Alex Gilbert Personal Training

Ok folks, I have an opportunity for a select few individuals who are looking to get leaner and feel great about their body

Without having to live on broccoli or spend hours on the treadmill.

Along with my regular online coaching, I’ll be throwing in a bundle of extras worth £50 that will help you hit your goals.

BUT this will only be available until the END OF THE DAY TOMORROW (Saturday).

Recently I’ve been refining my coaching delivery to adjust how people approach their diet and exercise behaviours.

From the clients I’ve run this through with, I’ve found this to be the most simple method for sustainable weight loss so far.

And for the next intake of clients I will implement the exact same method to help you look and feel great about your body.

I like to take an individual approach with my service so I will coach you 1-on-1 on how to get leaner and utilise this method to also get stronger, make better food choices, build confidence and learn how to maintain these results.

As someone who has helped numerous clients attain physiques they are not only happy with but PROUD to have achieved, I can tell you that this has easily been the smoothest method I’ve implemented to help those reach their body goals.

The best part?

Along with all the my standard coaching features you will also get:

✅ A copy of my favourite book on making life-long habits

✅ 1 x Tub of Protein Powder

✅ 1 x Extra Coaching Call a week

Even if you don’t have access to a gym, this will work for you.

This opportunity will be open until 8pm tomorrow (Saturday), but likely will go in the next 30-60min.

First come, first serve.

If this at least remotely interests you, send me a DM and I’ll run you through the exact process.

"It won't work for me."

Why?

Too old?

Not enough time?

No money?

Too far gone?

No motivation?

Change causes anxiety?

Not capable?

Don't know how?

End up failing anyway?

Failed before?

Just cba?

You've convinced yourself that

It just won't work.

We all have limiting beliefs.

Things we tell ourselves that stop us from taking action.

Before we even attempt to take the first step and try.

We dismiss opportunities so quickly, thinking they couldn't possibly be for us that we barely notice an opportunity when it comes by.

Next time you're faced with one and you talk yourself out of it before you've even imagined what it would be like to just give it a go

Ask yourself "what if I can do it?"

"Wouldn't it be cool if this did work?"

And by absolute coincidence I have an opportunity coming up tomorrow 😁

What great timing eh?

But when you read my post tomorrow, think about these limiting thoughts that may come up.

Because when you notice them it's up to you to decide whether to listen to them or not.

“So I need to be in a calorie deficit, HIIT workouts AND cardio to get toned?”

I couldn’t think of anything worse 🤢

Just by being in a calorie deficit you will have less energy.

That is literally what being in a calorie deficit is.

THEN add on top of that the energy needed for your circuit classes.

AND THEN the obligatory treadmill sesh straight after.

No wonder you feel so hungry and tired and give up after a few weeks.

See, the further you put yourself into a deficit the more hungry you get.

The more hungry you get the less likely you will sustain your current routine.

High intensity style training can also be pretty fatiguing on your nervous system.

This can make you feel tired, sluggish, moody and unmotivated if you don’t recover properly.

And part of recovering properly is making sure you are eating enough.

It’s not a competition to see how little calories you can get by on.

It’s the complete opposite.

You want to be eating as many calories as possible while still losing body fat.

Not only so that you have energy to exercise.

But also so you have energy to function as a human being.

Going to work.

Playing with your kids.

Putting out the laundry.

Going bowling with your friends.

Taking into account your lifestyle is a pretty important factor when trying to get in shape.

But one that is often overlooked.

The reason people crush themselves with cardio and HIIT workouts to burn more calories when a calorie deficit “just isn’t working” is because they aren’t really in a calorie deficit to begin with.

A few pringles here.

A couple pints there.

Friday-Saturday who knows 🤷

So when progress stops, instead of adding more things to do...

Just check you are actually doing the current things properly.

Do less, but better.

Despite the constant imposter syndrome, I know I'm pretty good at my job.

But why trust what I say?

Different people leading very different lives.

But whoever it is, I always appreciate the commitment they make when they join me.

