10 Side hustle ideas for 2020

Gone are the days where we to work our fingers to the bone until retirement age, accept our pension and live off shrapnel until we die having never really lived. These days everyone wants to know the quick fix to retiring at 30 so they can enjoy cocktails on a beach in St Lucia whilst being paid to...exist I guess; however "quick fix" is the problem. Nobody has the time to invest in anything, they simply want to reap the benefits after becoming an "expert" shortly after they finish watching a YouTube tutorial. 2020 is less than a month away and for some time I've been researching/planning different things to invest my time in which I'm confident will pay off after 10 years minimum of investing my time into. Yes, 10 years and potentially more If I have to, by then it will long have become a lifestyle and you can be sure I'll be damn good at it.

Is financial freedom something you've thought about in the past? If so, what route do you plan on taking to achieve it?

There are plenty of ways to earn an income on the side of your 9-5, eventually they could potentially lead you to quitting your 9-5 altogether If you become good enough at what you do. Financial freedom is the ultimate goal for pretty much everyone you talk to. Nobody actually enjoys their alarm disturbing their blissful slumber but do you hate your sleep being disturbed enough to do something about it? Sadly if not, that's a recipe for a depressing disaster.

What is an entrepreneur? Do you consider yourself one?

"A person who sets up a business or businesses, taking on risks in the hope of profit" As much as I'd love to, I personally do not consider myself an entrepreneur yet, however I have entrepreneurial tendencies. I recognise I'm wired differently to a lot of people I talk to and get excited when I cross paths with like minded individuals. Networking, interaction is key.

10 Side hustles for 2020

Below you'll find a list of potentially very financially lucrative side hustles I've found researching online/reading books.

1. Property investing - You already know about this but lemme guess, you're waiting to save up a deposit to buy a house like everyone else in the world? What If I told you, you don't need a deposit to own a property? *Drops mic*

2. Flipping - Buy low, sell high is pretty much the objective of the game. Ebay, Etsy, Amazon, Depop etc. Plenty of profit to be made on these platforms which can scale your products to a wider audience than your personal social media platforms.

3. House sitting - I love this one. I have this weird goal to be able to work (side hustle) whilst at work (Don't tell my manager) Now hear me out... If I booked holiday off work, to be paid to house sit THEN worked my side hustle from there, I'd essentially be still getting paid from work to work whilst doing work. #Winning

4. Web design - All businesses even remotely serious about increasing sales must have a website. Just because they already have one doesn't mean it couldn't do with some improvements. With some pretty straight forward learning how to design websites on sites like Wordpress/Wix you could help many smaller businesses for a fixed fee.

5. Meal planning - This is my own field I'd like to say I take pride in. Although I'd like to take it further than just planning meals for people if it were my company. I'd turn it into a course of some sort which teaches people about macronutrients also. However, I'm currently writing an e-book for exactly that but you see my point.

6. Sports Coaching - For those of you who are parents with young ones and taking them to Football, Basketball or whatever on the weekends, could you do the same? Offer better training elsewhere for a better rate and still make a small profit yourself?

7. Write an e-book - Are you knowledgeable on a particular subject? If yes, could you write a book? Amazon charges relatively low prices to use Kindle publisher whilst allowing you to take up to 70% royalties on your book. Non-fiction or fiction, let your imagination free.

8. Music lessons - Do you play any instruments? If so, are you good enough to teach someone else? Set your own rate, teach in the comfort of your own home (If you're ok with that of course)

9. Uber driver - It's not very difficult to meet the requirements to become an Uber driver. Once you prove you're eligible to drive (and over 21 years old) You can start working pretty much straight away, better yet, whenever you want. You don't even require your own car as they can provide rental options.

10. Dog walking/training - I reckon every 5/10 people that read this blog (Here's to wishful thinking) are dog lovers. Unfortunately some people cant make the time their dogs need to keep them fit & healthy, there's definitely a market for it. If you're already experienced with dogs maybe the next step up which is actually training them.

Make the jump!

A list of just 10 ideas, there's easily over 100 different way to earn money on the side. For those of you who already have side hustles/part time jobs I commend you massively! Being proactive about your future goals is an incredible trait. For those of you who don't I recommend you start doing your research now. Also, don't be put off if you simply cannot avoid a cost to start something up that you think you'd be good at, sometimes you have to spend money to make money and BE PATIENT! One thing I'm learning coming from a personal training background is that laziness and lack of time can pay really well. You just have to find the area you wish to exploit that.

