
Alex Fergus (front row, center) during his competitive bodybuilding days (via AlexFergus.com)
Alex Fergus is a personal trainer who coaches some of Australia’s top executives, helping them look and feel amazing through natural lifestyle choices and combining ancestral protocols and modern-day science. He runs a successful personal training business and also manages several other businesses and projects successfully, such as RowFaster and Blue Blockers, on top of just having recently won the 2016 realFIT competition, which he prepared for using nothing but high-intensity training protocols.
A former competitive rower, rugby player, powerlifter, and bodybuilder, Alex is ISSN Nutrition Certified, holds a Bachelor of Management Studies (hons), is Recomp Certified, and is a Superhuman Coach, just to name some of his accomplishments and qualifications. He has also authored three books: Ultimate Fat Loss, Increase Your Testosterone Naturally!, and The Ultimate Supplement Guide – all available individually, or in a health book bundle.
Contact Alex:
- AlexFergus.com
- Email: alex [@] afcoaching.com.au
- Blue Blockers
In this episode, we cover:
- How Alex crushed the realFIT competition just by using HIT
- The upsides and downsides of high-fat, low-carb diets
- How to optimise exercise and diet for muscle growth
- Supplementing HIT with other exercises and activities
- Managing time and multiple businesses and projects
- And much more!
Download How to Attract Great Personal Trainers PDF
- Listen to it on iTunes
- Stream by clicking here.
- Download as an MP3 by right-clicking here and choosing “save as”.
This episode is sponsored by Hituni.com, the best online courses in high intensity strength training. I recently completed their personal trainer course to increase my knowledge and become certified in HIT. HITuni offer DIY courses to help you get better results from your training and personal training courses to help you start and grow your HIT Business. Visit HITuni.com and use the code “HIB10” to get 10% OFF.
Show Notes
- Alex’s story, in his own words [7:31]
- Alex Fergus, video gamer [11:22]
- Alex’s thoughts on genetic advantages and epigenetics [15:30]
- Alex on what will work for most people in terms of results and muscle gains [20:29]
- What is the realFIT competition? [21:15]
- What is Paleo f(x)? [22:55]
- Alex’s experience preparing for and competing in realFIT [24:24]
- The margin between Alex in the top spot and second place [28:46]
- The questions Alex got, how he answered them, and how people reacted [29:57]
- How did Ben Greenfield feel about Alex beating him? [34:50]
- How Alex does online marketing and his thoughts on social media [37:00]
- Alex talks about his businesses and projects [41:30]
- Alex talks about his motivations [47:36]
- Alex on his exercise routines and how he got started with high-intensity training [52:05]
- Alex on sprinting [56:25]
- How does Alex approach reading, learning, and staying on top of the health & fitness world? [1:00:25]
- On James Steele’s Bodyweight High-Intensity Training Workout [1:03:05]
- Why does Alex think that bodyweight training is inferior to machine-based training? [1:04:45]
- Lawrence and Alex talk about Oura Rings and measuring recovery [1:10:19]
- Alex talks about supplementary exercises, active movement, and physical activity [1:16:30]
- Alex on getting back into rowing [1:23:24]
- Alex on learning more about and training for endurance [1:25:46]
- Lawrence and Alex talk about a study on high-level endurance athletes with different diets [1:27:50]
- Alex talks about his current diet, training routine, fasting [1:31:00]
- Does Alex get cravings, and how does he deal with them? [1:34:01]
- Alex talks about his meals, meal timing, and dealing with gut issues [1:37:29]
- What is Alex’s take on optimal caloric intake and lean muscle mass gain? [1:40:35]
- If Alex could convince everyone to start – or stop – eating one thing every day, what would it be? [1:45:54]
- What brand of sardines does Alex recommend? [1:52:35]
- Alex’s morning routine [1:54:36]
- Has Alex changed his mind on anything about health and fitness recently? [1:57:00]
- The best piece of advice that Alex has ever been given [1:57:58]
Selected Links from the Episode
- Paleo f(x)
- realFIT
- CrossFit
- Age of Empires
- Command & Conquer
- Body By Science by Doug McGuff and John Little (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- ARX Machines
- Less Is More: How Slowing Down Improved Health and Produced a RealFit Champ by Alex Fergus
- The Kiwi Pair by Hamish Bond and Eric Murray (Amazon UK)
- Body By Science High Intensity Training Review: My 9 Month Experiment by Alex Fergus
- Kieser Training
- James Steele’s Bodyweight HIT Workout
- Oura Ring
- The One Wearable To Rule Them All? Oura Ring Review by Alex Fergus
- Power Rangers
- EMF (Electromagnetic Fields)
- The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing by Philip Maffetone (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Primal Endurance by Mark Sisson (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Organic Coconut Butter (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Thorne Research Bio-Gest (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Elite HRV
- The 3 Minute Test You Should Be Doing Everyday For Optimal Health & Performance by Alex Fergus
- Precision Xtra Ketone Meter (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Puritan’s Pride Chelated Zinc (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Puritan’s Pride Sea Kelp (Iodine Source) (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Puritan’s Pride Selenium (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- The Complete Nose to Tail: A Kind of British Cooking by Fergus Henderson (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- 51 Sardine Recipes For The Fussiest Of Fish Eaters by Alex Fergus
- Brunswick Sardines in Springwater (Amazon US / Amazon UK)
- Vital Choice Sardines in Organic Olive Oil (Amazon US)
- Vital Spiced Choice Sardines in Organic Olive Oil (Amazon US)
People Mentioned
- Jay Vincent
- Dr. Doug McGuff (check out my interviews with Doug here: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3)
- DNA Fit
- Mark Sisson
- Ben Greenfield
- Dave Asprey
- Keith Norris
- Phil Maffetone
- Tom Church (check out my Interview with Tom here)
- James Steele
Hi Scott. I just saw this comment now and and wanted to leave my feedback.
In my own experience I found that pushing my protein intake too high would knock me out of ketosis. Despite not going near a carb, if I didn’t monitor my meat/egg/broth intake I would struggle to get into true ketosis (0.5-1.5mmol).
In fact, the first day I measured my ketones (blood, Precision Xtra) it was after going 5 days without carbs and a overnight fast, I pricked my finger and the number came back 0.1 ! I couldn’t believe it. This then led me to cut back on my protein consumption and then I started seeing my numbers rise.
This is purely an n=1 case study and I may have made a poor assumption based off my own personal findings, but I just wanted to shed some insight 🙂
Thanks again for the comments and the links – I’m working through them now and I may need to update my own blog article on ketosis after reading these articles! (https://www.alexfergus.com/blog/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-ketosis )
Regards
Very interesting indeed ! Well you can’t outsmart the body right , guess that’s where the process of gluconeogenesis comes in . When the body doesn’t recieve enough carbs it simply manufactures them on it’s own . Makes you realise the importance of sugar for the human body .
Agreed. I think too many people fear sugar and glucose. Yet glucose is a great fuel source in the body. It may not be as efficient as at for energy production, but some experts argue that the increased inefficiency from glucose burning has other health benefits.
Anyway, I personally feel that long term keto is potentially damaging, but at the same time long term high sugar diets are also unwise!
Really enjoyed the podcast! I am late to it, but enjoyed the conversation. I am curious how your “diet” has evolved since your keto experiment, Alex? What are you now experimenting with, or finding works best for you?