Easter Update - 5 weeks out

How's everyones Easter weekend gone? Have you trained? Rested? Spent time with friends and family? Ate until your stuffed? Well I've done all of them and had an amazing weekend.

I headed down to Wales to surprise Bleddyn Escott for his birthday along with a few other friends, we went out for a bite to eat, had a top laugh then hit the gym early Easter Sunday for a Chest and Tris workout. I personally was feeling pretty flat and towards the end of last week but just being around like minded people with the same passion has really lit the fire inside me again for my show. So a huge thanks to everyone for that and a big thanks to Charlotte for arranging the weekend and putting us all up for the night.

Happy birthday Bled

5 weeks out after hitting a PB on incline dumbbell press, very happy considering I'm dieting down and not far out from my show.

And finally I just wanted to share my new YouTube Channel: AestheticLifestyle. I managed to film my chest and tris workout from the weekend and I'll be posting it soon along with updates about my show, training, nutrition and vlogs. In the mean time here's my intro for the channel and for all my up and coming videos. Please comment below, on the video, on Facebook or Twitter to let me know what types of videos you'd like to see on the channel.

Lee

AlphaFit Magazine

If you’re reading this blog then I'm guessing you've got an interest in fitness and if you’re anything like me you’ll also spend most of your free time reading up online about nutrition, training and just general things that are happening within the fitness industry. I’ve noticed more recently that majority of my reading is while I’m out on the move and always on my IPhone or IPad, browsing through sites and YouTube videos.

One particular site that I always have a read of is the AlphaFit Magazine, on there I have a read through their articles and also read through back issues on their magazine. As I mainly view the magazine through their site, I was happily surprised when they launched their new app, for free download for your smart phone or tablet.

I just thought I’d share this as it’s something I read on a regular basis and just thought it might be of benefit to everyone else as well. The AlphaFit app received 5,000 downloads in the first week of issue and you can also find their magazine in over 650 upmarket gyms and health clubs, including Virgin Active, David Lloyd, Bannatynes & Fitness First.

You can download your latest copy of the magazine from the Apple newsstand and check out their web site for up to date articles and here's a link to all of their back issues.

The secret is keeping busy, and loving what you do.

After 3 weeks of being ill (and no it wasn't Man Flu), I'm back to 100% and just in time too, as I have a very busy week ahead of me.

Firstly I'm back in the gym trying out the Y3T program as well as starting a new diet aiming for lean gains. I'll touch back on this later in the week where I'll write up my full training program and diet over on the training page.

As for the rest of the week, I arrived home tonight after a gruelling legs session to find my new vests have been delivered. Now I just need to source a good quality printer to brand the vests with my logo and new web address (any recommendations?).

Here's the artwork for the vests -

What do you think?

On Thursday I've been invited to the Carat Blog Shop Event for Sports, Fitness and Nutrition bloggers. The evening will include presentations and Q&A sessions with media experts and brands. I'll also have the chance to network with likeminded people, discussing different tips and tools on how to enhance my blog. 

For anyone else who'd be interested in the event here's the link to register - Carat Blog Shop Event

And finally this weekend I'll be heading over to the Sportex Festival in Manchester. Which is across both days (20th & 21st October) and will host the UKBFF British Championships and the IFBB British Grand Prix as well as other sports such as MMA, Judo, Strongman, Football and Badminton. I only have tickets for Saturday so if anyone spots me at the expo, come say hello!  

Core 150 Shaker

Following on from my previous article, Food Prep for the Week. Which covered the importance of being prepared to not only help stick to your diet but to also save time and space. I am pleased to announce that I have been fortunate to be supported by the Core 150 shaker, huge thanks to them for this and its nice to know my hard work in and out of the gym is paying off and being recognised.

Question: How many times have you heard supplement companies recommending you buy their pre workout supplement, intra supplement and post workout supplement?

Yet they sell a standard shaker with only one compartment to store and mix your supplements in, forcing you to either bring even more tupperware boxes with you containing the rest of your supplements or in my case having to bring 3 separate shakers to work with me, taking up a lot of space in my gym bag and also a lot of time of an evening washing each one.

This is where the Core 150 Shaker comes in perfectly; all internal compartments are removable making it easier to load your supplements and also to clean, each internal compartment holds 50g of powder (pre, intra & post workout) and the shaker itself holds 1 litre of water.

I have been using the shaker for just over a week now and it’s made my prep so much easier, I’m even more organised, I save time with not having to clean separate shakers and I have more space in my gym bag. I have tried other shakers in the past that do have screwed compartments below but I've found my supplements would get stuck between the screw thread, the compartments couldn't hold up to 50g and certainly couldn't hold 1 litre of water inside, leaving my shakes lumpy and too thick.

Overall the Core 150 Shaker is perfect and exactly what the fitness industry has been waiting for. One final point that makes the Core 150 Shaker stand out from the competition, it’s the first sports shaker in the world to fully endorse a charitable cause. Their aim is to provide a meal for 1 million undernourished kids over the next five years and your support in purchasing their shaker will be met with a donation to Mary's Meals supplying 1 meal to a needy child.

For more information and to buy your own Core 150 Shaker please visit their web site: http://www.core150.com/

Aesthetic Lifestyles New logo

As promised, new things are happening with the blog. The biggest is taking it form just a blog to launching a web site (www.AestheticLifestyle.co.uk) which I have bought, registered and in the process of putting my graphic design degree to good use and creating the site.

The first and most important thing was creating a corporate identity and after hours of sketching various logo ideas, I'd narrowed it down to a few that I would incorporate into a vector image. After tweaking the colours and layout (and asking peoples opinions) I finally have the official Aesthetic Lifestyle logo to show you all.

I'd love to hear peoples thoughts on the logo, constructive criticism is always good and never taken to heart.

Keep an eye out over the weekend as I'll be posting a new article on how I prep my food for the week, I've had a few emails and tweets from college/university students and people with busy jobs who want to know how I go about all my meals and structuring my day.

Thanks