RAW MAG ISSUE ONE

Welcome friends, This is the first of what is intended to be an on-going and ever expanding publication aimed at covering a wide spectrum of fitness related topics. We’ve purposely kept it all open ended so that we can cover anything and everything that’s of use to those of us who choose to live a healthier life.

We’ll be openly promoting individuals and co’s who have something positive to say and seeing as each issue is completely free, it’s either a click and read affair or just don’t click at all. No sweat either way.

For General enquiries: Paul Corkery (Editor in chief) paul@hashtagraw.com www.facebook.com/ezstyla

For all advertising enquiries: Baris Agun (Sales executive) baris@hashtagraw.com www.facebook.com/pumpingfit Relevant #RAW links: www.hashtagraw.com www.facebook.com/hashtagraw www.twitter.com/hashtagraw www.youtube.com/glyphmedia Issue 1 Contributors: Georgia B Simmons Andy McKenzie James Conci-Mitchell Jamie Alderton Baris Agun Anna Sward Nina Ross Clare Gillon Simon Howard Toby Harrison Matt Marsh Nina Hordila Lucy Doyle Becs Cronshaw Chris Burgess Front cover athlete: Georgia B Simmons Photographer: Paul Corkery

Who am I? I’ve been active in sport since the age of four and have a background in football, running, judo, Japanese ju jitsu, vale tudo, Brazilian jiu jistsu, parkour and my main speciality being boxing, where I competed at the highest level and attained a multitude of honours over a 20 year period. I’ve used weights since the age of 13 but over the last 3 years have really focused on bodybuilding training and while doing that, I would always take my camera with me to take workout and progress pics of myself and friends. Somehow the pics started to generate interest and I accidentally found myself being hired to do fitness shoots. Two years later and I’m now shooting full time and have shot with World class athletes and been commissiond to shoot for the likes of Muscle & Fitness, FLEX, Running Fitness and UltraFit alongside a wide selection of commercial brands such as Adidas, Nokia, Barclaycard etc...

Having your work published is a huge buzz so having free rein to shoot constantly for this mag AND having the luxury of choosing what and who to focus on, means I’m going to be that fat kid in the sweet shop stuffing his face and dancing like there’s no tomorrow. In short, I’m very excited to have the challenge of really getting stuck in and hopefully my lust for creativity and always trying to be different, will shine through.

As you’ll be able to see from the content in this issue, we have a selection of highly regarded contributors who have been invited on board for being at the top of their game but most importantly for me, they deliver it all and in a non-bullshit way, which is how it should be.

I hope you enjoy this issue and if you do, the biggest compliment you can pay to us is to spread the word by sharing and liking via the usual social media platforms.

See you on the dark side.

Paul Corkery (Editor in chief)

#RAW MAG 1 Copyright © The #RAW Network. All rights reserved.

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#RAW MAG ISSUE 01 "Find your place ON this planet.

Dig in, THEN take Responsibility from there."

#CONTENTS THE B-SIDE OF BIKINI

GETTING DIRTY WITH

THE COMMON SENSE

FITNESS

IIFYM

APPROACH TO DIETING

An in-depth interview with leading UK bikini fitness athlete, Georgia B Simmons.

Page 10

James Conci-Mitchell gets down and dirty with the IIFYM approach.

Page 92

The three main things to consider when dieting by Jamie Alderton.

Page 160

LEAN WITH LUCY

COMPETITION PREP

NEED FOR SPEED Get fast with some Andy McKenzie drills.

Page 64

A gluten free orange cake recipe from Lucy Doyle.

Page 102

READY TO CHANGE?

BEHIND THE SCENES

Chris Burgess talks about making changes.

Page 82

AT WBFF UK

THAI CURRY RECIPE From paleo cook, Nina Hordila.

Page 84

A look at what went on at the WBFF’s first ever event in the UK. Page 104

THE TRUTH ABOUT TESTOSTERONE Nina Ross gets to the root of things (literally).

Page 152

Becs Cronshaw talks about things she wished she’d known before competing.

Page 170

PROTEIN POW Anna Sward delivers one of her rocky road protein bar recipes.

Page 173

UNLEASHING 'DA BEAST' An in-depth interview with WBFF pro, Williams Falade, who’s carving out a career as a model and competitive pro athlete.

Page 178

PAUL CORKERY (PHOTOGRAPHY)

LUQMAN STAGG (VIDEOGRAPHY)

SENSIBLE PRICING FOR PREMIUM QUALITY PHOTO AND VIDEO SHOOTS

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enquiries@hashtagraw.com

THE B-SIDE OF

BIKINI FITNESS WITH

GEORGIA B SIMMONS INTERVIEW AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY PAUL CORKERY

“MY FIRST COMPETITION WAS AT BODYPOWER IN MAY OF 2012.”

#RAW: Hi Georgia, please introduce yourself.

Georgia: My name is Georgia Simmons, I’m 26 years old and I’m from Essex, UK. #RAW: What’s your background in sport?

Georgia: I used to ride horses competitively as a kid and I also ran at county level. #RAW: How long have you been involved in the bikini fitness scene?

Georgia: My first competition was at Bodypower in May of 2012. It was my first ever UKBFF show. #RAW: Not that long then, what led to you wanting to compete?

Georgia: I got into fitness and competing because of an horrendous ex-boyfriend, who told me that his perfect woman was a fitness model called Jennifer Nicole Lee from the US. I looked nothing like her at the time and was skinny. I didn’t use weights and just did loads and loads of cardio. I thought “I don’t look anything like that....I’ve got no muscles!” so I started to train to change my body type for him.

It didn’t save our relationship though <laughs> but ultimately, I found something that I love and am passionate about, so that’s how I got into fitness. #RAW: You compete exclusively in the bikini fitness category, right?

Georgia: That’s correct. #RAW: One thing that people find confusing is that there are so many different federations and each uses different terms for their categories. Can you provide

a breakdown?

Georgia: There’s the WBFF which is run by Paul and Allison Dillett, Miami Pro which is a UK federation run by Angie Weston, BNBF which is the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation and there’s NABBA. I’m not quite sure what that stands for but it’s a UK and World associated company. Then you have the IFBB which is who I compete under. It’s the International Federation of Bodybuilding and fitness and was started by the Weider brothers. It’s the federation that’s responsible for the Olympia event. It’s recognised as the major federation in the world. The main fed in the UK is the UKBFF and they feed into the IFBB as direct affiliates. #RAW: And the different categories?

Georgia: As I said, I’m affiliated to the IFBB, so will reference their categories. Bikini fitness in the IFBB is the smallest category. It used to be called ‘bikini’ and was all about tone, proportionality and you used to be marked down for having marks or visible striations. In October 2013 it changed and became ‘bikini fitness’ where they want you to have striations and visible abdominals. You need to be lean, shredded and to look like you lift weights but without gaining size. The next category is ‘figure’ in the US or ‘body fitness’ in the UK where the girls are larger, have more muscular definition, more visible lats, larger and more visible deltoids so the upper body is more striated and more muscular. It has more visible abs, striations through the legs

and the glutes. However, the hamstrings, glutes and legs are more striated in bikini fitness than they are in figure/body fitness. The final category in the IFBB is ‘physique’ which has taken over from ‘female bodybuilding’. It’s the largest category so they are looking for more muscular athletes at this level. In the other two categories part of the marking criteria includes your femininity and physical beauty, whereas with physique it’s more about muscular depth, size and maturity of the muscle. There is no score in that category for femininity. It’s more about the routines and the muscles. #RAW: So why did you end up choosing bikini fitness?

Georgia: In general I don’t particularly like the poses in figure and body fitness. I find it a bit too aggressive and a bit too masculine. Don’t get me wrong, in the UK you have the likes of Maria Scotland who still looks very feminine and beautiful and then you have figure pros like Erin Stern who make it look very athletic, very beautiful and very feminine with their posing. With bikini fitness a large proportion of the marking is on femininity, overall package, commerciality and I do find that in the off season I normally gain about 3-4kg over my stage weight and even that pushes me from a small size 6 into a large size 8 or 10. If I was carrying more muscle than I do, it would push me into a larger size and I don’t want that. I still want to be able to put on a dress or a pair of jeans and fit into commercial sizes in shops. Carrying too much muscle would leave me not

feeling sexy. The point in competing and in getting into fitness ultimately for me, was that I started to feel happy in my body and in my own skin. It makes me feel sexy to have a six pack and to have nicely defined muscle striations. It makes me feel much more sexually attractive and when I start to get larger or put on more muscle I don’t feel sexy and I don’t feel attractive. Fitness and competing is really about being comfortable in your own body and discovering the woman you want to be. #RAW: It’s great to hear that you are comfortable in your own skin. Do your friends and family support what you are doing?

Georgia: Yes, my friends and family are amazingly supportive.

I’m very lucky to have an amazing boyfriend and partner in Neale Cranwell, who’s a top level competititve bodybuilder himself. #RAW: It seems that the life of a competitor at top level can be tough, have you found yourself shunned by any old friends?

Georgia: Yeah, I’ve lost a lot of friends and I use that term loosely to describe those who choose not to be in your life because you’ve found something you’re passionate about, and they’ve then chosen to drop you.

I have about five really close best friends who’ve been with me now for about nine or ten years and they’ve been there through university, through jobs, through partying and bodybuilding too.

They are very understanding.

I lost a lot of associates though when I found fitness because I stopped wanting to go out partying, drinking, out clubbing and I’d miss people’s birthdays because I had shows coming up. #RAW: It’s understandable to a degree, as the life of a competitor can sometimes be perceived as one where you need to be very

“PEOPLE’S NEGATIVITY OF OTHER CLASSES REALLY PISSES ME OFF!.”

selfish.

Georgia: Yes it’s a very selfish sport and as a result you’ll lose people along the way, but I always try to make it up to people by explaining that I might not be able to go out this month but we’ll definitely catch up during the following month. It’s all about compromising with friendships and understandably, some won’t like the fact that you can’t do the same things as them so they’ll move on. #RAW: Have you found that you’ve made many friends within the fitness scene?

Georgia: I have some amazing friends within the scene like Nina Simone Ross, Melissa Haywood, Helen Derbyshire, the girls I’ve selected to be on my Bodypower bunnies team, we all talk on the phone regularly.

Being involved in the fitness industry has opened up my friendship group to the whole of the UK and also internationally. I have friends all around the world and these are likeminded people who understand what I’m going through in terms of dieting and training. #RAW: How about your parents, what’s their take on things?

Georgia: I have their full support and they’re really proud, but my dad gets a bit worried when I get really lean for shows as he thinks I look too thin. My mum is massively supportive. She flew out to Spain with me last summer to watch me compete and she was crying when I was on stage, because she was so proud of what I’d achieved. The rest of my family such as aunts, uncles etc just think I’m a bit

weird as they don’t really understand what I’m doing <laughs> but as long as I’m happy, they are ok and provide their support. #RAW: From an outsiders perspective, the appeal of bikini fitness is obvious. However, I’ve read quite a few gripes from the hardcore bodybuilder fraternity moaning that there’s no place for it in bodybuilding. What’s your view?

Georgia: People’s negativity of other classes really pisses me off! I don’t understand when bodybuilding and fitness became mutually exclusive? It’s not a club of “Ooooh we were here first.” You don’t hear the likes of Phil Heath or Ronnie Coleman bitching at the Olympia because they are on at 8pm at night because Flex Lewis and the 212 were on before them or “Ooooh they’re not bodybuilders because they’re smaller than we are.” The bitching and moaning as I see it, seems to come from the amateur levels were certain people haven’t yet learned to control their ego. What people need to remember is that everyone regardless of class or size, is paying their entry fee, is dieting hard and is in the gym lifting weights. #RAW: Some bodybuilders say that looking good and being stage ready for a girl, is much easier than for a guy. Thoughts?

Georgia: <laughs> I’ve watched my partner dieting for a show and agreed, I’m not having to diet quite as hard as he is, but I’m certainly having to diet bloody hard to get down to a small size 6. I’m 5ft 7” and when I step on stage I’m 56kg.

This gives me a BMI of about 15 which leaves me clinically anorexic according to the British Medical Association when I’m on stage <laughs>.

There’s been days when I’ve come home and I’m so hungry that I’m lying on the sofa crying because I’m so famished. I’ve never had to sit there and watch Neale in floods of tears because he’s so hungry, yet I see him out in all weathers doing cardio regardless of it snowing or raining. It’s just a different sort of hardship for the girls to have to go through. Let me make this perfectly clear, I have nothing but respect for all competitors. #RAW: Fair point. I guess part of the ignorance comes from everyone being in their own bubble and only being concerned with themselves? #Georgia: Bodybuilding is a very selfish sport, so yes, all people care about is their own class.

The heavyweight classes used to bitch and moan about the classic bodybuilding class, which was introduced on a height to weight ratio for smaller guys who couldn’t get so massive. Then physique and bikini was brought in and they started to complain about that and that’s absolutely fine. But let’s be honest, not everyone who trains and competes, wants to look like a heavyweight bodybuilder. I love watching the big guys and Neale, who’s a heavyweight, has one of the most gorgeous physiques I’ve ever seen! It’s just not as mainstream, and not everyone has that same level of motivation to look like that. #RAW: Surely it’s fair to say that

“MY MUM IS MASS SUMMER TO W STAG

SIVELY SUPPORTIVE. SHE FLEW OUT TO SPAIN WITH ME LAST WATCH ME COMPETE AND SHE WAS CRYING WHEN I WAS ON GE, BECAUSE SHE WAS SO PROUD OF WHAT I’D ACHIEVED..”

the introduction of the smaller classes has been good for the scene as a whole?

Georgia: Of course, the introduction of the other classes where the physiques are more attainable, has opened up bodybuilding and fitness and has provided it with a new lease of life. It’s brought in so many more people into gyms and brought in more people to wanting to compete. #RAW: Seeing as you’re right in the mix of things, has the boom of interest in bikini fitness been an exciting experience?

