Sunday 27 March 2016

Meet the coaches: Kavan Byrne

weightlifting, upandcut, kavan byrne, irish fitness, bodybuilding, gym



In my last post, we got a great insight into the mind of Mike Samuels as part of the 'Meet the Coaches' series. This time out I've been speaking to Kavan Byrne, he's a guy that I've been following for a long time and whom I have a lot of respect for. I've been following his antics since his first show, not only is he a phenomenal athlete, he's a great guy. So without further ado, let's get to it.
Q. Tell us a little about your background. Have you always been health and fitness oriented? Have you always been a coach? If not, tell us about what you did before and why you wanted to become a coach.

A. Well I wasn't born but I was raised in a gym. My parents owned gyms all through my childhood and bodybuilders and the fitness industry was something i was very much exposed to and very much involved in from a young age, it was where I started my fitness and bodybuilding journey. I worked in and managed a supplement shop for 5 years through college from the age of 17/18 before I came a coach so I'm a bit of a supplement buff aswell :)



Q. As a coach, what are the key things that you try to instil in your clients?

A. Train smart not hard. There's a time and place to go balls to the wall but there's no point lifting everything unless it's with intent and understanding the reason as to why you're lifting it and what you want from it.

kavan byrne, weightlifting, irish fitness, irish coach, muscle, gym



Q. Have you ever competed in any bodybuilding/powerlifting/sport related competitions?

A. I have placed 3rd in Juniors in NABBA Mr. Ireland 2012 & 2013 and last year I placed 2nd in that same class the day after placing 4th in the RIBBF Nationals Junior class :) I'm 23 on the 1st March of this year so it's my last year as a junior and a good time to send me some monster zero as a present Al ;)

(Note from the author - The Monster must have gotten lost in the post, or it could be that I was just sending empty cans..)

Q. Describe your own training style/approach

A. I'm currently training powerlifting in Boyneside Strength & Performance , my coach Dean Gartland uses a conjugate system which I loves 2 upper body days and 2 lower body days one dynamic (speed work) and one max effort :) With bodybuilding, I like to pre exhaust every muscle group to begin with, work it as maximally and optimally as possible for a main move, work it from a stretched position then a finishing move to flood the blood in

Q. Who is your biggest inspiration? (Fitness or otherwise) and why?

A. I draw inspiration from a lot of different places and I always have, the bigger dude in the gym, my parents, my friends and from a pro level Flex Wheeler, Flex Lewis, Justin Compton and then the younger dudes Cody Montgomery and Dallas McCarver are big inspirations at the moment

fitness, training, irish coach, weightlifting, upandcut, boyneside strength



Q. What would be your words of advice to anyone just starting out?

A. Enjoy it. It's a marathon not a sprint, don't try and take everything and do everything all at once. If you weigh 60kg soaking weight, don't try and get shredded like Lipsett, bulk up and build some muscle and a foundation (without becoming a blob) Matt Wenning is a popular powerlifting coach in the states and has made the point that if your foundation isn't all that wide you can only peak so high. So the bigger the foundation, the bigger the peak

Q. There's a huge difference in your physique between your bodybuilding competitions. So it really begs the question - Is it something to do with the beard?

A. Between my first and second show I put on 14kg of stage weights, now I could've been lighter but I did some growing. Face hair is the key and anybody who disagrees has a baby face hahaha

Q. What supplements do you currently use?

A. My go tos are a decent Whey protein, glutamine a good BCAA and intra carb powder. I'm using some Olimp and MyProtein stuff at the moment that are pretty decent

Q. Any projects on the horizon that you can give us a teaser of?

A. I'll be at BodyPower with my Sponsors Up&Cut and catching up with sown friendly faces in the industry :) Few photo shoots and then of course I'll be back on stage this October to claim the NABBA Junior Mr. Ireland title ;)

bodybuilding, weightlifting, competition, flexing, irish coach, upandcut




So there you have it, a quick crash course in the life and times of Kavan Byrne. If you're interested in finding out more, check out his social media channels -

