Cameron Falloon, founder and joint CEO of Body Fit Training (and former PT to Princess Diana) on how to get the maximum benefit back from your workouts.
During the 90s Princess Diana got into gear when it came to all things fitness, and trained hard to maintain her slender physique. Her trainer in the months leading up to her death was Cameron Falloon, an Australian PT who now owns BodyFit Training down under.
We figure, if he knew how to train a princess, surely he has some tips for us too on how to get the results we’re looking for.
Speaking on Body+Soul’s daily podcast Healthy-ish, Falloon says the key thing to understand is that everyone’s bodies are different and will react and respond differently to various stimulus.
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“It’s not a one size fits all,” he tells host Felicity Harley on the Healthy-ish episode So, how long does it take to see workout results?
However, the key for most people? Consistency.
“It does take time to see results. I had a great saying decades ago that it takes four weeks for you to start noticing change, eight weeks for your closest friends and family to start noticing change, and 12 weeks for the rest of the world to start noticing change. I think that’s a really smart way to look at it,” he says.
“It doesn’t happen overnight, and if it is happening overnight and you are getting rapid weight loss, trust me, it’s going to come back quicker than it came off.”
Falloon adds that he is a bit of a sceptic about the way social media and the fitness industry portray insane results in a way that suggests they’re attainable for everyone.
“I’ve come across a lot [of influencers] that actually genuinely can’t train – and I’m talking about complex lifting exercises, moving well, training efficiency, lifting weights sufficiently. So they look great, but also, I remember when I was in my 20s, I used to drink a lot, I’d eat junk food. Yes, I trained, but your metabolism is working at such a higher rate that you can get away with a lot, and genetics plays a massive factor in it as well,” he says.
In fact, just recently a study came out of Anglia Ruskin University that found that genetics can account for up to a 72% difference in results.
“Mentally release the expectations and be happy with who you are and your body, and change your goals based on where you are in that moment in time and not necessarily what’s on the front cover of a magazine,” Falloon says.
He adds that the key to being able to work out consistently is figuring out what makes YOUR body feel its best.
“I think it’s really important to assess your lifestyle. What are the things you like? When you are exercising and eating certain foods, what makes you feel really good? Feel invigorated? What gives you that feeling of ‘I’d love to do that again’?”
For example, you might find you love a specific form of cardio (running, HIIT, ellipticals, aerobics), and at the same time you might figure out that you love a certain type of weight training.
You can then use those movements that make your body feel good to create a workout routine that’s right for you – with a mix of aerobic and anaerobic exercise.
“I think a combination of cardiovascular and resistance training [is best], whatever that is for everyone,” Falloon explains. “We offer 13 different programmes in the way we programme for our franchises…We use a similar approach to how an athlete might have their programmes ‘period-ised’ or put to training blocks for them.”
Okay, so we know we need to have a mix of cardiovascular and resistance training, whatever form that works for us in, but what did Princess Diana do?
Falloon opens up on Healthy-ish’s sister podcast Extra Healthy-ish, that Diana was very fit, looked after herself and was quite pedantic about training, especially the legs.
Her consistency in the gym was key, doing three days a week at an absolute minimum with the majority of the work being resistance training, and then going out for runs in her own time.
For more information and tips, check out Cameron’s Body Fit Training, here, or via Instagram @bft_global
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