Naturally Intense Founder, Kevin Richardson
Mrs. O was an overweight, out-of-shape housewife in her 40s who was looking for a personal trainer when a friend of mine referred her to me in Trinidad in 1991. The coach overseeing my apprenticeship approved her, and she was my first client, but I think she taught me more than I would ever imagine!
I was only 17 years old, but I had been immersed for five years in a self-directed study of exercise as I was frustrated after spending hours at the gym, and not having that much to show for it. Through trial and error, I developed a system of high-intensity, short-duration workouts that had transformed me from the proverbial 125-pound weakling into a 225-pound bodybuilder. What I hadn’t done was to make a connection between my own results and my clients’ potential. All the personal-training certification books I had studied dictated hour-long workouts with plenty of aerobics, so I got Mrs. O going on the treadmill.
As I stood beside her, clipboard and calipers at hand, my coach walked over from the other side of the gym and pulled me aside. “What are you doing?” he demanded. Surprised, I told him I was going to do some cardio and weight training with her and end our session with some cool-down exercises. The coach knew I believed in what he called “that quick-workout stuff,” and told me I had no business putting a client through the kind of conventional training I had rejected. Personal training is a craft that you master over years of practice, he said, and you can’t master something you don’t believe in or practice.
But my training regimen is geared toward bodybuilding, I told him; how could it be relevant to someone like Mrs. O who wanted to lose weight and tone up? He gave me a look and said that was something I would have to figure out, and walked away.
Chastened but exhilarated, I got Mrs. O off the treadmill and told her we were going to train a bit differently. I didn’t dare tell her we were going to do a 10-minute workout; she probably would have thought I was shortchanging her. Instead I said that today was her lucky day: She was going to train the same way I did. She was game, and we went at it, hitting the weights so hard that I doubt she had any idea how short the workout was.
We continued to meet three times a week. The sessions pushed her to her limits – I sometimes had to help her to her car afterward – but she was a trooper and gave it her all. She never questioned my methods, but I was terrified that she was not going to get the results she was looking for. By the second week, though, I could see a clear difference in her physique and energy level, and by the third month she had lost 30 pounds. Mrs. O thought I was a genius, but in truth, no one was more surprised by her success than I was. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.
I continued to use my high-intensity training method with clients in Trinidad until 1994, when I relocated to New York City. There, I spent 10 years putting what became the Naturally Intense 10-Minute Workout to the test. Applying the scientific method, I documented my clients’ training, diet, and results.
I have come a long way since then, as one of top personal trainers in New York City, the International Fitness Consultant for UNICEF and recognized now as a leading authority in high intensity training! I have had the honor and pleasure of training hundreds of men and women from their teens to their late 70s, some in great shape and others taking their first steps on the road to fitness – and every one of them who has stuck with the Naturally Intense 10-Minute Workout has achieved impressive results. Check out our reviews, read up on how the system works and the science behind it and give me a call or message so you can come in and try it out for yourself and see how you can get better results in less time! Thanks for stopping by!
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My Budget Home Gym Setup Recommendations
Anyone following along knows that I have a pretty impressive home gym setup, but as nice as it is to have all this equipment, the fact is that you don`t need very much in order to make progress if you are training at home.
Which is why my number one recommendation is a pair of dumbbells. Maybe a barbell as well, but that`s really all you need.
I trained for about a year during the lockdowns with just a pair of dumbbells and a barbell and was able to make tremendous progress, and to this day I universally recommend and provide dumbbells to my online training clients and they have made some great gains as well.
So if you are thinking about training at home, start small and keep it simple. Thanks as always for watching and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
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High Intensity Training- Negative Leg Extensions!
The negative, or eccentric, phase of any resistance movement creates the most micro trauma and thus stimulates the most growth and strength increases.
As such having someone pushing down in the lowering phase can REALLY up the intensity of your training.
