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Interview With Rachel Guy

By April 28, 2011January 8th, 2014Interviews

The following is an interview with Rachel Guy. I met Rachel a couple of months ago here in New Zealand and we hit it off. I think my male readers will think she’s as badass as I do and my female readers will be inspired by her. I’ll let her introduce herself.

1. Please introduce yourself.

Hello all! My name is Rachel Guy. I am a physical therapist and strength coach based in Sydney, Australia.

My journey to where I am today began in 2005 when I graduated from the University of Birmingham, UK with a BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy. Fresh from college I worked in an NHS hospital in the UK, covering neurology, respiratory/critical care, and musculoskeletal wards. Although my experiences during that time were absolutely invaluable, I would not chose to do it again! Honestly, I found it somewhat frustrating and a little painful! On the bright side, just quietly, I did kind of enjoy walking around in scrubs and a stethoscope around my neck. 🙂

I knew right from the age of 16 that I wanted to be involved in musculoskeletal sports medicine, so as a student and as a junior post-grad I also worked and volunteered for a College Football squad and several rugby teams, working with a variety of physiotherapists, chiropractors, team doctors and strength coaches and watching and learning from different professions. I couldn’t learn fast enough! However, I did become more interested in what was going on in the gym rather than what was going on in my clinic….

To make a long story short, in 2006 I found myself no less than 14,000km away from home having moved to Sydney, Australia. I started work as a full time trainer and became obsessed with muscle, biomechanics, soft tissue, the human body, and how to make someone bigger, leaner, stronger and faster. I started with myself. I was fit and healthy but skinny-ish!

I learned from all the best people in the industry at the time and spent thousands of dollars on textbooks, courses, mentors and trainers. Everything I learned, I tried on myself. I went back to University in Sydney to study post-grad Exercise and Sport Science. I read books on business, nutrition, psychology, strength & conditioning, bodybuilding, communication, anatomy and manual therapies, health, science, fitness, supplements, biochemistry, functional medicine and even spiritual and metaphysical texts.

I would not consider myself a spiritual person. In fact, quite the opposite – I love science! However, I definitely believe that science doesn’t have all the answers. I think it is important for all trainers and clinicians to have an awareness of things outside of the science-realm. Even if we don’t use it directly in our own practice, we should know who to refer to if we can’t fix a problem. Every one of us is made up of physical, mental/emotional, and spiritual components. I refer out if I identify that someone needs help with the mental/emotional or spiritual. I like working on and improving the physical!

I am not particularly sympathetic and don’t have the patience nor desire to work on anything but the physical! I am thankful to have spent 3 years learning a little from all facets of the fitness industry. I realized there were two main areas that were to become the focus of my profession:

1) Physical Therapy (Manual therapies & A.R.T)

2) Strength and Conditioning.

I now combine the two working at my gym Platinum Extreme in North Sydney.

Platinum is an MMA training facility with a fully equipped weights room and two large training studios. As the S&C manager, I am also responsible for up-skilling trainers, managing the day-to-day running of the training team, dealing with equipment issues, assisting the marketing and sales team, and bringing on new trainers as the club grows.

Aside from that, I keep myself busy by writing for Men,s Fitness and Shape magazines, working on my blog, training clients, writing programs, reading and learning, training MMA & weights, competing as a fitness model, and lecturing for FMA Strength Training.

There is quite a bit of a grey area in the fitness industry between end-stage rehab and advanced methods in S&C. I like the FMA Strength Training Certification Program as we cover both of these and “bridge the gap” in order to bring out a new breed of trainer. I am very lucky that I have worked in both ends of the spectrum and learned a lot from so many coaches and therapists.

One thing I have established over the years is that no one person has all the answers. The more I learn the less I know, or, that is certainly what it feels like at times! There is so much mixed information out there in the fitness industry, no wonder trainers get confused and fall into just one method of thinking or feel too overwhelmed to change their current practice.

My advice would be – if what your doing is working – that’s great! Share it with the world! If your methods are not producing continuous results and progressions, something needs to change. After all, Einstein once said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results”.

Get out there, talk to fellow coaches, and try new things. PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH  – it will be the most invaluable experience you will ever gain!

2. Rachel, take a deep breath! Okay, next question. Why do most people fail to achieve results in the gym?

I feel there is just ONE main reason: a lack of unplanned day-to-day workouts and long-term goal setting. This often leads to resistance to a change in lifestyle or current habits and also boredom and frustration from not seeing results for the perceived effort being spent.