I'm interested to know what pies you have your fingers in, please comment below or DM me on social media with what you do to earn extra cash/business ideas. I'd love to hear, maybe even work together, who knows.

Until next time

It's been a while...

Wow. 4 years since my last post, I definitely missed having somewhere to spill my thoughts. The last time I wrote one of these I definitely didn't see myself achieving what I have done this year and having so much to look forward to. I mean, I believed these things would happen, just a case of when. I guess there's a thin line between arrogance and self belief and it doesn't take much to distinguish which someone has, simultaneously both are often confused with one another. Personally I consider myself a "realistic optimist" good one huh?

Set a goal, tell the world, achieve it. My reasoning behind "telling the world" (By that I mean my non-interactive 2.5k instagram followers who constantly remind me I am in fact talking to myself) is a technique I use to hold myself accountable. If I put something out there, I apply that extra pressure of not failing, works for me. Plus it's sharing the journey of both highs and the lows, it's real...All social media has done is force us to care about what other people think. The overweight person that wants to join the gym isn't thinking about whether they'll achieve their goal, well, at least not before they're worried about what people in the gym will think about them. I digress...

This year I completed a goal I set 6 years ago as I watched it happen live I claimed one day I'd do the same. Winning my federation UKBFF's Mens Physique overall and achieving my IFBB Elite Pro card, I also bought a house with my best friend. None of it has really sunk in yet and I've been waiting for it to, however it's taken me a while to realise but I think it's because I've ingrained the notion to never settle. It's almost like, It's happened, boom, ok what's next? World championships? A bigger house?? Whilst I love that I think that way, I need to learn how to celebrate achievements whilst understanding i'm not content.

Shot by Dawson Visuals

I've rambled on in my social media about weight training/gym/bodybuilding for years and I'm so stoked that I blogged my journey also. I have every intention of re-reading every single blog I wrote on here back when I was 21? Long may it continue. Freelance writing sounds like a good challenge to me, here's to a creative 2020.

Youtube channel

Top 10 Broscience training protocols & misconceptions you need to leave behind in 2015!!

We're back!

...Just gonna leave this here.

From Fortai fitness to you guys (gym freaks to gym virgins) we hope you've smashed all your goals, achieved far and beyond what you thought you could and genuinely had a very productive 2015! If you haven't already done so, it's time to set even more challenging goals to help take you to the next level during 2016 both in and outside of the gym. Goal setting is actually much harder than many of us think, especially for training. Here are the Fortai Fitness top 10 Broscience training protocols you need to leave behind in 2015.

"Wait I'm confused, What the hell is Broscience?"  I'm glad you asked, It's quite simply put, Bullsh!t...

Fine I'll actually explain, It's basically all the rumours and trends gym goers follow with training or diet because (more often than not) the most shredded beast that goes their gym who they accidentally made eye contact with last week said so. He has absolutely NO scientific evidence but he must be right cause y'know, he's got big muscles 'n' stuff, right? WRONG! Here goes...

• No Carbs after 6pm (or whenever)

Probably one of the most common misconceptions going around. Why not? I don't really know what else to say about that one, I just have never understood why you would avoid it, oh! unless carbs make you bloated in general, fair enough, but that still doesn't explain those working with the time barrier. Lemme guess, someone told you? Or "I dunno, just heard it" If I don't eat a decent calorific  meal (including carbs) within an hour or so of going to sleep around 10pm, my stomach will wake me up come 2/3am? and have me scavenging through my refrigerator like a feral child.

Or Gollum...

• Carbs are my biggest enemy

Gonna have to point this towards the ladies I'm afraid. Let's get this straight, carbs are our bodies primary source of energy. Our organs use them as energy to function, why do you think they're the enemy? I call it "Carbophobia", written a post about that before, actually.

• Holiday in a month? Wicked! I'll stop eating carbs from right now

Surprise surprise another carbs related one. Right, if you stop eating carbs from any given date, you will lose weight. Of course you will, by taking the carbs out you will be causing a caloric deficit in your diet. However, do it all so suddenly and you'll cause damage to your metabolism. Weight loss will eventually stop all together (regardless of what more you do), you've probably nuked all the muscular gains you made whilst taking on adequate carbs, mood wings, problems with sleep,the list goes on!

