Russell Gilbert’s Transformation

I had stopped weighing myself when the scales started creeping up to 19 stone so I truly don’t know how heavy I was before I started with Matty. If I had to guess I would say about 20 stone. I do know that I would get out of breath walking upstairs and every time my car drove over a bump my belly and man-boobs would jiggle up and down. I hated being photographed or seeing pictures of myself. I would eat nothing but junk food and my self-esteem was at an all-time low.

I had never really exercised before in my life. Not properly, anyway. I would avoid PE at school as much as possible – if the lads fancied a kick about on the field at lunchtime I’d volunteer to be a goal post so I didn’t have to move. I had been to gyms before but would only ever do the absolute bare minimum – a minute on a cross trainer, a couple of minutes on a rowing machine (I liked that one because I got to sit down!). I really was an out of shape mess.

I remember my first session with Matty. He told me to run to the end of the gym and back. I felt like I was going to die – my heart was beating out of my chest, I was sweating like crazy and could see black blotches in front of my eyes. I couldn’t finish the full hour session. I’m sure Matty was thinking ‘Yeah, I won’t be seeing this guy again’, but I am stubborn and had made my mind up. I have never been in shape and I was going to do this, even if it killed me (which it certainly felt like it might at times)!

Matty realised my level of fitness was absolute zero and adjusted his training plan accordingly – it was still challenging and diverse but he understood that getting me to do things I was not able or ready to do at that time would have made me feel like a failure and increased the likelihood of me going back to my old, lazy lifestyle. He was right.

As I began to get fitter, he developed the routines more and more. He asked me early on what my personal body goals are (six-pack, obvs!) and has always challenged and pushed me, giving me encouragement along the way but also refusing to let me quit when I felt like I could not do that one last push-up or burpee. It has not been easy, there have been times when I have wanted to quit, but once you start seeing the weight drop off, or see some muscular definition in the arms or stomach it feels SO good!

Another great thing about working with Matty is that he is constantly giving me advice on the right things to eat and supplied me with a food plan to follow. Changing my diet has been a huge part of the process, I lived on junk food, bread and chocolate (see below). Don’t get me wrong, it didn’t happen overnight and I have ‘fallen off the wagon’ on occasion, but I have managed to alter my diet so that I am eating the right things at the right time to see maximum results.

I have dropped almost 4 stone since I started working with Matty. My upper body, shoulders and legs are the most muscular and defined they have ever been in my entire life. Currently I am able to run a mile and a half in under 14 minutes, can squat 130kg, clean and press 80kg and deadlift 165kg.

An example of what I used to eat in one day:

Breakfast: 3 or 4 slices of cheese spread and butter on toast (white bread). A packet of crisps. A chocolate bar. Big glass of milk.

Lunch: Large white bread roll, 3 to 4 cheese slices, butter. Big glass of milk

Snack: A chocolate bar or two. Maybe another bag of crisps.

Dinner: ‘Mega Burger’- 3 beef burgers topped with cheese in a bread-cake with large fries covered in chip spice from the local take-away. A packet of crisps. Half to 2/3rds of a chocolate birthday cake with squirty cream. A carton to one and half cartons of orange juice (depending on how thirsty I was)

Supper: 3 or 4 slices of toast (white bread) with butter and jam. Usually a packet of crisps and a chocolate bar.