Georgia: For sure. At the World Bodybuilding Federation Games in Ukraine, they purposely kept the bikini fitness class right until last. When we came on, people were jumping out of the stands and running down to the front. The paparazzi were going absolutely crazy and everyone wanted to watch that class, as it’s become so popular. I think the interest in it and the number of people wanting to compete now, clearly shows. #RAW: Let’s talk a bit about the training. How often are you in the gym?

Georgia: I train most nights and when I’m getting ready for a competition I’m in the gym every day twice a day. I do fasted cardio in the morning, as it works for me. I used to use weights every day but found that to be counter-productive for me. So I now train and do heavy compounds twice a week and mix that up with high rep high set days, but I don’t have a set way to train because I like to keep my body guessing. I tend to play things by eye, so I’ll watch how my body is changing and

how I look. I use weights 4-5 times a week and do split body parts, so I train legs about 3 times per week. I do abs pretty much every day as that’s my weakest area and I’m trying to develop a six pack. I did have a six pack in 2012 when I competed at the British finals but atrophied that off as we weren’t meant to have one but now that it’s changed from ‘bikini’ to ‘bikini fitness’ I need to get it back again <laughs>. #RAW: How about your diet, can you give us an insight?

Georgia: To compete, your diet needs to be tight and your body will respond differently to different things. I’m quite unfortunate as I’m very carb sensitive, which means carb refeeds don’t work for me at all.

So I have fat refeed days. As an example, on a Sunday I might go to Nando’s and have 20 chicken wings and a whole chicken with sauce. Loads of meat and loads of fat with absolutely no carbs.

I’ll have gained a bit of weight one day after and then two days after, I’ll have lost 2kg. That works for me and I’m very lucky but I do miss carbs quite a lot. #RAW: What kind of things would you eat in a typical day?

Georgia: I’ll wake up and have a scoop of Optimum nutrition hydro whey and oats and then I’ll have another 4 to 5 meals over the course of the day which will be a mixture of lean white meats. So chicken, turkey, white fish with vegetables and a mix of brown rice, sweet potatoes or white potatoes. I try to eat a mix of good veg like spinach for iron and mushrooms for B12 and energy. I try to avoid supplements where I can and

look to get my minerals and vitamins from whole foods, as your body absorbs them a lot better. I’ll get a good fat intake from things like salmon or every two to three days, a steak. #RAW: How many calories?

Georgia: Last year it tended to be around 1600 calories per day.

During my off season we did some tests and found that my body is very responsive to calorie cycling. So next season we’ll be doing carb cycling plus calorie cycling, which means we’ll be changing calories per day from somewhere like 1300 calories on a low day up to about 1800 on a high day. What that should do is trick my body into not knowing how many calories it’s going to get each day, which helps to stimulate your metabolic rate. If you’re getting low calories every day, your body tends to go “Oh, I’m getting low calories.” and regardless of whether you’re cycling carbs or not, your body is like “Well I’m getting 1300-1400 calories a day anyway.” it’s just going to stop losing weight as it knows it’s not going to be getting an influx of calories. So something like you know, your cheat day, that calorie spike is supposed to stimulate your metabolism. So for me, having a fat load on a Sunday plus having calories cycling every 3 to 4 days between 1300-1500-1800 and back down again with carb cycling plus a fat load, we should see a massive improvement next year in my condition. #RAW: Explain the buzz of getting up on stage.

Georgia: <smiling broadly> You can’t really explain it. You either have that personality where love

“I DON’T HAVE A SET WAY TO TRAIN BECAUSE I LIKE TO KEEP MY BODY GUESSING.”

“WHEN I’M GETTING READY FOR COMPETITION I’M IN THE GYM EVERY DAY TWICE A DAY.”

“I FELT LIKE I LOOKED THE ABSOLUTE NUTS AND HAD MY HEAD UP AND SHOULDERS BACK. I LOVED BEING ON STAGE.” it or hate it. There have been a few people I’ve met, who’ve competed once and they’ve said it was the worst experience of their lives. You have to be the kind of person who’s fine with showing off. Another thing people don’t take into consideration is that it’s only a buzz being on stage if you know you look the bollocks. I had an experience at the end of last year, when I went over to Austria to compete and came 3rd in the Bikini World Cup, where I really felt like I didn’t look good.

I had a really bad reaction on the flight over and ended up retaining loads of water and didn’t have enough time to get it off, as I flew over the night before the event. I was on stage looking really spongy, I felt awful, had a virus and I got on stage to do my T-walk and just had my head down wanting to get off that stage as fast as possible. There was no feeling as bad as that day because I knew I looked rubbish, was letting myself down, letting my coach down, letting the team down and I hated every single second. 3 weeks before that event I was on stage at the Arnold’s, working with a great coach from Iceland. I came in looking really lean, really tight and weighed 56kg, which is really good and I had a visible 6 pack. I felt like I looked the absolute nuts and had my head up and shoulders back. I loved being on that stage and walked out feeling like the whole world was looking and me and thought “Yeah, I do look the bollocks right now.” <laughs>.

It made all the late nights in the gym, missing people’s birthdays, being hungry, being grumpy, all the crying and having no sex

drive absolutely worth it. #RAW: I’m a tad confused here.

You mentioned the event where you felt shit but still placed 3rd.

Didn’t that offer some form of consolation?

Georgia: No, I still felt rubbish.

It wasn’t that big of a show and didn’t make much of an impact.

I just felt terrible, so erm, yeah <laughs>. #RAW: Aesthetics aside, beneath the surface is a sharp and intelligent woman. You studied at university, right?

Georgia: Oh cheers <laughs>.

Yes, I went to university. I won a scholarship when I was 16 for the Royal Military Academy of Sandhurst, which is the army officer academy. I was one of a hundred out of ten thousand applicants to win a place. I have a diploma in criminology, a level 3 PT qualification, a law degree from a top ten university in the UK and I’ve actually got a job in an investment bank, so yeah, I do have some brains <laughs>, which surprises a lot of people. I often think that people instantly assume that if you work in the fitness industry, you’re doing so to make up for a lack of grey matter <laughs>. A large number of women I know who compete in fitness are incredibly intelligent. For example, Maria Scotland, who is one of the leading figure competitors in the UK, is in fact a barrister. There are a host of others who are just about to finish medical degrees to become doctors. My friend Helen Derbyshire who was a British finalist last year, is about to finish a law degree. So I think there’s a misconception that

people are stupid in fitness. I’d love to see bright and intelligent people coming through and impacting the fitness industry in a positive way. Get people out of the mindset that in order to be a bodybuilder you just need to eat chicken and rice every single day with broccoli and completely destroy your macronutrient intake. Get people away from the old skool ideas of you having to starve yourself in order to be fit. #RAW: You mentioned that you work in a bank. Do you find it hard to juggle full time employment with being so active in the fitness scene?

Georgia: It’s really hard to juggle the two. At the end of a competitive cycle I’m down to pretty low weight and very low body fat and what people fail to realise, is that you need fat for brain functionality. So by the end of a competitive cycle, I become really stupid <laughs>. People will say something to me or ask me a question and I’ll go “Yeah, yeah” and then I’ll instantly have forgotten what they’ve said and will have to turn back to them and go “Sorry, what did you just say?” People will need to repeat things to me three or four times <laughs>. So most of the time I don’t always remember what’s been said. I’m tired and grumpy but luckily, I’ve had two absolutely amazing bosses who have been so supportive and have actively encouraged me to do what I’m doing. But working in a non-sporting industry you do encounter a few problems.

That’s because I wear a bikini to do what I do on stage and people find it hard to differentiate between wearing a bikini to show off muscular definition and

“IT’S REALLY HARD TO DRUM INTO MEN WHO AREN’T FROM A FITNESS BACKGROUND THAT NO, I DO NOT WANT YOU TO LOOK AT MY TITS!.” glamour where girls show off their tits. It’s extremely hard to drum into men who aren’t from a fitness background that “No, I do not what you to look at my tits!” #RAW: I guess that’s unavoidable when dealing with closed minded people. You just touched on the fact that you get grumpy etc when dieting for a show. With your hormones being all over the place, how do close friends and family stay out of the line of fire?

Georgia: I tend to go into myself when I get stressed. To be honest, I didn’t really get stressed last year while competing, other than for the British finals and that actually sucked quite a lot, because for the finals the year before that it was a much smaller group of us like Emma Blocksage, Sarah McLean, Melissa Haywood, myself, Georgia Archer, Ellie Hopley, Lauren Ashwell and Jasmine Tacaks, we were kind of like the originals. Everyone was so friendly and we’re all still friends to this day and speak on the phone all the time. We were sending progress pics to each other in the run up to the finals in 2012 but at the British finals last year it was one of the worst experiences I’ve had competing. I’ve been abroad facing off against some of the bitchiest Ukrainian, Russian and Slovakian girls who would literally hide your shoes if you left them lying around, or would snap them in half or rip your bikini so you couldn’t go on stage. Even on stage, some will stamp on your feet and dig their elbows into you to throw you off your game, that’s how bad it is.

Even though I’ve been exposed to that, it was almost worse in the UK as there were girls coming through this year who so wanted to be the champion and to be at the top, but hadn’t been through the things the originals had been through together. So there was a very ‘us and them’ mentality in effect and I felt the pressure of having to achieve second place or better, because that’s what I did last year and if I didn’t, I’d basically got worse. So it was really stressful and I was constantly stressing, almost crying, snapping at Neale, wouldn’t relax, was sitting bolt upright glaring at everyone and I just turned into an absolute cow. I really didn’t enjoy it and in the end everyone was just leaving me to it. Other than that, I’m not normally a diva. I try to be helpful to other people . #RAW: No diva ranting then?

Georgia: I do have my moments when I get irritated by things and then I do tend to vent and explode or rant on Facebook <laughs>. Some of my own rants are seemingly becoming legendary, as others are starting to refer to their own rants as ‘doing a Georgia’. <laughs> I don’t know whether to be flattered or horrified by that <laughs>? #RAW: Horrified I reckon <laughs>. In terms of fixtures for a competition season, how does that all pan out?

Georgia: I’m quite lucky now that I’ve made enough of an impact on the international stage. I’m nowhere near as good as Melissa Heywood, Nina Simone Ross or Nicky Chanly,

but I’ve still had some really good placings internationally, such as 9th at the Europeans, 12th at the World’s, 4th at the Arnold’s, 3rd at the World Cup and as a result of being in the top 6 of the UKBFF British championships again this year, I get to go international again which a lot of people don’t get to do. Because of that, there’s a much wider spectrum of international shows I can compete at. To be fair, even if I wasn’t at that level, there’s still a large number of regional shows in the UK I could compete at. #RAW: For the international events, is that invitation only?

Georgia: You have to be selected by your federation and then they write to the international organisers for them to accept you. It can be a lengthy process.

Right now I’m potentially looking at the ladies cup in Ukraine in April and then potentially doing the UKBFF nationals. I have to go anyway as the UKBFF drug test all of their international team, so I may compete too while there. A lot of people turn up their noses and think we’re all taking gear but this will be my second tested year proving again, that I’m clean. Event wise, it’s also been confirmed that I’ll be doing the IFBB World championships again. This year it’ll be in Canada. #RAW: For the international comps, I expect it can be expensive if you’re having to pay your own way. How does that work, do the organisers pay or do you get sponsors to help?

Georgia: You’re expected to pay your own way except for the

“THERE HAVE BEEN A F WHO’VE COMPETED ONC WORST EXPERIENCE OF THEIR KIND OF PERSON WHO’S F Athlete: James Phillips

FEW PEOPLE I’VE MET, CE AND SAID IT WAS THE R LIVES. YOU HAVE TO BE THE FINE WITH SHOWING OFF.”

“I

I’VE BEEN KNOWN TO BUY A BOX OF 12 KRISPY KREME DONUTS AND EATEN THE LOT IN ONE SITTING.”

“THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO SPECIFICALLY TROLL FITNESS PAGES TO SAY HORRIBLE THINGS TO THE GIRLS.” the invitationals, so for the European’s and the World’s the IFBB will pay for their team to go. For the Arnold’s it’s still an invitational event but they’ll take a much larger team, so you need to pay your own way and it can be quite expensive. #RAW: During your off season period, you mentioned before that you will put on around 3kg above your stage weight. Do you still try to keep fairly tight in terms of eating and the way you train?

Georgia: I absolutely hate feeling fat. I tend to carry weight around my face and my triceps and for upper body, I can gain 3kgs and look like I’ve gained 8kg <laughs> which doesn’t leave me feeling very sexy and as a result, I get really grumpy. I’m quite vain I suppose <laughs>.

Off season I try to eat 4-5 meals a day and keep it all balanced. #RAW: How would you ease on and off the gas between competitions?

Georgia: I’ve got two shows in April, so I will just get into shape for the first one and stay in shape for the second one. #RAW: Isn’t that hard to hold it together for that long? #Georgia: At the start of the season, no. But near the end of the year it’s horrendous because you’re down to your minimum bodyweight and your muscles start to atrophy. This is when you start to look a bit stringy but everyone is in the same boat.

That’s ok because everyone starts to look a bit rubbish by the end of the season. #RAW: How many shows in a

typical season would you enter?

Georgia: If I do all the shows I could potentially enter, in the first part of the season I’d have five shows in seven weeks, which would be fairly easy. I’d then ease of the gas for two months and eat a bit more but stay clean ready for the invitational in July. #RAW: With all the dieting, do you develop cravings?

Georgia: I’ve got a really bad sweet tooth but the longer I’ve been competing, the less I’ve been bingeing. I used to binge really badly. I’ve been known to buy a box of 12 Krispy Kreme donuts and eaten the lot in one sitting. But as I started competing at a higher level, I started to appreciate how my body looks when I wasn’t eating junk and it killed binge eating for me. I hate how I feel the next day and look for a couple of weeks after, so I can’t enjoy the binges because I still feel guilty and worried about how it’s going to make me look. Every mouthful I take, I’m just thinking “I’ve got to work this off” so it basically ruins it for me. Now if I’m going to indulge, I’ll eat a whole jar of peanut butter, because it’s still a healthy binge and is going to make me feel a lot less rubbish than eating an entire packet of Hobnobs biscuits like I used to. #RAW: Girls with muscles generate mixed emotions amongst other non-active females. I expect most are full of respect and admiration. How about the haters?