• If I eat after 9pm it will all turn to fat cause your body isn't burning it as energy

*Sigh* This is quite simply down to the quality of your metabolism. If it's fast, this will not happen. Even if it's slow, I still don't think it will happen. Basically, I call Bullsh!t.

• Lift lighter weights and do more reps if you want to "tone up" 

Wrong! Lifting lighter and more does not mean you'll burn fat and "tone up". Give your muscles the exact same stimulus you were when were trying to build mass. They won't react to what you're thinking, only what stresses you present to them. If you stop lifting heavy enough to stimulate them, (By "stimulate" I mean expand the cross sectional area of any muscle to it's maximum potential) time under tension and reps range are most certainly training variables. However, when concerning  maximum overall growth, you have to up the weight! Or your muscles will not grow, (as much). By lifting light at best you'd maintain, worse case scenario they get smaller. 

• If I do 100 crunches before bed, I'll have a 6 pack in no time

No my friend, no you will not. Until you do something about that stubborn layer of fat covering them (Altering your diet by steadily dropping your carb intake and maybe incorporating some cardio too) you aint seeing any abs!

• Trying to "Tone up"

"Toning up" CANNOT be done in the gym. By "Toning up" what you mean is you want to see muscular definition and possibly vascularity. That's done in the kitchen with your choices of food...your diet. Correction* It can be done in the gym but by cardio which supplements a diet which puts you in a caloric deficit, nothing to do with weight training. Comprende?

• You MUST eat 6+ (or whatever) small meals per day if you're weight training

STFU bro, like, who even has time to do that?

• If you as a woman weight train, you'll look like a bodybuilder in no time.

Weight training and being scared of looking a bodybuilder in a month is like driving to your local Asda and being scared you're gonna to become a formula 1 driver during the journey.

• I'm gonna join a gym, It's my NY resolution

Strange one here, not Broscience or a misconception, I believe this is the most consistently, epically failed New years resolution pretty much since time began. I don't advise anyone makes joining the gym a resolution. Something happens between January 1st and February 1st aaand nobody can be arsed anymore, crazy. If you wanna join a gym, by all means go for it; just do it randomly, not as a resolution!

We hope we've opened up your eyes to some of the very few controversial travesties floating around in the gym world today. Don't be afraid to do your own research and believe in studies backed by real science :) 

Happy New Year and may you achieve all your goals and targets in 2016!

Fortai Fitness

Twitter - 

Twitter.com/JamesTreezy

Twitter.com/a_daleyfitness

Instagram - 

Instagram.com/james_fortai_fitness

Instagram.com/aaron_fortai_fitness

POSING!!!

 

 Attention all Mutants, Shredderz, Titans and Future Deity's today we would like to talk about one of our favorite topics, Posing.

There is so much more to stage posing than most people realize before they step under those bright lights with nowhere to hide. If we were to talk about every individual subject matter we would be here all night so we are just going to share with you our three main mantra's when it comes to posing;

1 - What the Judges cant see they cant Judge
2 - Movement is Essential
3 - HAVE FUN DOUCHE BAGS

So lets start with topic 1, now every true lifter is there own worst enemy, you should know exactly where your strengths and weaknesses lie in excruciating detail the next step is then making sure you pose effectively enough to ensure the judges can only see those breathtaking perculating pectoids and keep their eyes away from those mosquito bites you call biceps.
Round 2, Not so long ago Aaron and James decided to take a trip up north to watch the UKBFF British finals there they witnessed a bikini competitor who refused to stay still every 2 seconds she was swinging hips and flicking hair, as far as we were concerned she was the only person on that stage, if you can convince the judges of that also then there will be nobody else to beat you!
Round 3, People you have worked your asses off for weeks, months, years to get on that stage and you've got 15 minutes max to show the world the fruits of said labour so why I ask you WHY does your face/ stage presence tell me your mum threatened to take your xbox away if your didn't show the nice audience your back double biceps...have a good time peeps make it worth the trouble!

