A WORK IN PROGRESS: end of the program, but the beginning of the road
TWO days after completing the Amazing 12 Chichester, Ian Barnett, 46, headed off to the Greek islands for a well-earned break with his three daughters and wife.
Shortly after returning, I had him in the gym again. Though he was refreshed, Ian admitted he was a little overstuffed with Greek bread.
I was about to put him through his paces at Core Results as I had done a week before he started the Amazing 12 – to see what strength gains, if any, had been achieved.
The obvious difference is that prior to the Amazing 12, Ian had been inactive for a number of years. Post-Amazing 12, he’d just completed three months training, turning up at the gym with me five days each week and doing some additional work by himself.
He did some calisthenic-type training while away on holiday, but hadn’t touched a weight in over a week.
Still, I was pretty confident he’d shine a positive light on his Amazing 12 efforts.
I wasn’t to be disappointed.
LEANED OUT: now it’s about keeping the momentum going
For example, his back squat went from a wobbly 70kg for two reps to 95kg. His deadlift best for two reps upped from 95kg to 120kg. His bench press improved from 62.5kg to 85kg. He could complete two chin-ups before he started, but now was able to do seven.
As a measure of his fitness, I had him run the prowler, a sort of heavy metal pushing device, up and down the gym 10 times without stopping. This we did in week 1 (2:52), again at week 6 (2:15) and then afterwards (2:01). That’s nearly a one-minute improvement in three months!
Those are the athletic achievements. But weighing in at 101.3kg (223lbs or 15st 12 3/4lbs) back in February, Ian wanted to shift some weight and, more specifically, the excess body fat that had accumulated from years of inactivity and a desk job lifestyle.
By the start of the final week that weight had dropped to 97.2kg (213 3/4lbs or 15st 3 3/4lbs). On the finishing session, Ian was down to 93kg (206lbs or 14st 10lbs), which is what he weighed on his wedding day over five years ago, but his body composition is now more muscular.
His body fat percentage had gone from 25.4% to 22.4% (week 8) to 20.7%. His body fat mass dropped from 4st to 3st 2 1/4lbs.
Ian’s metabolic age started at 51, went down to 41 at week 8 and then 36 by completion. Visceral fat went from 12 to 10 to 9, which is just below what is regarded as safe.
STRONGER: but Ian hasn’t reached his physical potential
“My results are incredible,” he admitted. “I may not have an Olympic swimmer’s physique – and, to be honest, from my starting point that was probably a bit ambitious – but I look more athletic.
“I feel so much more energised and want to improve from here. The internal results of visceral fat, body fat percentage and the changes in metabolic age were the best improvements.”
Even from week 1, Ian was revelling in the fact that this (doing the Amazing 12) was even possible. When we first discussed it and Ian saw the two advertised training times, he dismissed his participation. But I went back to him. We met for a cup of tea one chilly morning with no strings attached to see if there was a way to just find an opening for some training.
It was very clear to me that Ian wanted a change. But, being a father and business owner, it didn’t feel straightforward. However, where there’s a will there is a way. Ian proved that.
“I wanted to do the Amazing 12 to get back into shape,” he said. “It had been lingering for a while that I needed to do something.
“I’d looked at other personal training locally. But I felt your approach and the results I had seen, gave me the best chance of making the change I needed.”
HARD AT IT: those early-morning sessions
His journey was remarkably smooth sailing. There were some minor hitches. Ian had already committed, pre-A12, to a number of work-related courses that resulted in him missing some sessions, but, like Sue Crabtree, he wanted to make up for it and signed up for an extra week.
In total, Ian attended 89% of the gym sessions, which was even more impressive given we usually started at 6am and trained during what was a rather bitter British winter.
Commitment wasn’t a problem.
“Turning up for the training was easy,” he said. “We had structure, which suited home and work lives, and it was easy to stick to.”
As early as week 3, Ian was noticing the difference the program was making to his fitness. He would go cycling with friends some weekends and his body was excelling where usually he would struggle.
IN THE BAG: Ian was never out of his depth
Most mornings he’d walk in with a smile on his face. On the few days he didn’t – usually because he hadn’t slept enough – Ian would still walk out feeling better in himself.
There were so many times I noted at the end of training in my scribbled pencil “good session”.
Ian gave everything of himself. He had the support of his wife, which is always a fantastic help.
As Ian said to me at the start of week 9, “My wife’s happier, kids are happier. I’m getting a real buzz. I’m happier. And my clothes are fitting differently!”