This was my last set and my training partner and Naturally Intense Personal Training Senior Trainer @egcitrin is pushing down as I lower the weight and (and is it just me or is she pushing more and more as I go along?)
But I don`t stop there.
On the 12th rep I execute an isometric hold for a count of 5 seconds with Erika actively pushing down before ending with nine punishing final reps!
I think I was sore for at least a full week after this but still training and hope you are too!
And as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
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Avoiding Injury As A Natural Athlete- Just Do This!
As a natural athlete, whether your goal is bodybuilding or body transformation, everything happens slowly and over very long stretches of time.
To that end, it is of the utmost importance that you prioritize not getting injured, as an injury can slow if not completely curtail your ability to realize your goals.
That being said, most people, when something hurts, just power through it, as there is this misplaced belief that there are some exercises that you need to do.
Squats, deadlifts, barbell bench presses and the like may be excellent exercises, but if it hurts, don`t do it.
Or better yet, do something else to build yourself up to a point where you can do them, but there are times when some of those mainstay movements simply might not be for you.
Now for some, saying everyone can`t squat or deadlift is heresy punishable by ridicule, but they won`t be with you at the physical therapy sessions, and they will still be training while you are out.
If it hurts, don`t do it, even if your favorite influencer swears it`s a necessity. There are hundreds of alternatives, and your job is to find what doesn`t hurt while recruiting the most muscular activation and sticking with it.
Do that and you`ll save yourself a lot of pain and you`ll realize your goals much faster as well. Stay safe while training and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#naturalbodybuilding #bodytransformation #nodrugs #weighttraining #listentoyourbody #avoidinginjury #naturalbodybuildingtips #naturalbodybuilder #fitness #fitnesstips #nosquats #injury #injuryprevention #trainsmart #sustainabletraining #nosteroids #naturalbodybuildingvideos #excelsior #highintensitytraining #fitover40 #personaltrainer #bodybuilding
Why Exercises Won`t Get You A 6 Pack!
One of the most common questions I get asked is what exercises I do for my abs and my response of
"Absolutely none whatsoever" is often received with some sense of disbelief, but it`s the honest truth.
I don`t do any direct exercises for my abs and haven`t since the mid to early 1990`s because I already had a foundation from years of truly grueling ab work and having a six pack is directly proportional to what I eat, not what exercises I do.
My abs get plenty of work from the squats, rows, deadlifts and other compound movements that I do and I can prove, having not done crunches, leg raises, planks and any of that for the past 28 years or so that it`s 100% diet.
If you want to have great abs, the exercise you need to master is walking away from the foods you shouldn`t be eating.
My diet is and has been one of precision for a very long time, and it`s what I eat and how I eat that allows me to always have a six pack, nothing else.
The good news is that everyone already has a six pack, you just have to get rid of the fat deposits above it for them to show, and if you put your mind to it, stay disciplined and avoid processed foods entirely, it can certainly happen.
So watch what you eat and focus on your diet if you really want that six pack and Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
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I Only Train Three Days a Week.
That`s right.
Just three days a week with short high intensity training based workouts and it allowed me to compete successfully as a natural bodybuilder, and it`s how I have trained and how my personal training clients have trained for the past 30 years.
The biggest problem in training is a lack of dedicated experimenting.
Everyone goes along with the training programs espoused by the most popular, without questioning the fact that the top figures in the fitness industry are all on steroids, and as such their methods may not always be best for natural athletes.
There are many reasons to consider low volume training but most importantly is that it allows for training sustainability.
Three days a week is far more doable long term than 4, 5, 6 or 7 days a week.
And I can tell you for a fact that it has been tested time and time again, and it works if you work it.
So give training less some consideration and as always, Excelsior!!! #naturallyintense
#train3xaweek #highintensityworkouts #naturalbodybuilder #trainlessexcelmore #trainsmart #sustainabletraining #competeatthehighestlevels #nosteroids #naturalbodybuilding #naturalbodybuildingvideos #naturalbodybuildingtips #excelsior #highintensitytraining
