10-WEEK TRANSFORMATION: THE COUPLE'S EDITION

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WE’VE HAD THREE INDIVIDUAL TRANSFORMATIONS IN THE LIFESPAN OF THIS MAGAZINE, BUT NOW WE’RE SENDING OUR FIRST COUPLE THROUGH THE 10-WEEK TRANSFORMATION PROCESS. SIMON AND VICTORIA HAVE TWO CHILDREN AND RUN THEIR OWN DIGITAL MARKETING BUSINESS. HERE, WE MEET THE COUPLE, EXPLORE THEIR GOALS, AND LOOK AT A TYPICAL WORKOUT…

MEET THE GUINEA PIGS

How do you feel about taking on the BESTFIT 10- week transformation?

Victoria: You want the truth?! There’s a mixture of excitement and we both want to get started now. It’s all feeling very real! It’s a case of the unknown for us.

Tell us a bit about yourselves and why you want to do this…

Victoria: We work in Leeds and run our own business. We work together, live together, and while we both have phases of having good patterns of fitness, nothing seems sustainable. We might get fit in January, lose weight, but we never maintain it. We want to get fit in 12 weeks, but this is also about a lifestyle change for us. We really need it health-wise. We need it work-wise too. Fitness can help us at work… can help the mind. I hope we feel better balanced, and for me personally, I want to become a less shouty mum.

Simon: We’re very good at paying gym memberships! I like a sauna; I usually try and get fit by osmosis! We have phases where we try, but we find it hard to sustain. When we train together we chat with each other and motivate each other and yet while we’ll be active for a couple of weeks, we’ll then struggle.

What about your nutrition habits?

Victoria: We don’t eat badly, but we’re not consistent. We plan well for the kids but not ourselves. We’re particularly bad at work. We might miss a meal then grab anything for tea. We were asked to create a food diary, and I was shocked by mine. No two days were the same.

Simon: I work away quite a bit and sometimes I didn’t eat until 4pm, then I’ll have two meals before bed. There’s no dietary structure. Sometimes we eat with the kids, sometimes not, sometimes after bed. And it’s not just the food, we don’t drink enough water either. I might have five cups of coffee a day, but I feel tired. I know if you eat well, you feel better, I just can’t manage to maintain it.

What a you expecting from this process?

Simon: We know the exercise is needed, and that there might be some new things… particularly on the eating side of things. I know there’ll be a prep day to sort meals out for the week. It’ll be good to see what ‘good’ looks like!

What about your existing gym habits?

Victoria: I mainly use things like the cross trainer, treadmill, bike. I have a fear of gyms. I feel like an idiot if I don’t know what I’m doing. I also find it boring. I’m looking forward to being educated.

What about using weights?

Victoria: I’m quite excited about it. I see the benefit. I see people on Instagram and I’m motivated by that, but also nervous to see how they work for my body.

Simon: I’m a little bit more knowledgeable about weights. I lost a bit of weight two years ago doing weights in the gym. For a short period, three-four months, I worked with other people and got comfortable, knew the machines and what they were targeting. Then I got into a slow spiral since then putting weight on.

How will you fit this around running your own business?

Victoria: This will be a big challenge for us, so we’re planning. It’s needed. We welcome the change, so we’ve got to put time in the diaries. Work, school drop off… kids activities… they can all act as barriers, but we want to feel the maximum benefit of this.

Simon: I think time is the most challenging part [of all of this]. We sat down with our calendars and tried to workout when we were actually going to do this. And not just for the 10 weeks, but how we do it in weeks 13, 14 and 15. We don’t want to give up. We have to buy into it.

How do you feel about taking supplements, if needed?

Simon: The more guidance and support the better. This will be an education for us.

THE TRAINING

“Our aim is to improve the lifestyle of Simon and Victoria by implementing changes to exercise, nutrition and other lifestyle factors and health markers such as strength, resting heart rate, and fat mass,” explains Richard Hill (see below). “This will be achieved by coaching small changes to nutrition and exercise. Week by week, we expect to see more and more improvements in their health. We will work on three training sessions per week with a trainer, as well as three sessions per week by themselves. Our trainer will focus on two main disciplines, strength and power exercises,” he continues. “This builds a strong body and makes it a fuel-hungry machine. Every pound of muscle they put on results in an extra 40k/cal a day needed to fuel their new physique. This involves a range of compound exercises to ensure their bodies burn more energy at rest every day, and they get to look leaner as a result.

THE TRAINER

Richard Hill and his team will be putting Victoria and Simon through their paces. Richard is a personal health coach and the owner of Iveridge Health Club. He has worked with over 200 clients to help them achieve their goals.

THE WORKOUT

HIIT training

Victoria and Simon will be doing short-burst cardio exercises, which are great to burn fat. Running hard for 40 seconds followed by periods of rest for 40 seconds, for example, is a great way to release fat-releasing enzymes in the body. They’ll be doing 20 of these three times a week. Each set of the following exercises will be utilising the Power Plate, and is to be done slowly, so time under tension is 55-75 seconds. They’ll be doing 20 sets of strength exercises three a week.

SQUATS

Start with your feet at least shoulder-width apart. Keeping your back straight and your core engaged, and your hips back, bend your knees and lower your body into the squat position until your hips are below your knees. Hold, and return.

PRESS-UP/CHEST PRESS

Place your hands either side of the Power Plate and assume the press-up position. Keep your bum high and your back and legs straight. Slowly lower your chest to the plate, hold and return. Repeat. PRESS-UP/CHEST PRESS

LUNGES WITH VICTORIA AND BURPEES WITH SIMON

For the lunges, place one foot on the Power Plate and lower the other standing leg, keeping your back straight. For the burpees, from a standing position, lower your body to a prone position, push yourself up and jump to complete the burpee. LUNGES WITH VICTORIA AND BURPEES WITH SIMON

JUMPING JACKS

Start from a standing position, jump so that your legs are spread wide and at the same time, ensure your hands touch each other overhead. Return, and repeat! JUMPING JACKS

V SIT-UPS

Lie flat on the ground with your arms by your side. Raise your legs as high as you can, keeping them straight and together. Lift your torso towards your thighs to form a V shape. Keep hands on floor, or bring them to meet your feet.

MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS

Start in a traditional plank position, with shoulders over your hands and weight just on your toes. With core engaged, bring your right knee forward under your chest. Return to basic plank. Switch legs, and repeat.

LUNGE TO STEP

Standing straight, move one leg forward and lunge forward to a 90-degree angle, keeping your back straight. Return to standing position. Then step one leg to the side, and return to the standing position. Swap legs, and repeat.

JUMP SQUATS

Whether on the Power Plate or floor, from a standing position, lower body using hips then knees so that your hips pass below your knees (if possible). From the squat position, jump as high as you can and return to standing position.

THE EQUIPMENT: POWER PLATE

Victoria and Simon have been using the Power Plate as part of their workout. Power Plate can help you Prepare Faster, Perform Better and Recover Quicker by stimulating natural reflexes, increasing muscle activation and improving circulation. Built on decades of indepth science and research, training on a Power Plate enhances any movement, simple or complex. Typically performed on the ground, muscles become more active, more often and significantly reduces stress. Trusted by professional athletes, celebrities, health professionals and fitness enthusiasts across the world, Power Plate has been linked to a wide range of health benefits.