Before we forget the last bonus round has got to touch on personality and style, its all well and good having awesome technique and lines when it comes to posing but you've got to remember you have no voice up there just those moves so make sure you perfect your own style and I promise you the judges, the audience and even the other competitors will remember you. We both have our own unique styles but they were derived from a base point, Aaron for example like to interpret the posing of the great Men's Physique guys of today (Your Johnny Sebastian's & Mark Anthony's) whilst James prefers to recreate the posing of the classic gods of yesteryear (Your Frank Zane's and Lee Labrada's) either way just QUIT BEING A LIL BISH and win some goddamn titles Jheez! 

Thanks again for your time and we would like to introduce you to a few of our posing inspirations from both the immortal classic Era and the great physiques of today...

Mohamed Makkawy

Lee Labrada

Johnny Sebastian

Jeremy Buendia

The Fortai Fitness Instagram page

Instagram.com/Fortai_fitness

Twitter pages

Twitter.com/JamesTreezy

Twitter.com/A_DaleyFitness

Our Clothing sponsors Gymtees!

Gymtees.co.uk/

The Results!

Greetings FitFam!

As you all know we competed at the UKBFF Summer showdown in Bedford on June 29th. Aaron came 1st in the U173cm Men's physique & unfortunately James didn't place in the U178cm. However, much was learnt from the amazing experience for us both and we've set our objectives of what happens next. On the day, we weren't surprised to hear there were so many Men's physique competitors, 40 including ourselves turned up all hoping to qualify for the finals on October 11th. It was during the athletes meeting before the show began that they had announced the Men's Physique would be split into four height categories: Under 173cm, Under 178cm, Under 182cm and Over 182cm. We knew it was too good to be true that we'd actually end up competing against each other, Aaron coming in at 170cm, James at 175cm.

Aaron taking 1st place and being invited to
the British finals, October 11th

The plan for us both now is to tactically back carb by 20g per week so we don't completely screw our metabolisms up! We've had 4/5 days of enjoying all the foods we missed oh so much during the 14 week diet. However, the line must be drawn somewhere... but just to reflect on some of the goodies...

First stop, post show meal was a traditional trip to TGI Fridays!
7oz burger topped with BBQ pulled pork, monterrey jack cheese,
red onions with a brioche bun with a side of Jack Daniels chili cheese fries
& Jack Daniels sesame seed chicken strips!

James's Oreo cheesecake made by Vanessa Filmer

Aaron's Oreo cheesecake made by Debbie De Freitas

James's Oreo cheesecake cookie dough bars made by Vanessa Filmer

 As for the rest of the goodies/meals: Macaroni cheese, enchiladas, cookies & cream pop tarts, hot fudge sundae pop tarts, Hersheys milk chocolate bars, chocolate caramel milk duds, cookies and cream bites, Aunt Jemima's syrup, Lucky charms, Fruit loops, Hobnobs, chocolate hobnobs, chocolate digestives, Jammie dodgers, popcorn, Pringles, Fox's biscuits and many more!

As mentioned earlier, the line must be drawn somewhere and the "Reverse diet" must begin. Reverse dieting is exactly what it sounds like. During the weeks leading up to the competition we reduced carbohydrate intake by 20g per week, finishing on 70g carbs per day. Now we reduce fats slightly to allow the initial jump up from 70g carbs per day to begin the reverse diet on 120g per day, and increase intake by 20g per week from there on.

James’s Carb intake

06/30

07/07

07/14

07/21

07/28

08/04

08/11

08/18

08/25

09/01

09/08

09/15

09/22

09/29

10/06

120g

140g

160g

180g

200g

220g

240g

260g

280g

300g

320g

340g

360g

380g

400g

Aaron’s Carb intake

06/30

07/07

07/14

07/21

07/28

08/04

08/11

08/18

08/25

09/01

09/08

09/15

09/22

09/29

10/06

120g

140g

160g

180g

200g

220g

240g

220g

200g

180g

160g

140g

120g

100g

80g

James's main priority now is to go off season, get those carbs in and gain as much lean muscle mass as he possibly can! Address all weak areas to bring a bigger and better physique to the stage in 2015.

Aaron having being invited to compete at the UKBFF finals in October will also increase carbs as the table above shows, however in the week beginning 08/18 he'll have to taper his carb intake back down to get back into on stage condition. 