I challenged Ian little by little with every session and he consistently rose to it.
“I really enjoyed the training,” he admitted. “Even, in retrospect, leg days [which he dreaded at the time]. We were also able to incorporate the [punch]bag work and chin-ups as a slight change. But I never found the training boring – it is what it needs to be. I like that anyway.
CONFIDENT: a new man, father and husband
“The feeling of lifting weights, of feeling stronger and fitter was great.”
Typically, at some point there is a blip or a setback. But Ian continued to grow in strength and fitness.
Even the nutrition side of things were embraced wholeheartedly, impressive considering Ian doesn’t like vegetables!
“The diet was good and obviously integral to the process,” he said. “It articulated probably what I already knew, but the portion sizing and staying away from processed food was the message that resonated the most.”
BACK IN CHARGE: now Ian knows he has better control over his physical future
There are three phases to the Amazing 12 diet and Ian found the final part, which lasted only a week, the toughest. For phase 2, he managed it by being organised.
At the end of 12 weeks I got him as fit and strong as I could for that period of time without breaking him. But he still has more to come.
That’s why he wants to continue training and he’s also bought into the understanding that lifting weights and training smartly is a vital part of growing older and remaining healthy.
“I enjoy feeling strong and looking stronger,” he said to me in week 10. By the final week he admitted he was fitter and stronger than he was on his wedding day 14 years ago. “And I wasn’t expecting to get as fit as I did,” he added.
And then I unleashed him on some chin-ups, which Ian was eager to try, and he knocked them out without much bother, nailing 42 in 15 minutes the first time we tried and then nearly 50 the time after. Given that before we started the A12, Ian managed only two -maximum! – that was pretty good going.
“I felt more confident and recognise my ability to work towards a goal,” he said. “That’s much more fun [for me] when applied to working the body. I am now trying to apply it to my work, too – organisation, structure, goals etc.
“To anyone thinking of doing it, I’d say ‘go for it!’ It was a brilliant experience all-round.”
TRIMMER: much leaner and stronger, but what you can’t see is the new inner steel (Photo: Sue Saunders Photography)
SUE CRABTREE is an amazing lady. I mean that.
I’ll tell you why in the paragraphs to come.
She’d never done any proper weight-lifting previously and yet took a chance on the Amazing 12 Chichester, committing to a program that demanded she would have to train five days a week in the gym and extra days by herself.
“If you want something badly enough, you will find the time and commitment to train,” she said.
LEARNING TO SKIP: just one of many skills Sue improved
So committed was Sue, 48, that when she had to miss several days training to help her mother – who had to go into hospital during week 9 – she forked out for an extra week to make up for it.
She had never worked with me before although she had provided nutritional advice to one of my previous Amazing 12 graduates, Rich Evans, and that’s how she first heard about the program.
Sue’s certainly not scared of muscles, as some women are. In fact, that’s what she was after. She wanted to become strong and proudly declared it.
“I just didn’t have the knowledge or drive to know how to do it,” she said.
TRAIN WITH A SMILE: even when she wasn’t feeling great
Sue, a native of South Africa, had to also deal with a lot of negativity – people doubting her, questioning her, undermining her.
She was told she was “too old” and that she’s “too busy” before the program started. And during it she heard people say she “was looking tired” and “should rest” and that “this type of exercise is not good for me”.
But when she was bench-pressing a heavy weight, Sue would smile to herself, with all the naysayers in mind, and think, ‘look at me, guys. I’m doing this despite your predictions’.
She was very open and honest with me (which I respect) because there were days Sue didn’t feel on her A-game and just wanted to curl up by herself at home. But she pushed herself into the gym at Core Results and got on with it.
There were days when she felt depressed and down, but she still got on with it.
GAVE IT EVERYTHING: sometimes the harder it got, the more Sue liked it
There were many, many days when the weights were pushing her hard, metaphorically, but she soldiered on. Never complained. In fact, she sort of liked it.
“Not once did I turn up to training and leave feeling worse,” she said. “I always felt incredible [after training]. Those odd days I turned up not feeling 100 per cent turned out to be my best training days.”
In the beginning, Sue didn’t know what she was doing, though. Her concentration was all over the shop. She couldn’t find any consistency to her movement.
But that’s all brilliant. Really. It’s brilliant because Sue persevered and overcame it all.
She injured herself, too, but came through that. Lessons were learned every step of the way. Some were learned the hard way.
MUSCLES: a new proud owner
If you haven’t figured it out yet, Sue’s a tough woman to keep down. She’s resilient and determined.
