SHARIF NASHASHIBI: PERSONAL TRAINER

You may know Sharif as a DJ but, as you may be able to tell from that body, he’s also a personal trainer too and here he shares some of his top fitness tips 

How did you become a personal trainer?

Prior to becoming a personal trainer, I’d often be asked by others at the gym for advice, and I really enjoyed helping them out.

Then one day, my aunt asked if I could get her in shape to fit into a dress for a wedding. I devised a rigorous programme which worked wonders.  Not only did she look great and fit into the dress, but in her mid-50s and in less than a month, she progressed from being able to do only two minutes on a cross-trainer machine, to 30 minutes a day.

I got such a buzz out of helping someone achieve their goal that soon after, I enrolled in the UK’s leading personal training institution: Premier Training International.

What do you first look for/what’s your first advice to any new client?

Many clients come to me feeling distressed and hopeless that they’re out of shape or unfit.  I reassure them that we all have to start somewhere, that they’ve taken the first and most important step, and that they’ll definitely see results as long as they’re committed.

What’s the most common thing that people do wrong by themselves when working out in the gym?

The most common thing guys do wrong is lift weights that are too heavy – either to show off, or because they think they’ll get bigger quicker – at the expense of proper technique.  Therein lies the road to injury.

The most common thing the ladies do wrong is avoid resistance training, in the mistaken belief that they’ll end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger.  The fact is that they have about one-tenth the testosterone of males, and testosterone is a key component in muscle-building.  Also, resistance training increases one’s metabolism to a greater extent, and for longer, than plain cardio training, so is more effective at fat-loss.

Is diet and nutrition really as important as working out to achieve the effects you want from the look of your body? Do we boys need to give up the booze on Friday nights?

I’m sorry to disappoint your readers, but you won’t achieve your goals by exercising then gorging on junk food or binge-drinking.  Nutrition is every bit as important as working out.  That doesn’t mean starving yourself, but eating sensible portions of the right kinds of food.  We often eat with our eyes, so don’t pile your plate.  Also, wait a bit before reaching out for seconds, so your brain has time to tell your body that it’s full.

I provide free nutritional advice to my clients, which usually entails them doing a one-week food diary, which I analyse to recommend reasonable changes – which they’re likely to maintain – to suit their goals. Your nutritional regime should be something you can sustain as a lifestyle – crash diets don’t work long-term, as you’ll put the weight back on once you stop.

I urge clients to start reading the nutritional info on the back of food products, as what’s advertised on the front can be wildly misleading. An example is foods labelled low-fat that are instead pumped full of processed sugar, which is the leading cause of weight-gain.

Booze is high in empty calories with little, if any, nutritional value.  People vastly underestimate how many calories they drink – this includes mixers that are high in sugar.  If you’re unwilling to cut out booze completely, then either consume less when you drink, or drink less often (preferably both).  To quote Tesco, every little helps.

Adequate sleep is also important. Basically, people should embrace an all-round healthier lifestyle if they want to see optimum results as quickly as possible.  That’s not as hard as it sounds, particularly as your motivation will increase as you look and feel better.  The more you put in, the more you’ll get out, and there’s nothing more important than our health.

So many clients have thanked me for changing their perception of exercise and healthy eating, and for helping them achieve what they didn’t think they could.  Job satisfaction doesn’t get better than that!

Do you tailor your sessions to different clients’ needs? What’s the best simple exercise for toning up as opposed to bulking up muscle?

Every client is different, so everyone requires, and deserves, a training and nutritional programme that is tailored to their particular goals, circumstances, timeframe and physique.  Before I start training new clients, I send them a questionnaire that gives me a good indication of their aims, activity levels, exercise preferences, relevant medical history, time commitments, and any pre-existing injuries.

If you want to tone up rather than bulk up, go for higher repetitions of lighter weights, but the weights should still be challenging.  Generally, doing eight to 12 reps per set will achieve muscle size and definition – above 12 will focus on the latter.

And finally, how do you get perfect abs?!

That’s the holy grail – if I gave that away, I wouldn’t have any clients 😉 

Advertisement