Why I Do What I Do

Hey guys, nice to meet ya’ll!

My name is Anthony and I am 23 years old.

At 17 years of age, I started my fitness journey at the gym. Purchased a $30 for 30 days deal at one of the leading gyms in the small city of Perth, Western Australia.

Fast forward 6 years, I am a Fitness Coach who aspires to help others along their fitness journey to the best of my ability, educating from my fitness experiences.

Specialising in Lean Physiques, I would love to work with you and provide you with my top tools to achieving greater confidence in your every day lives.

I am starting this website with the aim to motivate and educate those who are seeking a far more superior lifestyle than those around them. Not to say that you want to be better than others, but better than you were yesterday. Nonetheless, love yourself and feel more and more comfortable in your own skin each and every day.

For a kick of motivation to start today, follow me on instagram @L1Fitness.

I can’t wait to interact with you guys on a more personal level.

Anthony Luong

Define Your Abs Without Crunches

All this time I’ve been telling people that you don’t need to work your abs to get defined abs. Today is the day I realise you do.

This was the case because I haven’t worked my abs specifically for so long (for at least 6 months to a year) and still had defined abs. And then suddenly I wake up today after doing biceps just yesterday and my abs feel like they’ve been worked. I’m just recapping in my head about yesterday and what other activities I did to work my abs. I don’t think eating was one of them. Honestly, I didn’t go rock climbing or anything recently or swim or do anything that would’ve involved the abs.

In saying that, for me to have worked my abs during weight training, there’s a particular breathing technique that a lot of people do but most people do the opposite of. Basically, you want to breathe out as you’re pushing, pulling or lifting the weight/contraption. When I say breathe out, I mean to do it internally as if contracting your abs and not just emptying your lungs. When you feel a difference, that’s when you know you’ve distinguished between the two.

On the contrary, when you’re resisting (ie. controlling the weight in the opposite direction) the weight, you should breathe in and hold your breathe as if you’re preparing for another repetition.

In addition to your breathing technique being extremely crucial in working your abs, the amount of weight you push, pull or lift is also a big determinant. You need to be lifting as heavy as you can for a given amount of reps if you want to achieve results. There will be times when you’re fatigued and you feel like you can’t complete the last rep or few reps without fighting hard enough just to do so. During this moment is when your abs are contracted the most because you’re trying to maintain the best form possible while attempting to complete those last few reps (to only work that one particular muscle – isolation). You’ll definitely feel like you need to use momentum or swing your body or hips a little just to finish that rep.

The biggest tip I can give you is – the harder you try to isolate that muscle, the harder your abs are going to contract.

That’s all I’ve got for now.

I hope this was super helpful and if you want cheese-grater abs, apply this to your workouts!

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach

How Can I Exercise In The Cold?

You DON’T!

Exercising outside in the cold can be extremely bad for your health – there are so many risks in doing so.

When you exercise in the cold you are putting yourself at risk of falling sick!

My best tip for exercising during the rainy season is – signing up to a local gym (obviously). You can train at the gym through any season – rain, thunderstorms, the scorching heat and even when it floods (hence any season). You could argue that exercising at home would suffice but speaking from experience, it doesn’t always work out for most people (especially if you don’t have a proper set-up or for most, you just get plain lazy). The motivation just isn’t there!

Think about how different it would be to exercise around other like-minded people. It’s like running a marathon with other marathon runners. The atmosphere makes all the difference when it comes to exercising. They say hanging with successful people makes you more inclined to succeed. So why not surround yourself with people who have similar goals? 

There are many benefits for having a gym membership and becoming involved with weight training. These benefits include (but are not limited to):

• Increasing your metabolism – gaining lean muscle mass allows your body to burn more calories at rest, therefore burning fat without having to workout. With the right program and guidance this can be easily achieved over time. Don’t forget, it doesn’t happen overnight and neither does earning $1 million. Hard work pays off right?
• Toning up – give your body some definition and something to look at in the mirror every day. Feel good about yourself. With the right program you can shape your body the way you want. Thus, weight training can also be seen as an art form.
• Preventing future medical conditions – there are certain age-related health problems that come about due to a lack of weight-bearing activities which affect the strength of your bones. This can be prevented by going to the gym and performing weighted movements to help keep your bones strong and healthy. Look after your future self… in the present.
• Looking good naked – how great would it be to willingly rip your shirt off at the beach just to see who’s looking? Or forgetting you had your top off as you walk outside your house to throw the trash out, only to have your neighbours staring from their windows. How about walking past a group of attractive women with a sleeveless shirt only to have them notice your aesthetics? Something to ponder about.

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach

Know What You Want

Ponder this for a second – You go to a car dealership and don’t know what car you want or what your budget is. Pointless right? You’re bound to walk out thinking – “Why didn’t I plan this out?”

How about this – You go to the local grocer to shop for tonight’s feast and just wish you had made that shopping list prior to leaving your house. You end up buying pre-made sandwiches which don’t even taste great.

This is all relevant when it comes to starting your fitness regime. Knowing what you want will give you purpose. You’ll walk into the gym, knowing exactly what you’re going to do and what it’s for. Every exercise you perform will make sense, bringing you one step closer to your ideal body type.

My Personal Experiences

From my experiences, I’ve always wanted a 6 pack the day I saw my friend rock one (or six). In an instant, I asked for his advice and I even joined the same gym as he did so he could show me how it was done. It wasn’t easy and I tried so many different methods. Frustration was my major roadblock. But at the end of the day, I had a goal in mind and I continuously worked towards it. I knew what I wanted.

If you don’t know what physique you want, no one else will. If you want that sense of direction in life – know what you want.

