Liam Thompson Personal Training

The last couple weeks at home… a decent mix of work & play 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

🐶 Time with Barney, our clearly vicious guard dog
🏉 Watching Wigan away at Warrington. NRL is better standard, but the atmosphere over here is unmatched (apologies for the terrible singing 🎤😂)
💪🏼 Lots of in-person sessions with the online lads! Trying out plenty different equipment/gyms across the North-West
🍳 Breki out with the Saint that is my mum
🦵🏼Investing in my recovery from surgeries, learning as much as possible from those more knowledgeable in the area than me

About the last point above. The progress in my recovery was stalling, and even though I’ve been working hard and doing what I believed to be correct, there was no real improvement taking place!

Now I’m all about trusting the process, and I will 💯% go all in it… HOWEVER as the saying goes ‘the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’.

Therefore I invested in physios who are vastly knowledgeable in this area and started a new plan. Within the first couple days I noticed change 🙌🏼

So my question to you is this, are you working hard doing the same stuff over and over but NOT moving towards your goals?

If so, it might be time to take action, make a change and get pointed in a different direction, rather than spinning your wheels and going nowhere!

You know the drill, reach out and let’s get cracking 👊🏼

⬇️55kg IN ONE YEAR 👏🏼

Absolutely life-changing and possibly even lifesaving! Chris was unbelievable to work with as he went from a sedentary lifestyle with terrible nutritional habits, to losing 55kg & developing high quality habits 💪🏼

With nutrition we started by developing awareness of calorie intake & mindful eating, and making small weekly changes such as less processed food and more water💧

Bit by bit developing lasting habits rather than a fad diet! After 6 months his nutrition was better than mine to be totally honest 😂

Activity wise we gradually increased step count up to 10,000 per day, and training increased from 2 to 4 sessions per week🚶

We started with basic exercises like small box step ups, before eventually Chris deadlifted way over 100kg and had the endurance to sprint up and down stairs multiple times 🏋🏻

This is 💯% one of the best transformations I’ve ever been a part of, and Chris deserves so much credit for turning his life around 👏🏼

All this started when he decided enough was enough and took action, went all in and reaped the rewards!

So whatever your goal is, get stuck in & have a crack because what you achieve will be far greater than sitting back and wishing you had X,Y & Z 👊🏼

DM and let’s goooo 👍🏼

RECOVERY PART 2: TRAINING CLIPS

5 weeks after hip surgery I had an elbow op to tidy up a very creaky elbow that had floating cartilage & bone in the joint… cheers Rugby League 😉🏉

I was initially in and out of a sling for a couple of weeks, but after that I wanted to try and maintain some muscle in my upper body, just as I was doing with my chicken drumsticks after the hip op🦵🏼😂

This meant that for a 3-4 week period I could only do very limited lower body exercises, some shoulder stability & some cuffed exercises I experimented with… the latter are shown in this post 💪🏼

Even though I was still eating well & training what I could, I lost a lot of muscle and gained body fat… brilliant 👍🏼🙈 so motivation was at an all time low

BUT I’m proud that I did what I could, because I’d hate to think what my mental state would be like without any exercise for a prolonged period of time!

ANYWAY, there’s 2 takeaway points here;
1️⃣ Be grateful for what you CAN do, and remember that we don’t have to train, we GET the opportunity to train 🏋🏻

2️⃣ We can regulate our weight through diet (just as I did), but our physique is 💯% driven by training. So if you don’t do resistance training, or if all you do are ‘fluffy’ exercises like the ones I’ve been doing, don’t expect significant change in your physique 👊🏼

So if you want to change your physique and get your dream rig, take action! No one will hand it to you, but if you want to have a crack then flick me a message & I’ll be more than happy to lend a hand an the way 💪🏼

Ps for any of you into this sort of thing, the end picture shows my elbow looking like Frankenstein’s head 🤮😂

OASIS & Richard Ashcroft!

What. A. Night! Got goosebumps more times than I can remember.

