Every Woman Who Want's To Lose Weight & Improve Their Health Should Read This!

Over the last 3 months, me and my team have trainers have been running our second Transformation Contest. 4 hand-picked volunteers were challenged to transform their body by way of healthy eating and exercise.

No diet pills, supplements or compicated calorie counting just a real emphasis on wholesome foods, short burst workouts like circuit training and maintaing a positive can-do attitude through the course.

Throughout the Contest, volunteers were asked to:

1) Give up wheat (bread, pasta etc), preocessed food and alcohol.
2) Fast 1-2 times per week using the Eat Stop Eat nutritional philosophy.
3) Train 4 times a week. This included one FREE private session each week with us aswell as attending one of our popular Bootcamp sessions each week.
4) fill out a food diary and blog their transformation experiences over at www.samwinkworth.ning.com

Each of the 4 challengers worked really hard over the last 3 months and it was hard picking an overall winner of the Contest but...after alot of thought we gave first place to Nicola Fitzgerald (below). I loved Nicola's attitude throughout the challenge. She always gave 100%. She always remained positive (which I liked), and she never missed a Bootcamp session.

It was Nicola's extra hard work and positive atttitude (and also the great results that she achieved aswell!) that swayed me to give first prize to her. She will receive a £250 cash prize so congratulation Nic!

Read Nic's full rundown of the contest below and let us know what you think in the comments section below:

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"Prior to the challenge I would have ranked myself around low to middle in terms of fitness, I walked everywhere, kept an eye on my weight and did exercise classes. I was very in to yoga before my pregnancy, had worked with personal trainers in the past and overall was aware of my physical shape and body. I found it very difficult to shift the last of my pregnancy weight, which was why the transformation challenge appealed to me initially.
Anytime in the past I wanted to lose weight I would drastically alter my diet and see results. Total elimination of food groups and massive drop in calories worked for me but was not something I wanted to do forever. I thought it was best to abandon the binge purge method and look more towards a new way of living, eating and exercising.....

Exercise in the past was a hobby more than a 'look for results' type thing. Maybe 2 to 3 classes a week, or swimming and I was keeping my head above board but as mentioned, food was my way to lose weight. Even though I enjoyed exercise it was never fully integrated into my lifestyle and always fell by the wayside eventually.

From reading above it sounds like I was fairly good with my diet and fitness, but really I am all or nothing, non stop food , booze and fun or no carbs, no dairy and no fun!!

When I first started the challenge my biggest concern was the detox. How could I possibly eliminate all the food groups together for 30 days?? I could get rid of cheese (no probs), wheat (no probs), processed food (no probs) but all together? and with no wine??
1 week in and I can't remember having as much energy. My skin was looking great, my cravings were gone, apart from the tea, I'll never not want tea and I felt like I could run a marathon. When the exercise aspect of the programme kicked in I absolutely adored it. Bootcamps, 1 on 1 sessions, home exercising - I was like a woman posessed, I absolutely loved it. My clothes felt comfortable initially and at week 3 had a cut a new notch in my belt,I was delighted.

For me the toughest part of the challenge was mind over matter. The psychological of it is quite difficult, because you're doing something that ulimtately will benefit you, yet have to sacrcifice all 'rewards' on the way. For me, at the end of the day, after I've put my son to bed, a glass of wine is my treat. To not have that after the initial few weeks of excitement over a new routine is a hard pill to swallow. Weekends felt very 'samey' and my cooking skills were testing to the max to create something enjoyable and 'allowed'. The exercise, for me, was always good fun. Short bursts of high intensity work outs and before you know it, you're done for the day. I loved Sam's 'metabolic disturbance' workouts because you knew you would get results and I did. Everything just got smaller, from my boobs to my belly and my legs.

I was thrilled with my results, I dropped from a size 12 to a size 8 all over. I had to buy new jeans and take even my pre-pregnancy clothes to the charity shop as they were a bit too baggy. I lost over 1 stone in weight and even over Xmas managed to keep it all off.

I couldn't recommend the transformation programme more highly if I tried. Sam is an incredibly positive mentor, hard working no excuses allowed and keeps you on your toes (Skinny toes!) You see results and a change in how you view food and excercise. You get a sense of achievement like no other and I know I can continue elements of this programme right throughout my life. Sam doesn't just direct you towards a certain diet and excercise programme with no explanation, you understand completely what you are doing, why you are doing it and how it personally helps you.

I feel I entered into the most pro-active and positive exercise and nutrition programme there is and you'll never look back if you do the same."

- Nicola Fitzgerald, Sevenoaks, UK

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Keep your eyes peeled for details of the next Transformation Contest.

