5kg of WEIGHT LOSS in three months isn’t spectacular but it is safe, healthy and sustainable. 4kg of which is body fat and 1kg of which is lean muscle mass. How did I do it?

Simply put, it was down to goal setting, exercise, making the right food choices and a determination. Looking at the weight reduction more in depth it was achieved this way. On the 3rd of November, WattBike was delivered to MPA Fitness Centre and it reignited my love for a sport that has been away from my life for many years. (Now before anyone who hates cycling switches off, hear me out as there is more.) The time constraints and costs to compete in the sport of cycle racing are way above what it is for many other sports and so I parked it (in 1990) in place of distance running, then weight lifting and now kettlebell sport. WattBike, however, has allowed me to dip in again for much shorter time periods and on a much more intense level – the kind of intensity levels that are most beneficial to fat loss. My sessions on the bike are now focused around the hour and with warm up and cool down included I can achieve incredible amounts during that time. Note here the 1kg of muscle lost is due to replacing heavy lifting with the bike.

Make no mistake, these hour long sessions on the WattBike are not like ‘doing’ an hour on the cross trainer or ‘doing’ an hour on a regular exercise bike, they are personal, progressive, periodised and planned all to suit ME and with each ride completed I am armed with a stinking amount of data that I take into the next session ready to ride again. What this means is that I am required to improve my performance and become a more efficient athlete with each ride.

This type of training is of course by no means exclusive to the WattBike. All it is is simple training and getting stuck into a plan where the same results could be achieved with the C2 Rower, Ski Erg, Kettlebell, Barbell or other forms of equipment. Why I’m telling you about WattBike is because it is very simple to use and requires little technical skills which are required for most of the other disciplines. You sit on a bike that you can’t fall off, decide your plan, try to stick to it and be guided by technique aids and Robert is most definitely your mother’s brother.

Goal Setting: “tone up, lose weight, tone up, lose weight, tone up, lose weight”. If ever there was a a goal most likely to fail it is this one. I’ve heard it a squillion times off a squillion people and the trouble with it is it has now focal point, no end goal, no urgency. One of the reasons I encourage a lot of my clients to take up kettlebell sport is because they often have body weight categories to reach by the date of the competition. Ah! Now swigging wine and eating the odd biscuit become a little more important. You HAVE to be that weight by the day in question. My goal was I decided to book a holiday at the end of January to ride the mountains of Tenerife with a few other cyclists who are no doubt better than I am over the long haul. What’s going to help me stay with them? Having less to drag up the hill of course. You’ve only got to look at Chris Froome or Sir Bradley to see that. Ultimately that isn’t the look I’m going for and when the holiday is over I’ll be upping the calories again and picking up barbells but for a week it will make my rides a little more comfortable. Goal setting!

Food Choices: this is in my opinion the most difficult part for most people to get right as you are out of the gym and close to the fridge far more than you are in the gym and away from it. I’ll tell you what I did. I stopped consuming gallons of milk. I stopped drinking beer. I did away with cereals and bread and I dropped a lot of fruit. Now besides the milk which was a lot, the others were few anyway but I dropped them. In their place I put water, vegetables, meat and nuts. The odd thing sneaked in of course and I did have Christmas to deal with but on the whole I STUCK TO WHAT I WAS SUPPOSED TO EAT. This leads us to the final piece in the jigsaw.

Determination: I decided to do it so did it. Armed with the correct knowledge, plan and tools I got my act together and got on with it. I didn’t look for excuses to fail, I looked for opportunities to succeed and with every pedal stroke pushed, every piece of broccoli, every steak and every glass of water consumed I took myself a step closer and felt better for doing so. Simples!