Twitter - www.twitter.com/KayByrne_GWH

Instagram - www.instagram.com/kavb_gwh


As always, you can catch me on social media using the buttons below...
twitter, health, fitness, blog, writing, rugby instagram, health, fitness, muscle, nutrition, blog, writing




Saturday 26 March 2016

Bodybuilding on a budget

This next article comes from Adam Foster of Shreddybrek and is all focused on bodybuilding on a budget. Most people think that it costs a lot to eat healthily in general and usually use that as an excuse to binge on less expensive, less nutritionally dense foods. This article should change your mind a little, so without further ado, take it away Adam...

adam foster, shreddybrek, cheap bulking, cheap bodybuilding, low cost food

“Eat Big To Get Big” what a cliché.
We’ve all heard it, and as cliché as it sounds…. It’s true. You can’t gain weight without eating “big”.
But for the “casual” gym goer eating big means eating expensive…. But that doesn’t have to be the case.

Seriously, I’m speaking from experience.
I’m 25 now, but I was once an 18 year old, going to Uni, working part time, paying for bus passes, University books, gym membership, and food.
Whilst I don’t eat like this now, when I was on a tight budget, it worked so well for me.
As a competitive bodybuilder, blogger and YouTube video maker, I get asked the same questions from blog comments, emails, YouTube comments and from guys in the gym.
“How do you afford to eat!?”
“I can’t afford to eat like you, what should I do?”

Truth is, these people just make assumptions about what I eat. Heck, they make assumptions about what all bodybuilders eat.
These assumptions are probably made up from “pro bodybuilders” and what magazines publish.
This is a far cry from the reality of me and you hitting the gym and trying to make some gains.
We don’t have the luxury of having no job. Being paid by a supplement company to train, and compete.
That’s just life.
We need to make the most of our situation. Whether we’re earning £3,000 a year, £30,000 a year or £300,000 a year – there is a way we can all eat, supplement, and workout.

Here are my top tips for eating like a bodybuilder on a budget. All based from my experiences from Uni and beyond!

1.    There’s more to gaining muscle than protein
2.       Buy in bulk
3.       Protein powder is your cheap ass friend – embrace it
4.       Prep in advance, and don’t buy pre-prepared anything

More Than Protein

People often think “to gain muscle eat all protein” completely forgetting about carbs and fats.
My macro breakdown is roughly
50-55% carbs
30-35% protein
10-20% fat
That somehow adds up to 100%....
Anyways, as you can see, carbs makes up a large part of my overall macro and calorie intake.
The best thing is …. Carbs are cheap!

carbohydrates, cheap food, cheap bodybuilding, budget, adam foster, shreddybrek


Here are my recommendations for cheap carbs
·         Rice
·         Potato
·         Oatmeal
Aaaand that’s it.
If you’re having 5/6 meals a day – alternate these carb sources so you’re having 2 meals of each.
If 3 carb sources aren’t quite enough for you then you can also throw in these slightly more expensive options;

·         Sweet Potato
·         Ground Rice
·        Cereal
      Cornflakes
      Rice Crispies
·         Rice Cakes
·         Bananas

All are relatively cheap, all are easy to prepare.

Cheap Fats
This is sooooo easy!
Peanut Butter!
A 1kg tub from somewhere like Myprotein is just £4.99.
1kg is “bulk buying” but that leads onto a point I’ll cover later.
You can go for almond butter, cashew butter, or just straight up nuts BUT!
Peanut butter is cheaper, and tastes nicer.