When she had to skip training for a few days because of injury, it was always reluctantly. In all she attended 87% of the possible sessions.
Before starting the program, I showed Sue the movements and tested her strength. To give you some example of her strength improvements, she went from a 2-rep maximum on the bench press with 31.5k, to multiple sets of 3 with 38k.
Her incline bench press went from 7k for reps of 10 to 12.5k. Sue’s back squat went from a tough 37.5k for two reps to 50k for two as a warm-up. Her deadlift increased from a 2-rep 50k to six reps with 57.5k. Her shoulder press shot up from a challenging five reps with 12k to sets of three with 27k!
THE ROPES: often they were a battle
She also wanted to do the Amazing 12 to send out a message to all women with menopause that it need not intrude on life.
It was only after a few weeks that Sue’s attention switched from muscles to mindset, though, and how what she was feeling was as beneficial, if not more so, to her thinking as it was her body. That was a revelation.
Going into the Amazing 12, Sue had been an avid runner. Any other types of training (boot camps and circuits) always had that cardio element to it. She was used to getting on with it and letting her mind wander freely.
Typically, Sue was always in going-the-distance mode where the emphasis was on completion rather than the method.
BEAMING: transformed from the inside out
“I rush around with my job and I used to treat being busy as a badge of honour,” she admitted.
“But you cannot rush lifting weights or else you get injured. It taught me to slow down and smell the roses.”
I love that quote because it shows me how Sue has become so much more mindful than when she started, that she fully understands the meaning of it in a gym-training context.
“I’d rather do one great deadlift than five very bad ones,” she said. “I had to learn to stop thinking about the past and the future. It was about focusing on now.
“When I am lifting weights, I am in the moment. I am focusing on the muscle group and how I am feeling (well most of the time).
GRIT: change doesn’t come easily and Sue had to dig deep on occasions
“Completing the A12 has made me mentally and physically stronger. I can feel it in my day-to-day job.”
Yet Sue used to routinely apologise, thinking she had been hard work for me to coach, but really she wasn’t. I enjoyed every minute.
However, there were times when she felt her body wasn’t changing much even though I could clearly see it was.
“Every now and then I would just focus on the weight loss and give myself a hard time,” she admitted.
“But right from the start I didn’t want it to be about weight loss. I wanted to gain muscle and get strong. I’m very pleased with the results.”
LOOKING THE PART: oozing confidence at the end of the program
She dropped nearly 5kgs in weight and nearly 2% body fat. “Great readings,” she said. “It’s all about eating well and exercise.
“Anyone can be skinny, but it takes a lot more to get strong. I’m very proud I didn’t get a ‘hormone belly’ because I am going through menopause.
“I am so proud that, thanks to the Amazing 12, I took control of my body and steered it into a fantastic new direction.”
Armed with her new body and lifting knowledge, Sue has every intention to continue building on her success.
Interestingly, her greatest challenges on the program came with the nutrition side, although she found the eating plan “very easy”.
I’ll let Sue explain: “despite being a nutritionist, I still learned from the Amazing 12 diet that my portions were too big and I was snacking out of habit rather than necessity,” she said.
PLEASURE: this movement was one of Sue’s favourites
It was during the last week that Sue felt her energy levels dip, which can happen and she found tough.
“But it [the strategy] worked,” she said. “I did what Claude asked me to do. I thought, ‘just shut up and follow it exactly’.
“I got some weird enjoyment of pushing my body through training when I felt so tired. I really had to get my mind to focus and be strong. I enjoyed that feeling of having a strong mind.”
I’ll be honest, though. I wasn’t sure until the final day how satisfied Sue was going to be despite many gym onlookers commenting to me on how well she had done. As mentioned earlier, she was wrestling with some demons.
“But I’d tell anyone thinking about it to just go for it. You won’t look back. It’s not about the six-pack or pushing the heaviest weights. It’s about you.
“The Amazing 12 fits around the individual and makes you the best you can possibly be [in 12 weeks]. I’ve got strong arms, but my mind is so much stronger. Who knew that lifting weights could do this?”
WORTH IT: the toughest climbs are the most memorable
Better still, Sue feels she has control of her life.
“I know the Amazing 12 is a program, but I do believe Claude made it unique,” she said.
“His outlook on life is a great motivator and I am going to miss our chats in between the rests.
“I have learnt a lot from Claude on how to exercise properly, but also so much more mentally. Thank you, Claude, for your patience and sharing your passion of exercise with me.”