Georgia: I used to get really upset by the haters who are both male and female. #RAW: Male too, for real?

Georgia: Yes sadly. I used to message all of them personally and say “I totally appreciate that you have your opinion, However, I feel it’s really disrespectful that you’ve written this on their picture” etc and not one of them ever replied. You’ve kinda just got to let it go because there are people who specifically troll fitness pages and fan pages to say horrible things to the girls.

They get a big kick out of it, it’s weird. I think they have nothing going on in their own lives and get this weird little sick kick out of saying something horrible and upsetting someone. Now I just laugh because if I have a picture going on up on a major site and it’s getting 3,000 likes but there are five people posting horrible things, it’s like “Really?! Do I give a shit?!” No! <laughs> five people hate me. Right now I’m really happy in my life and happy within myself that I really don’t care. I just feel sorry for them.

Now though, if something really does upset me, I might have a rant about it on Facebook and let everyone fight it out on my news feed <laughs>. Sometimes I’ll say things without thinking and sometimes it does engender some upset responses. #RAW: Why? Georgia: Purely because when I didn’t have anyone following me and I’d say something, it was just my mates who saw it and they all know what I’m like, so they’d be like “Oh Georgia’s having one of her moments” but know that fundamentally, I’m a nice person. But now I’ve got lots of followers who don’t actually know me, so if I make a flippant and what could be construed as a bitchy comment, people get

Athlete: John Reynolds

“I’M GOING OUT WITH NEALE AND WE MAKE NO EFFORT TO HIDE HOW MUCH WE LOVE EACH OTHER.” really upset and take it personally. People need to chill out and not take social media so seriously all the time. #RAW: Any amusing hater anecdotes?

Georgia: Not so much amusing but more a worrying one, I had one girl who was saying that I looked disgusting, my fake tits looked disgusting and was just generally hating. #RAW: Hold on a sec, your tits are fake?!!!

Georgia: No they are just incredible natural tits. No, they are totally fake <laughs>.

Anyway, I responded and she was the only one to get back to me, so I told her that I totally appreciated the comment but didn’t think it necessary to come on to my fan page and leave a nasty comment. You know, if you don’t like it, just don’t come on to my fan page etc. She was from the Isle of Man and wrote back completely slagging me off. So I had a look through some of her pics and in one was her kid who had what looked like a bad burn and she’d commented saying “Does he need to go to the hospital?” and her friend said yes. She responded with “It’s fine, I’ve put petroleum jelly on it”. Over time I eventually ended up getting into conversation about nutrition with her and it became clear that she was pretty much starving her kids. In the end it started to get pretty dark so I passed her information, her pictures and the conversation we’d had, over to the Isle of Man social services who are now conducting and investigating on her.

#RAW: You’ve gotta be kidding, right <laughs>?!

Georgia: It’s not funny, it was actually quite upsetting because they are now concerned that there is a genuine case of child abuse with this woman. It’s definitely one of the weirder things I’ve come across in my travels. #RAW: That is dark but funny in the sense that a troll who set out to cause unrest, has now been served. Fair play in my books.

Now I know you touched on this earlier, but do you feel responsible for educating people or is it a drain on your time?

Georgia: If people are competing, if I’ve met them previously, if we have some sort of link or if someone asks a generic question that’s easy for meto answer, I will always go out of my way to send them a response, a link or try to help them. If on the other hand someone messages me and I don’t know them and it’s something they could have found the answer too on Google, or it’s something that’s going to take me time to answer (especially if it’s something my clients would ordinarily pay for) I find that incredibly rude because I’ve taught myself everything I know and worked really hard for it. If people can’t be arsed to either pay for it or to make some effort to do it themselves, I find that quite rude. I do try to post up free training tips, workout plans and diets for people to follow, in order to give something back to my followers. #RAW: What about educating people about the pitfalls?

Georgia: Yes, I will if I find things that are negative or are going to hurt people, like Herbalife or those kind of juice shakes, which I think are horrendous and totally destroy people’s metabolisms. They are full of sugar and artificial sweeteners and are generally so bad for you that I call them Herbalshite. People are being duped and essentially tricked into using this crap by personal trainers who don’t use it themselves and quite frankly, should know better. So yes, I’ll go out of my way to market things like that as being really bad. Likewise if there are fitness scams going around, I try to go out of my way to educate people about them. #RAW: What about the flipside of social media. I have a few female friends in the scene who seem to attract all kinds of nut cases. One girl was being plagued by this pervert and he was messaging her asking if he could “cum on her abs” <laughs>. Any perv stories?

Georgia: I currently don’t have any abs, so that’s probably why he hasn’t messaged me <laughs>. I’m actually really lucky because I’m going out with Neale and we make no effort to hide how much we love each other and that we’re in a relationship together. It’s all over Facebook, all over Twitter so I’m quite lucky that I never get any perverted messages. #RAW: None? You’re full of shit!

Georgia: No, I don’t get any at all. About the best I get are guys saying “You look great” but they all know I’m with Neale. Maybe

I should be more concerned that I don’t get perved on <laughs>?

Before I was with Neale I got the occasional message from guys saying “Yeah, I wanna spunk on that!” but if I were to get anything like that now, I’d screenshot it along with their name and then post it on my pages to name and shame before blocking them. #RAW: “Spunk on that!”??? <laughing hysterically> Sorry, but that is pure gold.

Georgia: Glad it’s amused you Paul <laughs>. I have no qualms about publicly exposing someone to embarrass them if they are blatantly rude to me. #RAW: That’s fair enough.

Talking of social media and how it’s such a powerful tool for free marketing, you strike me as someone who ‘gets it’. How much value do you place on Facebook and Twitter?

Georgia: Initially it was all I used to market myself, but now I’m doing more magazine stuff and have a number of high profile sponsors on board. I don’t mean to come across as arrogant here, but I’m probably a leading example, as I started out around 18 months ago with no Twitter or Facebook account and am now one of the most followed bikini girls in the UK. I got my original sponsors such as Gaspari and GSN through social media. Then my profile allowed Neale to get me on board with him at Muscle Finesse and Muscle Meat. Team Mr and Mrs Cranwell <laughs>! #RAW: How much time do you spend on social media?

Georgia: Too much! <laughs> It does piss Neale off a bit

especially if I’m on it when we’re supposed to be spending time together. I really try now to stick my phone upstairs when I’m at home and leave it there. I tend to do my updates when on the tube to and from home. It’s all very addictive and that’s probably because stuff is constantly happening and bodybuilding and fitness is egocentric, therefore we are people who are naturally more obsessed with ourselves, so updates on Facebook and Twitter feed our need to be the centre of our own worlds.

Getting loads of likes or going onto your Facebook account to find you have twenty new notifications or comments on how great people think you look, does feed that ego we all have. #RAW: Most recently you’ve been getting yourself in a bit of trouble online with your rants.

What’s got your goat at the moment?

Georgia: I’m loathe to talk about this again because I upset some people when I spoke my mind recently about something that does bother me and that’s ‘fitness selfies’. I am a massive selfie taker and like taking them, as most of us do. What you won’t see me doing is taking pics of myself in bed with my thong pulled down and posting it as my abs progress picture or in a bra with my nipples popping out with “Ooooh this is a gym progress pic”. It’s a progress picture of what exactly, my nipples progress? I totally understand people wanting to take pics of themselves and that’s great. A lot of girls get into fitness off the back of severe eating disorders or abusive

“IF YOU ARE BENT OVER IN A THONG, I’M SORRY BUT THAT IS NOT A GLUTES PROGRESS PIC.”

relationships and are just developing their confidence.

They might feel the need to validate their new found confidence and happiness with their bodies and that’s great, but they really need to consider the implications of taking these kind of pictures because they’re making themselves look easy and making themselves look like sluts. Even if they aren’t sluts, that’s the perception that they are giving out. You want to be inspirational and you want to show actual progress. You want other girls to look and you and say “You look great” not twenty five men looking at your pics and saying “Yeah, I want to cum on your abs”. It’s a different kind of validation and it irritates me when people dress like that and say “Oh yeah it’s a fitness progress picture”. No it’s not, it is a slutty picture of you. You might be a fitness girl or someone who goes to the gym.

If you take a pic in the gym of yourself as a progress pic, that’s fine. But if you are bent over in a thong, I’m sorry but that’s not a glute progress picture. You’re one slip of a flap away from being in Readers Wives magazine. If you’re considered to be trampy, slutty and you’re taking these kind of pictures, supplement companies are not going to want to touch you with a barge pole and neither are any magazines. #RAW: I hear you and I’m not being dismissive, but you also have to appreciate that with the power of social media being such a great marketing tool and everyone wanting to stand out from the crowd, risqué pics

are an easy way to get yourself noticed.

Georgia: There’s a difference between artistic pics of you in bra or panties on a shoot with a photographer you respect, who’s going to get you in a publication, to taking a photo with your iPhone bent over pulling a “Please let me suck your dumbbell” face. I just wish people had the integrity to say “You know what, here’s a slutty picture of myself because I want some likes. I’ve had a really crap day and I want people to like my picture to feel better about myself”. #RAW: Another thing that’s worth considering is that with fitness shoots, being in a gym is absolutely fine. However, it’s been done to death and is a bit stale. I shoot fitness models all the time and 99% of them will shoot the generic stuff but then request something a bit sexier.

Sometimes fully nude and I have no issue with that as long as the resulting imagery is tasteful. At the end of the day, my reputation is on the line too.

Georgia: I know. We now have the explosion of the ‘photographer’ or the pervert with a camera but no lighting setup, no studio, no photographic experience, creativity or nous, who will say to these girls “I’ll do a free photoshoot for you”. You then get little Sally Smith who trots down to a gym or someone’s seedy little room and doesn’t know what she’s doing. She then gets talked into taking her clothes off and ends up with these horrendous pictures looking really uncomfortable and then bang, they’re up on the internet forever. #RAW: Fuck, it looks like I’ve been rumbled then <laughs>.

Georgia: You’re the worst, Paul.

I’m telling everyone not to shoot with you <laughs>.

#RAW: Up until recently you were known as ‘GymBunny’.

How did that come about?

Georgia: I used to train at Virgin Gym and none of the guys knew my name because I was very unapproachable. I always had my headphones on and looked like I had a face like a smacked arse, so people would generally piss off and leave me alone. They would all call me the GymBunny so it kind of went from there really and I became known Georgia B Gymbunny. I then started a swimwear company called GymBunny and I have intellectual property rights with the UK IPO to be the only person able to use the GymBunny name legally as a trademark in the UK. #RAW: Is there an existing GymBunny line?

Georgia: Designs are in place and we have a distributor. We just haven’t got around to manufacturing anything as I’ve been so busy, but it’s something that’s definitely on the cards for this year hopefully. If not, then it’ll be next year. #RAW: Tell us a bit about your sponsors.

Georgia: Neale and I are sponsored together, which is awesome. They are Muscle Meat, who are an amazing organic meat supplier. They supply organic grass fed meat such as pork, lamb and beef.

They are fantastic, I love them and wouldn’t be without them.

Muscle Finesse who are a massive distributor of anything to do with fitness. They are fabulous and I love them to pieces. I genuinely wouldn’t be able to look half as good as I do without their support, as they give me so much help every month. Selina Allure bikini, who stick every little sparkle on my bikini by hand. They are fantastic and create my bikini’s from their own ideas and I always feel a million dollars

Athlete: Michaela Benthaus

“I DO SOME COACHING BUT AM QUITE SELECTIVE ABOUT THE PEOPLE I COACH.”

when I step on stage. Nicola Gilbert sponsors me for tanning.

Genr8 Vitago supplements and I’m also sponsored by Sidney’s restaurant in Southwark for mine and Neale’s cheat meals and then there’s PROMixx shakers who provide me with their amazing swirly shakers. #RAW: It’s common knowledge that you and Neale Cranwell are an item and you’ve talked about him briefly in this piece. Tell us a bit more.

Georgia: We’ve been together a year and it was our anniversary on the 1st of January. I fancied him before we’d met, as I used to see him on the competitive scene and he’s a really nice guy despite how big and scary he looks. He’s one of the nicest and kindest people you’d ever hope to meet but that sometimes works against him, as some try to take advantage of this and get stuff for free. He has a wealth of knowledge and experience and it sometimes leaves you feeling a bit jaded with the industry when people pick you up and then want to drop you. But I’m really lucky because we both compete with the same federation and went abroad together last year to compete. We’ve had some of the most fantastic experiences on and off stage and we both won the overall competition at Bodypower last year together, which will probably never happen again, it was incredible.

Neale owns a fantastic gym called Krunch in Waltham Abbey, where I train most of the time. Everyone there knows I’m Neale’s girlfriend so I’m left alone to train. Even when we’re training and dieting for competition and things are

stressful, we’re lucky as we just want to be together and don’t tend to argue ever really. Sure we get moody from time to time but generally we feel bad for each other as we know how much suffering is going on. But ultimately, we want the best for one another and it makes it worth it when we see the other doing so well on stage. #RAW: I know you are a regular fixture at Krunch gym but you also teach there too, right?

Georgia: I do some coaching but am quite selective about the people I coach. I only coach bikini girls because that’s what I do myself obviously. I don’t feel I have the experience or the knowledge to get anyone else into shape and I wouldn’t want to ruin somebody’s competitive dream by not doing the right things for them. I have the knowledge on paper but have never put it into practise. You see these ‘coaches’ who’ve never actually competed themselves or got anyone in shape. I’m talking about the person in the gym who watched someone compete once and then decided that they were a self made guru. They are suddenly getting people ready for a show and they are in shit shape and you know that they are never going to be ready in time. Then 10 weeks in, they give up because somebody killed their competitive dream. I never want to do that, so I prep girls for bikini and I also do keynote speaking at seminars, have helped to run UKBFF boot camps and am going to be running some model photography awareness classes with you soon, Paul. Neale and I are also going to be running

some competitive socials for people who compete and don’t have many friends left. This is for people who’ve lost friends or don’t know anyone with the same passion. It’ll be a case of running some informal get togethers of coming to the gym, meeting each other, training together, posing together, having. A bit of lunch and you know, running a few social events for this within fitness and competing #RAW: You mentioned the model photography awareness classes that we’ll be running, which is a great idea. I’ve stated before that you are very easy to work with when shooting and that you’re extremely camera aware. How did this come about?

