, or getting something healthier when they get home.

Ultimately they went for something convenient/fast food.

A bit further into the conversation they mentioned that they had only eaten 600 calories to that point in the day (7am - 5pm) meaning they still had 1000+ calories left to eat in the day (5pm - bed time).

So my advice was to eat more calories before 5pm and have less calories to eat after 5pm.

The reasons for this are

- You should have the bulk of your calories through the work day as this is where you need your energy for the work day

- In the evening you don't need so many calories as even if you go to the gym you won't be quite as active.

- Eating fewer calories through the bulk of your day will make you hungrier, increasing the chance of going for something fast/convenient and unhealthy and indulging. This means you are more likely to put weight on, have poorer sleep quality and potentially increase risk of physical and mental health problems.

If we look at it more visually if you eat 600 calories between 7 am - 5pm (10 hours) that's 60 calories an hour and the 1000 calories between 5 pm and 10 pm (5 hours) this more than triples to 200 calories per hour.

There is a clear difference between calories per hour, if we flip it and have 1000 calories in the first 10 hour period we have 100 calories an hour and 600 calories in the last 5 hours we have 120 calories per hour, this is a much more even spread of calories over the day, and hopefully will reduce those hunger pangs between finishing work and getting home.

- prepare some more food to take with you and have this on the way home, this could even just be a protein shake to help curb cravings.

- have accessible healthy snacks such as fruit or nuts and seeds for example to eat throughout the day.

Each person is slightly different and this is based on a more standard 9 - 5 job if you work shifts/nights this needs to be adjusted so you're having more calories when you are more active/working.

Have a think about how your calories are spread out throughout the day and see if you might benefit from changing how you spread your calories through the day!

If you want to know more, don't hesitate to message 😊

Have a good day everyone! 💛

Not got much time for a workout tonight? Grab a barbell (10kg / 15kg / 20kg) and try this full body complex - remember don't put the bar down between exercises, only when you have finished all 10! 👹

Complete 10 reps of each exercise and complete 5 rounds

Exercises

- Clean and Press
- Upright Row
- Lunge (R)
- Lunge (L)
- Barbell Curl
- Bent over Row
- Squat
- Straight Leg Deadlift
- Shoulder Press
- Overhead Tricep Extension

Good luck!

Quick reminder of what I offer!

- I am currently running a 8lb in 8 week weight loss programme, this includes 8 weeks of personal training sessions once a week, nutrition tracking and support from me 7 days a week.

- I also offer 1 - 1 sessions are available these are personalised to your goals and abilities. Main areas of focus are strength training, HIIT and weight loss.

- I also run classes at Victoria Leisure gym, I teach Spin class, Body Shape and Boxercise, these can be booked with your membership or are £7 per class as a non member.

For all enquiries please message me and I will be happy to answer any questions! 💪

Hi everyone, I know it has been a little while due to personal circumstances, but thank you all for being patient with me.💛

I am going to start post regular content again, let me know if there is anything you would like to see! 💪

Training your big muscle groups (Legs/Back/Chest/shoulders) using compound exercises (presses/rows/squats/lunges etc) will give you greater gains in strength and burn more calories than working smaller individual groups (biceps/triceps/abs/calfs) start adding more compound exercises into your routine today!

The winner the competition to win an 8 lb in 8 week programme is... Ciwi LW! Congratulations 🥳🥳

Keep an eye out for the next competition 💪

Each day you should be aiming to eat 1.6 - 2g of protein per kg of bodyweight. To help you achieve this make sure you have protein with each meal/snack through out the day.

Not long left to be able to enter the competition to win yourself an 8 lb in 8 week programme. Like and share to be in with a chance to win.

Not got a lot of free time to spend in the gym?

If your a busy person looking to get fit and lose some weight then there are a few things you can do to help ensure you're getting in your exercise.

1 - Prioritise short workouts such as HIIT, these can be done anywhere and give you great results without taking up too much time.

2 - Increase the amount of non-exercise physical activity you do, this is as simple as taking the stairs instead of a lift, parking further away in a car park, get of the bus a stop earlier than normal etc.

3 - Micro-workouts, got 5 minutes? Do some squats or press ups, if you can fill small time gaps with exercises it will add up over the days/weeks and make a big difference.

Above all else, stay consistent, this is the best piece of advice for anyone trying to reach a fitness goal.

Competition time!

To celebrate the launch of 8 lb in 8 weeks weight loss programme, I'm giving you a chance to win yourself a free 8 lb in 8 week programme.

All you have to go is like and share this post and I will select a winner at random on Sunday 28th..

Good luck to you!

I love the TV show "The Office" not the English version the American version it is much better in my opinion!

Who else is a fan?

Anyway I came across this "The Office" based workout and wanted to share it with you for a bit of fun!

What other sitcoms would you recommend 🤔

Struggling with motivation? Finding it hard to commit to your workouts?

Try mixing up your workouts, try new exercises, try a class, keep changing it up every now and again to keep away boredom.

Find enjoyable workouts, if you enjoy your workouts you are more likely to commit to making it a part of your lifestyle.

