👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
Hi, my name’s Klaudijus and I’m 19 years old getting ready to celebrate my 20th birthday!
I’m from Lithuania and am currently living in Ireland where I have studied Personal Training and have been helping people reach their fitness goals ever since.
I have achieved a very aesthetic physique in my over 3 years of training; I have seen many PRs in this time.
A normal person would say they were inspired by the likes of Arnold or Ronnie Coleman but what started me off on this journey was, in my opinion, the best show of all time: Dragon Ball Z.
Main reason for this is because every character looked awesome and they motivated me to become stronger.
When I was younger I participated in the martial arts of taekwondo for three years but I grew bored of it and began my bodybuilding journey.
My hobbies outside of bodybuilding include art, which has been a passion of mine since I was in primary school as I realised I had talent in this area.
I also enjoy riding my motorcycle and like to explore places and it is very therapeutic.
I do believe that you should have more than one hobby to keep your mind clear and help you focus better when it comes to the gym.
The main reason I like going to the gym is because it feels like a second home to me, a place where I can be myself and focus on myself.
I enjoy the thrive to push myself and the fact that it makes me grow and look healthier is just a bonus.
The gym just feels like somewhere I’m meant to be and if I can help anyone in the gym, then that’s me achieving my goals!
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
In my opinion people over complicate over how difficult it is to stay fit/gain muscle
At the moment I am training 4-5 days a week and each session lasts roughly 2 hours; in the past I used to do 6 sessions a week but then I have learned the importance of rest and how it can make you grow more than overtraining.
Over the years I have trained in many different styles whether it be specific muscles per day to full body to just three muscles multiple times a week.
I have purchased programmes in the past to see how other professionals train and to see if it would make a change to my body as well, which it has.
The legend himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger, once talked about shocking the muscle in order to grow and I completely agree and have followed this because results don’t lie.
I train at a gym called Olympia which is also a title I can see myself working towards in the future.
I chose this gym simply because they have great equipment and it’s also a bonus that I’m the biggest guy there.
I prefer to train alone because it lets me focus 100% on the muscles I am targeting whereas if I was training with a partner there’s a possibility of me taking longer rest or not giving my all to it.
Before I train I like to take Mesomorph, my pre-workout, to get my blood flowing and to feel a greater pump when I’m in Beast Mode.
After my session I like to make a whey protein shake just because I feel like it is tradition to have one as all my favourite bodybuilders also have one after their sessions.
It isn’t necessary to take a protein shake after a workout as long as you’re eating the right amount of proper foods.
I take it for 1. It tastes good and 2. It’s easy calories.
When I am going to the gym, it’s important to take my pre-workout with me along with my lifting belt and wrist wraps.
I use the belt for days I feel like lifting a lot heavier and attempting to hit new PRs so I can lift safer.
I also bring a water bottle and earphones just so I can bear with the cardio on days were I am not motivated to do treadmill.
However it is essential to understand that cardio is important to warm-up the body, to reduce the risk of injuries and to get in the right mindset for the main session which includes some of my favourite exercises such as lat pull downs, dumbbell chest press, shoulder press etc.
In my opinion people over complicate over how difficult it is to stay fit/gain muscle; they think that they need to follow the most complicated fitness trends, buy the most expensive equipment just to see minimal progress.
It’s important to know that as long as you stick with the basics you will see and learn a lot more.
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
For me the gym never feels like a chore, like I said, it feels like a 2nd home to me and I can’t imagine missing a day just because ‘I don’t feel like it.’.
Seeing progress on a monthly basis pushes my mind to want to focus harder to make them gainz and this is what has kept me training for so long.
I feel like I am not where I am envisioning myself to be which is the main reason I don’t stop until my goals are complete.
I find that over the years, training in the morning is the best time for me. This is because the morning is when my mind is fresh, focused and ready to push my body to where I want it to be.
It’s also one of the main reasons I want to wake up early so I have time to do work, be with family and socialise with friends later on in the day.
The only challenge for me when it comes to fitness is becoming better than myself so there will always be more walls to break through.