Numbers, numbers, numbers, it's all a numbers game! It can be a lot to take on at the beginning but when you want something so bad, you'll do whatever it takes to get to where you want. Thanks for all the support! From the Fortai Fitness team, until next time, enjoy a mint chocolate cornetto for breakfast, or three...and stay shredded.

But First...Let me take a selfie!

The Fortai Fitness Instagram page

Instagram.com/Fortai_fitness

Twitter pages

Twitter.com/JamesTreezy

Twitter.com/A_DaleyFitness

Our Clothing sponsors Gymtees!

Gymtees.co.uk/

Peak Week!

We are well into peak week now with just 3 days until show time! So, what are we eating now? What changes have we made? Are we carb depleting? Are we water loading? Are we cutting water? Are we sodium loading? Are we cutting sodium? Are we manipulating potassium? Are we boring you yet? Thought so. Peak week has so much broscience surrounding it, it's almost comical. Here's our theory, quite straight forward and easy to comprehend.

If it aint broke, don't fix it.

Simple as that. We've both followed your typical dieting protocols i.e; Steadily dropping carbs, implementing cardio, gradually increasing time spent doing cardio also sessions completed, had carb refeeds every 5-7 days when intake dropped below approx 120g per day, or simply when we needed a miracle (In this case, yes...carbohydrates) to survive a grueling legs session at the gym. We've taken each day at a time to carefully assess carb intake. Only when you go below 100g do you find out what kind of person you really are. James took ONE bite of his Moms garlic bread last week, blacked out, turned into the Hulk and woke up covered in crumbs; true story. The sensitivity from the gradual depletion is no joke! Our plan from here on is to moderately carb load on Friday & Saturday so that by Sunday our muscles will have a more full/harder appearance whilst on stage. On the day of the competition our diet will be as follows (If we're on stage at 5pm like we've been informed from a reliable source):

6am - 100g Oats
9am - Steak & 3 fried eggs
11am - 100g Sweet Potato
1pm -100g Oats
3pm - FlapJacks
4.30pm - Dark chocolate

Complex carbs spread throughout the day, then simple carbs towards stage time! Water will remain what it has been for the past months, 6 litres per day. Nothing is being randomly put in or taken out, we've achieved the condition we're in by what we've done up to this point, so why do something else? According to many Pro's, a perfect peak week can only make you look approx 5% better than you did leading up to it anyway. We both agree that competing at 95% is far better than trying to achieve 100% during peak week, messing it up and stepping on stage at anything below. Until next time, bathe in nutella, dip your fries in your strawberry milkshakes...and stay shredded.

The Fortai Fitness Instagram page

Instagram.com/Fortai_fitness

Twitter pages

Twitter.com/JamesTreezy
Twitter.com/A_DaleyFitness

Our clothing sponsor GymTees

Gymtees.co.uk

Road to the UKBFF!!

Greetings fellow Fit fam, long time! Apologies from Fortai Fitness, we hope you haven't dropped off from your fitness goals and targets! Even though we haven't posted for a while, that doesn't mean we decided to scrap fitness, watch 24 from the very beginning again whilst occasionally racing to see who can eat the most Krispy Kremes in 60 seconds. As much as we hate to admit that such activities are relatively appealing, they don't particularly coincide with our number one goal... To be in the most sickening condition we can when we as training partners go head to head on stage at the UKBFF Men's Physique qualifier at the MuscleTalk show in Bedford on June 29th!!

"Caloric breakdown, 1g Carbohydrates: 4 calories, 1g Protein: 4 calories, 1g Fat: 9 calories" (Clark, 2013)

We both began our 12 week diet back on April 1st. Macro nutrients were as follows: 300g Carbs, 200g Protein, 60g Fat, 2540kcals in total. Over the course of the past 11 weeks we've steadily dropped 20g Carbs per week and increased Protein by 20g every 2 weeks, whilst leaving Fats the same. It's important we mention that this is only our second year competing seriously and so it was still impossible for us to know exactly what our diet plan should have looked like from the very beginning this time round and so had to go from the knowledge we gained from last year and literally take one day at a time, be patient and not do anything drastic.

