Body Type Nutrition Conference

So, where to I begin?! Body Type Nutrition (BTN www.bodytypenutrition.co.uk) ) are probably the leading provider of nutrition education for Personal trainers / coaches etc in the UK. They're also a TOP team of trainers working with all kinds of clients one-to-one online, coaching athletes, bodybuilders as well as 'normal' everyday non-athlete people who just want the best of the best advice.

Needless to say - you can tell - I'm a big fan!! I've been listening to Ben Coomber (the founder of BTN www.bencoomber.com/ ) radio podcast for well over a year now, and what I love most is:-

a) it's REALLY honest,

b) he changes his maind based on new information - he's not stuck to one 'philosophy',

c) it can be really funny!

d) it is seriously packed with great information

Most importantly, e) he read out my question in podcast #135!!!

(check out all episodes on itunes or stream here bencoomberradio.libsyn.com start with episode #117)

18 months ago I knew I wanted to upgrade my nutrition education, so the obvious choice was the BTN academy - a one-year online course, starting in October 2014 taught by Ben and his team, culminating in exams this September (which I passed - yey!)

After the course I knew just how much the team has to offer, so when I realised I was able to attend their annual conference I literally jumped at the chance! Two days of workshops and seminars in Manchester. Day one was in a seriously cool gym, three sessions on different topics in nice small groups of 4-6 people. Day two was in the Lowry conference centre, four seminars with loads of question and chat time.

Seriously cool gym!!

In the gym day I chose the session with Dan Meek on programming training for weak body parts (a great tool for off season athletes of ANY level - elite to club runners, sunday footballers, people who train a lot to look good naked!) , then I joined Simon Herbert for a session on how to identify weaknesses, imbalances in clients or yourself, and then how to correct them - REALLY useful information, there's a nice photo of me closely examining someones glutes on their facebook page now!! ( https://www.facebook.com/BodyTypeNutrition/photos )

My final session was with Stephen Box - pro-fitness model - on how to train for muscle hypertrophy (growth). Really brilliant session, I learned loads - which I am putting into practise already...

Me with the gorgoues Stephen Box!

Day two was equally great. Good location - the Lowry has oodles of parking and places to eat, and the venue room was ideal. I straight away caught up with a few of the guys I'd met the day before - ahhh - fitness buddies!!! Four seminars - first one with Stephen Box again - going over in more detail what we'd been shown in the gym practical session, talking a lot about working the FULL range of a muscle. Brilliant on every level, such a great presenter and loads of important information. Then Dan Meek 'why your workout isn't burning fat' - blowing the cobwebs of our ideas of the best way to train for fat-burning.... backed up with some good science (essentially the incredibly simple bottom line is that you've got to move a lot at any speed and eat fewer calories plus keep up lifting weights and eating plenty of protein to maintain muscle mass!!). Stephen Aish, the new BTN mindset coach talkd a lot about mindfullness, being in the moment and meditation - more on all the from me at a later day . He was 'preaching to the converted' with me though,as you know - that kind of approach is my THING anyway!! Finally the main man himself - Ben Coomber on 'why you aren't achieving your goals'. Another briliant seminar by a fab presenter on a REALLY important topic - and the answer is - your goals are probably fuzzy and unclear, not YOUR goals or you simply are trying to do too much at once!!

Me with Ben - I will admit to having a mini fan-girl moment, having listened to the podcast for months and listened to his lectures on the academy.... Ben is a really great and genuine guy, really fired up and passionate about nutrition education.

So - what did I learn, what did I takeaway with me. Well - LOADS of course. The biggest message really was to do with thinking more, on several levels. Firstly - in the gym, focussing 100% on exactly WHY you are doing the exercise you've chosen (walk v. sprint? Dumbell chest press v.cable flye? etc), and during resistance work focussing 100% on the muscles you're working. Secondly - thinking carefully about how to choose what to do - train for weakness and imbalance BEFORE training for growth or improvement in strength/endurance etc. Thirdly - what ARE your goals - really? As Ben said - if you don't wake up feeling excited about your goal, you're not ready to work towards it yet.. dig deep to find the why and adjust when/where necessary. And finally - think more about space for YOU, time-out..... REAL time-out where you truely switch off to everything except the moment you are in. You can't possibly expect to function 100% if your brain is constantly running in top gear working on dozens of things at once - at some point the system will crash.

All in all - a FAB day!!