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
At the moment I am picking two specific muscles I feel could have a bit more work done on just so I could look a bit better and these will help me prepare for my future goals of competing in a bodybuilding competition.
My plans are to push even harder to reach these goals and hopefully inspire others along the way; another goal outside bodybuilding is I am currently working on a fitness programme app to help those in beginning in the gym or those who want something to follow.
I will be writing the programmes within the app however someone else will be creating the app for me.
We all have these thoughts where we wonder what would we tell ourselves if we could change how we trained.
We would do everything differently, but what we have done is led us to where we are today and that will allow to us improve for the future.
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
If you are injured in any particular muscle or body part, it is important to try and avoid using that muscle and allow it time to recover, but this does not mean you have to avoid training altogether.
You can still train while either not working the muscle at all or going to bodyweight/lighter weights to prevent the injury from worsening.
It is important not to ego lift (Lifting too heavy a weight with no support) as it can result in injuries due to unsafe lifting.
Of all my years of training I have never once tried to ego lift or lift with poor form. I am strict with my form which is why I have not gotten any injuries as of yet.
After a workout I tend to fill my body with the right amount of proteins, carbs and fats to help my speed up my recovery, however I don’t take any supplements.
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
I do not track my calories
I start with a bowl of porridge and sometimes a coffee before the gym, then after I train I come home to get a whey protein shake which contains whey, banana, peanut butter, more oats and milk.
The reason I do make the protein shake like this is because it tastes so damn good and it contains a lot of calories.
I would occasionally have a snack every now and then of cereal or a MyProtein bar.
Then at dinner I would have two beef burgers to get the rest of my protein in along with a salad to finish off my day.
I do not track my calories as I believe that as you are eating healthy you will be able to refuel properly and ensure your body is getting the required amount of nutrients it needs to train and improve.
I would occasionally, once a week, get a Chinese take away as it is my number one favourite food.
It is important to know that having a cheat meal is perfectly fine as it is important to enjoy what you eat.
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
I recently purchased Kai Greene’s e-books and I have found them helpful as they get me into the right mindset and showed me what a difficult yet enjoyable session can look like.
I also like to follow him on Instagram for motivation as he posts a lot from his training regimen and this helps to inspire me to continue training.
I also watch a lot of bodybuilders on YouTube just to see if I can find out new ways to do things and improve the quality of my sessions.
For me it is important to keep motivation and fun high in the gym as this is what it’s about for me and I do this by listening to music during my sessions.
I cannot train without some heavy metal blasting in my ears as I get a good pump along with helping me prepare for my lifts.
The best advice I have learned is from Rich Piana and it was ‘The more you put into something, the more you get out.’.
This advice can be applied to anything in life for example the harder you train in the gym, the better the results you will get.
For the PRs it is important to remember that it is the small lifts that will prepare you for the bigger lifts.
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
The important thing for bodybuilding or fitness is to have a vision, have a goal to remind yourself of what you want to become as this can help navigate where to go and how to improve along the way.
I would recommend that the main source any new bodybuilder should use is YouTube as it is where I got a lot of information from when I was starting out.
The strangest thing I seen at the gym was a time when I was warming up on a treadmill, went to change a song, looked up for a second and seen a guy using the smith machine.
Now, this might not have been strange if it wasn’t for the red and white tape covering it with a big sign that said ‘DO NOT USE! OUT OF ORDER!’ And this guy just keeps on using it even though it’s clearly dangerous.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
I have taken on quite a few online clients as well as friends and family and have been training them for the past few years.
I would say that people would enjoy my style of training as while I can be serious when it comes to goals, I also like to add a bit of humour into the sessions.
I do that so the clients can enjoy themselves and will want to continue not only with me but with the gym in the long term.
If a client is willing to follow my programme, they will be able to see results within a month, so I’d recommend that they sign up for the month programme so they can see my style of training and also get results along the way.
I train clients in person as well as online, if anyone would be interested in trying out my programmes they can find me on Fiverr.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
I have an instagram that you can follow to learn more about me. It’s @klaudijus.simutis.
I’m also on Fiverr: @klaud781.