If you are genuinely stuck, expose yourself to instagram or YouTube more often. Have a quick browse right before you sleep as you lay there in your bed. Get on the bandwagon ASAP!

You don’t have to look like a model but at least know what parts of your body you want to enhance. Most importantly, ensure that these thoughts are healthy. Don’t let these thoughts take over your life. If you are trying to lose fat, do it without starving yourself and if you are trying to gain lean muscle mass, don’t sleep over night at the gym!

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach

My Best Fitness Advice

In all my experiences in exercising and weight training, the #1 lesson I can offer is – Listen To Your Body.

Every year I aim to not get sick but how do you think that turns out?

Let’s just say it’s doesn’t go in my favour.

I don’t know about you but I HATE getting sick. (I would pay any amount of money to not get sick for the rest of my life)

There will be times when you train ‘x’ amount of days per week at the gym or at home or wherever it may be. Then you get to a point in your program/fitness regime where you start to experience symptoms such as – heavy-headedness, warm eyes, full-body fatigued, weaker than usual lifting the same weight as you normally do and many others.

These are signs that your body is working double time to bring it back to normal.

Working out would mean your body has to work even harder, especially if you’re putting your muscles through exercise-related stress, which would result in a greater workload for your body.

The best thing to do at this point in time could involve:

• Shortening the session time and lighten the load
• Stretching instead of lifting weights
• Taking a short nap in the late afternoon/early evening to allow your body to recover faster

If you think otherwise, think about it this way… You get sick for a week and you can’t exercise. You eat less and that’s going to put you at risk of losing lean muscle mass and/or cardio levels (depending on your fitness goals).

When you’ve fully recovered, you end up much weaker and your motivation levels plummet. You lay in bed itching to hit the gym, wishing you didn’t get sick.

Play it safe. Listen To Your Body.

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach

How Do I Start?

With fitness becoming more and more integrated in today’s society, there’s still a large portion of us who want to jump on the bandwagon but don’t know how.

You should all know why you want to get into fitness whether it’s because you want to – feel great about yourself, gain self-confidence, feel strong, stay healthy or more often than not, build lean muscle.

There’s a heap of content out there on YouTube teaching you how to lift weights. I’m not going to lie, majority of it is not applicable to everyone of you. Certain injuries may not allow for a certain movement to occur and/or specific medical conditions may not tolerate various exercises. Everyone is different.

But, who do you listen to?

There are fitness coaches out there (like myself included) whom can provide you with expert guidance in relation to exercise prescription. They can provide you with exercise basics which allows for progression to occur.

I have recently introduced an Online Fitness Coaching & Program service with a surplus of bonus features that are value for money. It will provide you with the guidance you need to successfully reach your fitness goals. If you are interested and would love to receive a FREE 30 Min Online Fitness Consultation, comment down below with ‘interested’ and I will PM you. The other option is to visit my social media links down below and PM me. I hope to be involved with guiding you to attaining a healthy and more confident self.

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach

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Answer To Long-Lasting Motivation

Where do you find motivation you ask?

The only answer as to why you lack motivation – You don’t take enough progress photos.

The best way to track your changes made to your body through weight training is to take weekly progress photos.

As vain as it seems, it’s the most effective way to stay motivated and on track with your fitness goals.

Without doing so, you risk losing your motivation and watch it decline week after week.

Your routine will become boring because you don’t know what you’re working with. You don’t know if your workout is effective. You won’t realise what minimal progress, if any, you are making.

The end result is – you cancel your gym membership and start making excuses like: ‘I don’t have time to go’, ‘Weight training is boring’, ‘I need a gym partner to be motivated’, ‘I have too much on my plate’.

These excuses frustrate me and gives me the urge to just intervene and show you how it should be done!

Some say its cocky, but it’s for your benefit. You don’t know how far you’ve come in 1 or 10 years time if you dont know how you looked 1 or 10 years ago compared to now. For all you know, you could’ve been the same person you were back then (physically).

I’m so glad I took progress photos for the sake of realising and noticing my progress and the effectiveness of my workouts.

Just do it and thank me later.

At the end of the day – Haters Gonna Hate.

Do it for your own good.

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach

Life After Lean

You’ve got a 6 pack. What now?

The answer is simple – Start your lean bulk. Gain size by working towards building lean muscle mass. (Not the big unnatural look you see on Instagram. More of a sporty, athletic look with added size.)

The benefits of having lean muscle mass are immense. A few of my favourites are:

1. Increased basal metabolic rate – you can eat almost anything you want in a day without gaining a single kilo.
2. Time to buy fitted shirts – get the attention you’ve never had.
3. Look good naked – be yourself, be confident.

Your lifestyle will change for the better and you won’t have to worry about what you eat and how you look. Dining out will be much more enjoyable and guilt-free. You’ll look good in almost any top – less coverage the better 😉

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach

My Fitness Secret Revealed

What I think is extremely important is the concept of visualisation.

This is the case particularly if you are aiming to transform your body in any way you desire.

Not knowing what you want to change about your body can be detrimental to your fitness motivation.

The concept of visualisation helps with finding that inner, long-lasting drive that many others lack. Practice this and results will show.

Below is how I went about it over the past 6 years and it changed my life forever:

To help with visualising your ideal body, take photos in the morning (preferrably after you take a visit to the toilet), once a week. This will be beneficial if you have an ongoing exercise routine. It will allow you to gauge how effective your workouts are and the impact of your diet on your overall progress.

To look for any changes in your body:

Download a photo editing app that has the collage function so you can edit photos like the one featured above.

If I hadn’t taken these 2 photos, I would’ve never realised the changes that my body has experienced over the past year. What you looked like last year would be extremely vague.

Visualisation is key for achieving your ideal physique.

Anthony Luong
L1 Fitness
Lean Physique Coach