While most of us want to look our best all year round, it becomes more of a focus in the lead up to summer. With this mind, we chat to Reflex Elites and fitness and nutrition experts Emil Hodzovic, Gauri Chopra and Alex Crockford on their summer approach, nutrition and workouts.
As well as being a Reflex Ambassador, Gauri Chopra is also a PT, online coach, fitness model and founder of The London Rooftop Gym. So, she’s in the know when it comes to getting into shape for summer, and her approach is realistic and motivational.Here’s her two key pieces of advice:
Number 2: Have a plan in place. If you have a program set in place, there’s no room to second guess yourself or go in half-heartedly. You’ll be surprised at how such a simple thing can make all the difference. All you have to do is turn up and follow the plan!” Alex Crockford, another PT who knows his stuff, as shown by the success of his #CrockFit fitness plans, agrees with Gauri: “I think following a plan that you can get consistent with is so important. It keeps you motivated and builds momentum. Without consistency, that summer body is not going to happen!”
Nutrition
Moving onto the right nutrition for those summer bodies, we get the lowdown from medical doctor, fitness coach, Emil Hodzovic:
“I would recommend taking the basic products regardless of goal and these would include vitamin D, a multivitamin such as Nexgen Pro, Omega 3s or Krill Oil and Creatine.
Then on top of this, it is very useful to have a good quality protein shake. The most important factors when choosing a shake would be protein content and quality and then taste is a close second. When I’m trying to lean down, ideally I want a protein product which tastes good even when mixed with water (to save calories!) and has minimal carbs and fats in it. Instant Whey Pro is pretty good but Micro Whey really is the next level when it comes to good tasting protein.”
So when you’ve got the right protein sorted, when’s best to take it? Alex recommends preparing a shake so when you’re done working out you can have it straight away. Gauri on the other hand doesn’t worry too much about when to consume a protein shake: “I generally like to make a nice protein smoothie when I get home from the gym, or simply make and eat good high protein meal. I tend to have post workout protein shakes when I know I won’t be eating for a while or when I am on the go to help tie me over till I can get a proper meal in.”
There’s no right or wrong answer on when to take a shake as long as you’re having the right amount of protein for your goals. We speak to Emil about how much protein he consumes when he’s looking to lean down:
“I usually aim to keep my protein to around 2g per kg body weight so at 115kg this is around 230g for me. As I lean down and start to drop bodyfat I tend to increase my protein intake slightly to preserve muscle and I can go to 250g or even 280g per day. As well as maintaining and growing muscle, protein is great for keeping you full when dieting!”
We also get his thoughts on carb consumption when you’re looking to get leaner:
“When getting lean, it is all about calorie balance. As calories become more limited and protein stays the same or even increases, carbs become more limited as well. This means that you need to be picky with carbs - both in terms of sources of carbohydrates but also when you are eating them. When dieting hard you want to focus on carbohydrates around training to fuel the session in the most effective way possible. For me this is often a normal meal 3-4 hours prior to working out. I tend to opt for a meal with potatoes or rice. Then an hour before my workout I have a One Stop Xtreme or an Instant Whey Pro shake along with a banana.”
Working out
Of course, our ambassadors don’t rely on nutrition alone to achieve their goals. Gauri tells us about her favourite workouts in the lead up to summer:
“I like to do a combination of Low Intensity Steady State cardio (LISS) and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) or anything that gets me moving in a non-conventional way. For LISS, my favourite thing to do is to go on an outdoor walk or hike and aim for a step count. It’s much more enjoyable than walking on a treadmill in my opinion!
For HIIT, I keep it short (10-20mins) and like to either do a circuit consisting of 4-6 exercises repeated 4-6 times, or use a 20 sec on 40 sec off protocol on a cardio machine of choice!”
Alex takes a similar approach: “I am always getting my daily steps or activity done. 10-15k steps at least as an overall low intensity output. But a few times a week I will include tough gym circuits, or bodyweight HIIT, or treadmill HIIT to get the heart rate high and achieve a big calorie burn.”
Emil opts for more structure so he can track his progress and maintain the amount he can lift: “I track my steps and calorie intake and output. The workouts are usually bodybuilding style workouts and I try to hit all of my muscle groups 2-3 times a week. I keep sessions short and sharp at around 45-60 minutes, including warm up, and then try to do my cardio in separate sessions.
Although I will use compound exercises such as squats and bench press as the base of my workouts I will also use a lot of isolation exercises to really hone in on specific muscles.”
A big thank you to Emil, Alex and Gauri for sharing their top tips with us. If you’d like to keep up to date with our Elite you can visit The Locker or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
4 min read time