Georgia: I know it sounds vain, but I spend a lot of time looking at myself in the mirror trying out different poses, pulling lots of different facial expressions and trying different angles. Another thing I do on shoots which probably drives photographers mad, is to ask to see the pictures all the time. So we’ll do a couple of frames and I’ll ask to see them. A lot of people won’t ask to see the shots for an entire shoot. If you say to a photographer “Can I see the shots?” and you look at them and think you look like an absolute dogs dinner, you should feel comfortable in asking if you can move it here, look down a bit here, change the angle of my face, move my shoulder a bit here, or try lighting it from here.

It’s always good to have a few creative directive ideas so you can work with the photographer to find the right shot.

“I’VE DISCUSSED THIS WITH NEALE AND WE’RE POTENTIALLY CONSIDERING MOVING INTO JUDGING.” #RAW: If you have a model and they are pitching in with good creative ideas, it generates a spark and makes for a fun shoot anyway.

Georgia: It does make it fun if you have a bit of backwards and forwards banter with the photographer. Another thing is with fitness, it’s about extreme angles, it’s about muscles under tension, tensing, getting those shoulders back etc. There’s nothing worse than people just standing there as though they are waiting for a bus. How is that going to make a good shot?

I highly recommend people get in front of the mirror and look at themselves moving about and find a pose that looks good and then when there’s a camera pointing at you, do the same thing <laughs>. So many will get ready for a shoot, will look amazing but as soon as camera is pointed at them, it’s as though they are suddenly swapped with Quasimodo <laughs> and go from being this beautiful elegant person to a petrified lump. I totally appreciate that it can be nerve wracking and scary if you’re having a photoshoot done and don’t know what you’re doing. #RAW: A good photographer will do their best to put an inexperienced model at ease. It’s a trust thing.

Georgia: This is why I highly recommend getting to know the photographer you’re shooting with. Everyone I’ve chosen to shoot with has been so nice and are now some of my closest fitness friends. Have some of your own ideas, have some outfits that you’re comfortable

with and comfortable in and then practise your posing. You’ll then have a lovely time on set.

Ultimately, work with a photographer who’s good and is going to make you look good because if you work with one who’s pony, guess what? You’ll only end up looking pony and there’s nothing worse than having a crap picture of yourself posted up on the internet. #RAW: Have you ever had anything posted of yourself that you’ve hated?

Georgia: No, because I’m really good friends with the photographers I’ve shot with. In all my time in fitness, I’ve only shot with three different photographers and I trust them, so I’m really lucky in that respect. If there was ever anything posted that I didn’t like, I’d request for it be taken down and they respect me enough as a person, friend and athlete to remove it instantly. #RAW: If I’ve edited and produced a pic in a certain way, there’s nothing more insulting than having my logo removed unless agreed, or seeing the pic in question being posted on instagram with a different filter.

Do you see your pics popping up without credit being given where it’s due?

Georgia: Oh yeah, one thing that really annoys me is when pictures of me appear on motivational sites and the watermark has been cropped off or I don’t get credited as an athlete. #RAW: Ok enough ranting. Let’s move on to something more

calming. How about music, does that play an important part of training for you?

Georgia: If I forget my earphones or my iPod is dead, I can’t train. #RAW: Really, as cut and dry as that <laughs>?

Georgia: Yeah, I have a few psychological hang ups. If my iPod is dead, I can’t train. If I haven’t had my pre-workout drink, I can’t train. If I forget my socks, I can’t train <laughs>. #RAW: What fires you up and keeps you pushing to keep on competing?

Georgia: The girls coming up behind me <laughs>. #RAW: How long do you envisage being a competition athlete?

Georgia: Probably for two more seasons. If I haven’t got my pro card, I will stop anyway. If I do get my pro card though, I will probably do a couple more seasons as a pro. #RAW: Once you’ve hung up the bikini and called it a day, will you remain active in the fitness scene?

Georgia: I’ve discussed this with Neale and we’re potentially considering moving into judging.

Neale’s going to try and compete for a few more years and is getting his bicep repaired this year, which is quite a major operation. Then he’ll probably compete until he’s a master. I love fitness and I love competing, it’s my passion and I’m lucky enough not to have a job that I hate, so I have fitness as my passion and not as a job.

Sometimes if you are have a job

“I HIGHLY RECOMMEND GETTING TO KNOW THE PHOTOGRAPHER YOU’RE SHOOTING WITH.”

and have to make money out of it, you can lose that pure unadulterated joy you get from it. #RAW: Do you enjoy doing photo and video shoots?

Georgia: I absolutely fucking LOVE doing photo and video shoots <laughs>! #RAW: Fair enough <laughs>, the last one we did was great fun and isn’t doing too badly exposure wise. How are we going to better it with our next one?

Georgia: 35,000 views so far which isn’t bad in a couple of months. For the next one we’ll make it more raw and grainy.

Less make up, some stuff out in the woods, running, muddy, you know, some real dirty stuff and lifting a bit more weight in the gym with genuine hard training.

Some of it last time was staged, so this time it’ll be heavier and down & dirty.

about twenty times a day! He told me in Tesco the other day that he’s going to limit the amount of times I kiss him daily, because it’s too much and impacts on his day. #RAW: Come on then, let’s wrap this up.

Georgia: <laughs> ok I want to tell Neale that I love him, my parents for their love and support, I want to thank Neale’s mum for making me a part of the Cranwell family. I’d like to say thank you so much to my Bodypower Bunnies and to the organisers of Bodypower for the opportunity they’ve given me this year, Baris Agun for all my promotional material, Paul Corkery for the opportunity to work with #RAW, Sean and

Helen at Panthers gym and then my sponsors Muscle Meat, Muscle Finesse and Selina Allure predominantly and then thanks to my friends for being amazing and for understanding that the Facebook me is not the only me that exists, so thanks for putting up with me <smiling>. #RAW: Georgia, you’re a star, I can’t wait to get to work on the next video and no doubt, more photoshoots in the very near future. Thanks very much for your time.

Georgia: A pleasure.

Click the link below to see Georgia’s motivational video,

www.youtube.com/watch?v=3udcEpG432M

#RAW: What’s the timeframe for it all to happen?

Georgia: If all goes to plan, we’ll film it at the start of the season just before I fly off to Ukraine in April. Hopefully by then I’ll be in shit hot condition <laughs>.

That’s the plan anyway. #RAW: As always, it’s been interesting talking to you. Before we wrap things up, any shout outs you want to make?

Georgia: Yes, my boyfriend Neale....I want to tell him that I love him. #RAW: You tell him that every bloody day. I see it all over Facebook and Twitter!

Georgia: <laughs> I tell him

Essential Links: www.facebook.com/georgia.gymbunny www.twitter.com/GS_UKBFF_bikini www.krunchgym.co.uk

Training.

A way of l Simple. #RAW truth

life.

The Nina Ross calenedar as shot by Paul Corkery of #RAW photography, is now available to buy online with part of the profits being donated to the Help For Heroes charity.

www.ninarossfitness.com

NEED FOR SPEED

by Andy ‘Ironmac’ McKenzie - Photography by Paul Corkery

Click links below to find out more About Andy ‘IronMac’ Mckenzie.... www.IronMacFitness.com www.facebook.com/SetStandards www.twitter.com/IronMacFitness www.instagram.com/IronMacFitness

WWW.FLEXCOMICS.COM

www.rawiron.co.uk

READY TO CHANGE?

by Chris Burgess

In my opinion a perfect plan requires perfect conditions both physically and mentally. This is where your ability to pick your battles will set you up for better success in the long run than if you try to do too much too soon.

Picking your battles is a simple process, but it’s often ignored by the vast majority of people who seek change, but can you make yourself fail safe?

Here is my guide to tackling the process of change: 1) Why do you want to change in the first place? If you want to succeed then you need to be honest with yourself, and if you’re not changing for ‘you’ then you need to seriously think about why you are bothering - to succeed you must live and breathe the change you want - and if that change isn’t being driven by you, then adherence will be harder than you think.

2) Have you got everything you need? Have you got the right food in the house already? Have you allocated training times well in advance?

Do you have session plans ready? Are the sessions relevant to you, your body and your goal? If you can’t justify your exercises, rep ranges, sets and rest then you risk reducing the effectiveness of your training. Anyone can train hard, but training smartly is another thing altogether.

3) How influenced are you by your support and work networks?

Some people will support you all the way, some people will encourage you to stop changing because they feel shitty that they aren’t doing something themselves. When someone challenges your adherence - how are you gonna respond, especially on stressful days?

Change can be rewarding and downright awesome, and the better prepared you are for it, the more you’ll see it.

Essential links: www.facebook.com/liftthebarmentoring www.twitter.com/chrisburgesspt Photography by Paolo Ferla www.ferlapaolo.com www.facebook.com/ferlapaolophoto

“IS THERE SUCH A THING AS THE PERFECT PLAN?”

info@tbconditioning.co.uk

Words and photography by Nina Hordila www.ninaspaleokitchen.com My name is Nina Hordila and I am an enthusiastic cook.

I am really passionate about food and I know that many people say this, but I LOVE food and I am trying to make food fun, delicious and nutritious. Being an active Paleo ambassador and an Eat Clean diplomat, I am always trying to make any dish out there tasty without using the bad ingredients.

I know that eating well and enjoying your food daily makes you a better person inside and out, changes your mood, and also gives you enough energy to live a happy life.

When people ask me how I manage to have a successful career in finance from 9 to 5, manage www.ninaspaleokitchen.com, cook for my clients, train and stay so happy and positive every day, I only have one answer â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I eat well!

I think that real food can heal you, that we were made to eat whole, natural, raw and homemade cooked food.

Eating clean has changed my life for the better and I will never turn back!

Now enough with the chatting, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s get cooking....

THAI CURRY SERVED WITH DIRTY CAULIFLOWER RICE This recipe is one I have developed from an original Thai recipe. As usual I see a recipe, fancy the dish and try different Paleo versions until I get it right or simply clean and healthy if it can’t be 100% Paleo.

Dreaming of a Thai takeaway? Try this first....

Ingredients for the Thai Green Curry 1 whole aubergine cut into cubes • 3 freshly grated garlic cloves • 1 thumb size cube of freshly grated ginger • 1 finely sliced onion • 500 grams chicken cut into small cubes • 1 can (450 grams) coconut milk • 1 tablespoon green curry paste • 2 tablespoons fish sauce • Fresh coriander leaves (optional) Instructions 1. Put the thick coconut milk into a wok and fry for 5- 10 minutes until the coconut oil separates out.

2. Add the green curry paste, ginger, garlic, onion and fry for another 4 minutes.

3. Once the paste is cooked add the Chicken and cook until the outside of the chicken becomes white.

4. Add the thin coconut milk and when it begins to boil, add the aubergine cubes.

5. Turn down the heat and simmer for about 10 minutes then add the fish sauce.

6. Let it cool down and garnish with coriander leaves.

DIRTY CAULIFLOWER RICE Ingredients • 2 tablespoons olive oil • 4 cloves garlic, pressed • 1 cup white onion, diced • 2 celery stalks, chopped • 1 cup green pepper, diced • 1 cup red pepper, diced • 3 cups cauliflower, riced with your food processor or box grated • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme • 1 bay leaf • ½ teaspoon Himalayan sea salt • ½ teaspoon pepper • ¼ teaspoon chili powder • ½ teaspoon cumin • 2 cups chicken stock Instructions: 1. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet.

2. Add garlic, onion, celery, peppers and sauté until soft.

3. Stir in the riced cauliflower.

4. Add thyme, bay leaf, salt, pepper, chili and cumin.

5. Add in the chicken stock.

6. Allow to simmer over medium-low heat, stirring frequently for about 25 minutes or until there is no more liquid. Serve the curry with dirty cauliflower rice or with wild / black rice if you are not strict paleo and want to add some carbs to the meal.

Enjoy!

Without preju lifestyle youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;v dreaming of i out of stock. the queue and bitching abou #RAW truth

udice, the ve been is currently Please rejoin d stop ut it.

GETTING DIRTY WITH

IIFYM

By James Conci-Mitchell

Photography by Paul Corkery

IIFYM dieters are famous for eating the types of food that would make a traditional clean eating bodybuilder break out in craving sweats

Everybody knows how to get shredded right?

Hit the weights hard, smash out some cardio and make sure you take the correct supplements right? Oh, and don’t forget to eat 8 meals a day of chicken, brown rice and vegetables because, that’s exactly what all the massive guys in the gym do right? Well it might not be as clear cut as you think. In recent years some of the leading nutrition and training experts of the world have started to challenge this mentality with a nutrition strategy called, as I’m sure some of you know, If It Fits Your Macros. So what is IIFYM, should a serious physique competitor consider it and how do you go about making sure you do it right and get ripped in the process?

The idea behind IIFYM is that the only thing important when dieting for an improved body composition is that you hit specific targets of protein, carbohydrates and fats in a 24 hour period. That’s right, forget nutrient timing, micro nutrients, clean eating or munching on grass fed mammoths, and just focus on those daily ‘macro’ targets. IIFYM dieters are famous for eating the types of food that would make a traditional ‘clean’ eating bodybuilder break out in craving sweats. Pringles, McDonalds and packet sandwiches are not off the menu for these guys during prep, and some of the poster boys achieve seriously impressive condition.

Now the logic behind this mentality stems from the fact that the only thing the majority of the nutritional research relating to body composition can agree on is that is effected by manipulations of macronutrients and energy consumption. So the natural conclusion is that by focusing all of your attention to these variables you will attain an economy of effort in achieving the physique of your dreams. To be honest, I can’t see a lot wrong with this logic however if we want to take a little more into consideration than just your body fat, like your long term health and energy levels for example, it is a little more complicated than the pictures of Pop Tarts held by a rippeddude on Facebook would suggest.