I get all my clients to develop an emotional attachment to their goal. For example, one of our MMA coaches and fighters at Platinum has a title fight coming up in 2 months time. He has a photo-shopped an image of himself already wearing the belt which sits above his desk. He wants it SO badly it is all he can talk about!

I have another female client who desperately wants to get back into her size 4 (US) jeans. I made her take a picture of them and send it to me. I pull it out every time she says “no more.” Needless to say, I always get more out of her.

I am I big believer in visualization. I use it myself to help me get back into a diet routine if I have a show to prepare for after a long lay off. The first week is the hardest, and after that I get super excited to wake up every morning and say hello to my abs becoming more visible!

I believe periodization also to be the key to adherence to training by preventing overtraining and ensuring continual development. Every third week of training the volume is reduced to 60%. Mentally the reduction is good too, especially if you’re training twice a day. I write client programs 3-4 months in advance. This serves two purposes – it gets the clients excited about where their training is heading and it helps me control the volume and intensity throughout the training period or taper off and peak for specific events.

3. Very interesting. Switching gears, what exercises should we be doing for best results?

It depends what the client or athlete is training for and what their needs are in terms of hypertrophy, strength, speed, power or endurance. For your weekend warrior or gym rat that wants to be strong and look good on the beach, I mix compound lifts and isolation work into a program. I am a big fan of both heavy lifting and also getting a “pump”! It keeps training fun too!

Women need to quit training like gerbils on the treadmill and lift some heavy shit! – There you go, I said it!

Here are a few of my training videos. I am currently putting a series of videos together called “This is How I Train” which was inspired by Kat Eden of Woman Incredible.

 4. Awesome Rachel. If you can hip thrust 4 plates then you know you have my approval. Your glutes are looking amazing. What did you do to build up your backside?

HAHA! Thank you! They are pretty shapely now! I have the insatiable desire to push my physical limits, and perhaps star in the next Flo’Rida music video or Nike Ad! Just kidding!

I feel it is very important for us chicks to have curves, but I want killer curves, and I want them to be hard curves, and in all the right places. I am on a tunnel-vision mission to get an awesome C-Shaped ass!

I use a variety of squats, deadlifts, good mornings, pull throughs, split squat and lunge variations, modified step ups, hip thrust and glute bridge variations, bent over rows, glute ham raises (more hamstring), and a lot of back extensions! As you can imagine, I use a variety of movement planes and loading parameters,

5. Many women fear getting too big from lifting. Please address this.

Ladies – listen up!! While cardio is great for your heart, it will not change the shape of your body. Cardio training should be done outside in fresh air in a park or beach if you wish to walk and talk. In the gym, use your time productively and LIFT WEIGHTS for killer curves, stronger bones, elevated metabolism, and overall general health. It is very hard for us girls to put on a decent amount of muscle. I have never met a chick that is lean and genuinely thinks her quads are too big. Honestly, you need to drop fat, not worry about gaining muscle!

As a general rule, your average lady should lift 3-4x/week and do a form of conditioning (where they sweat hard and can’t talk) 2-3x/week. This includes boxing or Muay Thai, long brisk walks (outdoors only), strongman training, circuit training, dancing, or whatever they enjoy doing. That is the most important thing. Exercise must be enjoyable. Look how much fun the weights room can be!

As much as I hate to admit it, as we are in an obesity epidemic, so how can I knock Zumba if it gets people moving?! For the record, I have never been to a class, nor will I ever be seen in one!! Instead you will find me in the weights room or the in the cage……

6. How does being a physio change the way you design programs?

I certainly use a range of rehab/prehab exercises and mobility/activation drills at set times and ONLY WHEN NECESSARY. Usually these times are at the start of a client’s training to teach movements or create a mind-muscle connection, to strengthen specific areas after an injury, or if I have identified areas of potential weakness having watched the client train. I like to “dot the I’s and cross the T’s” and get someone pain free, functional, and strong. Having said that, one of my pet-peaves is “babying” clients. It is important to tie in heavy strength work while improving structural balance, especially while working with athletes. That is, if their sport requires it.

For example, I will still use heavy rack pulls while working on hip or talocrural mobility to progress to a full deadlift. I think this would be the case for any good strength coach. The small difference is that I can treat an issue on the spot using A.R.T, dry needing, mobilizations, or other hands-on techniques. Nevertheless, I still always refer out if necessary.