It's all a numbers game. 300g Carbs, 200g Protein, 60g Fat = 2540kcals during week 1 of dieting meant that over the course of 12 weeks of minor changes, we would end up around; 60g Carbs, 320g Protein, 60g Fat = 2060kcals. We haven't yet discussed the one thing we all truly hate with a passion, cardio! Do we do high intensity? Low intensity? How long for? We do what works for us, and the only way to find what works for you is to try it yourself. Everything fitness related; diet, weight training, cardio whether it be high intensity or low intensity, is dependent upon the individual. One size does not fit all. (No pun intended) Cardio began for us both around 6 weeks into the diet, and as time continued more cardio was implemented. Right now, we're both doing approximately 5 cardio sessions per week. Whilst Aaron favours fasted HIIT cardio upon waking and LISS post weight training, James prefers to do fasted LISS upon waking and HIIT cardio post weight training. Be sure to know we hate both just as much, It's just what we've been doing.

Training splits are as follows:

Monday - Chest
Tuesday - Back
Wednesday - Quads & Hamstrings
Thursday - Day Off
Friday - Shoulders & Calves
Saturday - Biceps & Triceps
Sunday - Day Off

We decided to get a little stage practice in at the BodyPower Expo this year! Our competition of choice being the World Fitness Championships on May 18th. Competing 6 weeks out from peak condition, expectations were most certainly low. However, Aaron managed 5th place, James unfortunately didn't make the finals. Nevertheless, we both gained what we wanted and that was the practice and on stage experience.

With 8 days left until the next competition, the UKBFF qualifier, peak week begins tomorrow and there's little left for us to do! If there were it's too late now anyway! We're either in competing condition by now or we're not. If you're wondering if we are, we've both had a couple of practice carb ups so that should give you an idea ;) Also so should the pics below.

James's 11 week transformation

Aaron's 11 week transformation

We promise to write more posts and keep you updated with progress! Also write up about any common reoccurring questions we're asked about our diet and training. If you do want to contact us with any questions, you'll find our social media links below. Until next time, eat peanut butter and stay shredded!

The Fortai Fitness Instagram page

Instagram.com/Fortai_fitness

Twitter pages

Twitter.com/JamesTreezy

Twitter.com/A_DaleyFitness

References

Clark, N. (2013). Nancy Clark's Sports Nutrition Guidebook. Human Kinetics

Fortai Fitness Instagram!

Hello Fitfam!

For all those IG addicts out there, we've decided to make an Instagram page for you to check out pics and short video clips of our training sessions you can check out whilst on the go! For inspirational and motivational material, be sure to follow:

Instagram 

http://instagram.com/Fortai_fitness

Until next time, eat cake get diced.

Fortai Fitness

Fortai Fitness 2014!

Aaron Daley & James Duncan come together to bring you Fortai's Fitness blog! This is where you'll be able to find our diet plans and training programs as we plan to compete in Men's physique competitions throughout 2014 and beyond! Apologies for the long break between posts fitfam! We're back up and running and this time with two of us!

Follow our journey to aesthetic perfection!

Twitter - 

https://twitter.com/JamesTreezy

https://twitter.com/a_daleyfitness

Instagram - 

http://instagram.com/james_fortai_fitness

http://instagram.com/aaron_fortai_fitness

Personal Training!

Sup guys! I've moved back to Birmingham and I'm now personal training at 24/7 Fitness gym in Bearwood! I charge £25 per 1 hour session, £100 for 5 1 hour sessions, making them £20 each or £180 for 10 1 hour sessions, making them £18 each! I offer great nutritional and training advice from being level 3 qualified as a personal trainer and having studied a Sports & exercise science BSc at University. For those who don't wish to have personal training sessions but would like advice on their diet or training splits, I write both training programs and diet plans for £15 each to cater to whatever the clients fitness goal. Whether that be to lose weight, gain lean muscle, tone, lose fat off the stomach/thighs and much more! If I can be of service to you don't hesitate to contact me!

Aaron Daley...Professional fat burner.

Email : AaronDaleyFitness@hotmail.com

Twitter - @A_DaleyFitness

Facebook.com/AaronDaleyFitness

Instagram - @aarondaleyfitness

1st place!