I have met a good number of athletes over the years who use a target driven approach to nutrition and who have achieved amazing things with their own physiques. In fact, I

Photography by Simon Howard

Photography by Toby Harrison

would argue that a serious sports nutritionist would always utilise macro nutrient targets in their diet plans as to not do so would be incompetent. However the problem with the label ‘If It Fits Your Macros’ is that it implies that the only thing important are these three numbers, and I can tell you from my own experience, not a single successful applier of this strategy actually believes this.

You see, when designing a diet plan there are a whole host of important factors that need to be considered in order to make it balanced and suit the individual. Nutrients like fibre, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals need to be factored in, and whilst nutrient timing may not have a big impact on your percentage body fat, it certainly does with satiety and gym performance and so needs to be considered accordingly. My point here is that a healthy balanced nutrition plan has to incorporate a great deal more than just macro nutrients.

Because of this I prefer the term flexible dieting. What I mean by this is that the athlete uses macro nutrient targets, along with one or two others like fibre, combined with sensible nutrition practice to plan their own diet day by day. As always that means plenty of vegetables and fruit, lots of whole foods and home made meals, and usually 3-5 meals a day spread out.

Where this differs from the conventional approach is that if a person wants to eat a biscuit or two, a packet sandwich on the go or a little chocolate this is entirely fine so long as it is correctly factored into their targets.

In practice this usually leads to about 80-90% of the diet being what would be considered ‘clean’, with a little junk factored in where desired. In fact, when you look at a flexible contest prep diet a fews weeks out from stepping on stage and compare it to an old school body builders diet, you will notice that they are usually pretty similar. The only main difference seems to be that the flexible dieter factors in a little ‘dirty’ food into the overall plan whilst the clean eater does the same thing once a week or so with cheat days.

Does it work? Well I used exactly this approach to reach 3.2% body fat when I competed as a muscle model with the WBFF, and I won a pro

The only main difference seems to be that the flexible dieter factors in a little dirty food into the overall plan whilst the clean eater does the same thing once a week or so with cheat days

There is no doubt that successfully utilising IIFYM or flexible dieting requires an element of individual nutrition knowledge and intelligence

card. Many people don’t believe me when I point out that I was eating fruit, chocolate and honey the week before stepping on stage.

Whether it will work for you is a different matter. Different approaches suit different bodies, mindsets and personalities. I like the logging and target driven approach as it enables me to correctly ascertain whats working and whats not, however if you can’t stand recording things then perhaps a simpler food avoidance strategy might be more suitable. There is no doubt that successfully utilising IIFYM, or flexible dieting, requires an element of individual nutrition knowledge and intelligence, but saying that I have been successful using more conventional strategies with many of my clients.

As always, each individual is different, so find what works best for you by trying things out properly and assessing the merits and results of each approach. So before you start mixing butter, whey protein and table sugar together so you can hit your ‘macros’ remember that if you really want to build a physique with solid foundations and in a healthy way, you are going to have eat food that is good for you.

And yes, that likely includes some chicken and brown rice…

Essential links: James Conci-Mitchell www.six3nine.com www.facebook.com/six3nine www.twitter.com/JCMFitness www.instagram.com/jcmfitness Photographer credits: Simon Howard www.snhfoto.com www.twitter.com/snhfoto Toby Harrison www.facebook.com/tobyharrisonphotography www.twitter.com/tobypeytonphoto Paul Corkery www.hashtagraw.com www.facebook.com/ezstyla

Photography by Paul Corkery

Photography by Paul Corkery

Essential links: www.leanwithlucy.com - www.facebook.com/lucycdoyle - www.twitter.com/lucycdoyle

Words and black & white photography by Paul C

On the 9th of November 2013, the WBFF staged their first ever event in the UK at the the scenes. My take on things was that whenever you see pictures posted up online aft their trophies aloft. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all well and good but as a fan, I want to see a bit more than few ok-ish snaps with a half decent camera. So I set out to show a little bit more beef was none of that. Instead, I was met by nothing but positiveness from all the competit with everyone mucking in together as one big team. Hopefully the images from here o

Corkery. Colour photography by Toby Harrison

e O2 and I was there with an access all areas pass, to get down and dirty behind ter an event, all we get to view are the competitors on stage posing and holding n that but in most cases, we have to settle for selfies backstage and if weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re lucky, a and was praying to see some diva tantrums and maybe a few fist fights, but there tors and the organisers. In short, it was one of the best run events Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d attended on, go some way to giving an insight.

Top: Tom Wright (middle) and James Conci-Mitchell (right) during a last minute prep before the doors open to the public.

Bottom: Outside minutes before the opening and Mirella Clark (WBFF pro and one of the judges on the night) is told that sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s barred.

Top: Shaun Stafford (WBFF pro and director of the UK event) arrives on the red carpet with his better half, Sophie, for a filmed interview with Sian Toal.

Bottom: Shade Sian Toal interviews Jamie â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;GrenadeJayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Alderton (WBFF pro) .

The owner and founder of the WBFF, Paul Dillett, arrives with his wife Allison and kids.

Top: Prior to the doors being open the public, there was a real sense of calm in the dressing room area.

Bottom: Veronique Rees and Roger Snipes engaged in conversation about strategy.

Paul Dillett takes to the stage with his wife, children and Shaun Stafford to welcome everyone to the event.

He went on to explain that there are big plans with more UK events being planned throughout 2014.

While Paul Dillett was on stage talking to the spectators, backstage was brimming with energy as the competitors waited for the opening of the show, where theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d all go on together.

Top: This level of energy was in full effect throught, with everyone buzzing about being part of the first ever WBFF UK show.

Bottom: Juliana Conci-Mitchell (WBBF pro) smiles as her protege, Nicole Aristides gives the thumbs up.

Nicki Bell (a Miami Pro champion) stands excitedly before being allowed on stage.

Big smiles as the excitement builds.

James Conci-Mitchell (a WBFF pro himself) was in charge of running things backstage and along with his team, they ran a very tight and organised ship.

Top: Dani Lucille (middle) and Kiki Angoco (right) prepare to go on stage in the over 35â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s category.

Bottom: While the girls stepped up, the guys waited patiently and sneaked in a few extra warm up reps.

Top: Sandra Radav (eventual bikini short champion) waits for her queue to strut her stuff.

Bottom: The girls get their moment under the spotlight.

Male muscle model categories are often chided by bodybuilders as being for those who only train their upper bodies and skip leg days. That certainly wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t the case here, as all the physiques on display were top class.

Top: The menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s category here was fiercely contested.

Bottom: The view through one of the coveted trophies.

Top: Donna de Lisser (a Miami Pro champion) gets ready for the theme wear round and is helped by Helena Philippou.

Bottom: While the ladies theme wear is all about the glitz, the menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s equivalent sees them dressed in suits and looking dapper.

From left to right: Veron

nique Rees, Donna de Lisser, Claire Bird and Dorthe Lehmann await the go ahead to go down to the stage area for the theme wear round.

The theme wear rounds were great in the sense that everyone was allowed to really go for it creativity wise. The costumes ranged from simple to very extravagant.

Top: The guys had the safety net of just having to rep suits. I call for a category where they go flat out crazy peacock style.

Bottom: Mirella Clark presents Michelle Gaynes with her first place trophy and sash in the over 35â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s category.

Here we see the result of Ross Dickerson hearing that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just won his pro card. .

Top: Overall winner of the bikini short category, Sandra Radav (left) stands back while Juliana Conci-Mitchell (centre) awards Rachelle West (right) with her 2nd place trophy.

Bottom: Winner of the Muscle Model category, Roger Snipes (left) shakes hands with Scott Leeson. In the middle we see a smiling Don Akim.

Don Akim and Roger Snipes acknowledge the cheers from the crowd, to cap off their great night.

Backstage after winning the Muscle Model category, Roger Snipes was straight on the phone to spread the word.

Top: Abigail Edwards shows her delight at being awarded first place in the bikini tall category.

Bottom: Heather Jenks (right) can be forgiven for getting stuck into some junk food, as sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d been dieting hard prior to the event. Mirella Clark on the right though, had no excuse!

A fantastic event in the bag and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all smiles from Susie Woffenden and Juliana Conci-Mitchell. Both of whom are WBFF veterans, having competed in Denmark and at the Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Las Vegas..

Essential Links - WBFF www.wbffshows.com www.facebook.com/wbffuk - Photography Paul Corkery www.hashtagraw.com Toby Harrison www.facebook.com/tobyharrisonphotography

An exquisite range of bespoke competition bikinis with a touch of glamour, class, sophistication and elegance to help unleash your inner diva on stage

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THE

TRUTH ABOUT

TESTOSTERONE

By Nina Simone Ross - Photography by Paul Corkery May I introduce myself; I’m Nina Simone Ross, UK British Bikini Fitness Champion and International Bikini Competitor, online body transformation coach specialising in health, nutrition and training. My ethos is simply a training and lifestyle system that helps frustrated men and women get lean and healthy. Instead of getting clients to just pursue weight and calories I focus my attention on getting them educated, healthy, and the fat-loss simply comes for free!

Many of my male clients frequently display very similar traits and they often wonder where the Alpha male has gone? They seem to have lost the zest for life, a hunger for progress and an impressive physical presence.

When studying hormones it is found the way people can become alpha male/ female can be derived from their ability to optimise the hormone testosterone.

Mention testosterone to a lot of women and they automatically think deep voices, hair growth and the guys down the gym, where in fact testosterone isn’t just for the gents. It actually is equally responsible for muscle recovery; motivation, bodyfat regulation as well as making both sexes feel ‘aroused’.

The quickest way to tell if a man is experiencing low testosterone levels is that he doesn’t wake up in the morning with an erection. Out of either ego or pride many men don’t talk about the state of their testosterone, which is a serious health matter. Its not just important for sexual arousal, it has huge bearing on mood, heart health, bone health and even brain health! Another common measurement is your waistlines guys, often when males have high levels of Estrogen (low testosterone) they will have large waist. Alcohol is a common cause for this as alcohol reduces testosterone which also results in ‘moobs’ (gynecomastia).

So what causes this?

So what causes this? We can actually blame our partners if weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not making love often enough as this is a huge factor, however there are things we should be doing ourselves to keep this precious hormone in check. You see our stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) derive from the same building blocks as we do testosterone. So if we are mega stressed the first thing to take a dive is our libido as the body ALWAYS chooses preservation over procreation, this means we also gain weight as cortisol levels increase therefore we store fat, this is often why people can train day in day out but still get no slimmer and I have known people to actually gain weight.

This is because exercise is stress on the body and the body can not differentiate between different types of stresses, stress is stress.

When we start eating clean meats and fish, eating more anti oxidants such as onions and garlic, cooking with coconut oil, removing stimulants, sleeping better and exercising, we start to feel more confident, energetic and more like the alpha person we should. I have recently been using a product with my clients that have had outstanding results for all of the above, Visi Trimma. Not only does it curb appetite and aid weight loss but it has also been phenomenal for optimum well-being. Clarity, focus, energy and positive outlook are some of the outcomes they have been experiencing.

Actually believe it or not it is actually good fats that we need most to fuel testosterone production while we sleep. So if want to feel more motivated, get better results from your training program, or just to have peace of mind that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re fuelling your health correctly, perhaps place a thought or a few hours of reading on how to improve your testosterone levels

through food, reducing stress and getting deeper sleep.

Here are just a few: • Lifting Heavy weights (max effort training) and low reps as part of training programme.

• Adding FULL FAT butter and olive oil to vegetables (NOT MARGARINE or SPREADABLES).

• Avoid using cosmetics with Parobens (Deodorants, Shampoo, Makeup).

• Reduce stress in your life.

• Weight Training in the evening to reduce the Cortisol levels that training causes.

• Avoid Alcohol.

• Liver detoxification (eating foods from brassica family such as kale, watercress, Broccoli, spinach).

• Avoid caffeine.

• Carry out cardio sessions in the morning.

• Take high dosage of Vitamin C (3-6g per day) to clean the arteries.

Essential links:

www.ninarossfitness.com www.facebook.com/NinaRossFitness www.twitter.com/NinaRossFitness

Click here to watch the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DG6VyzXpLg

#RAW thought for the day...

We live in the era of the smart phones and stupid people.

Point proven.

THE COMM

APPROACH

Words - JAMIE ALDERTON p

MON SENSE

TO DIETING

photography - matt marsh

Wanna get ripped?

Get shredded for the beach, brah?!

Only got a few weeks to do it?

Well......I Am afraid this article is not for you.

Just so you don’t feel like you have wasted your time here’s a picture of Russell Brand with a white dove on his head.

I’m not going to sit here and bore you with all the details of macronutrient breakdowns etc etc. This article is titled “The Common Sense Approach” so I’ll provide you with some awesome flashy bullet pointy things to ponder on….

• The best diet is the one that you can stick to. This is common sense at its very finest. There is no point in creating a perfect diet plan full of healthy fats, lean sources of protein and complex carbohydrates if you don’t like the foods that are in it!

Soon enough a few weeks will pass and you will start to dread every meal. It’s important to experiment with different foods and ways of cooking then create a plan that you know you can stick to.

For the rest of you welcome.....

This article may just change your views on things and actually get you in the shape of your life!

I’m going to talk about three of the most important factors to take into consideration when looking for real, sustainable fat loss. Diet, Training and Mindset.

Diet Lots of people look at the word “Diet” and instantly get pictures in their head of restricted food intakes and chewing on sawdust and carrot sticks. In actual fact, the word “Diet” means “the sum of the food consumed by an organism or group”. It’s the amount of this sum of food that people get wrong either eating too much or eating too little which people need to get right first before even breaking it down into macronutrients (Protein, Carbs, Fats and my favourite: ALCOHOL!)

• Create a diet that suits your budget. Grass fed steaks, duck eggs, and wild caught salmon. These are all great things to add to your diet plan BUT if you can’t afford to eat this way then you’re on a one way ticket to failure!