Peace out,

SAM : )

The Interesting Search For Female Six Pack Abs

This week's post is from my good buddy Tristan Lewis over in America. I met Tristan back in November when I went to a fitness conference in Disneyworld, Orlando, and since then we hit it off and have kept in touch since.

Tristan is a great guy and I love his fitness philosophy which is very similar to mine.

Okay, handing you over to Tristan now. hope you enjoy the guest post.

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Firstly, I want to say hi, my name is Tristan Lewis from MaverickFitnessCoach.com and I’m really thrilled to be working alongside my good mate Sam Winkworth to bring you new and exciting fitness, fat loss and body transformation advice. Sam is an outstanding trainer and a great friend and what he offers his clients and customers is cutting edge advice – but you all know that of course!

This is probably aimed more at the ladies today, but I’ll make up for it with something for the guys next – so today I’d like to discuss the idea that six pack abs are not just a male orientated desire and how women of all ages and current fitness levels should be training for and expecting this unique fitness aspect as part of their body transformation.

You see the reality is that women should not only be aiming for a small waist, or trim thighs and buns…but also a beautiful, feminine sculpted set of six pack abs - it’s real important to dismiss the stigma that abs are only for men and women should just focus on the ‘flat belly syndrome’. And here’s why…

The basic anatomical facts are that every human has ‘six pack abs’ – let’s use that term as our ‘keyword’ for a truly spectacular midsection. But these abs are typically covered by our bodyfat and that there is the issue with regards to actually seeing them.

We can break down abdominal training for men and women into two areas. One will be training for muscular development of the abs and all other muscles and the other training for fat loss to reveal not just the abs but sculpt your entire physique as well.

Women need to understand that firstly they’ll be very unlikely to create a visual appearance of ripped, rolling slabs of abdominal muscle – this simply will not be the case as genetically a woman carries less testosterone than a man and will not build the muscle like their male counterparts….BUT here’s where we need to continue and encourage all women to actually STILL concentrate on working out for that ‘female six pack abdominal appearance’.

Because whilst a woman can dismiss the fact right here that they’ll look like a man or have garish ab muscles, the idea of training for six pack abs puts them into the absolute correct exercise psychology of correct and proven fat loss and body transformation training.

You see of course it’s possible to set a goal of a nice lean tummy and firm thighs but the workouts you’d employ to achieve a stunning female physique with ‘six pack abs’ will REALLY be putting you into ‘full body transformation territory’ where fat is burned, muscle pathways are re-ignited and real physical change occurs.
What I’m saying is all women will genetically create their own unique look, their own slim, toned and tight body and midsection, but also their very own six pack abs. And the training that you attempt to get ‘six pack abs’ is the type of training that will deliver all the other aspects you are desiring in your new body image or transformation. It will not be just ‘six pack abs’ but a full body makeover.

An example is this:
I run my own Bootcamps called Intensity Bootcamps as well as training clients one on one. A majority of my current Bootcamps are ladies wanting to firstly lose body fat but secondly create a lean, toned and tight body. We had a discussion and around 70% told me they’d typically been in their gyms with the goal of a lean tight midsection and trim body firmly in place and the tools they were using were your typical long form cardio of 40 minutes plodding away on a treadmill or a cycle staring at the tv’s etc. I know you know what I mean, you see it all the time in most gyms.
Now it’s certainly not bad to do if you are concentrating on say running a marathon or for an endurance sport, but even then it’s worth mixing it up.

So I said to them, well look let me put you into this Bootcamp where the training will be exactly the same as what a man would do, with short burst intensity exercise, resistance circuits, explosive and reactive workouts – all designed to get you out the gym quicker but also to incorporate the resistance exercises to build lean muscle that in turn both sculpts and shapes your own particular fit female physique but burns more calories than simple long form cardio.

When I told them we’d be aiming to build lean muscle the initial reaction was ‘Whoa! – we don’t want big muscles or six pack abs like the guys train for.’

Now that ideology is common and perfectly understandable. BUT as we continued to discuss this I told them about the misconceptions in fitness training today that a woman is going to be threatened with bulky muscles if they lift weights or train like a ‘typical male counterpart’. This is fallacy. (The actual truth is all women should be training with resistance weight training as a major component of their routines for the very fact that it will burn more calories), it will create the lean and long muscles you wish for and it will give you the physique you are genetically meant to have.

And that is not big, muscular or bulky because unless you want to dabble in the world of steroids and excess testosterone you simply will not create that look – you simply won’t be able to.

