Time to get this blog thing going again. My last attempt was kinda short-lived, so I completely understand if the people who followed it (the both of you) was disappointed. I will try harder. Or as Yoda said: there is no try. There is only FAIL. Or something like that, it’s been a while since I watched Star Wars. I’m not too fond of sharing stuff about myself, so I’ll probably spend most of my time writing about my current topics of interest and whichever personal stories can be related to things my readers can get something useful out of.

I will also write in English to honor my international readers, I know you guys get tired of having to run all my articles through Google Translate – and then making it only half intelligible when my idiosyncrasies confuse the software.

So a short summary of my life right now:

- My girlfriend of almost 2 years, Isabella Marthinsen (click here for blog link…) got her certification as a personal trainer through the accredited International Sport Sciences Association (ISSA) earlier this summer (passing with flying colors I might add) and recently started working for MyRevolution as a coach. Her client base is rapidly escalating, and I’m thoroughly impressed by the quality of her work and the results of her clients in a short period of time. She had a good teacher, obviously :p No, but seriously, I hope some of all the rambling on my part has been helpful, just being able to discuss some of the hundreds of ideas floating around in my head is the best possible form of therapy for my OCD brain. My true soulmate, of that there is no doubt.

- My days are busy as always, lots of new clients, lots of existing clients who want to continue working with me and that usually means they like the results they are getting. Or they enjoy getting yelled at when they ate a slice of bread for lunch instead of fruit. Last week and this week I’m hosting seminars on the Myo-reps method for Personal Trainers of Elixia in Oslo, Bergen and Stavanger. Feedback so far has been positive, and we might try to get more cities covered later – Trondheim was cancelled due to the holidays so we’ll set up another one later this fall.

- Narve Læret, world record and Guinness record holder in stone breaking is one of my current projects. I set up a complete training and diet program to get him in shape for a TV show they start filming in January. His progress has been great so far, and the best thing is that he does everything I tell him… Can’t wish for more as a coach, can you? This 1,93m and 110kg hulk of a man is no joke, he pulled a 300kg deadlift at the tender age of 19, and benched 200kg in his twenties. An overall great guy, hard-working and determined, and I’m very much excited to see the end result. In a non-gay kind of way, of course.

- Another recent project is Marion Ravn/Raven, artist/singer and outspoken member of the judging panel for the Norwegian Idol contest. She’s the sister of a friend of mine I’ve been coaching, and seeing the great results of her brother she contacted me for guidance. I’m honestly horrible at marketing myself, and with my workload I don’t really feel like I need it, but being my friend’s sister and after I had a meeting with her and discussed how to proceed, I felt compelled to do it anyway. The marketing potential is obvious, but I prefer talking to someone and getting a feel for their attitude and work ethic – basically if there’s a “connection” so to speak, an absolute requirement to get the best out of both myself as a trainer and her as my protégée for a long term project. No problems there, Marion is one of those people who knows what she wants in every part of her life, and is willing to do the work to achieve it. Her parents originate from the same part of Norway as me, so she kinda “gets” my wierd sense of humor (if that’s even possible), and we all know how important communication is… So – I did a major overhaul of her diet, replaced some of her endless cardio sessions with a short and sweet Myo-reps routine which I’m taking her through (ok, torturing is probably a more fitting description) at the gym twice a week, and the results have been phenomenal.

Singer, songwriter and Idol judge Marion Ravn

Her strength has increased up to 100-200% in all exercises, and even though scale weight hasn’t dropped by more than 2-3kgs (she was already in good shape) bodyfat measurements are down by 30-50% on all caliper sites (Slim Guide) so her body composition has obviously improved dramatically – a leaner, more athletic and healthier look. And all this without going hungry and still eating sushi, pizza and pancakes as part of her diet – those familiar with my philosophy know that I promote a lifestyle approach instead of trying to find The Perfect Diet, following it for 10 days or 10 weeks or however long it takes for the “magic” to happen and then revert back to old habits. Silly and a waste of time if you ask me. You have to change your eating habits and find a balanced approach you can stick to long-term, then it’s just a matter of making small changes to keep progress going and pushing your body in the direction you want it to go.

Ok, I’m rambling again, so I’ll cut it short and give you a teaser for my next blog post: A couple of interesting studies, which become even more interesting when placed into a more fitting context. I noticed that it is very much in line with what I’ve been recommending with my BioRhythm Diet (soon to be published in the Norwegian Treningsforum magazine, you can find an article on Mike Tuchscherer’s site and a short version here…).

Stay tuned for more…