It felt like 80,000 people doing group karaoke for 2 hours of banger after banger! Well worth the trip down to the Big Smoke.

12 Week Fat Loss Phase ✅

5kg ⬇️ & almost 10% of Bodyweight ⬇️

Ayana wanted to lose body fat and increase muscle mass ready for summer holidays, in particular to feel confident in a very sunny Italy ☀️🇮🇹🏖️

She highlighted the importance of improving knowledge around training & nutrition, and then having the accountability to consistently apply it to reach her goals 💪🏼

Well… I gave her the tools and she 100% delivered the goods 👏🏼

This is how we did it;
🏋️‍♀️ Resistance Training 4x p/w
🚶‍♀️ Steps 8000+
🥩 Protein 2.2g per day
🛌 Average 7+ Hours Sleep

Massive well done Ayana, you smashed it! I know you & Zac definitely enjoyed the well deserved Italian cuisine 🍕😂

So I’m looking forward to the reset, and then the next phase of building some muscle 👊🏼

If you want to lose some fat & feel more confident, what are you waiting for… Christmas? Take action, reach out and I’ll be more than happy to point you in the right direction… let’s go 👍🏼

HOME 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

It’s been a while… 2 and a half years!

Although I love life in Australia, it’s good to be home! The last week has been awesome galavanting round England seeing friends and family ❤️

From Wigan ➡️ Blackpool ➡️ Hartlepool ➡️ London… and plenty more places to come!

Also looking forward to our first in person event for the Online PT Team next Sunday 10th of August 💪🏼

If you want to be part of a group of people all grafting to better themselves, then there’s no time like the present to take action and get involved… let’s go 👊🏼

12 Week Fat Loss Phase ✅

Cammy wanted to, and I quote ‘Lose body fat, improve muscle mass and become a better and more present father thanks to consistent training, diet and making better decisions’.

This is a clear statement of WHAT his goals are & WHY they are so important! Now I’d have to ask Nat his Mrs about the father part haha, but I think it’s clear he’s smashed the body fat & muscle mass part 💪🏼

Cam outlined direction and accountability as the main things he needed to transform his rig, so we ageeed on the following process;

🏋🏻 Resistance Training 3-4 p/w
🏃 Running 1-2 p/w
🚶‍♂️ Steps 12,000+
🥩 Protein 2.2g per kg of body mass
✅ Many ‘better decisions’ made to remain in a calorie deficit

End product;
⬇️ 6.5kg
⬆️ Strength & muscle
🧀😂 Now known as the local cheese grater due to his new found abs

But most importantly
👨🏻‍🍼‘Better and more present father’

Top, top effort you absolutely smoked it 👏🏼
Now you can rest up and enjoy some well earned ☀️ before smashing the next phase that contains a lot more food… something I know you’re very happy about 😂

If you also want quality results but need direction and accountability, take action, reach out & let’s get you moving in the right direction… keemon 👊🏼

Recovery! Here’s what lower body training looked like in weeks 2-6 post-hip surgery… very boring to be honest BUT it was a start 🙌🏼

While on crutches for the first 4 weeks I was allowed to put around 50% bodyweight through the left hip, so I was very limited on what exercises I could do to try maintain some meat on the old pins 🦵😂

Although this phase was so frustrating I think the main thing for me was to focus on was what I could do rather than what I couldn’t do. As the saying goes ‘comparison is the thief of joy’!

Now I don’t claim to be the world’s best life coach, and I know that I need to keep improving my mindset in times like this. But I reckon if we focused on things in our lives that we can do/what we do have, rather than focusing on what we can’t do/don’t have then we might be a fair bit happier!

You can call me Ghandi 😉😂
Jokes aside, if you’re frustrated because you’re maybe not at the level you used to be (YET), get a plan of action in place focusing on what can be done ✅

And as always, if you’re unsure what plan of action will suit you & your goals then do yourself a favour and ask… I’m all ears 👍🏼

Little appreciation post for the old ball and chain, or as us Wiganer’s say ‘Our Maude’👩🏼‍🤝‍👨🏻

Jokes aside the last 2 months have been a journey, and I’d have been well and truly f*cked if it wasn’t for you helping me during my recovery from hip & elbow surgeries 🙌🏼

For taking me to and from hospital, helping me wash, dressing me (lucky you!), taking out my stitches, making meals & looking after our apartment all while working night shifts at the hospital… Thank you!!!