So how does this philosophy all tie into the original topic of the search for female six pack abs. Well here it is:

I train all my female clients as I would any male client (ok, not in everything because some want to train for marathons or endurance sports etc and we change it up) but primarily I expect my lady clients to take up the same exact challenges as the guys because I’ll tell you this, in all honesty, I see the ladies I work with are so much more capable of doing more than they think they can it is almost unbelievable. I push them because ladies don’t seem to complain as much as some of the guys I work with (no offence men!) – I give them a challenge and they crush it!

Yes, maybe the next day at lunch or in the bar they chat with friends and say ‘Tristan got us doing this! Can you believe it!’ You know, but the fact remains they absolutely ‘kick butt’ as my American friends say.

And therefore I train them to develop FEMALE SIX PACK ABS because not only will this sort of training create strong core and supportive muscles and a midsection that is in optimal shape, but as we discussed further up, a woman, no matter what she thinks, will not develop garish six pack abs but the beautiful, lean feminine abs that a woman is capable of. The true ‘female six pack abs’; not just a small waist with weak floppy muscle underneath the skin, or nice hips and thighs still with a rounded back and loose abs….no – REAL solid feminine core musculature that will look stunning.
Of course the lower the body fat % the more you’ll see your abs. But physics has given women the same abs as men – the same muscles in your midsection – give or take- that a man has. If you were meant to have just a smooth, little tummy you’d only have one smooth muscle running down your core.

You –as a woman – deserve to show off your ‘six pack abs’ and trust me it will be a look you’ll adore as much as all the people staring at you!

Your training will consist of (full body intensity circuits, resistance training, body weight circuits and also a bit of cardio) if you still like all that – and it will be varied, enjoyable, challenging and exciting!

Ultimately you need to know that as a woman you SHOULD be training for ‘six pack abs’, you should rest safe in the knowledge you’ll not get bulky by training for such, and you need to trust that the workouts you do with Sam, with me or with any trainer who knows their stuff will transform your entire body into the type of feminine physique you see on magazine covers.

Nature’s given you a gift. (It’s up to you to train optimally and be proud to show yours off – it’s all in your mind and you are capable of anything you desire to put your mind to). So again: don’t think six pack abs is a keyword for men only – it is absolutely what you need to be training for as an integral part of your fitness program. Not just because it will offer support, structure, core strength and optimal performance but also because it will look incredible on you – mark my words – and it’s not as hard to achieve as you may have thought….

There is such a thing as Female Six Pack Abs – you’ve got them, now you just have to train them and allow them to be one of the key components in your full body transformation. You can do it! Believe me, I see it all day long with my clients.

Ladies are capable of a level of training that is phenomenal to observe.

Until next time, I wish you all the best and look forward to hearing from you and seeing how you’re doing.

Cheers all,
(Tristan Lewis
MaverickFitnessCoach.com)

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More posts from Tristan soon guys.

Train hard and be strong,

Sam

Tough Guy 2010 (Year Of The Original Heroes)

Hey everyone, wow!!!

it feels like a lifetime since I last posted on here. Big apologies for not writing sooner but my old lap top finally gave up the ghost last week and I simply haven't been online since. I now have a brand new one and I'm dying to tell my ToughGuy tale to you guys, so here goes.

On Sunday, I took part in the 2010 Tough Guy Challenge up in Wolverhampton, UK. For those of you who aren't too sure what this is then let me shed some light on the matter for you.

Tough Guy is a mixture between a 10k muddy cross country run and an army assualt course. It's a true test of fitness, strength and mental determination. Challengers have to endure sub zero lakes, underwater tunnels and fire walking to have the title of being a "Tough Guy".

Myself and some of my Evolution Bootcamp clients arrived in a freezing cold Wolverhampton on the Saturday evening. We figured that we didn't want to travel up on a Sunday morning. Sitting in a car for 3 hours is not exactly great preparation for an event like this so we went up the evening before.

I'd been training real hard for this challenge and I was feeling very confident about proceedings,as was everyone else. Part of the course involved several steep hills, (I say hills, they were more like muddy banks!!)I'd been doing plenty of hill running in training so I was actually looking forward to them!

The race started at 11am. Our start position wasn't great. We were almost right at the back which usually means it's hard to run at the pace you want due to slower runners infront but once that gun went off I went for it!

I decided that I would try and hit the run as hard as I could. This was to prevent me from cueing up at the obstacles towards the end of the race.

Eveything was going fine. I was steadily making my way through the pack. It was very hard to do this on occassions as the course was very narrow which would cause bottle necking, but I did everything I could to get through as many runners as possible and start chasing down the front squad.

