Rachel G. body fat test results (progress in 4 weeks)

I'm passionate about training two kinds of personal training clients;

1) People with a dieting past who want to lose body fat effectively and keep the results in the long term &

2) People who want to learn to learn to train for maximum aesthetic results - a nicely toned body (vanity, ha) -- usually women who want to primarily start using weights/resistance equipment in their training and to learn to train safely and effectively.

All training is based on getting optimal fat loss results FAST.

Rachel on incline chest press yesterday (tricep definition starting to come through!)
Rachel on incline chest press yesterday (tricep definition starting to come through!)

I've trained Rachel G. for the past month - she's a "type 2 client". I just did her body fat analyses (caliper method) yesterday as we'd reached 4 weeks of training together. We couldn't believe the results - increased lean mass (=increased BMR=her body is now burning calories more effectively) and a lower body fat percentage while her weight has remained the same (she's got no weight to lose). Details below:

 

Body fat%: Was 26.3% ---> now 24.4%

Lean body mass: Was 38.3 kg ---> now 39.3 kg

Fat mass: Was 13.7 kg ---> now 12.7 kg

BMR (basal metabolic rate): Was 1197 ---> now 1219 kcal/day

 

So proud of you, chick!! Let's keep rocking those weights :-)

 

/Fit as Hel fitness coach Erika Helsinki

 

P.s. Rachel had pretty much NO upper body strength a month ago!! She's so much stronger now and definition is starting to show.

P.p.s. If you'd like to enquire about personal training (currently available in North East England), text me on 0789 719 7818 anytime :-)

You’re not trying hard enough

Remember last week when I posted about Mel who'd lost 4 lb in her first week with me? Well now after 2 weeks she's lost another 3 lb!! Oh my fucking god!! You can totally see the difference as well - her face is thinner, stomach tighter and she's feeling full of energy...

WOOOOOOOOOOO!! Go Mel!!!

Mel and her buddy leg press
Mel and her buddy leg press

Yesterday in our PT session she estimated to be able to leg press between 36 and 52kg. I said bullshit. Apparently she'd managed the latter last week in the gym on her own, doing the program we'd designed for her.

I said she could do 90kg EASY. She wouldn't believe it. So I made her try.

Try harder than ever before at the gym.

Lifting weights and doing resistance training is all about psychology. People around the gym (particularly women) rarely try hard enough when it comes to resistance training.

You can never know how strong you REALLY are unless you push your boundaries.

Don't get comfortable. Comfortable = no results. Start trying. And I mean trying so hard your heart is racing and you're getting a proper sweat on. So hard you have to make awkward faces. So hard you can't breath quietly. That's when you start getting results.

So yeah, Mel pressed 107 kg on her third ever session, and upped her max by over 50%. That's what I call trying.

And that's why she'll end up with astonishing results. Go Mel!! Prouuuuuud!!

Happy week to all!

/Erika

Mel's stack
Mel's stack

Got a sweet tooth? Join our challenge!

Got a sweet tooth? I'm starting with a new PT client Mel today and will give her an important task to kick start her new, healthier lifestyle: No unhealthy treats for seven days. This is a great way for her to also start thinking about how to replace chocolate, cakes etc. with other, naturally sweet food items like fruits.

Join us on the challenge (starting NOW) and let us know how you're getting on in our online community here. Please also share your ideas for healthy treats :-).

To happy healthy living,
Erika Helsinki

BlogFit Project: Eniko’s blog

Eniko

Eniko is an inspiration to us all. She comes to my gym classes, completed the BlogFit Project and is a Fit as Hel online member.

Her fat loss journey has only lasted for a few months in total and she's gained insane results so far. Something that really stuck to my mind is her saying she feels like she's bouncing when walking now because of how 'light' she's become. That must be an amazing new experience.

Eniko does it all right - enough of exercise (but not too much), an active lifestyle (albeit a stressful job) and a healthy diet as part of her lifestyle.

