Review of JH body fit by Michelle Brannan

James Haskell Body Fit camp review.

I was lucky enough to have a wide variety of clients come down to my first James Haskell body fit camp. Over all I think everyone had a great time and seems to be inspired to carry on with the pursuit to get fit. Well, everyone certainly talked a good game on twitter, and have been keeping me updated with their training progress.

I was very lucky to have come down Michelle Brannan, to test out my camp and review it. Michelle is a qualified Personal Trainer, Dance instructor. Michelle is the only UK Athlete to earn IFBB Professional status through competing in the Bikini Class, this year Michelle won her first pro show and qualified for Olympia 2013 and is set to be the very first UK Athlete to compete on the Olympia stage in the Bikini class.

Michelle has featured in a number of magazines such as FLEX, Muscle and Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, Muscular Development, UltraFit, Woman and Womens Running and currently

It’s always good to get people who follow different paths of the same discipline to come down and test things out. I knew Michelle’s training would be very different, but assured her that putting in one of this functional, circuit based sessions into her training program would make the difference.

Lets see what she thought of it

James Haskell body fit review by Michelle brannan.

When I signed up for James Haskell's Body Fit camp with Richard Tidmarsh, I wasn't sure what I was letting myself in for, as this is not the usual way I train butt I wanted to switch things up and try something different. For those of you reading this thinking who the hell am I, Well I compete in bikini fitness competitions with the International Federation of Bodybuilding (IFBB) and I train mainly for aesthetics. My usual training consists of 5-6 days a week split body part weight training and daily steady state cardio.

On arrival at Reach Fitness gym in Clapham, I noticed straight away that there was not one piece of standard gym equipment to be seen. These had all instead been replaced with any number of ropes, ladders, weighted bags and kettle bells.

Once we where singed in and changed, james did a little intro talk about the workings of the day, why he liked functional fitness and some of the benefits. The physical work of the boot camp started with a mobility session to loosen and warm up, we were then split into pairs of equal ability.

Now my training is hard, but I don’t really ever put myself into a complete state of full body tiredness. Yes my muscles burn, but not normally with my lungs as well. After my initial reluctance, I soon got into the swing of things and we made our way round a grueling circuit, of different exercise stations.

The session, to my surprise despite its monstrous moments (i.e. battle ropes) was actually really enjoyable. It was a great total body fat burn, with exercises for the legs, core and upper body; we even had a mini race on the Versaclimber. No one was sick as far as I can see, although I did see a few people lying on the floor at times slowly going from green back to very pale, by the end, there was not a dry t shirt in sight. James and Richard did a great job yelling at everyone, sorry motivating everyone... I'm sure a few of us would of given up if they hadn’t been there to make us push harder ;) some of James’s banter was first class.

After the session Maximuscle nutritionist Gareth gave a broad talk on nutrition, covering most of the areas that people are always asking about, that for weight loss, gain and maintenance. This was followed by a Q&A with James, which was really useful, as there are obviously massive differences between what he would be eating, I would be eating, or a normal person off the street would eat. Yet there were things straight away that people could add into their diets.

One of the many freebies we got, we all left with a T-shirt that says 'Work hard or walk home', (although not sure how many could walk at all after the session!) It should have said, “ Work hard, and get carried home”. Maximuscle also supplied a goodie bag packed full of shakers, bars and drinks as well as a copy of todays session, and one to follow up with in your home gym.

The verdict: All in all, was a great total body session designed to increase strength and stamina with maximum fat burn. A great opportunity to train with top athletes, challenge yourself, try new techniques and learn a bit more about nutrition. I would recommend the boot camp to anyone who wants to try something different or are looking at ways to take their training to the next level. For me, this type of training alongside my existing training would be benefit me greatly, next year I will be competing at the Olympia in Vegas and am always looking for ways to improve my look so shocking the body and switching things up is good for adaption. A must try for all abilities.

James has also asked me to put together a couple of sessions for you ladies, looking to get your bikini body ready.

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@michellebrannan

www.michellebrannan.com