Damien Kallis Fitness

BREAKING NEWS 🚨

is going online after 12 years of providing face to face personal training sessions 💻

I’ll be supplying my clients online programming and data analysis. 

All clients will receive plans tailored to their fitness level, exercise experience, goals and preferences.

Including:
-In-depth training program with full exercise prescription including sets, reps, resistance, tempo, rest period and demonstration videos specific to you.

-Personalised nutrition plan with full macronutrient breakdown of each meal, supplement prescription to rectify any issues and an easy step by step procedure to follow (specific meal times and potion sizes).

-Fortnightly check-ins to keep you on track and accountable with changes to your plans as necessary.

Send me a message for more information 📲

8-WEEK CHALLENGE STARTS THIS THURSDAY!

This challenge is going to be my most in-depth challenge yet.

Including:
-Blood Pressure and Heart Rate Check
-ECG Scan
-Body Composition Analysis (Skinfold & Girth Measurements)
-Goal Setting and Lifestyle Questionnaire
-Performance, Strength and Flexibility Testing
-Personalised Nutrition Plan
-Tailored Training Program (Daily and Weekly Splits)
-Before and After Photos
-Available Online & Face to Face
-Prices To Be Won
-No Gym Membership Required
-Private Health Rebates Available

DM me with the word “YES” for more information 🙌🏼

A big shoutout to my PT client Joseph, who has won member of the month at .qld 🎉
We have been training together for the past 5 months and Joseph has been able to increase his lean muscle mass whilst decreasing his body fat percentage 🙌🏼

Personal training update 🏋🏽
I’m now operating my PT business from Healthwise gym in South Bank.
Send me a message if you’re interested in getting started.
*Stay tuned as I’ll be dropping more exciting announcements soon 🙌🏼

Get striated

There are many things you can do in order to become more striated in certain areas which ultimately is going to improve your physique.

Here are my top 3 tips.

1 - Conditioning

One of the most obvious rules to getting those striations running through your deltoids and triceps is keeping your body fat in check and stay in shape! Even in the off season you don't want to get too fat, this is counter productive to building muscle and burning fat further down the line. Therefore, one of the benefits of staying in shape all year round and keeping your fat levels reasonable is the condition you'll show in certain muscle groups. You'll often find your triceps, deltoids, chest and even quads will reveal good conditioning at reasonable fat levels.

2 - High reps

High reps are one of the BEST ways to get those striations popping within the muscle and improve separation. You'll find especially with your shoulders and quads the separation will improve massively once you incorporate more moderate and high rep ranges.

3 - Isometric squeezes

I've said this multiple times before "squeeze, squeeze and squeeze." When you squeeze certain muscle groups not only are you recruiting more fibres and directly forcing more growth, you're also helping bring more separation into the area.

Today I want to address genetics with you and discuss how important and relevant they are to building your ultimate physique.
In short, genetics DO count, they DO make a big difference and anyone who says otherwise isn't been realistic.
Genetics will dictate:
- Your ability to build muscle
- Your ability to gain strength
- Your ability to burn fat
- Your structure
- Your muscle belly fullness
- Your muscle density
- How "grainy" you get
But, this is on a sliding scale. It's not a case of "can" or "can't" - it's a case of how far you can go and there are many ways you can maximise your results and go beyond your genetic potential to an extent.
My point is, even if your genetics aren't the best you can still achieve fantastic results!
My point is that acknowledging that genetics do play a role is important, but also understanding that you can still achieve amazing results with less than perfect genetics is also crucial. Don't use this as an excuse to not try because you think anybody with a good physique has got it just by having good genetics.
With my clients and athletes what I ALWAYS say is that they are aiming to be the best version of themselves.
The competition is you and the emphasis should be on creating a better version of your old self.
You might not have the genetics to be an IFBB Pro but that doesn't mean you cannot build a great physique with enough dedication, drive and commitment to your goal.
I've never met anybody who's genetics have stopped them building a better version of themselves, if they've had the drive to do it.

The most common mistakes people make when they start a diet 🚨

"PANIC"

Listen, the reality is that when most people begin their diet they try to create an environment which will generate very fast results. They throw everything possible into the ring at once in the hope that if they have VERY low calories and do LOTS of cardio they will lose fat that much quicker.

It doesn't work like that unfortunately and there are a multitude of reasons why this isn't a smart way to begin a diet.

Here is what panicking will do for you when you begin a diet:

1. Initially you will usually find your weight will drop relatively quickly, potentially for 7-14 days.

2. Your weight will tend to stagnate after this period of time.

3. Your energy levels will begin to really suffer in and out of the gym.

4. Your hunger levels will probably become acute and often lead to falling off the diet.

5. You'll begin to panic and see the results AREN'T showing.

The worst thing about this scenario which I see time and time again is what happens next.

Because of the fact you panicked at the beginning and started off on ultra low calories and used too much cardio you are left in a position where your body is VERY resistant to losing anymore weight and is accustomed to running on low calories.

I've worked with a countless number of clients who have done this to themselves so I've had to gradually reintroduce higher calories into their diet over a period of time to "retrain" their metabolism.

This is because you cannot just keep lowering calorie intake and adding more cardio as weight loss stagnates.