Read her blog here and encourage her on her journey!

My personal fitness & lifestyle blog

I know many of you have wanted to follow my personal training blog and some have managed to follow one that I no longer update.

Here's the correct blog to follow - erikahelsinki.wordpress.com

I've told all my 1-to-1 clients recently to start up a blog on WordPress -- please let me know your URL even if you're not a private client and I'll follow you! It's a great idea to keep a blog on your fitness progress as it allows you to regularly reflect on your actions and choices.

I'll be publishing Blogfitters' blogs soon too so you can all read them!!

For now, join our Facebook community here and good luck on reaching your fitness goals!

/Erika

Merry Christmas from Fit as Hel

Champagne from Anna
So grateful for this Christmas present from a Finnish client. Thank you so much Anna!

 

Merry Christmas all from the Fit as Hel community! Enjoy yourselves and eat well :-).

 

:-),

Erika Helsinki

Measurement results: Miss A

My client was reluctant to get her body fat measurements done yesterday, after about 6-7 weeks of training with me. The scales haven't shown much difference since starting - in her own words she's been off track with eating (parties, guests, late nights...).

But the visual change in her body composition is apparent due to her tremendous effort in our training sessions - much more muscle definition, incredible strength gains and a nicely toned body.

It's very important to track progress continuously and so we proceeded with the caliper (skin fold) test.

A's results (2nd Nov/19th Dec):
- body fat %: 31.8/28.5
- fat weight (kg): 22.4/20.1
- lean weight (kg): 48.0/50.3


---> Over 10% loss in overall body fat amount
---> Body fat -2.3kg
--->Lean muscle +2.3kg

SERIOUSLY CHICK!!! Grab a kg of pure fat and you'll start to appreciate just how much you've achieved in such little time.

AND 2.3 kg of extra muscle is AMAZing - and has significantly increased the amount of calories your body burns in a day (BMR) - exactly what we want.

Add that clean eating in to your habits and you'll be lean as f*** in no time!

IMPRESSIVE RESULTS - well done A!! Let's get you the dream body back :-)

/Erika

Client story: Jane lost over 25 kg!

Borderline obese to 16% body fat... WOW.

Jane has been such an inspiring client to train - always willing to try hard and learn new things. Her transformation has been astounding.

I asked her to write up a testimonial in her own words. Here's what she came up with:

Jane testimonial

How much do you have to lose?

Think about it. Will you ever achieve your goal weight? Because tell you what..... You can.

The only thing stopping you is yourself.

Gift from Suzanne

image

My lovely personal training client Suzanne brought me a present today that made me very happy. A special kind of a peeler!

She's been telling me about her bolognese and I'm dying to try it. Instead of spaghetti, she uses this type of a peeler to make pretendy spag out of carrots and courgettes! The strands are just like spaghetti, but apparently tons nicer (and healthier).

Time to get cooking!

Thanks Suzanne :-)

“There’s no point”

I hear this too often and it breaks my heart.

"There's no point in not eating that dessert, I'm overweight anyway... It won't make any difference."

"I can't be bothered with a gym membership because I couldn't go more than once a week anyway."

......and so forth. Depressing.

The truth is, it's the little things that matter the most. If you eat one single biscuit a day, that's easily 18,250 extra kilocalories a year!!

Read that again - 18,250 kcal per year!!!! 

Just ditching that tiny habit could result in you losing a considerable amount of weight!

I've also had plenty of clients who "only" do one personal training session a week and no other exercise whatsoever... And guess what? They ALL lose a noticeable amount of body fat! One of my clients recently lost 6 kg of pure fat (imagine that huge chunk of fat on table in front of you) in just 6 weeks - that's HUGE!!

No more saying "it doesn't matter". It does.

A task for you:
Make a little positive change in your life today. Decide on what it is and write it down. Because otherwise in a week's/month's/year's/decade's time you'll wish you'd started today.

ACT. Now. It's your time to succeed.