Posted on April 26, 2018 by Jenny Cromack
Most client success stories use weight and fat loss/muscle gain as their focal point, but “Mighty Matt’s story is different. Whilst he has achieved a significant transformation in his body composition, his growing love for specific exercises and his new found confidence and performance in fitness challenges is the success here.
Mighty Matt: The Road To Glory!
Matt has been training with me (Ieuan) for around 8 months. Initially he came with some weight loss goals – which are still there. However, throughout the last 8 months, Matt’s enthusiasm, motivation, and confidence in relation to exercise has blossomed. He now embraces new exercises – for once actually doesn’t hate burpees, and he always leaves his sessions feeling better than when he walked in. His last comment to me was: “I may start walking to the gym”, which is another reflection of Matt’s changing attitude towards physical activity and exercise. He is beginning to look for ways to incorporate exercise into his daily life and routine.
The Monthly Fitness Challenge
This article was brought about through one particular event. Matt used to have a point-blank refusal to engage in our monthly fitness challenge. If he turned up to a session and I even suggested the concept of tackling our often brutal challenges, he would give me a selection of unpublishable words! On one evening I bit the bullet and somehow sold a challenge to him; he surprisingly, but reluctantly, obliged. The challenge consisted of a 500m row followed by 15 press ups, repeated 4 times as quick as possible. He looked at the leader board, which was inscribed with some regular challengers and some impressive times.
Matt’s ability, confidence, and fitness improvement shone through and he shifted up a gear and met the challenge head on (and more). Usually Matt would ease up on the rower as fatigue set in, but not this time. He motored on, getting faster with each set, and fluidly jumping straight into his press ups. I was left open-mouthed and wide-eyed by his efforts, and when I checked the watch on his last press up I was overwhelmed with a feeling of both shock and pride. He had smashed into 1st place by over 40 seconds – completing the challenge in 10minutes 39 seconds to take the glory.
Body Composition
Matt has gone from someone needing regular breaks in his session to now working solidly through; seeking new challenges, and (sometimes) enjoying the new exercises I bring to the table. He has come on leaps and bounds in terms of his fitness, attitudes, and confidence and is an absolute pleasure to train. Alongside this focus on fitness and strength we have also noticed the body composition results, which goes to show achieve enjoyment, confidence, and ability first and the rest will come.
Matt’s Overview:
Weight: Heaviest 94kg – Lightest 92kg
Body Fat: 1st Session 24.6% – Now 21.5%
Abdominal Skinfold: 1st Session 34.4mm – Now 29.8mm
Suprailiac Skinfold (Love Handle): 1st Session 23.2mm – Now 20.2mm
Lean Mass: 1st Session 69.5kg – Now 72.2kg
Fat Mass: 1st Session 22.7kg – Now 19.7kg
Personal Training – It’s Not Just About The Scales
If we can learn anything from Matt, it is that personal training and exercise is not all about the numbers on the scales. It is about our attitudes, efforts, enjoyment, and improvement in physical ability. Matt always alludes to the functional benefit he has noticed since training, which reflects in his hard-work and fitness improvements. He finds his daily activities much easier, whether this be chopping down trees to climbing the 3 peaks. Well done Matt, I am super proud of you.
Keep it up, and keep pushing on!