Eldo and his MPT journey

Today we are highlighting long-time member Eldo and his MPT journey. Eldo has been with us for 8 amazing years now. When he started training he was overweight and out of shape. Too much partying and not enough healthy habits brought him to us. He knew he needed to change and he sought us out.

So, how did he get from where he was to where he is now, and how can you do the same?

Step 1

Be coachable: Too many people want to pick and choose what they do with their health. They do the training but want to keep the unhealthy habits away from the gym. Unfortunately, your body will not respond without dramatic, healthy changes. The same way you get IN shape is the same way you get OUT of shape; through subtle, continual changes. Eldo changed his food, listened to what he was prescribed for his exercise and executed on the advice given for his nutrition. 

Step 2

Find a new comfort zone: Coming into the gym and simply “exercising” won’t get you where you want to be. It’s about pushing yourself and being uncomfortable. Most importantly, it’s about EMBRACING that uncomfortableness. When the exercise starts to get hard is when you need to keep going. Exercise is about breaking your muscles down so you can feed them and have them grow back a stronger, leaner version of themselves. Resistance (weights) training especially is the process of constantly stressing your body and then letting it recover. Too many people go through the paces and their bodies don’t change. There is no stress, and therefore results are slow. Not Eldo; every session we found a new limit....a new standard. Sometimes he would complain, sometimes he would give up, but over time he became that person in the gym that was simply working harder than everyone else. 

When it starts to get hard, that’s when the real work is starting. Some people don’t like going to “failure” or working hard in the gym. True failure is hard to reach in the gym and it’s something even the most devout trainers rarely achieve. By “failure” we just simple mean that you literally can no longer lift the weight for the entire rep without a spotter. Will you hurt yourself pushing your body to its limits? No. With sound technique and a good spotter it’s nearly impossible to do any damage. 

Try this when your next in the gym; when you get to a point where you’d usually give up, keep going for 2 or 3 reps. When you do, you’ve set a new standard. Once you get over that fear of not working harder your results will soon be accelerated.

PS did I mention that Eldo had chronic back pain when we started? How did this effect our training? It didn’t. We worked around it and focused on activating his muscles every single session. Don’t skip exercise because you’re injured. Learn to work around it. It’s a speed bump, not a brick wall; proceed slowly, but don’t stop.

Step 3

Train for your goal: Eldo wanted to get leaner and build muscle. Therefore, we got his nutrition and supplementation on point and also had the right amount of resistance (weights) training and cardio in his program. Eldo started with 3 resistance per week and played indoor soccer that classed as cardio. He now does 2 resistance sessions per week, 2-3 cardio sessions and is actually a ballroom dancer in the evenings. 

We always put an emphasis on resistance training, as it’s the most beneficial thing for burning fat and also accelerating weight loss. We used the same protocols THEN as we do NOW with our resistance training. 

Step 4

Take pictures: We took pictures regularly to see Eldo’s progress. It gave us an insight as to what we needed to work on and gave Eldo the motivation to keep going. Sometimes people give up simply because they forget how far they’ve come. 

Take pictures every month. Sometimes measurements and/or body fat machines don’t tell the entire story. Also look at how your clothes are fitting you too. 

Step 5

Keep going: Not every week is going to be amazing, but you’re doing it for a reason right? We can’t give up when it gets hard. If you’re following the process you WILL get there. Just have faith and work hard. It seems very simplistic, but the amount of people who say “exercise isn’t for me” or “I’m not fit” after training for just 12 weeks is alarming. No, you won’t be perfect OR reverse years of poor health straight away, but you WILL get there sooner or later if you don’t give up.

After 8 years, Eldo still messages me about food and is still the hardest working person in the gym. Is he special? No. He just has the attitude that it requires to get results. He does his meal diary, asks questions and focuses on getting the most out of his workouts.

He built confidence over time and was able to take advice. He’s lean 12 months a year, enjoys the occasional drink and night out and doesn’t need to count calories, macros or over analyse what he’s doing. He’s not perfect by any means; he just executes on the advice given. 

Simple, yes. Effective, yes. Achievable, yes.

If you see him in the gym, stop him and say hello. He’s a ripping bloke and will be happy to chat. 

He started where everyone starts and he is now a shining example of what can be done with time and patience.

Go get it, guys!

Stay healthy,

MPT Transformations