UK Cover guy Toby Rowland shares his training tips.



Vital stats:
Name: Toby Rowland
Age: 27
From: Chelmsford, Essex
Years training: 5
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 81kg
Occupation: Personal trainer at Virgin Active, Chigwell

His story
Toby Rowland has what you might call an original recipe for success - KFC burgers.
"I'm partial to a bit of a blow out occasionally," laughs the 27-year-old personal trainer from Essex, our first cover model of 2008. "I love a KFC chicken fillet burger. OK, it's not the healthiest of hits but if there's one thing I tell my clients at the gym, it's that you have to reward yourself for your efforts: don't make getting into shape about sacrificing everything you enjoy. In my case that's The Colonel - you can't beat it."

Despite his unorthodox vice, Toby - or "Rols" to his friends - is remarkably dedicated to his art. It's a process he embarked upon in 2002, after being introduced to the gym by his sister's partner.

"My pursuit of the ideal body started around five years ago when I started going to the gym with my sister's then-fiancée," he explains. "He was a 6ft 6in giant of a man. I was the skinny 5ft 11in kid I'd been since I left school, looking to bulk up a bit. For six solid months all I'd do with him was heavy muscle work: 20 reps of dead lifts, then squats, then chins, then shoulder press, then dips then dead lifts again. He worked me hard but I thank him for it now. It put the foundations in place for the muscle definition I have today."

Refreshingly, Toby is at pains to make clear that he is still learning - often from the clients he's paid to train. "I've learned a lot along the way - sometimes picking up tips from my clients, which seems an odd way around, but you take the good advice wherever you can get it," he says. "In particular, I've noticed that the guys who look good work hardest at the start of their sessions. I do the same with heavy weights at high reps to begin with, then work down. I'll end each session with lighter work like chest flyes.

"Another guy gave me a tip that helps me focus when lifting big weights. Go through a little ritual every time: how you set your hands and position your feet and how many breaths you take - that way you shut out what's going on in the gym around you.

"Most of all, I've learnt not to get too hung up on exercise formats - not to slavishly follow the textbook of reps or sets but instead to focus on a specific muscle group you want to develop and work that hard."

Toby's day begins at 6am each morning with a bowl of porridge and honey for his "sugar hit" before a pre-work training session between 7 and 8am. As soon as possible after this he has his "crucial" protein hit.

"I tell people to try a few protein shakes to begin with - don't drink one simply because you feel you have to," he says. "Personally, I go with a chocolate shake and a banana within 20 minutes of the morning session. The timing is absolutely crucial and makes a lot of difference to the results, because there's a tiny window of time when the protein really does its stuff."

Another profitable habit he's picked up is concentrating on short, sharp bursts of cardio: "I make my cardio work short and sweet - I want the build of a sprinter, not a long distance runner, so I'll do 10 lots of 100m sprints on the rower with a one-minute breather in between", he says.

During the day, Toby aims to have a snack or small meal every two and a half hours, restricting ‘stodgy' carbohydrates like rice or pasta. "Chicken wraps are a favourite as are tuna sandwiches around lunch-time, again for the lean protein hit," he says. "And then there's always The Colonel of course..."

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