Because it can be a big investment.

People put their time, effort and money into my coaching, and I don't take that lightly.

They are trusting me with their health.

Or some kind of discomfort (physically or mentally) that they are trying to remedy.

There's a difference between customers and clients.

Customers are just there to be sold to.

With clients you have an ongoing service where, hopefully, you build a relationship.

This is why I'm not a fan of people that sell a set programme to everyone.

And why I don't just sell "workouts"

So much gets missed.

I like to account for the person's:

Goals
Exercise proficiency
Job
Exercise likes/dislikes
Family commitments
Social life
Resources (gym equipment)
Time availability
Injuries
Health conditions

To list a few.

None of these will be the same person to person.

And your fitness plan deserves to reflect these individual differences.

If you need a coach who will take your goals seriously and your circumstances into account, send me a DM 🤘

Some harsh truths you may not want to hear...

I used to have an issue brushing my teeth

Disgusting I know

But when it gets late

And you're tired

The last thing you want to do is stand up another two minutes

And stare at your haggard face in the mirror

Dribbling white foam down your chin

So I'd occasionally skip it and get straight into bed.

"I'm an adult I can do what I like"

Which isn't what being an adult is at all

Even though for many years now I've, fortunately, been regularly brushing twice a day with my smart Colgate electric toothbrush

I still get a temptation on the odd night to walk straight past the bathroom and into my bedroom

But my thinking has changed from:

"I'm an adult I can do what I like"

And is now:

"Come on, you're an adult. This is just something you have to do."

Sometimes it is a case of just sucking it up and doing it

Instead of finding hacks and tricks.

3 fitness tips and 3 random bits of advice...

Fitness:
1. If you want an extra burn from an exercise, when you finish your set stretch the muscle you just worked for 20-30s

2. To get the benefits of creatine you need to take it everyday, not just before a workout

3. Supplements only account for about 5% of your results. If you aren't training right, eating well or sleeping enough you are wasting your money

Random:
1. If you're responding to a text or email while angry, wait an hour before sending it

2. When driving remember to indicate (feel like some people need reminding of this...)

3. If you see a bathroom in your dream, don't use it

Happy Monday!

3 other tips to make the BEST plan for you 👇👇👇

So you've determined how often you will working out and now know what kind of split you will use.

But here are a few other considerations you should keep in mind:

1. How much time do you have available for each session?

2. Are you confident in your ability to perform those corn exercises?

3. How are you going to progress each week?
Adjust the weight?
Adjust the reps?
Adjust the tempo?
Increase the difficulty? (E.g. Increasing the height of a step up)

Tbh you will still get by without thinking about this stuff.

So it depends if you're ok with "just getting by"

Or you want to really push to see what you can achieve.

And if you don't have the time to figure this stuff out yourself

Hire a professional! (Hi 🙃)

What do you get confused about when it comes to workout routines?

“Thought next to everyone else I would look like a lumpy potato…”

“Turns out I actually don’t and I feel great”

Mother of two

Full-time job

Weekend socials

Trips away

So how did we do it?

Previously, her training plan consisted of sweaty, high intensity, light resistance circuits in a quiet corner of the gym.

And this worked initially but quickly plateaued.

So I wrote up a simple plan focussing on lifting heavier weights to promote some muscle growth

Did she end up looking bulky and masculine?

No.

Does she now look slim and toned?

Absolutely.

There was also the added benefit of not getting unnecessarily sweaty, which apparently is good news for women’s hair

Also making the most of all the equipment in the gym, including the “scary weights area”

Nutritionally I suggested a few tweaks to her weekday eating.

Then when it came to weekend drinks and dinners we made realistic plans.

At no point did I mention needing to abstain from alcohol.

(I’m not sure if she would have listened even if I had suggested that)

So instead we managed food leading up to these drinking days.

I encouraged lower calorie drink options.

And having healthier options ready the next day when it’s tempting to just dive for snacks and something greasy.

None of this is ground breaking stuff.

