After an extensive selection process, four worthy winners have been chosen to take part in the Men’s Fitness and Optimum Nutrition Upgraders challenge. MF caught up with the four Upgraders and their coaches to find out what their goals are for the next six months – and how they’re going to get there. Keep checking their journey on our Your Upgrade channel for regular updates.
Here’s what each Upgrader receives…
• Expert coaching, personal training plans and one-on-one sessions
• Six months’ worth of Optimum Nutrition supplements
• Tailored help to encourage each Upgrader to reach his personal fitness target
CrossFit
THE Upgrader
Alistair McGovern
THE GOAL Qualify for the Battle Of The Beasts competition – I entered last year and just missed the cut-off date.
I’ve been doing CrossFit for two and a half years, but I feel like the sporadic nature of my training is really holding me back. I think I’ll really benefit from having a structured training plan to follow, and if I can add around 5kg of lean muscle mass and increase my one-rep maxes in a few key lifts along the way – ideally getting my snatch from 82.5kg to 90kg+ and my squat from 175kg to 190kg – that’d be brilliant.
THE Coach
Andy Edwards
Head coach and founder of Perpetual Performance
My first priority with Alistair is establishing what his weaknesses are and working on his lifting technique, which will take a couple of months. After that, we’ll add competition-specific metabolic conditioning training to his workouts, which will significantly improve his performance. Simply sticking to a structured training plan, rather than training whenever he can fit it in, will make a huge difference and give Al a great chance of qualifying for Battle Of The Beasts.
Fitness modelling
THE Upgrader
Matt Botwright
THE GOAL Enter my first competition as a fitness model – and look my best ever.
I’ve been lifting weights for nearly five years and I’m in pretty good shape, but without a coach I’m struggling to get to the next level. There’s a local competition called Pure Elite that I could enter in November, but to get to that standard I need to add muscle – especially to my calves, which currently measure 45cm, and my chest, which is 109cm – and get leaner. Having such a high level coach to guide and motivate me for the next six months will make a massive difference.
THE Coach
Shaun Stafford
Two-time WBFF Pro Fitness Model World Champ
If you want to change your body, you have to change your training, so the first thing I’m going to do with Matt is get him doing a new routine. That will force his body to adapt and stimulate new muscle growth. The other thing that’ll make a huge difference is a strict diet that will fuel his training, help him pack on lean muscle and make it easier to cut back and reveal his abs nearer to competition time. I’m confident that we can get him competition-ready with 5-6% subcutaneous body fat and more lean muscle in the right places over the next six months.
Beach body
THE Upgrader
Ben Marum
THE GOAL Get below the 10% body fat mark (I’m at around 15% now) and improve my dumbbell bench PB of 84kg.
I’ve been lifting weights for four or five years, and taking it seriously for the past two, but I feel like my diet is really holding me back. I do track my macros, but I admit I’m not the cleanest eater and I’m hoping that having a strict nutrition plan to follow and a coach to motivate me will help me stay on track. If I can get ripped and add some lean muscle and improve my lifts in the process, that’d be great too.
THE Coach
Tim Chase
Coach, fitness model and WBFF competitor
To get Ben in beach-ready shape, I’m going to start by training his whole body twice a week over five sessions. We’ll include lots of big compound lifts, focusing on tempo and workout intensity, plus the occasional post-workout interval session to ramp up his metabolism and maximise calorie burn. Sticking to a clean diet – with plenty of protein, wholefoods and no processed foods – will be hugely beneficial for Ben too, and I’m very confident that we can reveal his abs, increase his muscle mass and get him down to less than 10% body fat in six months’ time.
Rugby
THE Upgrader
Niall Moody
THE GOAL
Beat the the par score for the anaerobic shuttle test (215-220sec for a non-pro back row player) and improve my 170kg deadlift.
I’ve played rugby all my life at a decent level, but in the past few years a series of injuries – including a torn knee ligament that required surgery – have severely limited my appearances and ability to contribute on pitch. Ideally I’d like to play at least 12 out of the 20 games next season and beat my previous total tries record of 11. I’ve always enjoyed gym training, and if possible I’d love to get my deadlift PB up from 170kg to 200kg – and beat my all-time pull-up record of five.
THE Coach
Andy Edwards
Saracens RFC strength and conditioning coach
Given Niall’s injury history, the first and most important thing to do is assess how he moves. This allows us to work out how best we can work around his movement pattern problems and strengthen any weak areas to help him avoid further injuries. Then the aim will be to build a solid strength foundation – especially in his lower body – and work on developing his conditioning base, before adding in more rugby-specific drills. This strategic approach will give him the best chance of completing a full season, as well as improving his lifting.
