General

A Day In The Life
By Ian Duckett.

Hi guys, how are you all out there?
Well I hope, loving life, enjoying each day and making the most of your time.

I get many emails regarding my eating habits, they are often centered on how do I stay so lean?
How do I eat six small meals and still work it around my clients?
This is no problem for me;
my healthy eating habit is ingrained in. I enjoy the foods I eat, all be it they are boring for most people, add to that I don’t eat meat now. I don’t want to push this on everybody, but it has worked for me. Sure I could say that and look like shit sat here. But it has, I have had no body fat trouble at all and have to eat plenty to stop myself getting too lean.

The best way I think I can give you an idea of how I function in a day is to give you a day’s diary. I have kept diaries and log books since I was 17 years old. Got them all, stacks of them, at my age now. I have over the years found them invaluable, as I look back through them regular. I once read somewhere that a training and eating diary will be the most informative book you will ever read; I would agree as it tells you about you.
You will learn what works for you.

Monday 24th Feb.
Awoke at 5:45 am and ran a bath, while this was running I put the fire on down stairs and popped the lights on. When I got in my bath, my day ahead started to unfold in my mind. The kids greeted me, they love to watch me have a shave; Louis at fourteen months old more so. He won’t when he starts it himself and by the size of him it will not be long. After a spot of ironing, I got dressed and was downstairs making breakfast by 6:45am; today’s fair was 4oz of organic oats, one organic weetabix 1oz raisins and 8oz of goats- milk. This is mixed together and microwaved for two minutes. I had this with a cup of coffee and some water; yes even the coffee is organic. Louise calls me captain organic, as in a joke comic character as I do still enjoy reading comics.
7:30 am I was on my way to work with the music blasting out on my CD player in my new Chrysler PT Cruiser. Sorry I just had to get that in, so I was on my way to work singing and spinning my chrome alloy wheels!!!.

Opening the gym is a job in itself as it is that bloody big, switching on takes time.
After this I have a mop around, oil the machines and sweep the stairs, now I am all set for the day of business.
I check out my client diary, pull out their files and get stuck into program writing.

Emma, one of my girls who works for me, then arrives. So we get our heads together and planned out the week ahead, diets that needed doing and general gym work. At 10 am I have a half of a Met-rx shake with 23ml of udos choice oil and one banana and one apple.
E-mails were next for around twenty minutes; I then got set for a couple of prospective clients at 10:30am.
The two of them arrived and we talked over the components of my idea of personal training. After finding out the client’s goals, I explain what it will take for them to reach that goal. I explain what is expected of them, how hard I want them to work, after an initial building up phase of course. Then it is hard work = results all the way.
I talk about healthy eating; eating clean I call it, lifestyle change, the lot. After that if they are willing to give me 100% I will give them the same and we work together.
By this point the perspective client is wondering, either- what the hell have I let myself in for, or great- bring it on. Many do not make it past the interview, yes I would call it an interview, to make sure they are made of the right stuff. I don’t want people who will not do their best; it wastes my time and theirs. I am so busy with this side of my business I can afford to be picky; I can work with only the clients who give 100%. That is why I am so busy and why I get results.

No workouts are coasting; and training is a productive and serious business. I sound like a b-----d and I am, I get called it and other names all the time; but I get results.
They both passed the test and at the time of writing this we are up and running with the workouts and working hard. After the interview I worked a client from 11:30am till 12:15pm, this included, warm up, an all body workout and an all- body -stretching program afterwards.
At 12:30pm I had another client for a CV workout this took again around 45 minutes. By this time I was ready for my next meal.

My meals are all pre-prepared the night before, I must say though that the way I eat does not take much prep, but I still do it, doing this keeps you on the right path, if your food is with you, you have less chance of straying from that path.
That day’s fuel for awesome workouts and optimum recovery was pasta and steamed vegetables. I read a little while eating and for five minutes after, then checked out the next client’s workout and set up.
This was again a CV workout; a one to one interval training circuit, these seem to be hated by my clients. But they are popular, because they do work, great results, strike that, fantastic results have been had with one weights workout then 3-4 days later a CV one.
Then after this, yes- you have guessed it, another client this one was a weights all body workout and took me to about 3:45pm. I checked my diary the next client was due at 4:30pm, so time for a meal.
This one was nuts and dried fruit, I checked out the program the next client was about to be put through. Then with the help of my staff we set up what we could.