Do these all sound like things you could implement?

Probably

However, I could give you the exact workout plan, macros, recipes, step counts and send you on your way

And you wouldn’t get the same result

Why?

Because it wouldn’t be specific to you and your lifestyle

And you wouldn’t have any accountability to carry on once you lose motivation after the first week.

So if you have a holiday coming up and you are having this thought, as Charlotte did:

“I was dreading being in a bikini this holiday”

But you want to be feeling like this:

“I’ve been on a few holidays and it's been so refreshing to feel comfortable in a bikini”

Stop putting it off and get in touch today.

Also, anyone signing up to online coaching in January gets a FREE fitness bundle worth £50!

Some other reasons to give when you're friends ask why you work out so much.

Other than you being vain or insecure.

Or a weird mixture of both 🤔

But on a serious note, building muscle is pretty much a cheat code for good health.

And this doesn't even go into the perks of the weight training process itself.

Which lends itself to even more benefits.

If you want to get the most out of your training for health and aesthetic purposes

Send me a DM 👍

"Realised I made so much more progress following an actual plan"

Jakub had his first stint of coaching with me a while ago.

We gave his training a bit more structure.

There was actual progression to work on week to week.

We put in a few simple nutritional goals that ensured he was gaining as much muscle as possible with minimal fat gain.

"Ok, I know what I'm doing and I'll give it a go myself"

Like Bagheera and Baloo letting Mowgli go off into the world at the end of Jungle Book (spoilers)

🐻🐈‍⬛🧒🏿

I set Jakub off on his fitness journey alone.

And it worked.

Until it didn't.

All the information was there.

He could have rinsed and repeated what we did the first time round himself and gotten results.

So why didn't he?

What was missing?

Accountability.

"Not this topic again" 🙄

Yep this again.

As long as fat burners, detoxes, natural testosterone boosters and other BS products and protocols that promise quick fixes exist

I will keep talking about the basics.

Eventually, Jakub came back to coaching.

His programme changed slightly.

We went back to the same nutritional goals as before.

And guess what?

The progress started again.

Who'd have thunk it 🤷

The basics can be boring. That's why it helps to have someone there reminding you to keep doing them.

Again and again.

Need to get accountable?
Just send me a quick DM 🙂

If you aren’t a fan of running in place in front of an unflattering mirror for hours on end then I have good news for you…

“How much cardio do I need to do?”

🙅

None.

Yep you read correctly. It’s not a typo.

You don’t have to do any form of cardio to lose fat.

And here’s why I don’t personally prescribe it as a tool when someone is looking to drop their weight.

We are all time-poor.

So you could spend one hour of your day gently jogging on a treadmill and burn 500-600cals.

OR

You could make a few simple food swaps like:

200ml semi-skimmed ➡️ 200ml skimmed

1 tbsp Regular mayo ➡️ 1 tbsp Light Mayo

2 rashers bacon ➡️ 2 rashers bacon medallions

1 tbsp olive oil ➡️ a few sprays of fry light

330ml regular ➡️ coke zero

1 Gü Pot ➡️ 250g low fat greek yogurt with berries

Doing this will save you around 500cals.

You’ll also save yourself an hour of time which could be spent:

🍛 Making a delicious yet healthy dinner

🤸 Start some mobility work you said you would do to improve your squats

🙋‍♀️🙋‍♂️ Socialising

🎭 Watching The Traitors

🕺 Doing a dance

Or absolutely anything else

Fair enough, if you want to:

• improve your 5k time
• increase stamina for football
• join the army

Then yea, you will need to put the miles in.

But from a weight loss perspective I just think that time can be spent more efficiently.

If you like it and you are seeing progress, then keep going.

But bare in mind you will probably hit a ceiling with how many calories you can burn simply due to the time you have available for becoming a sweaty mess.

So if you're like me and think cardio is as much fun as stubbing your little toe

And you are struggling to see progress

Send me a DM saying CARDIO SUCKS and I’ll give you a few pointers.