Muscle Mass ⬆️ 2kg

Body Fat Mass ⬇️ 10kg  (represented in the picture with a 10kg plate)

Body Fat % ⬇️ 10%

Here is how she did it…

The 6 Cornerstones of Claire’s Program 

Individual Differences: Claire followed a program tailored to her as an individual using the appropriate techniques and tools depending on how her body moved. We find people respond better when they are coached, trained, and treated as part of a holistic approach taking into account your lifestyle, wants & needs.

At the same time, an overall plan should be used to progress everyone. A squat is like an apple, it is good for everyone, it is just important that you do the right form of the squat for what your body is currently capable of.

With Claire, this was done in 2 ways.

1. A simple movement assessment before the first training session to see how flexible she was and how well she moved. Then it was easy to prescribe the correct exercise for her that fit into the overall plan rather than starting too hard or too easy.
2. Claire was coached through each session to move well. So during every set of each exercise, she has the coach’s eyes on her and she receives coaching cues on how to improve the movement.

Adaptation: This is down to the balance of the correct intensity and challenge of the workout with the appropriate recovery. Taking into account Claire’s whole lifestyle is essential to prescribing the appropriate intensity of training to ensure recovery is possible to progress.

Claire’s body adapts when the balance of training session difficulty and recovery is achieved.

For Claire, she implemented this in 2 ways

1. How hard Claire is training in a session now is not the same as when she started in December. In December she started slowly with 2 training sessions per week, now she does 4+ coming in on her own to do the fitness session a couple of times per week. In December she got through 2/3rds of the workout in terms of sets and reps and it took the full hour. Now she can complete the full session in 50 minutes. In short, she didn’t try to do too much too soon by putting pressure on herself to see amazing results in the first month.
2. Claire now uses Myzone to track her heart rate during workouts so she knows when to push hard and when to back off. Her heart rate is displayed on a TV screen in the gym during the workout so she can change her effort in the session based on what she sees and how she feels. It is not about always pushing hard, but more about knowing when to push and when to hold back. The goal is to progress, not for every session to go into the red. That is not the same thing.

Accommodation: Whatever Claire does to her body over and over again it gets used to. Therefore her program is changed and adapted over time in line with the progressive overload principle as the body accommodates the benefits.

Claire can feel herself getting better at the sessions, achieving more each week rather than just getting beaten up by the training session.

Claire implemented this principle by receiving consistent feedback with the inbody scan machine. This is a remarkable piece of kit that allows her to see the difference in body fat and muscle mass rather than just weight. So instead of relying on weight changes to see quick results, Claire could see exactly how much muscle mass she was putting on and how much fat was decreasing at the end of every month. This kept her motivated in the early phases when things seem to be moving slowly from the outside.

Here is Claire’s weight, fat, and muscle mass change since December 2018.

February 3rd 2019

March 2nd 2019

Progressive Overload: Throughout a month of training a small incremental challenge is added to Claire’s workout to allow her to steadily reach further and allow her body to improve. This is done through small increases in repetitions or increasing the weights lifted week after week.

For Claire, this is implemented in the following way.

The training sessions are set for 1 month and followed by steadily increasing the weights or reps and then the exercises are changed and progressed only at the end of the month. This allows the body to improve at performing the exercises for the month. This is the same as learning an instrument. If you are trying to learn the piano (Goblet Squat) in 1 hour then the next week we change you to violin (step-ups) you have no chance of getting good at the piano over a month.

Claire plays the same instrument for a month at a time then adds another instrument to the Orchestra steadily over time.

Here is an example of the 2 training session plans for January 2019. Claire would do session 1 at the start of the week and session 2 at the end of the week.

Reversibility: If Claire doesn’t use it, she loses it. All her training sessions develop each of the components of health & fitness throughout the year. Flexibility, strength (including muscle shape, tone & size), and energy system fitness.

To do this Claire follows a session plan that consists of the following

1. 10 minutes of flexibility and movement work to warm up
2. 20-25 minutes of the 4 main strength exercises – squat, presses, deadlift and pull movements
3. 5-10 minutes of strengthening the shoulders core/hips and knees to guard against injury
4. 5-10 minutes of fitness training to raise the heart rate and improve stamina

What is the result of applying these principles?

A strong, pain-free body and mind that feel great to live in and that looks great!!!!

The results for Claire are obvious.