My next training goal is to run a sub 20 minute 5K by Christmas…

Before going into this training block, I reflected on 13 lessons from my recent 13.1 mile personal best.

I’m enjoying being a newbie to running, so hopefully this helps anyone who enjoys running too (feel free to forward to any running friends!)...

1. Warming up is less about easy jogging and more about activating key muscles (glutes, small muscles around your hips, hamstrings).

2. Make easy runs easy, hard runs hard. Last year I ran everything hard and kept burning out.

3. Keep at least 1-2 days doing nothing. Bonus: make it a no-work, no-training day. Stress is stress, so rest goes a long way.

4. Double up training to allow rest days. E.g. Thursdays: run hard in the morning, legs in the afternoon. This way, legs get a full day off the next day.

5. Balancing Muay Thai, bodybuilding & running is all about intensity management. 3x runs, 2x weights, 1x Muay Thai is a good sweet spot for now.

6. You need to eat a bit more when doing lots of endurance work, but nowhere near as much as you think. I think I added 200-300 cals a day to avoid losing weight (staying in 76-78kg range). This surprised me!

7. Running unplugged is a chance to meditate, visualize goals, and tune into your breath. I stopped using headphones a year ago; it changed the game.

8. Negative splits are fun to run. In all my long runs I tried to get faster as I went, teaching my body to kick on with tired legs. This gave me a lot of confidence on race day - my last 5K was on avg 10sec/km faster than previous 15K.

9. Stretching helps. Runners get tight, especially hamstrings. Stretching every night for 15-20 minutes felt good, even if it was partly placebo.

10. Form matters. A year ago I invested in a course to improve my running and it’s helped!

11. Weight training is now focused on maintaining muscle rather than PBs, as my goal is to improve at running.

12. Tapering before a race makes a difference. I couldn’t believe how fresh my legs felt after pulling back the volume.

13. Race day adrenaline is real. The hardest thing is to avoid going out too fast. I’ve done that twice before and completely bombed. I remember last year starting a half marathon at 5K pace thinking “ah this is a breeze”... until it wasn’t!

And now, let’s dive into this week’s Transformation Thursday…

---

3 Ways To Look, Feel & Perform Your Best

1. During RDLs, only go as low as you can whilst keeping your back flat

The Romanian Deadlift (RDL) is one of the most butchered exercises. It’s a hard one to feel in the right places, with the most common technical mistakes being:

• Going too low, whereby you lose the natural curve in your back
• Bending forward with your back, versus hinging your hips back
• Letting the bar drift out far in front of you
• Arching your neck excessively

To help create a visual with this, check out a 60 second video I clipped HERE for you.

2. Always plan for how you will maintain your weight after you’ve lost it

The sexy bit is losing weight. The hard bit is knowing what to do after, because your mind and body are literally fighting for you to gain it all back.

This diagram below helps show what happens to our body’s fat cells.

You’ll see the body doesn’t lose fat cells when we lose weight, they only shrink. The urge for them to spring back to size is highest straight after a diet.

What’s worse is if you mess up and gain back too quickly, you’ll create even more fat cells.

We place upmost importance on this period for our members, with a few key principles:

• Gradually increase calories and reduce expenditure.
• Maintain your accountability systems (weigh-ins, pictures, coaching, etc).
• Change your goal setting from physique oriented to performance based.
• When you’re eating out, focus on the company, not the food.
• If you mess up, don’t punish yourself. Own it and move on immediately.

3. Don’t drop calories for the sake of it…

A mistake many people who want to lose weight make is thinking because [X] weeks have gone by, they need to drop [X] calories.

What I prefer for radical (sustainable) weight loss is the notion of: 

If it’s working, keep rolling with it. Save your trump cards for later, when you need them.

So if you’re on a diet and it’s working - for whatever your goal is - don’t change a thing!

---

Want To Accelerate Your Results?

If you’re enjoying this Transformation Thursday newsletter and want to accelerate your body composition results, you may be interested in our flagship programme, RNT Pro.

 

We specialise in helping real people with real lives get real results, and we’ve proven it over and over again with nearly 4000+ success stories.

Our October cohort is now full, so if you want to apply for a position to start in November, apply now by booking a call with my team here.

---

3 Wins To Inspire You…

My team and I are always sharing screenshots in an internal channel called #wins. Here’s a few to inspire you this week…

1. Health Transformed!

Weight loss doesn’t just make you feel good on the outside… your health will improve as well!

2. Legs Pumped Up 

Ready to see some lean legs before his 40th! Building muscle in the legs is hard, this RNTer is crushing it!

3. The Physical is the Vehicle For Your Career

The confidence you have in your body translates into everything… including your job.

>> If you want to lose weight, get healthy and feel at your best with your busy lifestyle, apply to join our next cohort here.

---

Want To Go Deeper In Your Journey?

Episode 400 is now out! 

Inside this podcast we recap the recent USA retreat and dive into key topics like building a new identity, balancing life demands, and creating a lasting lifestyle solution. 

It’s a deep dive into what it takes to truly transform your life, mentally, physically, and spiritually.

Listen in here:

YouTube | Spotify | Apple

---

Thanks for reading.

Akash

PS. If you’d like to get into the best physical and mental shape of your life, with no guesswork required, click here to apply for a position in our November cohort.