During this time we made it to 7 years together, what a rollercoaster it has been! And I’m not sure why it took me til last week (while doing a PT session in our apartment) to realise you must’ve been sent down from heaven… because you do a cracking impression of Jesus on the cross (as shown in pic 4 😂)

Thank you, I love you, and here’s to many more years ❤️

All aboard the gain train 🚂

After a few bad rugby injuries (including an ACL tear) Zac wanted to work around these to take an already impressive rig to the next level… and do that he has! 🏉

He’s put on over 4kg in 11 weeks. No dirty bulking, just steady and consistent weight gain of around 0.4kg per week ⚖️📈

IMO this is usually about right for weight gain in lads who; start off with a good body fat level, have lifted for years, and aren’t getting any ‘extra assistance’. Any faster and we may get some excess ‘fluff’ appearing 😂

✅ 4 gyms sessions a week
✅ Calorie surplus
✅ 7+ hours sleep on average

BOSH 💪🏼

Now he’s off exploring 🇮🇹 and more than likely doing a bit of the dirty bulking we’ve been avoiding for the last 3 months 😉

Anyway, it’s well deserved you’ve smashed it mate! Looking forward to seeing what’s in store next once you’ve had some R&R 👏🏼

Fancy putting a bit of timber on yourself but feel like you’re spinning your wheels? DM or comment Gain and I’ll happily point you in the right direction 👍🏼

Training clips in the first few weeks post-hip surgery (but before elbow surgery). I reckon it was the dream of some lads… train upper body 5 times a week and have a genuine excuse not to train legs 👀😂

Anyway, during that time I had to change so much of my upper body training because I couldn’t push through my left leg. I couldn’t lift anywhere near what I could before, which forced me to leave the ego at the door 😳

HOWEVER… the lighter loads meant technique was better, range of movement (ROM) was better, and tension remained on the target muscles throughout 💪🏼

Now this doesn’t mean we shouldn’t lift heavy, but it does mean that if the goal is to increase muscle mass, sometimes we need to drop the ego and make sure our technique & ROM is on point rather than constantly chasing numbers 👊🏼

One of the things I get all my online clients to do is send me videos of their training each week, to make sure that their form is quality and their egos aren’t getting in the way of their progress!

Unsure what quality form looks like on some exercises? Please feel free to send over an example video and I’ll gladly have a scan for you 👍🏼

Alright, how we doing? It’s been a while!
The last couple months have been a challenge, and I’ve been off grid on social media as a result. Here’s what’s been happening;

🩼 2 months ago I had hip surgery that knocked me for 6! Labrum repair and resurfacing, crutches for 4 weeks
🏉 Came off crutches then had elbow surgery, good old rugby league got me needing fragments of cartilage/bone removed… big clean up on aisle 5 🧹😂
💪🏼 So the focus has been on providing a quality service for current clients both online & in the gym during early stages of recovery
❤️ Celebrating 7 years with the old ball & chain! Would have been up sh*t creek without a paddle if it wasn’t for her the last 2 months… thank you 🙌🏼
🇬🇧🇦🇺 Social events have been limited, but me & .kayy1 did manage to watch the British Lions play Queensland Reds in Brisbane. Shout out to our new Welsh mate Colin 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Progress has been slow & very frustrating recently, just like all fitness journeys can be! But if there’s a takeaway message from this post, it has to be to;
- Trust the process
- Enjoy the journey (can be difficult at times)
- Know that this challenging time will make us more resilient as a result!

I hope you’ve all been doing well, and as always, please feel free to reach out if you’re unsure what your process/journey to your goals should look like… let’s go👍🏼