This will only lead to more muscle loss and a more stubborn environment where fat loss is increasingly harder to achieve.

With the right knowledge you can set your diet up correctly from the beginning to avoid this from happening. You need to include specific dieting strategies along the way to retain high metabolic output whilst protecting your muscle tissue as well as preserving energy levels.

ONE of these methods is to utilise planned "high" calorie days (refeeds) to reignite your metabolism and saturate the muscle with glycogen which helps fill you back out.

3 common questions regarding nutrition around training!

1. I lift weight first thing in the morning so I don't have time to eat a full meal first, what should I do?

This is far from ideal in reality because you're not going to have as much fuel in the body to reach your maximal potential in the gym. However if this is your only window of opportunity to train you could look at some of the following solutions:

A) Consume your amino acids 30 minutes prior, along with a high quality carb powder to get some fuel on board to help combat the catabolic effects of training.

B) Get up 30 minutes earlier and get a whole meal in 60 minutes prior to training.

To maximise your energy levels in the gym and prevent excess muscle breakdown you want to ensure that you've got enough glycogen within the muscle along with amino acids, therefore I'd always try and get something in first. As always, make sure that you get your post-workout shake and then meal in right after you're done to kick-start the recovery process.

2. What sort of protein should I consume pre-workout?

In an ideal world you'd consume a wholesome meal which includes a protein which is easily broken down by the body. Something like white fish or chicken would digest easily due to the consistency of the meat, making it the perfect choice. You wouldn't want something like a steak before you train, especially not close to the work because you'll find it is far more likely to sit in your stomach for longer which is going to detract from your performance ultimately.

3. I train late at night, should I still have a post-workout meal with carbs in it?

The time of day won't dictate whether you can have carbs or not, it's more a case of knowing what your body needs and being within the number of nutrients your body requires. So if you're consuming 200g of carbs per day and you've only had 150g so far there's nothing wrong with having your post-workout meal even if you're training later in the day.

Use Dumbbells!

I'll explain why in 3 important steps below:

Increased range of motion

Simply put when you use dumbbells on a like for like exercise compared to a barbell you have more range of motion available. This you can work the target muscle through a broader range of movement which means you're going to stimulate more fibres, increase the level of stress within the area and further isolate the muscle. For example, if you take bent over dumbbell rows compared to barbell rows you can get your elbows further back with dumbbells.

New angles

When you use dumbbells you can create angles which you just can't with a barbell. For instance, when you're pressing with dumbbells you might want to internally rotate slightly in order to isolate the pecs in a slightly different way to normal. You don't have the freedom to do this with barbells. I'm a very big advocate of using new angles to break down a muscle because ultimately you're training is then more 3 dimensional.

Multi-motion exercises

Let me explain what I mean by this. You might be doing incline dumbbell press as normal, then you might internally rotate to press through a different plane of motion in order to work through different biomechanical vantage points to ultimately break the muscle down beyond it's normal point of failure. You can't do this with barbells as you're in a fixed position.

All of these points outline that dumbbells offer more variation and options, making them a better tool for maximising hypertrophy on a like for like basis. This doesn't mean I don't use or recommend barbells at all (because I do!) it just means when you're really trying to break a muscle down, dumbbells are often better.

Food Intolerances

Something which you really need to focus on identifying and addressing are intolerances, or even mild sensitivities with specific foods as these are going to compromise everything.

Track your meals in a food diary for 7 days and you will quickly notice patterns emerging. Once you've done this and identified potential problems, I'd recommend getting a proper test done to confirm it.

Here are some questions you should be asking yourself about the food you eat in your 7 day food diary.

1. Do you feel bloated or experience gastric discomfort after ingesting the food (s)?
2. Are you experienced prolonged gastric discomfort of indigestion after ingesting the food (s)?
3. Do you feel lethargic with low energy levels after ingesting the food (s)?

If you can keep a full food diary for 7 days and answer these 3 questions after each meal/time you eat (including shakes, and the type of protein) you'll quickly build a picture of potential foods which are causing you issues.

I'm NOT someone who says you need to go gluten free, dairy free or avoid any food group usually. However, the reality is SOME people will be better off removing certain food groups from their diet.

When should I eat my pre-workout meal?

There isn't one specific right answer, but I'd usually say no closer than 60 minutes before your workout.

Here's why:

The breakdown of food is paramount, particularly before your workout.

You need the nutrients to get into your system to help energise the body, and to support recovery when needed. For this to happen the food needs time to be partially broken down and of course for this to happen its important you pick the right food. For instance, white fish over beef steak would be better pre-workout due to the fact its easily broken down.

Secondly, you don't want to feel heavy within your gut when stepping foot into the gym because it will impact upon your performance. There's also the issue that as you train and cortisol levels heighten, the body's digestive system will momentarily become down-regulated which means you're going to really feel the weight of this food in your stomach if you don't give yourself sufficient time for it to clear.

You do also need to use your own intuition because some people will find they need 2 hours before they can train after their meal, as where others are fine after 1 hour. Some fall in between the two. Analyse how you feel after your pre-workout meal and log it. You don't want to be going to the gym hungry, nor do you want to go to the gym feeling "full."

Behind the scenes from our recent shoot! Stay tuned for promo video coming soon! 💪🏼