HOT SPOT: Mandarin Oriental Superfood Breakfast in London

You are one of the most coveted strength and conditioning coaches in the world. Athletes like football player John Terry, professional boxer David Haye but also musician P Diddy and regular people want to be trained by you. You are based with Ruben Tabares Wellness in one of the leading Hotels in the world, the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park. What makes your training different than others?

I have a training methodology which is unique in that I look at the individual, work out what they want and need and use that as my starting point. Psychology plays a big role too as a lot of the time people’s goals change with their goal achievement. My approach is holistic, organic and bespoke.

Where did you get your experiences from to become a professional trainer and nutritionist?

My experiences are based on studying, achieving the necessary qualifications to be a strength coach, nutritionist, sports therapist and personal trainer, however, I learned more from being a professional athlete and ballet dancer than from things learned in the classroom. Whilst education is very important I would not know half the things I know if it were not for picking up numerous injuries being an athlete and then having to come up with ways to not only recover from the injury in record time but also to get into ridiculous shape in a very short space of time. I have also tried every supplement going along with different approaches to nutrition and what I have discovered is no one diet is good for you but a collection of most of them as long as you know what to look for is the best thing.

How does your fitness and nutrition coaching (for a regular person who wants to become more active and defined) look like?

I always advise people when venturing into health and fitness for the first time to start slow. Start by drinking more water, adding more food to your day such as green juices and superfoods and eventually swapping things containing gluten and sugar for other alternatives. Even changing their toothpaste to make sure there are less toxins coming into their system. Once these things are achieved I have a similar approach to training. The body must be thoroughly prepared with one of my training programs called adaptation before proper training can begin. This minimizes injuries and soreness and ensures completion of goals rather than not being able to walk after training sessions and then giving up.

The beauty of adaptation is that it can be done at home and not much more than a theraband and a couple of dumbbells are needed. I must stress however that depending your goals the gym may be the icing on the cake.

Can you give us an easy all in one exercise for belly, waist, butt and leg to do at home? (Or do we need a gym to train effectively)?

People are under the misconception that when they train a specific body part they will lose body fat from that area. Unfortunately, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it doesn’t work like this. It will tone and strengthen that area but when you work out you lose fat from your whole body and usually belly fat is the last thing to go, don’t blame me, blame our maker. There is good news, High-Intensity Exercise twice a week helps you burn fat for up to 24 hrs provided you eat no carbs during that period. Goji berries also help you lose body fat (especially belly fat).

You do not need a gym and exercises you can do at home are as follows:
• 5 min skip
• 5 min dynamic stretches
• Squat
• Single leg stiff leg dead lift
• Eccentric pistol squats
• Calf raise
• Bulgarians
• Reverse crunch
• Ab crunch
• Ta-­‐BAR-­‐res (check out my Instagram, don’t know another name for it, sorry, not trying to get more instagram followers, promise ;))

Try 25 reps of each, 1-minute rest and do 3 sets eventually working up to 5.

What is your best motivation tip to go to the gym or just outdoor for a run (especially for people with less time)?

Set a goal, goal setting is the best motivation for training. It is hard to train with no goals. Also, eat Bee Pollen and have foods high in B Vitamins. Once your brain is functioning at its best motivation comes easy. Playing a team sport is also a good way to start, finding a training buddy and training outdoors until you are ready to take the next step and join a gym and reach the next step.

Do you think it is important to do more sports and to eat clean, for example, to follow the paleo diet, to compensate mental stress?

As I said above, there are good aspects to most (not all) diets so following something like the Paleo diet would be a good idea but remember that eating clean and healthy is not hard as long as you follow some simple rules:
• Cut out sugar
• Only drink alcohol once or twice a week if possible
• Cut out gluten
• Drink more water
• Add superfoods to your diet along with Bee Pollen and foods rich in B vitamins

Sports especially team sports are always a good idea.

Plenty of people getting neck and back pain by using laptops, smartphones, and tablets. Can you explain why this wrong body posture affects the pain? What kind of sports training do you advise to avoid it?

For millennia we have not used laptops, been sat at a desk working so we are not accustomed to such things and consequently are bodies suffer. I advise to take regular walks around the office during the day, to walk to work if possible, to work outdoors and to work out at home, in the gym or in the park at least twice a week for 20 mins.