Virtuous Approach

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” ~ James Clear

That one hour that you spend inside the gym only really accounts for 4% of your day.

It seems like a pretty big shame to not focus on what’s happening during the other 96% of the time that you’re outside the gym.

To make true, positive, change that will last you a life time it pays to align your habits and life outside the gym with what your health and fitness goals are.

That’s where your Lifestyle Essentials come in and why at Virtuous we help you create systems that optimize your:
🛌 Sleep
😩 Stress/rest balance
🍲 💧 Food hygiene and hydration
🧘 Recovery
☀️ Time spent in the sun
🚶‍♂️ Daily Movement
And so much more.

If you’re ready to start making the most out of your 💯 %, you know where to find us!

Now go be great!

Much love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

What is functional bodybuilding?! 🤔

Functional bodybuilding is an approach to training that prioritized quality of movement and appropriate contractions over intensity. FBB builds a massive base of support both in terms of form and function- think capacity to move savagely well and look damn good while doing so and to do a wide variety of aerobic based work- without compromising how you feel, perform, function, and look.

Here’s an example of what a session might look like:

A1. Costal Pec Dips: 3 x 8
A2. Chin-Ups: 3 x 8

B1. Half Kneeling Filly Press: 3 x 10/side
B2. Single Arm Chainsaw Row: 3x10/side
B3. 50m Double Kettlebell Front Rack Carry

C. 15 minute AMRAP:
12 Cal Assault Bike
-Rest 20s-
12 Alternating Dumbbell bench press
-Rest 20s-
12 Dumbbell Gorilla Rows
-Rest 60s and repeat-

Remember that time you signed up to the gym to look, move, feel, perform and function better? Functional bodybuilding might just be the answer to that.

Much love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

The best fitness programs out there are the ones that are designed specifically for you. Which is why at Virtuous Approach our bread and butter of what we do is providing people with Individual Program Design based coaching. 🍞 🧈

That is, a completely personalized program that includes a detailed assessment, 1-1 consultations, ongoing communication, along with workouts, nutrition, and lifestyle habits that are tailored to meet you where you’re at and help you achieve your specific goals.

What’s with the new programs that we’re dropping?

While there is no replacement for individual program design, these programs have been designed to let you experience what goal-driven training that is smart, progressive, and intuitive in nature looks like.

You’ll get a taste of what it’s like to work with me in a group setting so that you can see and feel the difference.

What program is right for you?

While I truly believe individual program design is right for you, if you’re keen to dip your toes in and get a taste of what group programming can deliver here’s a look at our two pathways on offer:

Prevail: the functional fitness program that the everyday athlete who signed up to a group fitness gym to look and feel better while being able to live a larger life wishes they had.

Con-Struct: the functional bodybuilding program that promises on what it delivers, the ability to look good, move well, and feel freaking amazing.

To find out more drop me a dm and I’ll be in touch.

Much love,

Coach Kels 🤙

When it comes to the world training for hypertrophy (increases in muscle mass), there are 3 popular training splits (how movements are paired and organised in a training session) that we see come up time and time again in the gym.

☝️ Full body splits:
Which are generally great for beginners who have under 2 years of experience (however, can be applied with intermediate and some advanced individuals) see the person hitting the six major movement patterns or the major body parts every day.

✌️ Upper/Lower Splits:
Are typically used for intermediate client- those who have two years or more of training experience, are training at least 4 days a week and have plateaued from using full body resistance training- allows them to spend more time and make specific gains in each movement pattern or with specific targeted musculature.

🤟Isolated Splits:
Which are often used with advanced individuals who have years and years of experience and are using this style of split for specific purposes. This style of training split will see people targeting either one or two muscles or one or one specific movement pattern per session and require ample amount of rest in a week before they can hit those same body parts again.

Which ones the best for people who have busy lives and want to be able to get the most out of their lives outside of the gym while still getting enjoyment from the work they put in while training? 🧐

I’ll cover that in my next post.

Much love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

Your “why” influences the what, the how, the where, and the when.

Without it, it is like trying to use a recipe for brownies to bake a cheesecake.

Both are great things, but if you had your heart set on a cheesecake I’d assume you’d be disappointed if you wound up with a batch of brownies.

The same thing applies with fitness.

If you want to be able to play with your kids, do everything that your day-to-day life requires of you, and be able to say yes to any kind of adventure outside of the gym your training-and the impact it has on your body, should look different than the person who’s trying to qualify for the CrossFit games.

Again both are great goals, but each one requires a different recipe.

