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10 tips to nail your nutrition
Don’t let fat loss be your only metric of success
Adjusting the dial
Fitness Myths That Need to Die
Sleep Hacking: tips, tricks and my routine for a kick ass sleep

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rob.ftafitness

🚀 I help people get, feel and look strong.
👇 Work with me here:

There's nothing quite like throwing some extortion

There's nothing quite like throwing some extortionately long pauses into your training to help keep you humble.

First practice for our performance at the Royal Al

First practice for our performance at the Royal Albert Hall, DONE!

When you fail a rep, but you're too stubborn to le

When you fail a rep, but you're too stubborn to leave it alone...

Fun fact: swearing at the weight tells it that you're the alpha and makes it weight 5% less.

A little training footage from yesterday's session

A little training footage from yesterday's session...

Deadlifts
194kg, 1 x 4
171kg, 5 x 4

Bench
85kg 2 x 4
75kg 5 x 4

Leg extensions
3 x 8 - 12 (weight: who cares?)

Super ROM chest supported lateral raises
3 x 15 - 20

And that's it. Nice and simple, but effective.

Bench is still feeling really good, even after taking over a week off, which is great, as normally when I come back from holiday, it has a tendency to feel like crap.

Iceland, you were wonderful. It's proving impossi

Iceland, you were wonderful.

It's proving impossible to sift through the hundreds of photos and videos that we all took, so here are a few just so that I have them here as a reminder.

All the thanks to @polina_zt and @norm_88 for organising such a great trip and creating the opportunity for so many wonderful memories.

I don't have an issue with alcohol, but it's been

I don't have an issue with alcohol, but it's been on my mind a lot recently, on how it affects my mental and physical wellbeing, and I'm in a place in my life where I have to prioritise my mental health.

So it doesn't make sense for me to put something into my body that works against that.

Plus, I know that challenging yourself from time to time can be really beneficial.

I'd be interested to hear about anyone else's experience, and if you're interested in giving it a try and having an accountability buddy, then let me know!

1. Minimised my workouts. I don't have the mental

1. Minimised my workouts.
I don't have the mental bandwidth to be in the gym for a long time or do a load of exercises right now (it's also unnecessary).

Each of my workouts has 3-4 exercises, so I can get in, do some solid work, and get out.

2. More rest.
I rest 2-5 minutes between sets. Sometimes 7-10 on really taxing deadlift sets.

I want to be well rested for each set so I can make the most of the shorter workouts.

3. I've taken the pressure off of achieving any sort of "outcome."

I go into the gym to move my body and feel good. If that means I need to back off the intensity or lower the weight, then so be it.

Doing these things means I'm much more likely to actually go the gym, which in turn improves my mental and physical health.

It also keeps exercise as a regular part of my life.

Because I know that just going and doing something is incredibly beneficial.

And at this stage of my life, how I FEEL is far more important than chasing numbers or any specific goal.

Hope this helps!

The body's a funny thing... Right now, I can't wa

The body's a funny thing...

Right now, I can't walk more than 5 minutes without experiencing intense sciatica, but I can deadlift 195kg for reps without any pain.

Proof that just because you have some kind of pain, it doesn't mean you need to stop moving completely, perhaps?

On the plus side, my bench is feeling the best it ever has, so that's good, I guess...

When the banger drops...

When the banger drops...

After a few weeks of, quite honestly, just going t

After a few weeks of, quite honestly, just going through the motions with my training becauae of my mental health, I finally feel like I'm back in a place to start training "properly" again.

Over the past few weeks, I've reigned everything in. I've simplified my workouts and taken the pressure off of being where I was before, as the priority has simply been staying consistent and moving my body.

If this had been a couple of years ago I would have fallen into a guilt spiral of "oh but I'm not progressing."

So now I'm practising what I preach.

Prioritising the long game and my health.

I've set myself some goals, but there's no rush. I know that if I just keep plugging away then I'll get there eventually.

And it's a really nice place to be.

A different kind of post today... I've been battl

A different kind of post today...

I've been battling with whether to put this up, but after speaking to a fair few people, I've come to the conclusion that it's important for me to do, for myself and possibly others.

This week, I started medication for depression and anxiety.

I've battled on and off with both throughout my life, but recently everything came to a head, and after 30 something years (and the help and support of some truly wonderful people), it was clear I needed help.

So after a lot of consideration and some guidance, I decided to say yes to medication, alongside therapy.

So why am i posting this?
1. For a personal journal

2. Transparency
As someone "into" their fitness and nutrition and who posts about it on social media, I want to be as transparent and honest as possible.

There are enough people on social media making out like if you just eat well enough and exercise, then you'll be immune to mental health issues, and its the most toxic thing ever.

And I don't want to add to that.

Yes, exercise and nutrition are great, and they have helped me tremendously.

But they do not make you impervious to mental health struggles.

3. For the vague possibility that it might spark something in someone somewhere and help them in any way

If my recent experience has taught me anything, it's the power of a conversation and knowing you're not alone.

And I know that social media can make you feel like everyone else has it all figured out and you're the only one struggling.

So if this helps anyone with that in any way, then great.

I'm taking some time off of the fitness content thing to rest, focus on my mental health, and focus on my current clients (and anyone who's reached out recently about starting).

To everyone I've spoken to about their experiences and everyone who has helped me, reassured me or just been there to lend an ear, thank you from the bottom of my heart.

And if you want to chat about anything I've mentioned, then please know my inbox is always open.

If you've jumped on the glucose/insulin boogeyman

If you've jumped on the glucose/insulin boogeyman bandwagon recently, then I expect you to be doing some form of resistance training.

Because resistance training and gaining muscle are two of the best things you can do for blood sugar.

Lifting weights not only uses glucose, but it lowest blood sugar levels and boosts your insulin sensitivity (meaning your body responds better to insulin and better controls your blood sugar).

Building muscle also improves glucose uptake and positively impacts blood sugar too.

Moral of the story:

Instead of trying to avoid every carb under the sun, get swole.

p.s. Your insulin spiking temporarily is a perfectly normal thing and not something most people need to worry about unless you have an underlying condition.

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