7. So I gotta bring this up, my favorite quote from you is, “Anything over 5 reps is cardio.” Please elaborate

Yes and I still stand by this 100%, I guess it has almost become my motto, even though I say it tongue in cheek! It loosely summarizes my methods of training. I have absolutely nothing against reps above 5. In fact, I use anything up to 25-50 reps in programming if I am looking to really hammer a muscle group.

Of course for hypertrophy, generally speaking, an 8-12 rep range is ideal, but it does depend on the genetics of the athlete and tempo used. Some athletes put on size with 5 reps, some at 15+ reps.

“Anything over 5 reps is cardio” stems from a string of events over the past 18 months, where people have told me how much “strength work” they do with 8-15 reps.

For sure, if you’re a beginner, you will gain limit strength at those repetitions, as you also would if you modify training variables such as tempo, grip, angles, rest periods, etc. Eventually, if strength is your goal, you will plateau. No one ever got ridiculously strong using 15 reps. Please enlighten me if I am incorrect and I shall withdraw that blanket statement!

You can do an awesome conditioning circuit with just 8 reps – hence the reason I classify it as “cardio”. Note that I define cardio as any activity which makes you sweat and elevates heart rate. I do not classify treadmill work as cardio. That’s mind-numbing, spirit crushing bullshit! Get outside and walk!!

Take home note: If you are lifting for strength- LIFT HEAVY! If you are lifting for hypertrophy, TRASH the muscle group and FEEL the pump! If you’re training to improve your conditioning/fitness, it doesn’t matter what weight you use just keep doing it til your lungs burn and you feel sick and your mind plays games with you!

These are very general rules. Every person is different, but for me, “Anything over 5 reps is cardio!”

8. Thanks Rachel! Where can readers find out more about you?

I have my website www.rachelguy.com.au and my blog, http://rachelguy.posterous.com, which I will FULLY admit I need to give a little more love to!  No excuse; everyone is always busy, I need to manage my time a little more efficiently.

You can also follow me on:

Twitter – http://twitter.com/#!/rachel_guy1

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Rachierach1983

38 Comments

  • Teri says:

    Great interview with tons of information, thank-you. I’m blushing as Zumba is on my list of things to do to get out of my comfort zone (the weight-room) and mix it up a bit but what the heck. You are inspiring!

    • Rachel. Guy says:

      Hi Teri,
      Thank you, I am glad you enjoyed it. You may be the exception to the rule as you already lift weights and looking at doing Zumba for fun! 😉 let me know how you go! I would most certainly be taken out of my ‘ comfort’ zone. 🙂
      Rachel

    • Bret says:

      If you like Zumba then by all means keep doing it. As Rachel mentioned…enjoying the physical activity you’re doing is huge. Glad you liked the interview!

  • Marianne says:

    You’re right Bret, this is VERY inspiring – makes me wanna get my ass in gear, for training more people I mean… My actual ass is already in gear 😉

    Thanks Rachel, great answers!

    M

  • Shama says:

    she is right on the money on most things. plus the education, humbleness, & outright honesty in admitting things! coach thanks for finding interesting people & professionals to learn from.

    • Bret says:

      You’re welcome Shama! As you can see I like interviewing other people. It’s fun and gives my readers a chance to learn from others. Thanks!

  • D.Morales says:

    Great interview. She’s muy caliente!

    • Bret says:

      Yeah, her English accent makes her hotter as well. Especially if she says, “you naughty boy.” 🙂

      • Rachel Guy says:

        lol – funny story here r.e “naughty boy!”
        I walked into the weights room at my gym – 6pm a few Mondays ago, as you may imagine, its packed! I got SO annoyed because to me, the weights room is like a temple! Should be kept tidy with weights replaced etc and chalk only used when necessary. Anyway, this guy has used so much chalk the place looked like lapland! He was also doing hand walkouts, so this shit was literally everywhere!!! I gave him a massive bollocking and told him to clean it up immediately – which he did, and sincerely apologised but in my most serious voice i said “your such a naughty boy!” at which point a) i realised he was not my child and b) the situation was quite funny. He just looked at me and like a parrot said “naughty boy naughty boy!” I couldn’t help but laugh! Bad choice of words and clearly i cant be serious with a british accent!

  • Kashka says:

    Hey Bret
    I skimmed through Rachel’s blog, I see you turned her to Broz’s training method. I’m have doing that for the past 3 weeks, maxing out 2 exercise 4 days a week plus a dynamic effort day on the fifth day and rest 2 days. Do you think there are research that back up what Broz said; that when you train max all the time with no rest, your muscle is just as tired as your tendons so you less like to to get injured?

