Marcus is a competitive cyclist who takes the chosen sport of Bicycle Racing very seriously and uses the gym to augment an already rigorous training regimen. He has been a member of BODYWORKS for most of his adult life and throughout the gym’s evolution, many incarnations and rebuilds over the last 20 years.

BEFORE
I have always kept a fairly low level of Body Fat. When I began this dietary experiment, I was about 5kg heavier  than when I ended it. (This photo early November 2014).

AFTER:
Although 5kg. lighter, a 4% drop in body fat resulted in a more densely muscled & defined looking physique that made me look large.
(mid-December 2014)

Basic Profile: MARCUS

Date of birth – 20.02.1972

Occupation – Self employed landscape gardener

Interests – Cycling, working out, cars

Background

I first met Alex in the early 90’s when he was gym instructor at the MOT centre at Beau Sejour. A short time after he went on to establish a small but hardcore gym at the Corbett Field site, of which I became a member. Really loved working out there, had a proper ‘old school’ feel about the place. The gym then relocated to Lowlands Industrial Estate with a much bigger and better equipped gym, and huge array of top class equipment, i.e. free weights, machines and for the first time, cardio equipment.

The last few years has seen the Bodyworks gym move to its present location, which caters for everyone’s needs. Each incarnation of Bodyworks seems to get better!

One of the great things about Bodyworks is that it’s a very personal experience; each member is treated as an individual rather than a number, which is often the case in a more ‘generic’ type gym.

I have trained consistently at Alex’s gyms, since their inception, two or three times a week without fail, and always have great workouts as I know I will be working out with like-minded people in a place where self-motivation is one of the key words. If you can’t get results at Bodyworks, you won’t get results anywhere.

About Alex

Well, I’ve known him for over 20 years, and consider him a good friend. He is always happy to offer knowledge and experience to anyone who asks, and is always willing to listen to both sides of a discussion, and greatly appreciates feedback about the gym and will offer up ideas to members for future improvements.

Keto Diet & Training Regimen

this section concerns a period of low-carbohydrate dieting & rigorous training lasting about 4 weeks.

In early November 2014, following lengthy discussions with Alex, I commenced a month-long Keto style diet (high fat, low carbs) as an experiment to see what effect it would have on someone who participates in endurance type sports. The goal was to see if I could continue training as an endurance athlete on minimal carb intake and to see what effect, if any, it would have. Although I did not see any significant improvement in my athletic endurance, I put in some punishing and rewarding sessions on both the bike and in the gym, culminating in a 130km training ride on 30 November 2014. This is something that I didn’t think would be achievable at the start of the experiment. As an aside from the endurance aspect, it also enabled me to lose in the region of 4% of my body fat.