peanut butter, cheap bodybuilding, cheap food, adam foster, shreddybrek


Cheap Protein Sources
The cheapest protein source by far, is whey protein powder. A lot of people think supplements are expensive, and those people buy them from Tesco or Asda.
Seriously, if you’re clued up – you would never ever buy supplements from a supermarket.
You can easily pick up 1kg of whey protein concentrate powder for just under £10.
1kg of whey will give you around 40 servings – each one packing around 20g of protein. BUT if you buy in bulk (which I’ll cover later) then you get them even cheaper. It makes sense – and you know it does.
Protein powder isn’t anything special though. It doesn’t make you gain muscle quicker, or make you stronger. It’s just a source of protein. Think of it as nothing more than this.
Other cheap protein sources include;
·         Whole eggs
·         Tuna
·         Chicken Breast – Don’t buy from the supermarkets. Musclefood sells it for cheap, but you can get it for even cheaper (usually) by striking a deal with a local butcher – if you buy in bulk.
·         Milk
·         Cottage Cheese
·         Ground Turkey
·         Ground Beef
Plenty to pick from there, so you should never get bored.

protein, bodybuilding, cheap food, bodybuilding budget, adam foster, shreddybrek

Buy In Bulk

I cannot stress this enough….. BUY IN BULK!
Chicken breast from Tesco is £8.17 for 1 kg. Here it is: http://www.tesco.com/groceries/product/details/?id=288879417
I get 1kg of chicken from my local butchers for £4.33 …. Almost half the price. BUT to get it for this cheap I have to buy 15kg of it at once, for £65.
I easily get 5 meals out of 1kg. So I get 75 meals for £65. That’s just £0.87 a meal.
You can always go halves with a friend, or just save your cash up, and buy it in 1 go.
You’re going to need it.
The same goes for protein powder.
Lets use Myprotein Impact whey as an example. Its RRP is £12.69 for 1kg here http://www.myprotein.com/sports-nutrition/impact-whey-protein/10530943.html
So for 5kg that would be £63.45
Buy a 5kg pouch and it costs just £46.79. Combine this with a http://cheapproteindiscountcodes.co.uk my protein discount code, and you can get at least an extra 10% off. Sometimes, you can get 30% off. That would make 5kg of impact whey from Myprotein just £32.78.
Again, using the 25g serving size, this means each serving of 20g of protein will cost you under £0.17 a scoop. Lets say you need 2 servings for meal…. You’re getting 1 meals worth of protein for under £0.35.
Butttttttttttttt, if you wanna keep heading to Tesco buying their brands… go ahead ;)
By no means do you have to use MyProtein. I’m simply using them as an example.
I would personally however recommend one of the big, cheap, UK protein bulk suppliers. The following are all well known within the UK, reputable, and offer cheap protein, especially when buying in bulk

·         Myprotein
·         Protein Dynamix
·         Bulk Powders
·         Go Nutrition
·         The Protein Works
·         Bodybuilding Warehouse

All of these companies offer a very similar level of quality, at similar price points. Shop around to find the best discounts, offers or prices, and then stick with a brand.

(Note from Alex - JBC Nutrition is also a great bulk protein supplier, use the code JBCALEX04 at checkout for 10% off)

protein powder, cheap protein, bodybuilding budget, adam foster, shreddybrek

Prep

In the words of Chris Jericho
“Never Ev….ev….eeeevvvvvvvvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr” buy pre prepared food. Microwave rice is £1.50-£20 for 1 pack which will do you 1 meal.
1 kg of raw, uncooked rice in comparison, can be picked up for around £1.50 – and easily give you 10 meals minimum.
1 of my rice meals is only 70g raw rice. This means a 1kg bag is giving me 14 servings. Assume a £1.50 price tag, and that means im getting each rice meal for around £0.11
But preparing goes beyond food prep.
You should;

·         Establish macros
·         Draw up a meal plan
·         Write a shopping list
·         Stick to this

This means you won’t deviate from the plan, buy food and waste it.

bodybuilding, meal prep, healthy food, adam foster, shreddybrek

Wrapping Up

As you can see, this article has shown you can bodybuilding on the cheap.
It has contained no fancy, expensive supplements. Hell, the only supplement it contains is a protein powder.
It contains no expensive or extravagant foods. Just basics.
Apply these tips to your own diet, and start fueling the gain train, with the cheapest, but best fuel, available.
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