    • Bret says:

      Kashka, I could write an entire article on what you asked. But to be brief…there’s something to Broz methods that freakin’ work. Especially for those who have never done anything like it before. There is definitely research to back up what Broz says. I’m not sure about the muscles/tendons issue but I have an alternative theory for why you’re less likely to get injured. Keep up the good work!

      • Rachel Guy says:

        Just to back up what Bret just said, i agree. My lifts have all increased! I have come back from a 6 day lay-off over Easter and my joints, muscle and energy levels are good, lifts still increasing.

        • Kashka says:

          Yea, I made a PR pretty much every other work out. I don’t really feel overtrained at all. But Broz says dark period are gonna happen, just gotta work through it.

  • Rachel. Guy says:

    Bret,
    Thank you! I will buy you another gelato in May when I am back in NZ! On a more serious note, I have learned a lot from you over the past 18-24months. Keep doing what your doing and rocking your blog!

  • Josh Grey says:

    “I feel there is just ONE main reason: a lack of unplanned day-to-day workouts and long-term goal setting” gold right there 🙂

  • Paul Robinson says:

    Rachel Guy kicks arse!! Love it!

    • Bret says:

      When she was getting an examination she was lying prone and she was told that “her glutes wer going to hit the ceiling.” That makes her a badass in my book!

      • Paul Robinson says:

        hahaha! Brilliant! She’s not only the Goddess of all things Glute, she knows her stuff when it comes to Strength & Conditioning, rehab from injuries, and nutrition. Plus she can kick arse in the cage too! Good girl to know.

      • Rachel Guy says:

        haha – true story! I was having a massage!

  • I’ve employed Rach as a trainer at my last two gyms and when I opened Platinum Extreme in Sydney she was my No1 target.
    Her knowledge base and no bullshit approach to training is highly respected and loved at my gym.
    As my Head Strength Coach she keeps her team in check plus she enables me after 20 long and hard years of Martial Arts training to keep coaching and rolling with the aid of her magic fingers (and elbows)

    Let it be known too that she is also turning into a pretty handy MMA Fighter!

  • Moez says:

    What an inspiration you are, Rachel! And I also love how you simplify what everyone complicates. Great minds make things simple.

  • Rick Kaselj says:

    Bret,

    Enjoyed the interview.

    Great to hear the perspective on how being a physical therapist has helped her out with the training.

    Looking forward to more.

    Rick Kaselj of http://ExercisesForInjuries.com

    .

  • Steve says:

    This will definately have to go on a list of articles I can send on to others further prooving that girls are not going to look “massive” when training with weights over 3kg! The more of us busting this myth the stronger and healthier people will be!

  • mark says:

    I really like the 5 reps is cardio part. I also like the take home notes too. So true. -Mark

  • Kellie says:

    Thank you, Rachel! I love that you say “hard curves”. That’s exactly what we should all desire. Your ambition is awe-inspiring and I can’t wait to tear up the fitness world with the same vigor.

  • sara says:

    Treadmill work is mind-numbing, spirit crushing bullshit?? Now THAT’S some real bullshit. Just because her ass is lazy doesn’t mean she should knock cardio. There’s NOTHING like a good run, gives you that crazy high! She can slowly turn into a dude, and I’ll enjoy my treadmill! Lol!

    • Rachel Guy says:

      Sara,
      I respectfully disagree and apologise if i have upset you.
      Firstly, i did not knock cardio in general and if you re-read what i said “Note that I define cardio as any activity which makes you sweat and elevates heart rate. I do not classify treadmill work as cardio. That’s mind-numbing, spirit crushing bullshit! Get outside and walk!!”
      Running outside is harder and is less likely to make you quad dominant; develop dysfunctional movement patterns and sleepy glutes – all of which have a lot of musculoskeletal implications.
      If you enjoy treadmill running, fine keep doing it, but for the majority of the population i would advise against it as there are FAR superior methods to stay fit and healthy.
      I can also assure you Sara, I will not be looking like a dude at any point in time. I am very comfortable in my skin and love my curves. I apologise if that is not to your taste.

  • Ali dalirea says:

    Rachel ur a dedicated ur a champion ive seen u train and train clients ur not just great with ur theory but just as good in practicality to me thats more than enough to put my hands in u.. By the way few years ago we did the hardest shoulder workout together nd u didnt give up.. Ps ali ur x friend at def fitness

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