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 my body and my workout even from experienced players or from the internet.

Throughout the past five years, I didn't continue for more than one month because I saw it as very tiring as the progress was significantly slower, and this was because of a lot of missing pieces of stuff in the triangle of building a proper body.

Three months in a row was my first longest period in a gym before having my first shoulder injury and I stopped working out for about six months, then it takes me three months to go back to the gym.

This circle continued through the first three years train, injury, rest, recover and repeat.

May 2014 was my longest period to continue training non-stop and I thought I had a proper transformation, however, I got 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 my 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 superstars and I bought Nutrition plans and workout plans thinking this will serve and push my 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 a robust diet plan and the progress stopped in March.

I never gave up, I kept going day in and day out but unfortunately my body joints started failing one after another the two shoulder joints, left elbow, right wrist and the two knees.

Afterward, I decided to follow up with a personal trainer seeking advanced steps.

The process of selecting a perfect trainer was 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 a month and a half 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 trainers know every single detail about the workout.

In other words he knows the science of biomechanics; Nutrition specialist what fits their player when and in what amount and finally he is experienced in physiotherapy.

Thus, the triangle of transformation with an elite trainer doesn't need input from other individuals like nutrition specialists or physiotherapists because he already covers both.

Let me introduce to you my elite trainer, the second of none Ramadan Youssef

I started with Ramadan on December 3rd, 2016, but before we started the first session, we had a meeting to agree on 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 queries let's talk and settle it down.

2- Stick to your nutrition plan.

3- What happens outside the gym stays outside the gym.

Once you follow these instructions you will find results more than you ever begin to imagine.

In addition, he asked what his target was 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), scoliosis, 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 his comfort zone, so it was not only a physical challenge it was a combination of physical and mental challenges.

Ramadan started his work on December 3rd as we used to train five times a week, with each exercise I discovered that it is not about lifting weights, it is about a science consisting of lifting the appropriate weight that serves 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 a slight change in the range of motion angle either will target different muscles or you overload the joint, I discovered that all the pain I experienced in the past was because of the wrong range of motion, wrong angle and lift the 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 at my body to assess my progress.

Literally, I was amazed by the progress just after eight sessions.

The day after I told him I wanna compete in the 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 the Dubai muscle show I thought it would be something similar to the 2016 competition but what happened was totally different.

Dubai muscle show 2017 was registered in the IFBB calendar and this means that my first competition will be an international one.

The word international by itself scared me and I thought about quitting or searching 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.

For 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 my joint pain disappeared utterly after five weeks with no medication.

What happened was adjusting the range of motion and picking up the right intensity for the workout and distributing the intensities among the five workouts per week so the body can perform equally throughout the week and not experience any overtraining.

The muscle size started increasing, meaning that I didn't believe what was happening to me.

Literally after two months, nobody believes Ramadan when he is saying "The muscle increase is only because of food" and the vast majority thought I am using steroids 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 lasted to the last workout of season one.

Moreover, the workout intensity is 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 of various reasons, such as sleeping patterns, skipping a meal.

etc.

However, this didn’t create any obstacles because he always has a lot in his quiver.

In the mental part, I had three significant issues, Firstly; I was the 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 physical improvement will start when you feel the pain i.

e.

Outside the comfort zone.

Ramadan always whispers in my ear to motivate me and push my limits with every repetition.

I remember very well one situation when I was doing my last set of sitting squats and I started losing my grip and literally the dumbbell was too close to falling on the ground at the eighth repetition, he whispered in my 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 two phases, bulking phase, or off-season phase, and the cutting phase, or conditioning phase.

I started the off-season with a weight of 95 KG and I finished 130 KG by the end of June 2017 i.

e.

Moving Closet.

Frankly speaking, the 35 KG increase in my weight was only nutrition and work outings.

During this phase, I experienced some hard times with some individuals who indirectly mocks my shape and negative comments to devastate my will and distract me.

Sometimes I passed these negative people by keep remembering 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 Superman and he knows how to bring me back to the peak of my motivation by keep telling me to be patient, focus on your target and you will laugh at the end.

The cutting phase took us five months to reach my final shape, the conditioning process was slow and steady in order not to leave any stretch indications or any flabbiness.

The conditioning process was really tiring dieting wise or workout wise.

Nobody can imagine what happened during this period and the changes I experienced till I reached my final shape before I stepped on the stage.

The last three weeks my body was literally changing in a way that surprised me.

Every day the muscle shape changed and increased, 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 since I am 36 years old, not in my twenties.

The conditioning methodology will stay one of Ramadan's 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.