Make Me Hot contest Week 2

Well the hard work has begun, the blood sweat and tears have started flowing - and the aches are a real testament to the effort the guys have been putting in.

Ok it sounds like the beginning of some epic war movie, with entrails leaking out of gunshot wounds and 3 hardy soldiers battling towards a bitter end. In reality, there's no gunshot wounds... yet.

The boys have been doing it tough with their first 2 weeks. It's been a bit of a whirlwind for all, as we went from selecting the contestants, to calling them, arranging as many initial tests and training sessions as we could given everyone's already full schedules - then starting them off in the right direction.

As with any good training program, before we have the guys lift a weight it was important to find out where their previous training (if any) and current lifestyles, had gotten them to. We needed to know strength, fitness, flexibility - and any biomechanical issues they had. Then it was time to analyse diet and make suggestions for meal plans, and work with ASN (www.asn.com.au) to get some great supplements started for the boys. Once the physical assessments were done we had to make sure our contestants were well trained on their programs so they could start doing their workouts solo.

Week 1

There was little time to lose between notifying our lucky 3 contestants that they were about to embark upon 12 gruelling, guided weeks of body changes - and getting them in to do initial assessments and consults at Golds Gym Surry Hills, where they would be basing their training for the next 3 months.

The MMH trainers - Ianthea and I!

In every case, if a person hasn't exercised for a while, or if they've been exercising without any particular focus or guidance, it is important to get an idea of baseline health and fitness. Greg, Ash and Andre all had to submit to an hour and a half of testing each with myself and one of my trainers Ianthea. We measure everything, from hamstring flexibility in 3 positions, to how their squat looks and what this can tell us about how their lower body muscles are working together; to complete strength testing for the upper body. We need to know how the previous lives of these guys have affected their shoulders, knees, backs, hips, ankles - the lot.

With the test results we could start developing tailored programs for each.
    * Greg needed a lot of shoulder press work, supplemented with shoulder stabiliser strength. Previous injuries meant that using heavy barbell lifts on chest, shoulders, or legs, would be potentially unbalancing.
    * Ash had good fitness, but needed more glute and back strength so as not to develop poor posture, back pain or overuse injuries. His upper body showed a need for more back and shoulder work too to balance out chest.
    * Andre had a number of imbalances through shoulders, upper back, glutes and ankles. Whilst we could give some initial corrective exercises, it was time to send the boys on for further testing and Active Release Technique work with Mike Badke and Stretch Doctor at City Clinic in Sydney - an essential service for getting the most out of Greg Ash and Andre as soon as possible!