What does it really take to achieve a jaw-dropping body transformation?
What are the secrets that help ordinary clients get extraordinary results at Ultimate Performance?
Ten successful UP clients share the one game-changing tip, trick or piece of advice that made the biggest difference and helped them get in the best shape of their lives…
1. Get professional advice from trainers who get results – Martin
The most important things that I learned during my journey was firstly, seek out the right advice and then follow it consistently.
You have to believe in what you are being advised to do and if you follow the advice you will get the results. The support of my PT was what really helped with the transformation.
Knowing you not only had someone who you were accountable to but also that you had someone who was always there to support you and offer you advice and motivation.
2. A transformation is more than just training hard – Panos
This kind of transformation comes through a package of changes that are made simultaneously.
It’s never down to the one thing. It’s not exercise alone. It’s not diet alone. You have to combine the two things together.
Bringing that together along with the guidance of a personal trainer who knows what they’re doing, and taking into account your body type and how your body is behaving, is something as a package that comes together and really helps you achieve the results you want.
This is the biggest lesson for me.
3. Track everything you can for measurable progress – Ben
If there’s one tip that really helped me make my transformation it’s ‘track everything you can’.
For years I’d spent randomly training and eating and not tracking any progress and wondering why I was never getting results.
The moment I started at UP it was instilled in me to start tracking my progress and that’s when my body started changing before my eyes.
I tracked my workouts fastidiously, and I got stronger and fitter. I started tracking my calories, my macronutrients and my portion sizes honestly, and I got lean.
I tracked my weight and my body fat and it gave me the feedback I needed to know that I was progressing, or if tweaks needed to be made to my diet and training.
Even learning to track things like my sleep quality, my energy levels, hunger and stress levels helped me to become more intuitive with my body. It meant I learned to better understand what worked for me and what didn’t, what caused me to feel tired or bloated, cranky or craving sugar.
These are all things that have kept me in shape long after my transformation.
4. Keep your diet and training simple – Jenny
The game-changer for me was that making a transformation is simpler than you think. Stop complicating it.
The only secret to a successful transformation is consistency and discipline.
If you can be consistent with your diet and training and you can be honest and disciplined, there is literally no reason why you can’t get results. Stop complicating the process. It really is that simple.
Read how professional chef Jenny built her lean and athletic physique in 12 weeks
5. Learn how to properly retract and depress your scapula on exercises – Iain
There is one element of technique on exercises that really changed the game.
The biggest thing for me was learning to keep my shoulders kept down, pinned back and locked in with the back and actually engaging the lats.
That is relevant in so many exercises from bicep curls to all the rowing exercises, bench presses; locking in the exercises and keeping the chest tall.
That’s the biggest training tip I learned which had the biggest crossover on the most exercises.
Learn how Iain crafted six-pack abs and a new muscular physique in a matter of weeks.
6. Losing weight means understanding calories and really looking at what you’re eating – Kelly
To lose weight, you need to be in a calorie deficit. Previously I’d been eating foods that were calorie dense and didn’t offer much nutritional value.
I had no clue just how much I was eating on a daily basis. Tracking my calories now means I make good choices, I eat more than I did before and feel fuller than ever. It’s win-win.
There are always smart food choices you can make – it doesn’t matter where you are, there is always an option that’s better for you. You just need the discipline to reject the bad stuff!
Kelly shares the six tips that helped her make this stunning 18-week transformation
7. Be consistent with your diet and training, and results will follow – Stuart
There is no trick to a transformation, unfortunately.
Focussing on consistency is the best tip I could have had going into my transformation, both in terms of the diet and the training.
The way your body reacts is a bit different each week and so if you have a week where you are not dropping weight or getting progression, stick with, listen to your trainer and it will come!
It’s important to talk to your trainer too. Whether it’s telling them how you are doing with diet, how you’re feeling more generally or if there is a niggle anywhere in your body.
Read How Weightlifting Helped Keen Cyclist Stuart Build His New 12-week Body
8. Mastering form and technique will accelerate your results – Ryan
Learning to use and maintain great form was the most important factor for me in my transformation. I’ve had many injuries and niggles over the years from both training and my job, so form is really important in the gym.
Learning to properly brace my core, push my chest up and out, pull my shoulder blades together etc, really meant I was able to get more benefit out of every lift and rep.
9. Focus on improving your weaknesses – Tony
Acknowledge your weaknesses, sugar cravings, laziness and attack those with the most determination.
Keep a daily check on your weight, which is the easiest determinate of change, and make sure your trend is going the right way.
10. Give it 100% and watch how far you can go – Marie Claire
Don’t take half measures – if you really want to make a big change, give it all you’ve got
Do not give in to the temporary moments; to the cravings, to the treats, to the after work drinks.
Say ‘no’ for a few months. Push, push, push, and change your body for a lifetime.
All those things are temporary and they will come around again. You are not losing out, you are gaining so much more for yourself.
Read how Marie-Claire lost 10kg and got control of her polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)