I REALLY didn't want to be cueing for any of those obstacles at the end freezing my ass off!


Next up were the hills and this is where my progress was haulted slightly. Everyone was pretty much walking them which was fine! I don't blame 'em but this stopped me from moving ahead. I was disappointed with this as I had put so much effort into hill running in my training but I didn't let it bother me too much and after they were done, the cross country run continued.

I was happy. I'd finished the main bulk of the running and I was onto the obstacles and it was here when things started to change - for the worse.

Alot of the obstacles involved running in and out of freezing cold water. Sounds easy right?

At first, it's great, wading through muddy water up to your waist is loads of fun but the novelty soon started to wear off when the cold started kicking in.

I cannot describe to you how cold the water was. You would have to do it yourself to appreciate what I'm talking about.

I think someone said that the water was -7 degrees, the coldest Tough Guy on record.

The water was SOOOO cold that the ice was still there, unmelted!

The front squad had to break the ice with their elbows as they waded through the water.

The cold was starting to get to me, it was creeping up on me, my legs were completely numb and all I was focused on now was finishing the course without getting hypothermia.

All I could hear was the constant sound of the ambulance siren in the background. Everywhere I looked, runners were dropping out, stopping due to cramp or being pulled out by marshalls for hypothermia.

I needed to finish...and quick!

I had achieved my goal. The obstacles were clear when I did them. Hitting the run hard had paid off but the cold was REALLY kicking in. I was starting to feel real lonely out there aswell.

I had to finish. Another 20 minutes of this water and I knew I would be in big trouble.

Hypothermia is a huge factor in Tough Guy and if you're not prepared for it then you will fail. I had undertaken some cold water survival training (daily cold showers) in the months building up to it but in all honestly this didn't help me in the slightest with the cold.


Only a few more water obstacles to go and I was fading fast, I had come to the dreaded underwater tunnels. This is where you have to immerse yourself completely under water 4 times.

This was hell, as I swam out of the lake and climbed up the muddy bank I started to feel dizzy and had a severe case of "brain freeze". This wasn't good. Brain freeze is the feeling you get when you've eaten a cold ice cream, but this was like a thousand times worse. My condition was starting to deteriate.

I knew it wouldn't be long before hypothermia kicked.

Needed to finish...

As I entered the final part of the course, I heard from a spectator that there wasn't long to go. Only a few minutes until the finish. This was like a shot in the arm for me and actually gave me a new surge of energy.

Just one more plunge into a freezing cold lake and I was there. Every cell in my body was telling me NOT to go in there but I just carried on.I was in survival mode now. I waded through as fast as I could. I was starting to shiver violently. I was in a bad way.

One final sprint to the line, I had made it but I wasn't great! I was starting to hallucinate which I knew wasn't good, and I was experiencing the symptoms of stage 1 hypothermia. Uncontrollable shivering, unable to pay attention, confusion, feeling afraid, memory loss, drowsiness, slurred speech, slow shallow breathing...yep, I had them all.

I had to get out of my wet clothes and start warming up and fast.

After 2 hours of sipping hot chocolate in my clients car with the heater on full blast I had started to warm up. Hypothermia had kicked in.
At one point I was so bad I thought I was going to have to grab a paramedic to sort me out but I got myself through it- just!

I did it! I earnt my Tough Guy title and didn't let hypothermia beat me. My time was 2 hours and 7 minutes which was in the top 800 out of the 3,500 that finished. 6,000 had started.

My goal is to finish in the top 200 for the next one which I know I will with the right preparation, tactics and determination.

So what have I learnt from my Tough Guy experience?

Well, I have learnt that if I can do do Tough Guy then I can overcome ANY obstacle in my life. Tough Guy isn't really a test of fitness, it's more about mental toughness, it's about the will do go on, it's about how hard you get knocked but keep moving forwards. It's a test of inner strength.

Whenever you're feeling down, or if you're struggling to achieve a goal in your life, whenever you're feeling like giving up, whether it be professionally, personally or spiritually then think back to this story and have the inner strength to keep moving forwards no matter what happens, just like I did.

Rocky says it best in this video:



I loved that little motivational speech : )

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the full account of my Tough Guy experience and who knows, maybe I'll see you at the next one! (if you're crazy enough!)

Peace out : )

Sam

PS - if you're interested in seeing some of the horrors I had to endure on Sunday then check out this Tough Guy link to the BBC's website.

Out of the 6,000 runners that started the 2010 Tough Guy Challenge, only 3,500 finished. 600 suffered from Hypothermia and the rest pulled out due to injury or lack of fitness.