profile

Hi! I'm Sam.

I'm a strength coach with my own private studio nestled in Northwood high street.

Featured Post

Lean Lifts: Can you stay healthy over Christmas?

Hey Reader.You're entering the time of year when every weekend becomes booked up with Christmas drinks, and socials involving copious amounts of alcohol, excessive food and a real desire for comfort food. But how can you navigate all this and progress towards your goal? In today's issue of Lean Lifts, you'll find out how. Let's go. Managing Expectations around Christmas socials Before anyone tells you the average weight gain over Christmas is like 5lbs or something. It isn't. It's closer to...

Lean Lifts: All or Nothing or always something? The goal of Lean Lifts is to give you an insight into what's working and what isn't when it comes to getting lean, strong and healthy whilst juggling what life throws at you. My clients are always busy Reader. And so this is something that helps them get through the busy periods. Whenever you get busy in life and use it as an excuse to stop training, this is for you. Turn the dial down, or up, depending... The thing about being busy is that it...

Lean Lifts: 3 Mistakes You're Making in The Gym The goal of Lean Lifts is to give you an insight into what's working and what isn't when it comes to getting lean, strong and healthy whilst juggling what life throws at you. Here's to the first of many, weekly installments. 1: Varying Your Exercises Too Often When listening to most of my clients who've been training consistently before coaching with myself, they've always done random workouts with varied exercises. Studies show that when you...

Have you ever tried losing weight without tracking your food on myfitnesspal? Or becoming more aware of your habits? Whilst weight loss comes down to calories in vs calories out, you can of course drop weight - more specifically body fat - without religiously tracking your calories on your phone. But you have to be smart, and patient. Using myfitnesspal is incredibly easy, if done right because it allows you to see exactly where your calories are coming from and how many you’ve consumed. A...

You know I’m not the one who talks about quick fixes and eliminating certain foods but as summer is around the corner, here are a few things I generally do to stay lean and get ready for my holiday (although I am not going away this summer 😂) and to be honest, I doubt the weather here will be good enough to get my top off at the beach LOL. Here's the shape I was in for my most recent holiday: No alcohol. Especially in Summer, or leading up to a holiday I don’t drink it, and worst case, maybe...

One of my clients is off on business to Australia and NZ over the next two weeks. She's a highly decorated RAF personnel. One of the issues, besides getting over jet lag is the limited time she has to train, around 30 mins per day - 5:30am to 6. It's a horrible time to train at the best of times, let alone jet lag creeping its way in and trying to throw you off course. Couple that with menopause, and a decrease in strength (due to time of training and the late-night traveling), here's what I...

I've always been someone to live in the moment Reader. Holidays, equipment, courses. If I want it, I'll buy it. (And then usually worry about the consequences afterward 😂). That is, until I started talking to my clients who are investors, hedge fund managers, and CFOs of start-ups. For them, money has always been at the forefront of their mind. How can I make the most of what I have? So a little while ago, I started to invest my money in stocks, shares, and index funds. You know, the S&P500,...

The first question I inevitably get when chatting with clients, or at randomers at a bar when I tell them what I do is... 'What do I eat then?' Whilst it means well, it opens up a can of worms and the so-called client/stranger clinging to every word that I'm about to say. As if I have the magic pill that will transform the way they eat then and there. But let's be honest, we all know how to eat and what to eat. At least I hope we do, and if not - I'll answer it here and now. To get lean,...

When I first interact with new clients I'm almost always listening to times when they used to be on it 100% and need to get back to that state. Life has got busy, but when they're on it, they're on it. And they desperately need to get back to that headspace to have any chance of getting fit again. The thing is, life is messy, and as much as we want and feel we need to be on it all of the time, it's that exact mindset that's keeping them in the position they're in now. Out of shape,...

There's this term in the personal trainer space that goes like this: 'Fill your empty buckets' And when it comes to your progress in 2024, it's a good mantra to follow. See, most of the time we only do the things we like in the gym. Train our upper body, only do cardio sessions, lots of gym classes, or only train our arms. It means we leave a lot of empty buckets. The best exercise advice I can give you in 2024 is to fill your empty buckets. If you lift 4x a week, you probably need more...