Create a routine, making exercise part of your routine helps with building discipline and making fitness a habit.

I became a Personal Trainer to help people transform and become better versions of themselves. Transforming means different things to different people, for you it might mean losing weight or it could be that you want to gain muscle or even get fitter to run a marathon.

When I started out I trained to build muscle and go from being a shy skinny kid to being at a point where I felt confident and a better version of myself.

Over the years I've been able to take part in many different kinds of events - I've taken part in 4 hour long spinathons, ran the London marathon and took part in a White Collar Boxing fight amongst other things.

The 8 lbs in 8 weeks programme is designed to help you become a better version of yourself.
8 lbs in 8 weeks is an 8 week weight loss programme tailored to you programme, together we will design your ideal programme and training suited to your goal. You will be supported with weekly check-ins and you can have 1 - 1 sessions to make sure you get the most out of your training.

To find out more information or book your free consultation send me a message.

Resistance machines vs free weights.

Resistance machines are generally easier and safer to use than free weights. They provide stability with their fixed movements helping you to keep proper form and isolate the muscle the machine is targeting. Resistance machines also have built in weight stacks which help you track your progress.

Free weights are more versatile as you can do lots of different variations of exercises. Free weight exercises can mimic real life movements and enhance functional strength, and improves coordination and balance. Free weights exercises also engage core muscles contributing to improved core strength.

As you can see they both have their benefits and ideally you should include both types in your workouts.

Cold weather putting you off going to the gym?

Here's an at home workout to try so you don't miss out!

We're halfway through January now, how is everyone getting on with their workouts?

I haven't posted as much as I have been for one reason and another but let's start again! I'm going to share with you my favourite 3 exercises to do.

Firstly - Kettlebell Swing - this is a go to exercises of mine for any HIIT type workout and it works well with a leg day workout ad well. It targets the glutes and hamstrings as well as core and shoulders for an all over workout. It gets your heart rate up so it works your cardiovascular system as well and burns a good amount of calories.

Secondly - Squats - another go to exercise for HIIT or leg day workout. There are loads of different versions of this exercise, I will normally do either barbell squats or squat jumps depending on the goal of the workout. Targets lower body and core.

Lastly - Press ups - again this exercise can be used in HIIT or an upper body focused strength session. Targets chest/shoulders/triceps can be done without weights or you can place a weight plate across your shoulder blades to add more resistance.

What are your favourite exercises?

Have a great day everyone

The only bad workout is the one that didn't happen 🏋‍♂️🏋‍♀️

✨️ Well done to everyone who came to early morning spin! 🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️ first one of the year! If you're an early riser, get yourself booked in for Spin 7am - 7 45am on Monday mornings!

✨️ PT sessions January offer.

First session is free, come and have a chat and a workout. We will talk through your fitness goals and design a workout to help you achieve them. 💪

Message me for more details 💪

Spaces available for spin tonight at 6 15, get yourself on a bike!

Looking forward to seeing you there! 🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️

It's that time of year when the majority of us want to lose a bit of weight after Christmas/New Year celebrations.

We set out with good intentions to lose to clean up our diet, attend the gym and generally be a bit more active.

Some of us may want to lose just a few kilos some of us maybe a little bit more.

What are the benefits to losing weight?

Apart from the physical differences in appearance and clothes fitting better, there are physiological changes that happen that aren't necessarily as obvious on the outside.

- Our heart health improves reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases, reducing cholesterol and blood pressure

- Our Insulin sensitivity increases decreasing the risk of type 2 diabetes

- Our sleep quality improves leading to a better night's sleep

- Our energy levels increase this supports a more active lifestyle

- Our mental-wellbeing can improve, losing weight can reduce stress and improve our self-esteem

- Our joints will be healthier due to the reduced weight stress, reducing risk of problems in the future

Big well done to everyone who came to spin this morning! Fantastic effort!

Have you ever thought about doing a spin class?

When I talk to people about spin who have never done it before they normally respond with some version of "I can't do that, it looks too hard" well let me tell you my spin story.

I'd watched spin classes while working out for ages and finally convinced my brother to do one with me, so we got set up and the class started.

I went for it and 3 songs in and I was knackered! I wanted to get off, but I got through to the end. My legs were so tired and sore, and I was that sweaty I couldn't even change my top!

I never planned on doing another class.

About a year later I was asked if I'd like to learn how to teach spin, and, as I was eager to start teaching some sort of classes I said yes.

I thought to myself I'm going to have to start doing spin regularly to become fit enough to teach it. I made myself start doing 3 classes a week, in doing so I found in the first month my fitness improved massively, my resting heart rate dropped and my leg strength developed and I became obsessed with spin classes!

I would advise anyone to have a go at spin and my 3 best tips for beginners are

1 - Don't go to hard to soon, pace yourself through the class, once you're more used to the class then push yourself harder.

2 - Make sure you stretch afterwards, this will help with stiffness in the legs in the days that follow. Expect to feel a bit stiff and sore, it's normal!

3 - Bring plenty of water! Spin classes are intense and you will work up a sweat, make sure you stay hydrated and have plenty of water with you!

Next class is Friday at 6 15pm, get booked in!