I am the under 80kg first timers winner (The lightest on stage ;0)) and received a trophy for the best posing routine! It was an amazing day that I'll never forget. All those hours spent training paid off and even though I've always thrown the phrase around "Hard work pays off", I now have personal experience to back it up! I'd like to thank everyone who supported me and came to support me on the day. Bodybuilding is a very selfish sport which is a 24-7 all year round commitment. All my moaning to friends and family, especially my girlfriend who had to put up with my foul moods all the time. Somehow she found it in her to support me all the way and stick with me until I won! I hope she's ready to do it all again! No carbs is a dangerous path to take! I don't ever wish to return but once I began re-feeding correctly, it worked.

Future Physiques First Timers Winner 2013
Future Physiques Best Posing routine 2013

1st place!!

Me and old gym partner Anna!
Well done to her coming 1st in the Ladies class!

My on stage weight was 73.8kg which was a shock to me because 1 week out I was 76kg stressing that I still wasn't as hard/dry looking as I was at the BodyPower Expo. However, everything seems to have happened in the final week of my prep! This was when I increased my water to 9 litres per day, began taking dandelion root extract and started doing A.m HIIT Cardio & Abs then P.m Weight training & 2nd HIIT Cardio. I've now found what works for me and shall be following this for my next competition! The main judge Lee Kemp ("Pocket Rocket" He tagged me) gave me many compliments when I saw him at the end of the show. He told me I have the whole package, great symmetry, and that I had world champ potential! I was speechless when he said that to me!! My girl just so happened to walk over right at that moment too so in my head I was like "Sweet" **One eye brow raised**. He's invited me to compete in the UKDFBA novice class September 29th. The United Kingdom Drug Free Bodybuilding Association is right up my street!

If I begin dieting again July 14th until the show on September 29th, that gives me 11 weeks to get myself in better condition than I was when on Sunday. I know It's possible because if you remember I had that week off after the BodyPower Expo leaving me with only 6 weeks to pull it back and get in on stage condition. I managed to do it but I know my physique was nowhere near as tight/dry as I would have preferred. Anyway, I won and I'm happy about that! This time I'm taking that much needed week off again eating whatever and whenever I like! So yeah, dieting begins again on July 14th with a whole 11 weeks to get the most shredded I've ever been, and knowing what I know now, how my body reacts to what cardio/intensity and diet regime I reckon I can get down to 70kg on stage weight. Also it's best I start dieting soon because I might be working with my gym at the BodyPower Beach Party on August 3rd. I've been told by my gym owner there's no chance of that happening if I carry on eating rubbish! Suppose I better stop having chocolate cheesecake for breakfast.


Pictures from the competition of me on stage and hopefully footage of my posing routine coming soon!


Twitter - @A_DaleyFitness
Facebook.com/AaronDaleyFitness
Instagram - @aarondaleyfitness

Bodybuilding competition diet plan 1 week out!

Forgive my delay on the updates of what's been going on folks! It's been a stressful past couple of weeks. I can honestly say I've never been so depressed in my life; the reason? I miss food. Simple as that. On top of that, I've been trying to achieve a more grainy/dry/hard physique than when I competed at the BodyPower Expo and It just hasn't happened. I've been 0g carbs for the past two weeks! I put my body in a place it's never been before. I believe I would have gained much better results from it had I implemented carb re-feeds more often. Also, that week after the Expo that I ate everything in my path remember? Yeah, that bit me in the ass. There's only 7 weeks between my last competition and this one on Sunday 7th. I had 1 week off which gave me only 6 weeks to not only try and pull it back, but improve on my condition. I've learnt the hard way that it's just not possible to rush the body into such conditions when macro-nutrients fluctuate so harshly. You have to coax it over a long period of time. The only way I would have been in better shape for my competition this Sunday is if I hadn't taken that much needed week off my diet after my last competition; (11 weeks dieting) and continued to diet through until now (7 weeks dieting). 18 weeks dieting straight? I can promise you now that was never happening! So no regrets, just a learning curve.

So what have I been eating this past couple of weeks? Nothing exciting.

