Workout Routine for Lois

Occasionally we like to highlight clients who achieved particularly stunning results.

Lois Day definitely fits the bill. Her pictures do most of the talking but we’ve also included a few words from Hakim Medfai, who trained her. He’ll go through her general workout routine and nutrition approach, plus talk about the importance of recovery.

Massive congratulations on your achievements Lois.

Hakim –

“Any training approach should factor in a person’s current lifestyle and training habits. It’s not about immediately smashing it up in the gym. We need to know a person’s training history, injury status and recovery ability, otherwise a program that’s good in theory can produce mediocre results in reality.

In Lois’ case it was a classic case of overtraining and also the wrong type of exercise. Too much overall volume and not enough focus on proper progressive weight training had led to a plateau in fat loss. Basically Lois was working hard to get nowhere.

The Workout Routine

We had to strip it back and build good habits. Three days a week of properly structured, correctly performed and appropriately loaded weight training beats random classes any day of the week. We paid particular attention to the weaker areas, which nine times out of ten will be the back of the body (hamstrings, glutes, upper back).

A typical workout looked like this…

A1 – Trap Bar Deadlift 4x 8

A2 – Incline Dumbbell Bench 4×12

B1 – Split Squat 3 x 12

B2 – Single Arm Row 3×12

C1 – Kettlebell Swing 3×20

C2 – TRX Row 3×12

C3 – Hanging Leg Raise 3×12

One thing people often overlook is the importance of rest in this era of go hard 24/7. This is unsustainable, especially in the gym, and usually will make people feel run down and stall your progress.

Recovery is a vital part of muscle development. This means prioritising quality sleep, which means saying no to Thursday night drinks or big party weekends. Remember; you’re trying to achieve something remarkable, you don’t have to live like this every day of the year. But you should have periods of actually giving your body time to recover.

When partnered with a disciplined nutrition plan this delivers every time. So if you’re in a rut with your training, consider your recovery!

Training week:

3x weight training

1x pilates/ yoga

1x HIIT session

The approach to nutrition was simple. We removed all processed foods, grains and dairy and increased the amount of healthy fats. The bulk of the carbs would be centred around training for energy, recovery and replenishment which meant calories were reduced on non-activity days.

Lois was disciplined enough to apply these changes to her daily life allowing for the occasional alcoholic beverage (or two) without any negative impact on her results. Ultimately you need to buy into the journey and have patience to get the best results. Too many people lack a long term plan so they never get close. Lois showed exactly what dedication and patience can achieve and still managed a few trips and festivals along the way!”

Want to work out with the best personal trainers in London? Contact us now for more details.