When I decided to go to the gym six years ago, I was like any new player, I didn’t know anything about the workout or the body anatomy. Day in and day out I started learning a lot about ma body and ma workout even from the experienced players or from the internet. Thru the past five years I didn’t continue for more than one month because I saw it very tiring as the progress was significantly slow and this because a lot of missing stuffs in the triangle of building a proper body. Three months in a row was ma first longest period in a gym before having ma first shoulder injury and I stopped workout for about six months, then it takes me three months to go back to the gym. This circle continued thru the first three years train, injury, rest, recover and repeat. In May 2014 was ma longest period to continue training non-stop and I thought I had a proper transformation, however I get injured again in the same shoulder and I stopped gyming for 6 months. In September 2015 when I got the green signal from the doctor to start ma workout one more time, I was very cautious with each exercise and the more you go to the gym the more knowledge you gain.

In 2015 I discovered the second edge in the triangle of transformation i.e. Nutrition. I contacted various super stars and I bought Nutrition plans and workout plans thinking this will serve and push ma progress forward. Frankly speaking it did improve the progress but not to the intended point. In 2016 i kept training and never missed a workout together with robust diet plan and the progress stopped since March, i never gave up, I kept going day in and day out but unfortunately ma body joints start failing one after another the two shoulder joints, left elbow, right wrist and the two knees. Afterwards I decided to follow up with a personal trainer seeking advanced step.

The process of selecting a perfect trainer not good but perfect didn’t take too much time because during the process of selecting an appropriate trainer, he was preparing a player with significant muscle imbalance and some back issues. This trainer in month and half month was capable of fixing all the issues this player has, thus I said he is the one I am looking for. At this moment the triangle of transformation is completed workout, Nutrition and personal trainer but not all the trainers are the same there is a normal trainer, a good trainer, a perfect trainer and an elite trainer. Elite trainer knows every single detail about the workout in other words he knows the science of biomechanics; Nutrition specialist what fits his player when and in what amount and finally he is experience in physiotherapy. Thus, the triangle of transformation with elite trainer doesn’t need the input from other individuals like nutrition specialist or physiotherapist because he already covers both. Let me introduce to you ma elite trainer, the second of none Ramadan Youssef

I started with Ramadan in December 3rd 2016, but before we started the first session we had a meeting to agree some stipulations that will govern the relationship between the trainer and the trainee. The stipulations were pretty easy;

1- Close your ears and don’t listen to anyone but me and if you have any query let’s talk and settle it down.
2- Stick to your nutrition plan.
3- What happen outside the gym stay outside the gym.

Once you follow these instructions you will find results more than you ever begin to imagine. In addition he asked what is your target and the answer was nice beach body nothing more.

Ramadan received a body with various issues overtrained muscles, muscle imbalance between the right side and the left side, kyphosis (rounded shoulder-forward head), scalosis, biceps shortness, shoulder roundness, lower back muscle shortness…….etc.

Ramadan faced a great challenge because he was dealing with a player that he loves to stay in the comfort zone, so it was not only physical challenge it was a combination of physical and mental challenge.

Ramadan started his work in December 3rd as we used to train five times a week, with each exercise I discovered that it is not about lifting weight, it is about a science comprise of lifting the appropriate weight that serve your current goal as well as fits your fitness condition so you can complete your workout with maximum benefits. I discovered the difference between overtraining and overloading, I discovered that slight change in the range of motion angle either will target different muscle or you overload the joint, I discovered that all the pain I experienced in the past was because the wrong range of motion, wrong angle and lift unnecessary heavy weight which doesn’t serve your goal i.e. Heavier isn’t better.

The key turning point was after the eighth session when Ramadan decided to have a look on ma body to assess the progress. Literally I was amazed from the progress just after eight sessions. The day after I told him I wanna compete in dubai muscle show 2017. Since that moment the training program totally changed from preparing a beach body to preparing a bodybuilder to step on the stage.

When I decided to compete in dubai muscle show I thought it will be something similar to 2016 competition but what happened was totally different. Dubai muscle show 2017 was registered in the IFBB calendar and this means that ma first competition will be an international one. The word international by itself scared me and I thought about quitting or search for another competition for a beginner like me. Quitting doesn’t exist in Ramadan’s dictionary and he said I will prepare you and I am gonna surprise you with the results.

The journey of transformation was not quite easy because he dealt with the physical part of me in parallel with the mental part. Both were not easy at all because we are talking here about a build up of wrong habits both physically and mentally.

The physical part, I started with ramadan and I am suffering from various issues such various joint severe pain, overtrained muscles and muscle imbalance. I am not exaggerating when I say that all ma joints pain disappeared utterly after five weeks with no medication. What happened was adjusting the range of motion and pick up the right intensity for the workout and distributing the intensities among the five workouts per week so the body can perform equally thru the week and don’t experience any overtraining. The muscles size start increasing in a mean that myself didn’t believe what is happening to me. Literally after two months nobody believes Ramadan when he is saying “the muscles increase is only because of food” and the vast majority thought I am using steroids and this isn’t the case. The workout for each specific muscle was varying from week to week and I didn’t experience any repeated workout either weight wise or technique wise and this last to the last workout of season one. Moreover the workout intensity significantly dependent on the energetic system based on which he starts designing the workout, I mean that the energy levels differ from day to day because various reasons, such as sleeping pattern, skipping a meal …….etc. However, this didn’t create any obstacles because he always has a lot in his quiver.

The mental part, i had three significant issues, Firstly; I was this kind of player that can’t start any workout without having a pre-workout and no heavy weights without the pre-workout. Secondly; when I feel pain I don’t continue. Thirdly; I am tired, so I can’t perform properly. Actually fixing these three issues took 6 months particularly the second one it takes Ramadan a pretty much time to amend me mentally and teach me that the physical improvement will start when you feel the pain i.e. Outside the comfort zone. Ramadan always whispering in my ear to motivate and push my limits with every repetition. I remember very well one situation when I was doing ma last set of sitting squat and I started losing ma grip and literally the dumbbell was too close to fall on the ground at the eighth repetition, he whispered in ma ears and said ” always remember the two reps you wanna quit, someone else is killing himself to beat you on the stage”, believe it or not, I hold the dumbbells that were nearly to fall in the ground with an iron grip and I did four more reps instead of two.

The journey of transformation comprises of two phases, bulking phase or off-season phase and cutting phase or conditioning phase.

I started the off season with weight 95 KG and I finished 130 KG by end of June 2017 i.e. Moving Closet. Frankly speaking the 35 KG increase in ma weight was only nutrition and workouting. During this phase I experienced some hard times from some individual indirectly mocks my shape and negative comments to devastate my will and distract myself. Sometimes i passed these negative people by keep remembering myself why I started this process, however in other occasions they snipped me and I am literally down but when I am down Ramadan appears like super man and he knows how to bring me back to the peak of ma motivation by keep telling me be patient, focus on your target and you will laugh at the end.

The cutting phase took us five months to reach ma final shape, the conditioning process was slow and steady in order not leave any stretches indications or any flabbiness. The conditioning process was really tiring dieting wise or workout wise. Nobody can imagine what happen during this period and the changes I experienced till I reached my final shape before I stepped on the stage. The last three weeks ma body was literally changing in a way surprised me, everyday the muscle shape change and increase and at the same time the conditioning was improving. For those who don’t know, the conditioning of an open weight bodybuilder (over 100 KG) is very difficult and requires special skills particularly I am 36 years old not in the twenties. The conditioning methodology will stay one of Ramadan skills and will stay a secret that I could not share.

That’s why I am not joking when I keep saying my trainer is better than yours