• Just because your mate got ripped on a diet plan it does not mean you will to0. I’ve had this time and time again! I post up a client’s progress picture and people ask “ooh what diet was he on?” they instantly want me to put up the diet plan so they can follow it too. Each person is different. Each person has different needs when it comes to nutrition so what worked for your mate may not necessarily work for you.

Training One of the most ridiculous ‘motivational’ posters I have seen!

If you think doing 30% of gym work will get awesome results you are sadly mistaken!

100% Diet 100% Gym 100% Results There is not a ‘One size fits all’ when it comes to training. People have different strength levels, can commit different amounts of time to it and of course may have injuries or problems preventing certain exercises to be done. As with everything in this article I’m going to give you some flashy bullet points to think about…

• Don’t just turn up to the gym!

Go in there with a game plan and know what you are doing before arriving. I see this all the time. Little lost sheep in the gym wandering from one piece of equipment to the next without any thought of what they are in there to do. “Chest and Tri’s day” you say? Write it down. What exercises are you doing? Write it down! How many sets/reps will you do? WRITE IT DOWN! And most importantly when you complete your sets/reps and exercises WRITE DOWN THE WEIGHTS THAT YOU USED! Which brings me onto my next point….

• Take a logbook to the gym and write down your workouts.

It’s important that you log everything down that you do in the gym. This way when you go back to a certain exercise you will know exactly what you did last time and try to match or beat it.

This will enable you to progress more efficiently with your lifts. Putting more stress on the muscles and getting you more gains in the gym. Simple!

• Take the ego out of your lifts.

“How much you bench?” now

how many times have you heard that one, huh? Why you may ask is because there are a lot of gym rats out there that only care how much weight they lift. They don’t care about form and that it’s actually using the intended muscle group.

They only care that the weight goes up and back down again. Take the ego out of your lifts! Focus on the muscle group that the exercise is intended for, use full range of motion! Control the weight and remember to squeeze and contract on every rep!

Mindset Mindset in my eyes is one of the most important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to fat loss and I’m just going to hit you with some flashy bullet points again (because if I don’t we will run out of pages).

• Be realistic with your goals. If you are carrying 30-40lbs you ain’t gonna look like Brad Pitt in 8 weeks time!

• Focus on being the best that YOU can be! Everyone has a different journey to go through so don’t compare yours to others.

• Realise that if you can’t commit fully to a structured diet and training plan geared towards your goals, your results timeframes will be longer, as I said previously 100% Diet and 100% Training equals 100% results.

• You are doing this for You and only You! No one can force you to eat the right foods and exercise.

It’s a decision that has to be made.

Set small weekly goals then once achieved, focus on the next one.

This is a marathon not a sprint!

• A positive mindset will equal

success!

Block all negativity and doubt out of your life. In 2010 Walter Breuning was the oldest man in the world (aged 114) said “The secret to living a long life is both a good diet and always remembering the importance of a positive outlook” More from Jamie Alderton can be found at: www.grenadejay.com www.facebook.com/grenadejay www.twitter.com/grenadeJay Matt Marsh Photography: www.mattmarshphotography.co.uk

Photography by Paul Corkery

Essential links: www.salecca.co.uk www.facebook.com/salecca.becs

ROCKY ROAD PROTEIN BARS BY

www.proteinpow.com www.facebook.com/proteinpow www.pinterest.com/proteinpow www.twitter.com/proteinpowdr www.instagram.com/proteinpow

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

MACROS

www.modelsofdiversity.org

AN IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW WITH WBFF PRO ATHLETE, WILLIAMS ‘DA BEAST’ FALADE. Interview by Paul Corkery. Photography by Paul Corkery and Matt Marsh. #RAW: Please introduce yourself.

Williams: My full name is Williams Falade, I’m originally from London but now live in Kent. #RAW: Tell us about your sporting background.

Williams: I’ve always been involved in sport in some kind of way. At school I started off with athletics and did long jump and triple jump. I competed for London as a decathlete when I was 16. I was also involved in breakdancing, a bit of gymnastics and then decided to move properly into fitness.

seventeen until I was twenty two. #RAW: What led to you landing that one?

Williams: It was my dance teacher that got me an audition.

He already had an agent but I didn’t, so he hooked me up with an agency called Sky Blue. Every Tuesday without fail I’d go to dance practise and one day my teacher pulled me aside and said that there were Kylie auditions at Pineapple studios, and that I should go along and see what I could do. When I turned up there were hundreds of people there.

#RAW: For real? That’s an interesting transition to make from being a bboy to ending up involved so heavily in the fitness scene.

Williams: Yeah, I was earning really good money from that but my parents were like “It’s fine earning good money now, but what happens when you’re fifty years old, are you still going to be a backing dancer?” so it kind of made me sit down and think about doing something I genuinely enjoyed and to make that my career, so I moved into the fitness field.

#RAW: X Factor style?

Williams: <laughs> Yeah but what I didn’t know at the time was that it was a two day audition and that they were looking for two people, but had already chosen the first person the day before. So on the day I was there, they were looking for just one out of hundreds.

Originally they didn’t pick me but during a break I went over to the mirror and start playing about. I saw them watching me, so I really went for it. Then when I finished, I walked up to them and asked why they hadn’t called out my number? They told me that I hadn’t had my number called out but that I’d made it through anyway, so I was in the top ten along with my dance teacher. At the end they said they’d call us two weeks later to let us know their decision. Two weeks passed and I got the call to say it was me.

#RAW: How long did the Kylie gig last for?

Williams: Erm, from the age of

#RAW: Nice one!

Williams: It was a big moment for me, as the person who’d

#RAW: Breakdancing? That’s an interesting one Williams: Yeah, at school it was athletics and then when I went to college I was into gymnastics and breakdancing. It led to me working as a backing dancer for Kylie Minogue.

taught me to dance was someone I was up against. #RAW: I bet he was pissed off?

Williams: No, he was happy for me. #RAW: Bullshit! I’d be raging! <laughs> Williams: <laughing> No seriously, he was well chuffed for me. #RAW: That’s cool. So what about the actual gig, was that just UK or something more ambitious?

Williams: It was for the World tour and we also got on a few TV shows like the Saturday show, Top of the pops, CD:UK and through that exposure I got to meet a lot of people within the industry. #RAW: Sounds like an awesome opportunity to be given. I had something similar with travelling the world during my time involved in the Parkour scene, so I know how you must have felt.

Williams: It was amazing but my biggest regret is that I wasn’t star struck enough when I met all these famous people, because I was in no rush to get my photo taken with them and things like that. So now I only have memories to look back on but no pictures or anything to back it all up. If I could go back in time it’s the only thing I’d change really and make sure I captured those moments in my life. #RAW: As a seventeen year old getting to travel the world and being paid for it, I’m sure you had other things on your mind?

Photography - Matt Marsh

Photography - Paul Corkery

Photography - Paul Corkery

Williams: Yeah <laughs>. The idea of making money at a young age was good. I’d get like £150 just to turn up for an audition and £300 per show. If anything was shown on TV, there would be royalties paid on top. Having a constant stream of money going to my account, definitely helped me to stay out of trouble. #RAW: Were times tough in the area you came from?

Williams: Oh yeah, where I’m from is New Cross and I could literally count the people I knew with jobs, on my hands. It was the kind of place where if a woman was walking down the road, somebody would run past and grab her handbag. So I was lucky not to be wanting like that and to bypass following my friends in that life. #RAW: Did the Kylie tour opportunity make you strive to make a point of bettering yourself?

Williams: I’m not saying I’m different, but I always see myself as someone who’d step back from the bad things my friends were doing and say “What are you guys doing, it doesn’t make any sense?!” I never understood the enjoyment of being in a gang and going around robbing people. I don’t understand it. So whichever area I found myself growing up in, I always felt a bit alien and being the odd one out. #RAW: It’s so easy to be getting dragged in without really knowing. You were lucky.

Williams: When I was sixteen and old enough to travel on my own, I went to college and

suddenly found myself amongst others with my mindset and I was able to hang around with people who were more on my level. It meant I had to travel over an hour each way on the train to do so, but it was more than worth it. #RAW: So when you landed the Kylie job, started earning good money and were keeping yourself out of trouble, I guess your parents were happy?

Williams: For sure but when it came to an end when I was about twenty three, they were like “It’s time to find a proper career.”

They’d just moved to Margate but I was still in London so they said I should think about moving to Margate too, as it was nice and quiet and that it’d get me away from the hustle and bustle of London. So I went and got my head down to study for my level two and then level three certificates in fitness. From there I started working in a gym. #RAW: You mentioned your parents wanting you to move to Margate to escape the hustle and bustle. I’m guessing London for you, offered many a temptation.

Is that right?

Williams: Oh yeah <laughs>.

I first got arrested when I was eight years old and it gave my dad a kick up the backside to make him do something, so he sent me off to Nigeria #RAW: <laughs> Now that’s some harsh punishment!

Williams: <laughing> Yeah but it’s better than ending up in prison for sure. #RAW: How long were you sent

away for?

Williams: I was there for four years and it’s during my time there that I learned a lot about life because literally, there was nothing. Money wasn’t an issue, so I had to learn to live off of nothing and when I came back to the UK, I was much more open to things. #RAW: So you went at eight years old and came back at twelve?

Williams: Yeah, I came back at twelve. I know it sounds young, but out there everyone was so mature and also, I was living in a boarding school. Even during the holidays I was staying at the boarding school, so during that whole period I was by myself and getting to know all about myself properly. #RAW: Was that change in you noticeable when you came back to the UK? Williams: Erm....not really.

That’s because my parents had moved to a totally different area so the people I’d mixed with before, I never ever saw again.

That was the point <laughs>. #RAW: Are you from a big family?

Williams: Yes, four older brothers. #RAW: <laughing> Oh dear, I can imagine it now.

Williams: I’m the youngest with three years between each of us, so yeah, it was a pretty boisterous house <laughs>. #RAW: A close knit family?

Williams: We are now but never used to be but when the

“I first got arrested when I was eight years old and it gave my dad a kick up the backside to make him do something, so he sent me off to Nigeria.”

Photography - Matt Marsh

“I met Gabriel Sey and Nyisha Jordan, who are both WBFF pro’s and when I saw Nyisha, I was like Wow, there’s that girl I keep seeing in all the fitness magazines.” grand kids started popping out, we became a tight knit family and do everything together now. #RAW: Before we go on to talk about the fitness related stuff, let’s go back to the Kylie experience. Being exposed to that level of glitz and then seeing it all end at twenty three, surely you must have felt like there was a huge void left in your life?

Williams: <Pauses for a few seconds to think> Erm......yes and no. I’ve always been around people who’ve been considered successful in what they do. They might not be big and famous but some of my friends are very successful in what they do, so even if I’m not doing something that puts me in the limelight, I’m always around people that are. #RAW: Any examples?

Williams: Around the time I stopped dancing, one of my friends who’s a vocal coach, was on X Factor coaching the Girls Aloud group. So we’d be walking down the street and they’d either be like “Oh you’re that dancer!” or “Ahh you’re that guy on X Factor!” I was always around that so never really missed it to be honest, because it was always there. #RAW: What about the transition from that kind of limelight into the fitness world as a PT? Williams: It was fine, it was a new focus and something different. When I was dancing, I’d go down to the gym and do some bicep curls because at that age, that’s all you know <laughs>. I’d look at guys on the bench and wonder “What are

you guys doing?” So I always had the interest back then but didn’t have the know how. More often than not during break time at college, I’d be found in the gym talking and being inspired by people. #RAW: I saw an old pic you posted on Facebook recently, where you had a body more akin to Gollum. What gave you the kick up the ass to take weights more seriously?

Williams: <laughing> I think it was my friends who really helped, because when they saw the gains I was making, they had this way of making me feel really proud of what I was achieving and that spurred me on. Even though I wasn’t yet a trainer, they’d be like “Show me how you do this.” and “Show me how you look like that.” I’d be like “What are you on about, I’m not even big?” but they’d say “Yeah, but you’ve changed.” #RAW: That must have been a good boost?

Williams: Yeah it was. I then got offered a job by my friend, the vocal coach I mentioned before.

He was moving to Hollywood and he wanted me to go with him. I told him I couldn’t do it and he said “Look, just train me in Hollywood. I’ll pay you. You don’t have to work or anything, you just have to be the guy standing next to me making sure I look good all the time.” I thought wow, this guy wants me to train him just off the limited knowledge I had. At the time I thought that was really big and that inspired me to go off and get my Level 3 PT qualification. I didn’t want to go to America

with no knowledge and that was what originally really got me into fitness and wanting to go to America. #RAW: Did you end up going to America?

Williams: No <laughs>! When I went to Margate and started studying there, I got a girlfriend and it was going to be hard to leave her behind. So yeah, that’s how it panned out. It’s not like America is a place that’s out of reach now. I just had other priorities. #RAW: Let’s fast forward a little bit. You ended up working in fitness as we know, but what led to you wanting to step up and compete on stage?

Williams: I was offered a big opportunity at my gym, Fitness First, and was given the chance to design a class for them. After doing that I was then allowed to travel around the country to different gyms, in order to deliver that class and I also got a chance to meet lots of different people who were heavily into bodybuilding. That’s when I met Gabriel Sey and Nyisha Jordan, who are both WBFF pro’s and when I saw Nyisha, I was like “Wow, there’s that girl I keep seeing in all the fitness magazines.” There’s a company called Escape Fitness who provide equipment and they send out these catalogues to all the Fitness First clubs and in it, Nyisha was all over it but here she is right in front of me. So I asked her how she kept herself looking so good and she told me that she competed. That got me thinking it might be something I’d be interested in because all

Photography - Matt Marsh

Photography - Paul Corkery

Photography - Paul Corkery

the time I was working as a PT, I’ve always had a decent body and people would say I looked alright. So I thought, it’d be interesting to take it all to another level and with Nyisha’s guidance, it’d become a reality. #RAW: So you hired her to coach you?