When was the last time your revisited your “why?”. 🤔

Much love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

Ps. Your “why?”, much like your fitness, is subject to change as you continue to grow and evolve.

How does your fitness support your life?

This is a question that you should be asking yourself and checking in on on a monthly basis.

I’ve said it before that your fitness should support you in living the largest life possible.

Everyone’s ideal expression of their “largest life possible” will look different, which makes sense because we all have different goals, needs, and functions.

Defining what that looks like helps to answer the question, is my fitness supporting me to live the best life possible? 🤔

Your fitness should align with what you want out of life.

It should meet you where your at and continue to evolve as you do regardless of whether your ideal expression is one that involves performing at the pinnacle of a given sport, being able to climb mountains and say yes to any sort of adventure that comes your way, or being the best parent, partner, friend, etc. that you can be.

Your fitness should be supporting that.

Now go be great!

Much Love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

The average person who trains will spend 4% of their day inside the gym.

And that’s only on the days that they train.

Let that sink in for a second.

Then ask yourself if you’re one of those people and follow that up by asking if that 4% is truly supporting the other 96% of your life?

Because, it should be.

Now go be great!

Much love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

It depends…

Primarily on your training age, which is can be determined by your chronological age (how old you are), biological age, previous experience, and how quickly you respond and adapt to training.

There are a couple of general considerations that you can follow:

Novice = Full Body, 3 times per week
Intermediate = Upper/Lower Split, 4 times per week
Advanced = Specific, 5 times per week
Master = Upper/Lower Split, 4 times per week
Grand Master = Full Body, 3x per week

Yes it’s not as clear cut as this as there are a lot of other things that need to be taken into consideration such as your goals, how much time you have available to train each week, what are your priorities and values, etc. that all influence what kind of split you should follow. But this provides a solid starting point for what kind of split you can follow to keep you progressing along your fitness journey.

Much Love,

Coach Kels 🤙

When we break most fitness related goals down to their basics, we find that the recipe for success will generally consist of the same things:

I. Resistance training for muscle mass, strength and power, and increases in bone density.

II. Aerobic Training for improved cardiovascular and respiratory function.

III. Nutrition/Fuelling Strategies that line up with your goal and function.

IV. Basic lifestyle strategies to make sure you’re managing your stress, getting enough movement in throughout each day, staying hydrated, and getting enough sleep in.

Your goal, whether it be to increase muscle mass, improve your strength, move better, improve your body composition, learn how to pursue fitness for a lifetime, or get hella fit, will dictate the quantity and intensity of each element.

You don’t need anything more or less.

Keep it simple, make small adjustments along the way, and enjoy the ride.

Much love,

Coach Kels 🤙

Better people make better _________.

This has been a guiding beacon with the work that I do here at Virtuous Approach.

I believe that there’s always room for improvement, that while perfection may be unattainable excellence is something that we can and should be striving for in all the things that we do, and that simply put we can always be better.

It’s not that we aren’t good enough.

It’s that we are aware that there should never be a point or come a day in our lives where we aren’t growing or putting in the work to improve in some form or capacity.

There’s always something that we can do to be better and by exploring our edges and developing ourselves we can elevate those around us and encourage them to do the same.

I believe that through the pursuit of excellence we develop the necessary skills and characteristics that are needed in order for us to become better at whatever roles we fill in life.

Fitness- and everything it encompasses, happens to be the medium through which I teach people to pursue their own version of excellence.

It’s time to get to work.

Much Love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

“You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.” ~ James Clear

That one hour that you spend inside the gym only really accounts for 4% of your day.

It seems like a pretty big shame to not focus on what’s happening during the other 96% of the time that you’re outside the gym.

To make true, positive, change that will last you a life time it pays to align your habits and life outside the gym with what your health and fitness goals are.

That’s where your BLG’s come in and why at Virtuous we help you create systems that optimize your:
🛌 Sleep
😩 Stress/rest balance
🍲 💧 Food hygiene and hydration
🧘 Recovery
☀️ Time spent in the sun
🚶‍♂️ Daily Movement
And so much more.

If you’re ready to start making the most out of your 💯 %, you know where to find us!

Now go be great!

Much love,

Coach Kels 🏴‍☠️

How many times a week should I train?

The answer to that question it depends.

It depends on your previous experience, your current capabilities, the goals that you have, and the life that you aspire to live outside of the gym.

A good place to start is with getting ridiculously consistent at showing up 1-3x a week and ensuring that you get some form of movement in every day of the week- whether that be walking, biking, hiking, or even some breath work or yoga.

Much love,

Coach Kels 🤙