Diet Plan

• Meal 1 – 8am | 4 Fried eggs (Whole) |

Calories = 284kcals Carbohydrates = 0g Protein = 24g Fat = 20g

• 1 Tablespoon Udo’s oil

Calories = 135kcals Carbohydrates = 0g Protein = 0g Fat 29g

• Fusion Whey Protein (with water)

Calories = 150kcal Carbohydrates = 0g Protein = 33g Fat 0g

• Meal 2 – 10am |100g Salmon & 100g Broccoli |

Calories = 191kcals Carbohydrates = 1g Protein = 25g Fat 9g

• Meal 3 – 12.30pm |130g Tuna & 100g Broccoli |

Calories = 145kcals Carbohydrates = 1g Protein = 33g Fat = 1g

• Meal 4 – 3pm Pre Workout |150g Chicken breast & 100g Broccoli |

Calories = 203kcals Carbohydrates = 1g Protein = 41g Fat = 1g

• Meal 5 – 6.30pm Post Workout | 150g Chicken Breast & 100g Broccoli |

Calories = 203kcals Carbohydrates = 1g Protein = 41g Fat = 1g

• Fusion Whey Protein (with water)

Calories = 150kcal Carbohydrates = 0g Protein = 33g Fat 0g

• 1 Tablespoon Udo’s oil

Calories = 135kcals Carbohydrates = 0g Protein = 0g Fat 29g

• Meal 6 – 9pm | Scrambled egg |

Ingredients – 8 eggs (6 Whites, 2 whole)

Calories = 238kcals Carbohydrates = 0g Protein = 36g Fat = 10g

Total Calories – 1834kcals

Total Carbohydrates – 4g

Total Protein – 266g

Total Fat – 100g

I'm back on multivitamins, also now taking dandelion root to help flush water out and dry me out. I swapped my amazing PhD Whey Bars for a friends Grenade fat burners. I really didn't want to let them go but this was for the best because to be honest they weren't helping my calorie intake after having 1 or 4. I take 2 Grenade fat burners before fasted cardio at 6.30am and 2 before weight training at 4pm. I've definitely felt a difference when working out. Much more energy for both cardio and weight training so happy about that. I have to be careful with products containing caffeine because I'm quite sensitive to it. There's 225mg in each serving which is more than enough for me personally. I struggled to get back to sleep after a toilet break last night though, side effects? Possibly. I'll only be taking them once more anyway.

Grenade Thermogenic Fat burners
& Dandelion extract

My training splits have been A.m HIIT Cardio, Abs. P.m Weight training HIIT Cardio. Never done so much cardio in my life. I had to change my training splits so that I don't weight train 3 days leading up to the competition, I've had less rest and feel so drained. Just Arms and cardio this afternoon and 1 final cardio tomorrow morning then I can rest up for the big day!

Monday 24th - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Legs H.I.I.T Cardio
Tuesday 25th - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Shoulders H.I.I.T Cardio
Wednesday 26th - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Back & Biceps H.I.I.T Cardio
Thursday 27th - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Chest & Triceps H.I.I.T Cardio
Friday 28th - Day off
Saturday 29th - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Legs H.I.I.T Cardio
Sunday 30th - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Chest H.I.I.T Cardio
Monday 1st - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Back H.I.I.T Cardio
Tuesday 2nd - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Shoulders H.I.I.T Cardio
Wednesday 3rd - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio, Abs. P.m Arms H.I.I.T Cardio
Thursday 4th - A.m H.I.I.T Cardio. Carb up (300g)
Friday 5th - Day off. Carb up (300g)
Saturday 6th - Day off. Carb down (200g)
Sunday 7th - Competition!

My diet will change again on Thursday and Friday when I carb up, then drop my carbs a little on Saturday. All diet choices now are critical and I cant afford any mistakes. If I have too much carbs I'll look too soft at the competition; too little carbs I'll look flat. I'm literally taking each day by day and letting the mirror make the decisions for me.

From Monday 1st I increased my water intake from 7 litres to 9 litres of tap water per day and have been having salt with each meal. As you can imagine, I now live in my bathroom. This is to ensure my body is flushing out everything I don't need. On Thursday I'll stop having salt with my meals and switch from tap water to bottled. 9 litres of bottled water Thursday, Friday & Saturday. at 7pm on Saturday evening I'll only sip water until the competition. During this time my body will continue to flush out water as though I was taking on the 9 litres of course this isn't the case so I'll temporarily consciously dehydrate myself to dry out and make my skin even thinner making me look even more shredded on stage.

Posing practice! Side chest pose in the symmetry round

Posing practice! Front latt spread, a new favourite of mine

Twitter - @A_DaleyFitness
Facebook.com/AaronDaleyFitness
Instagram - @aarondaleyfitness