Williams: Yep, her and her boyfriend prepped me for my first competition which was Miami Pro. #RAW: When was this?

Williams: The Miami Pro event was in July of 2013 and I prepped with them 12 weeks prior to that. It was a blessing in disguise because before that I felt I was losing focus with my training because I was always in the gym and also, as I was the manager, I was always in the office and it didn’t sit well with me. I always saw myself as a Mr Fitness type of guy and knew that with the help of Nyisha, I’d find that focus again. #RAW: What was the experience of competing for the first time like then?

Williams: It was mental! It was nerve wracking but fun at the same time. Like, I didn’t know what to expect because I didn’t know the process of things. I was backstage and listening to everything Gabriel and Nyisha was telling me, so I’d get a call from them and they’d be like “Ok, now you can start eating sweets.” and I’d be like “Sweets, but I’m about to go on stage?!”

It was the little things that at the time, were alien to me. Also the people I competed against really helped and some were

even telling me before we went on stage that I’d already won.

They were like “Wow dude, you look good.” and I was like “Jesus, you’re standing there with a ten pack telling me I look good?! <laughs> So yeah, to actually win it was amazing. #RAW: That’s awesome, but you mentioned receiving calls from your coaches. I assume they weren’t allowed back stage?

Willams: Correct. They were at the venue but weren’t allowed to be with me backstage. #RAW: So you were alone, that must have been daunting?

Williams: There was a receptionist from my gym, who was on the big side but had trimmed right down to compete for her first time too, so we kind of did it together. She won too, so it was a really good experience. #RAW: What was the aftermath like once the dust had settled down after the event?

Williams: About a week after we went out for a meal to celebrate and Gabriel looked up at me and said “WBFF?” and I reluctantly said “Yeah, why not?” <laughs> so now suddenly the WBFF event was in the mix to focus on. #RAW: What kind of timescale between events?

Williams: Miami Pro was in July and the WBFF event was to be in November, so it was a case of ok, I’m in shape now, can I maintain it? The dieting was really tough and Gabriel asked me what I wanted to do in life? “Is this a one off thing or do you really want to make this a part of your

life?” and that’s when I had to really think hard. I decided that yes, I wanted to make this a part of my life and I want to be somebody in this, so yeah, that’s when I decided to really go for the WBFF. #RAW: Did you have a comedown period to ease up on the diet before stepping back on the gas?

Williams: I let loose for about two weeks and then started trying to prepare for the WBFF but was then involved in an accident and kinda gave up. #RAW: What happened?

Williams: A motorbike accident.

I had to jump off of my bike to avoid smashing into the back of a car and I ended up landing wrong, busting my wrist and my toe. #RAW: That makes sense now.

Because after the WBFF event, I walked past you on the stairs heading up to the dressing room, and you were talking in disbelief about your placing because you said you hadn’t trained properly for it.

Williams: <laughs> Yeah, when that happened, I gave up. It wasn’t just that though <pauses to think> when I won the Miami Pro event, it built a vibe at the gym where I was at and suddenly everyone else was training to compete. #RAW: Not a good vibe then?

Williams: It was a good vibe to begin with then it started to feel like an ‘If Will can do it, so can I’ vibe. To be truthful it put a downer on me but I managed to speak to the guys in question

“They were like Wow dude, you look good and I was like Jesus, you’re standing there with a ten pack telling me I look good?! ”

Photography - Matt Marsh

“Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that business is business but for me, it was just too much.” about how it was coming across to me, so they backed off and understood. Also, Gabriel and Nyisha who’d prepped me for Miami Pro, were supposed to be prepping me for the WBFF event but because of the positive feedback from Miami Pro, a lot of people wanted to work with them and I found myself.... <pauses to think> #RAW: Less of a priority?

Williams: Yeah and to the point where they were even prepping people who were training in my gym in the same category as me.

Don’t get me wrong, I totally understand that business is business but for me, it was just too much. So with the accident and all this that was going on, I just kinda stopped. #RAW: What gave you the kick up the ass to get back into comp mode?

Williams: What made me get back into it was when one of the guys at the gym decided to compete and someone turned around to me and said “He’s looking much better than you.” <laughs> and that’s when my ego kicked in. You could say it was my ego that competed at the WBFF. At the gym you have someone who’s the funny guy or the smart guy, so when somebody comes and all of a sudden they are the funny guy, it’s like “Hold on a second, I’m the funny guy!” <laughs> #RAW: <laughs> Gotta love the power of our egos.

Williams: <laughing> At this point it was five weeks out from the WBFF event and it was like my body just reacted to it. My

mind had responded to them saying that this guy had surpassed me. I can remember the guy in question coming up to me at Miami Pro and he was like “Wow, you’ve inspired me.” and this and that, but he was nowhere near my level. So for him to get to where I was and for others to be saying he’d surpassed me, I was like “No!” so my mind and body just kinda reacted to it <laughs>. #RAW: How so?

Williams: I can’t explain it but a week later I walked back into the gym and this guy was like “What’s happened to you, your body’s changed?” I just told him I didn’t know. It wasn’t as though I’d changed my training program that much from before but seriously, my body just reacted to it as though it was thinking it was competing again. #RAW: How were you able to train properly through the wrist and toe injuries?

Williams: It was extremely difficult! Pulling movements were no problem, so I could still do my back but things like shoulders and chest were really hard. I could only use cables for flyes and couldn’t hold a dumbbell. I just hoped the body I had from Miami Pro proved to be enough. #RAW: It obviously did, because you came second and picked up your pro card. Considering everything that you had to go through, that must have been a huge buzz?

Williams: Yeah, it was mental!

You know, I look up to Gabriel and Nyisha as they’d done so

much before they got their pro cards and I’d been competing for less than a year. So to get my pro card so early, I kinda felt like I wasn’t ready for it. #RAW: Don’t knock it, as it’s done now and you earned it.

Getting your pro card automatically qualifies you to go and compete at the World’s in Vegas. That must provide some form of compensation?

Williams: For sure <laughs>.

It’s really boosted my confidence because the short amount of time I had to prep and to still walk away with a pro card, left me thinking that if I had time to prep properly, the sky is the limit. Anything is possible. #RAW: Was the buzz from the WBFF event on par with wining the Miami Pro title?

Williams: It was different. At Miami Pro I was backstage jumping around with everyone and being a clown. But at the WBFF I was more reserved and within myself just being quiet. I think it was because I knew more of the competitors whereas at Miami Pro, I didn’t know anyone as it was all new to me. Also, I had one of my clients competing there and I had to let her go about six weeks out from the event because she was being a prima donna and telling me I needed to be with her 24/7 and to be blunt, I wasn’t having time to prep myself properly. So she was there as well and it was awkward. I did try to let her down gently and said that we should still be friends and still support each other, but she wasn’t having any of it. It turned ugly and because of that, it made

Photography - Paul Corkery

Photography - Paul Corkery

“I WAS LIKE, GUYS, YOU CAN’T JUST LEAVE ME LIKE THIS AND THEIR EXACT RESPONSE WAS - WE’RE LIKE THE SWAT, WE COME IN AND GET THE JOB DONE, THEN WE’RE OUT!”

Photography - Paul Corkery

the whole experience different to the other event. #RAW: That sucks. Did it affect your own on-stage performance?

Williams: My head wasn’t really there. Even on stage, I could feel it. I felt like my posing was off. Afterwards I was told that I needed to work a bit on my stage presence, which I understand fully, because whilst my body was there, my mind wasn’t fully on it. #RAW: You must have had some fun there though?

Willams: The fun part came from speaking to Reflex. They’d pretty much told me that they wanted to take me on before I’d even competed. #RAW: You mean Reflex nutrition?

Williams: Yeah, they sponsored the event. The thing is, when I was prepping for Miami Pro, I went into a supplement store and asked them for the best supplement for what I was doing to cut. They told me Reflex was and I was like “Ok” so started using that and really liked it.

Then just before the Bodypower event a friend of mine called me and told me to look out for a guy called Ben Noy, as they were good friends. So I was at Bodypower wearing an EPC top that said ‘Do You Even Lift?’ and one guy said to me “I love that top!” so we started talking for about an hour and a half. Then somebody asked his name and he told them he was called Ben. I asked if he was Ben Noy and he said he was <laughs>. I mentioned that my friend had told me to look out for him and

we laughed at how we’d both been talking for ages without me knowing that. Anyway, we carried on talking and I asked him if he was with Reflex. I then looked up and saw that we were at the Reflex stand and he was all over their billboards <laughs>.

He was so down to earth and humble. There and then from that experience, I thought these guys are cool and because I was already using their products, I decided that if I was to be sponsored, they were the ones I wanted. Then after Miami Pro I told Gabriel that if I was to be sponsored, I wanted it to be by a company who’s products I actually used and believed in. I mean where’s the sense in being sponsored just for the sake of being sponsored? #RAW: I know loads of people who are sponsored but don’t actually like or use the products they are given.

Williams: It’s true though.

Anyway, I told Gabriel that I wanted Reflex and he sent them an email but came back saying they weren’t interested in me but were interested in him. I was like “fine” so when the WBFF event came, they were walking around backstage and a girl came up to me and asked if I was interested in Reflex and I was like “NO!!!”

She said “What’s wrong with you?!” and I said “Man, I’ve been trying to get at you for the last couple of months and you guys don’t want me, you want my trainer!” <laughs>. I think I was the only person who reacted like that because everyone else was like “yeah Reflex, sure I want to be with you” kind of thing. So she walked off and about ten

minutes later another guy came up and said “Are you Will? I’ve been looking for you.....I’ve heard that you’re not that fond of Reflex and had tried to get hooked up with us.” I told him that was correct and he asked if I’d sit down for a chat. So I sat down and he asked what was it about Reflex that I liked, so I just told him that I use and like their products and that there was no point trying to promote Burger King if you eat at McDonalds.

I told him that if I was to work with anyone, I wanted it to be Reflex. He told me that I sounded genuine and that we should talk again after the show, so straight away that helped put my mind in a good place. #RAW: Sounds to me like it was meant to happen.

Williams: I always said at the beginning of my journey that I wanted to do two things. I wanted to win a show and then go on to get sponsored. So with Miami Pro already in the bag, when I had the prospect of getting sponsored too, my year was pretty much complete, so to get a pro card on top really was a blessing. #RAW: What does being sponsored by Reflex equate to?

Williams: They supply supplement and I get to go to expo’s to represent them and they send me training gear.

Before they used to have ambassadors and they used to have sponsored athletes, but they’ve changed it now so there’s no longer any ambassadors or sponsored athletes. Instead it’s just Team Reflex. For me, it’s not about having a sponsor and

“The fun part came from speaking to Reflex. They’d pretty much told me that they wanted to take me on before I’d even competed.”

Photography - Paul Corkery

“I used to be a big sugar fan. For instance, I’m the kind of guy who could spend £20 on chocolate and eat it on the spot.” seeing what I can get out of them. I see it all as part of my journey and I believe in their products. Even before being connected to them, I would always recommend Reflex to my friends and clients. #RAW: With there being so many good looking and fit people in the scene these days, the bigger co’s can cherry pick their athletes and know full well that unless you are a major player in the scene, they can get away without having to pay dolla dolla. Most athletes at best, get flowed free product but no money. So when someone says “I’m a sponsored athlete.” I straight away question it. I used to be sponsored by Adidas and was paid a shit load of money to be on board. On the flipside, I’ve had lots of other companies offering free gear in return for exposure, but I would never label that as ‘sponsorship’. It’s simply being given free shit. You’re very lucky to be sponsored by a co that you fully believe in.

Williams: I’ll always do my best to promote them properly. It’s very much a two way thing. #RAW: Let’s move on to your training. Do you follow a particular regime?

Williams: To get to where I am today, I’ve gone through different training processes to get me there. I can spend months on a certain training system. You know, endurance based training or hypertrophy.

Sometimes I put them all together and at the moment I’m finding that I don’t need to overly train to achieve what I need to achieve and that’s

because of what I’ve done in the past. When I was studying, I trained with these two guys and we decided to have an experiment. You always see these guys following a particular way of training to get cut up or something else to add bulk, so we decided to mix it all up and implement all those systems in each session and it works. When we started the system I was twelve stone with 6% bodyfat and a month later I was thirteen stone with 6% bodyfat. That was just training and eating...I don’t even remember taking supplements at the time. We were just experimenting with different ways of improving our bodies and with me, it was simplicity that worked best. #RAW: What kind of training are you doing right now?

Williams: I’m training strength and hypertrophy at the moment. #RAW: Do you experiment and switch stuff around all the time?

Williams: Not all the time. If I start a program, I’ll stick with it for at least six months before I change. #RAW: As long as that?

Williams: Yeah, the only thing I’ll experiment with is my balance work but that’s about it.

If I’m training solidly, I’ll pretty much stick to the same thing. #RAW: What about your diet, do you stay tight all year round?

Williams: Yeah, I’m a fussy eater anyway. I don’t like alcohol and I used to be a big sugar fan. For instance, I’m the kind of guy who could spend £20 on chocolate and eat it on the spot but after

the competition, I realised that my body didn’t need that. So that bad stuff that was in my diet got taken out but it wasn’t something that was missed. #RAW: Really?

Williams: Yeah, I’ve not had to make an effort to eat clean, I just naturally eat well now. #RAW: Do you find you’re obsessive though when dieting for a comp? Like if you were to eat something bad, you’d beat yourself up over it Surely you must crave certain things?

Williams: That would apply more to the chocolate. With eating clean and then adding in chocolate, it makes me feel a certain way inside that just puts me off. #RAW: So you don’t really treat yourself then?

Williams: I’ll have some popcorn. #RAW: Popcorn? Fucking hell, you really know how to party!

When I was preparing for fights and even now when training, I’ll eat clean six days a week but will have one mammoth blow out day, where I’ll eat everything and anything to hand. I’ve done this religiously for over 20 years and swear by it. If anything it fires me up for another hard week of training.