The 4:30pm client was only on his seventh workout with me and was now up and running and training very hard. Already I could see a difference in his build, waistline reducing, shoulders square, posture improved. When this client had finished I had another one for a CV workout. This client has for the last four months trained with me once a week on a hard boot camp CV circuit as I like to call them. In that period along with a slightly healthier diet he had managed to lose 20 pounds.
Since the time of writing this nearly a month on as I have only been able to write a few minutes a day. He has now started training twice a week with me, one CV session and one weights; he is now eating very clean. There is nothing like gains and success to motivate you to an even higher level. After this chap I managed to get in a meal, this one was aimed at a workout to be had later.

A good friend of mine Stuart, a chap I have mentioned before to you guys had scheduled to have a workout with Chris and myself so hence the late hour workout for me. The meal was a fairly large bowl of oats and raisins, with some fruit to top it off.

My next client had and does travel from Manchester to train with me, which is a good hour and a quarter drive, all that way to be put through 30 minutes of hell. This young lad comes to see me only every two weeks for a workout, technique brush up and intensity check. Every time I see him he looks a little bigger and is always a little stronger, he is young and doing things right so he will, without a doubt improve. Then I had one more client to attend to for the day and I am just as enthusiastic with the first as with the last. The last client of the day I think gets worked the hardest, as I get nastier as the day goes on, poor lad got the full works. I then had a ten- minute break and a coffee and got my head into my workout ahead.

Stuart and Chris came in at about 8 o’clock we all talked over the workout and I then got changed into my battle fatigues and we got cracking.

THE WORKOUT.
After warm-ups these were my weights for the day...

Bench Press 220 lbs 1x4 1x3.
Dips 101 lbs 1x5 1x4.
Shoulder Press Machine,
lever type 203lbs 1x5 1x4.
Chins 79 lb 1x5 1x4.
Squats 313 lbs 1x5.
Calves standing 500 lbs 1x5 1x5.
Hanging leg raise 15 lbs 2x11.

During the workout I finished off the last of my 3 litres of water I drink in a day. I was happy with this workout as my strength is slowly coming on, this workout opened my eyes a little as I realised how far I can also go. Stuart, although he is about 50 to 60 pounds heavier than me, is incredibly strong, way ahead. He was fantastic at dips even though he was heavier, he was strong all round and has a great build as well.
I have since started doing one workout a week with Stuart and he is already rubbing off on me. It is not the first time we have trained together as in the old days we worked out for many a bodybuilding show. Now we are training for a power- lifting meet. That is not forgetting Chris; although he is not training for competition he is always there for me, through thick and thin, rain or shine.

About fifteen minutes after the workout I had half a Met-rx with water and some Udos oil and some fruit. By then it was about 9:30pm and closing time, I said goodbye to Emma and set off on my way home. When I got in I had a few minutes chat with my wife and found out what the kids had been up to. My wife works far harder than I ever could bringing up our two non-sleeping children. She puts up with a lot bless her, as I am always at work.
We used to work together for about seventy hours a week in the gym. So over the last four years (Molly’s age) I have hardly seen her. When I open the new place I will do less hours as I have less overheads to find.

I made my way upstairs and set up my bag and clothes for the next day while my bath was running. After my bath I made my supper, which was three eggs and six ounces of whole-wheat toast and honey. The bread I make myself on Wednesdays and Sundays and you are right, it is all- organic. I also set out my food for the next day and pre set breakfast.
By now Louis was up, which I was glad about as I got to see him for half an hour or so until he went back to his bed for another couple of hours and by then he will be in with us. We got in bed at about 10:45pm and I read for half an hour or so while Louise was giving it big ZZZZeds. I love to read and have done at bedtime all my life; I would never be able to switch off otherwise.
Switch off I did at about 11:30pm looking forward to another day, soon be up I thought; cannot wait, life is great.

Take care out there,
Ian.