Williams: <laughing> We’re all different I guess? If I’m eating clean I might get cravings for things like cashew nuts but that’s about it. Don’t get me wrong, chocolate is nice but I just don’t get a craving for it. Give me popcorn and cashew nuts and that’s enough for me to snack

Photography - Paul Corkery

Photography - Matt Marsh

Photography - Matt Marsh

out on <laughs>. #RAW: How tight is your diet when prepping for an event?

Williams: It’s very tight.

Everything is weighed according to my bodyweight and it’s really strict. It’s funny because when you’re dieting and you see the effects food has on your body and you understand it, it’s more than enough to put you off eating bad. I know that I can change the way my body looks within twenty four hours depending on what I eat, so with that kind of knowledge I simply don’t take advantage of it. Instead, I try to use it wisely. #RAW: I’m sure I read somewhere about you entering a Mr Africa comp. It that true?

Williams: Yes, as soon as I’d won Miami Pro, they made contact with me and asked me to compete. It was a beauty pageant but with a fitness section too and I won ‘Body of Africa’. Originally I said no because I wanted to represent Nigeria but was told that somebody was already flying in to represent them. They went on to explain that whatever country you represented, if you won, that’s the country you’d work with charity wise. On that note, I kind of got swayed in. You see, about two or three weeks before Miami Pro I lost my dad. So after that event I was like ok, I need to sit down and get it into my head that my dad is gone but then these Mr Africa guys started belling down my phone and literally at the last minute, I decided ok I’ll do it. I won the ‘Body of Africa’ title but came runner up in the Mr Africa

category but funnily enough, the guy who won Mr Africa is now prepping for Miami Pro and I’m his prep coach <laughs>. #RAW: Was Mr Africa a good event?

Williams: Yeah, it was a good experience but was short lived, as I wasn’t really focused on it and it all happened within a week, so it didn’t feel like a had a big journey to get ready for it or anything. #RAW: But it’s still something you stepped up for and it’s added to your CV. It’s not something that an be taken away.

Williams: That’s true. #RAW: Going back to the dieting side of things leading up to the event, seeing as it was so strict, did you suffer with mood swings or a lack of motivation?

Williams: Never had problems with motivation, as I always looked forward to training.

Cardio was a struggle to begin with but my body just got used to it and as the show got closer, it felt more natural. Because I knew I needed to look a certain way, nothing was daunting for me. If anything, it was the diet itself that was the issue, as it played tricks on my mind. I would be looking at foods I wouldn’t normally ever touch but my mind would be telling me that I wanted it. It would be a battle in my head where I’d want it but I’d also be like “But I don’t even like this food, so why do I want it?” <laughs> #RAW: Any rage incidents?

Williams: The mood swings were

crazy <laughs>. I remember being on a bus and we were stopped at temporary traffic lights and because we were sitting there for longer than five minutes, oh my God <laughs> that was it! I got off the bus and just walked. As I was walking, everyone was looking at me as if to say “Shit, do NOT go near this guy!” I could actually feel steam coming off me <laughs>.

Another time I ordered a pizza for my girlfriend as she was getting ready to go to work.

The pizza took so long to arrive that she had to leave without eating. So when it arrived, I answered the door and the guy stepped back, took the pizza out, but wouldn’t look at my face.

I didn’t say anything prior to that but I think my face said it all <laughs>. So he gave me the pizza but was still looking at the floor and then he walked off. But when he reached the gate, he turned around and said “Excuse me sir.” and I went “WHAT?!”

He then replied with “Great body!” and then ran off as fast as he could <laughing>. I thought to myself that I really need to calm down. It’s not as though I was a screamer or anything, I guess it was just my body language. #RAW: Did that present any problems at work in the gym?

Williams: Because I manage a club, I’m very picky about who I train. I won’t just train anyone.

So at that time, everyone I trained, I got on well with. I knew that there was nothing they could do to annoy me. Oh apart from the one client I was prepping for the WBFF. Whenever we’d be arguing we’d

“As I was walking, everyone was looking at me as if to say “Shit, do NOT go near this guy!” I could actually feel steam coming off me.”

Photography - Paul Corkery

“I don’t mean to be a bastard, but sometimes I see guys on stage and I’m thinking what are you doing here?!” end up turning to each other and would both say “It’s the diet.” <laughs> so yeah, we both knew and understood. So no, the moods didn’t really affect my business. #RAW: To clarify, you competed in the fitness category, right?

Williams: Yeah, fitness. #RAW: I actually think that it’s a great thing because it’s more commercially attractive and the kind of physiques you guys have, is seemingly more attainable to your average Joe. However, it’s generated a fair bit of heat amongst bodybuilders who pass it off as a category for guys who skip legs days. What’s your opinion?

Williams: My take on things is that fitness models and physique models are the same thing but depending on which organisation you compete with, you don’t always have to show your legs. So if it’s UKBFF, you wear long board shorts, where you don’t have to show your legs.

Whereas if you’re doing Miami Pro or WBFF, you are wearing shorts and you most certainly need to show your legs. So that whole thing about skipping legs day is bullshit because it’s nothing to do with the guys, it’s more about the organisation you’re competing with. At the end of the day everyone is doing their thing and trying to change their bodies. Sure, bodybuilders are doing their thing but so are fitness models. Maybe a bodybuilder isn’t capable of stripping down to a certain size or a fitness model isn’t able to pack on enough muscle to compete as a bodybuilder, but

they are all doing what they need to do to compete at the highest level within the parameters of what their bodies are capable of. #RAW: Seeing as the category is relatively new to the scene, it’s going take a while for it to find its feet. I’ve seen some outstanding physiques on display even at amateur level, but have also seen some highly questionable physiques too.

Williams: <laughs> I don’t mean to be a bastard but sometimes I see guys on stage and I’m thinking “What are you doing here?!” It’s like they have no focus and didn’t train or diet properly. I think it’s these guys who give it a bad name. There was a picture of me at Miami Pro and I wasn’t overly proud of it because there were two guys behind me, who looked like they were off the street. So it didn’t make me feel like anything special. Maybe people should put more thought into it before they start signing up for things. #RAW: I hear you completely and as much as I admire anyone who steps up on stage, there are certainly some people who clearly aren’t ready for it yet.

Williams: Very true. #RAW: Talking about the marketability of fitness modelling, a clear indication of its appeal to me, was when my friend entered his first proper bodybuilding event with the UKBFF. He didn’t get on stage until right at the end and it was a seriously long day. He’d brought his girlfriend and all her friends to support him and they had absolutely zero interest in

bodybuilding. Throughout the day they looked bored to tears but when the physique model category bit started, they all perked up, got out their phones to take pictures and started perving over them <laughs>.

Excuse the pun but I think that category certainly has legs to do big things in the near future.

Williams: <laughing> Yeah, definitely man. #RAW: Aspirations......what are your goals with this?

Williams: I just want to be the best at what I do and apply my mind to. Whether that’s competing myself of training people to compete, I want to be the best I can be. Whenever I get into something, I do so 100% and I want to know every aspect of it. I want to touch all bases within the fitness modelling industry. #RAW: With the exposure that the Miami Pro and WBFF events have provided, it’s opened up an avenue outside of just fitness, right? There’s also the opportunity to do fashion modelling too.

Williams: There were also opps that came from winning the ‘Body of Africa’ title too, as that was a beauty pageant. When I was younger I used to model for up and coming brands like Dirty Denim etc. I was always told to get into modelling because people said I had the cheek bones and the look but I never did much about it. But now I’m in a better position to do so because I have the fitness modelling part of it under my belt too.

Photography - Paul Corkery

Photography - Paul Corkery

Photography - Matt Marsh

#RAW: I guess the fitness accolades helps to legitimise it all?

Williams: Definitely. It’s not just a face thing because I’ve now got the full package to bring to the table. I do like the modelling side of things because it’s so versatile and there’s so much you can do with it. It opens up so many more avenues. Even for things like going into acting. #RAW: Is acting something you want to do?

Williams: Yeah definitely. I did acting at school and that’s what my teachers thought would be my career. In my last year of school I played Macbeth and managed to cram learning the whole play into three months as well as studying for my GCSE’s.

Originally I was supposed to go the Brits but ended up going to Hammersmith college to do performing arts. So acting is something I can do but it’s not my first priority. #RAW: What’s the plan this year then?

Williams: I want to be a World champion and to inspire people.

I’d love to be well known in the fitness industry. I see the likes of Shaun Stafford, Ben Noy, Ulysses etc and they inspire me a lot. The things they are doing are benefiting other people’s lives and that’s where I want to be too. It’s not all about how many likes you an get on Instagram or Facebook. It’s more about helping others to change their lives. It gives me the fuel I need to keep on going. #RAW: The recipe for success in this game is quite an easy one,

be prepared to work your ass off, keep your feet on the ground, be humble but most importantly, to steer clear of politics. It’s so easy to be dragged into the shit storms out there.

Williams: <laughs> I hear you but I know how to conduct myself. At the end of the day, everyone will have an opinion but it doesn’t mean you have to disagree via a war of words.

Especially online. I’m an agree to disagree kind of guy, so with that in mind, I won’t get dragged into something and allow it to blow up. #RAW: Yes, but welcome to the internet world, where it only takes a 12 year old troll to post something that sparks a fire and creates a flame war.

Williams: I know too well <laughing> as I almost got dragged into a potential career finisher <laughs>, where I posted a picture on Instagram that this guy obviously took it the wrong way. I was making a valid point but he wanted to argue with me down to the ground, so I just deleted it and put up a picture of my daughter instead <smiling broadly>. #RAW: No matter how successful or well known you are, you will always get someone out there who’ll take a dislike to you and what you say or represent. It’s life.

Williams: Yeah, it’s such an opinionated world and all too easy to get dragged into the online debates. #RAW: So the next event that’s lined up for you is the Worlds in Las Vegas. When is that exactly?

Williams: The Worlds is in August and then there’s another pro show shortly after. #RAW: Now that you’re a pro with the WBFF, isn’t it a bit frustrating that you’re limited to entering just a couple of events a year?

Williams: It is because competing was a real focus for me, so having to wait so long to compete again means I need to refocus. But from competing last year and so many people seeing me in that light, it’s keeping me going. It’s definitely helping me stay up at the moment. #RAW: Between now and August will you just maintain or will you set yourself mini goals along the way?

Williams: For photoshoots and things like that I need to keep myself close to my best. Because I understand my body now, prepping isn’t really that big a problem. With the Worlds, I know what I need to do and that I need to work a bit more on my chest and my legs but that’s it.

I’m not putting myself under any pressure of feeling like I need to diet for so long. I now know my body well enough to just deal with it and handle things as they come. #RAW: In one of the pics I took, you were repping a DON cap.

What’s that all about?

Williams: Don is a rapper who I’m currently training. He’s being managed by someone I grew up with and they were part of Garage Essentials, who were big back in the day. Basically he’s got a big following and wants to look better for himself and to

“It’s not all about how many likes you an get on Instagram or Facebook. It’s more about helping others to change their lives.”

Photography - Paul Corkery

“A PT of mine saw me training one day and he went ‘You’re a beast!’ and from then on everyone at the gym started calling me Will Da Beast and it’s just stuck.” inspire his fans, which I like. So he approached me and I took him on. He’s coming on and training hard, so whatever I can do to help him, it’s 100%. The caps are gifts that he gave me. #RAW: I know you’re sponsored

by Reflex, but are you repping anyone clothing wise?

Williams: Funnily enough, I’d been buying Elite Physique Clothing for about five years and after winning Miami Pro, I was trying to get hold of Reflex but nothing. Then he approached me and was like “Are you not sponsored?” and when I told him no, he was like “I’m not major but you’ve been supporting us for over five years, so we’d like to sponsor you.” The deal with them is free clothing and free supplements but now I have Reflex on board, it cancels out the supplement bit which they are cool with. It’ll be interesting at Bodypower, as they both have stands there and both want me to make myself available <laughs>. It might get a bit awkward <laughing>. #RAW: Just take toilet breaks and switch between the two without them knowing <laughs>.

Where did your nickname of ‘Will Da Beast’ come from?

Williams: A PT of mine saw me training one day and he went “You’re a beast!” and from then on everyone at the gym started calling me Will Da Beast and it’s just stuck. Before that I was known as Will Power, which is my business name. I got that from college. One of my teachers said “If you want to surpass where you currently are, you need to have willpower.”

and I was like “Thank you Miss, you’ve just given me my new business name.” <laughs> #RAW: Do you train alone?

Williams: Yes, I train with two guys who both look comp ready but they won’t compete <laughs>. #RAW: It takes a certain type of person to actually get up on stage.

Williams: Yeah but they won’t compete but could both step on stage tomorrow if they wanted to. They are my rocks! There’s Glen Jones and Uhuru Robinson. Trust me, everyone needs two guys like that on their team if they’re going to be successful at anything <laughs>.

Someone described me as one of the most competitive guys they’d met and one of the guys I train with is about the same strength level as me, so we have a competitive thing going on, which is great. Whereas the other guy, he can hype me up enough to lift up a bus <laughs>.

That voice in my head <laughing> and just the mix of those two is perfect. Funnily enough, we don’t train together all the time but when I’m prepping, they’re there every single day. Then when I’d finished with the WBFF event, they went their own ways and I was like “Guys, you can’t just leave me like this!” and their exact response was “We’re like the SWAT, we come in and get the job done, then we’re out.” <laughs> It’s nice to have people like that around me and that they are there in times of need to come in and get the job done properly.

#RAW: It’s been really interesting talking to you Will.

Any shout outs before we wrap things up?

Williams: I want to give a shout out to Gabriel Sey and Nyisha Jordan. A lot of the knowledge I now have, has come from them.

Owen Powell who’s part of the UKBFF scene but he’s helped me with my posing, stage presence and things like that. Last but least, my boys Glen and Uhuru and anyone else who’s been a positive influence in my life. #RAW: Awesome stuff, thanks Will.

Williams: No problem.

Essential links: www.facebook.com/williams.falade

Paul Corkery

www.hashtagraw.com www.facebook.com/ezstyla

Matt Marsh

www.mattmarshphotography.co.uk www.facebook.com/matt.marshphotographer

Photography - Paul Corkery

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