I am 45, from Yate near Bristol. I have 2 children Lucy 8 and Jessica 6. Married to Helen for 10 years in September. Education wise I have a Sports Science Degree, and Post Grad certificate in Physical Education. I spent 10 years as a secondary PE teacher, leaving the profession when I met Helen in 2006/7. Myself and Helen run an ecommerce business together, and I have more recently started another online business as an online personal trainer/coach, aiming to help men and women over the age of 30 become the best version of themselves. Outside of fitness I enjoy golf (I'm a fair weather player only though!) and eating out and cinema with Helen. Other than this, work and my training doesn't leave a great deal of time.
2) How many years have you been training?
I have trained in some capacity all my life. I was a competitive athlete in my younger years, reaching as high as 5th ranked in the UK at 800m. I retired from competition in 1998, and have tried since to always do something that kept me in decent shape. I have tried a number of diverse activities, from cycle time trials to long distance duathlon, even managing to represent GB in the World Long Course Duathlon Champs in Denmark in 2006 (10 mile run/60 mile bike/10 mile run) - not bad for a chap who is genetically not built for endurance! My passion now is the gym, and trying to improve my physique.
3) Whats been the hardest part of your journey so far? and how have you overcome them (set backs, rejections, injuries, basically anything difficult that you have had to overcome)?
I guess this one is pretty straightforward. I suffered a heart attack in 2015 at the age of 44. This came completely out of the blue, and of course was quite a shock for someone who had always been active. So having surgery and then completing 6 weeks of cardiac rehab meant I found myself in the worst shape of my life, both how I looked and my actual fitness level. So, I started back training and cleaned up my nutrition. Started to make some good progress, and it was suggested by one of the gym owners where I train that I should enter a 'physique competition' I have never heard of it, googled it and found an organisation called Pure Elite that had categories that were suitable for me - a masters over 45, muscle model over 35 and a body transformation category. On 1st April this year I won 2 categories - muscle model over 35 and masters over 45 and was also awarded my pro card.
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like?
I use a push, pull and legs routine. I have 3 different 'push' sessions, 3 'pull' and 3 leg session variations. I rotate through these using a push, pull, rest, legs, rest structure. I have documented everything in an ebook, where every session, rep range etc is fully detailed
For nutrition this varies depending on where i am in relation to a competition. During a bulking phase my daily carbs have gone as high as 550 grams on a training day, as i am highly sensitive to carbs so my body utilises them really well. Whereas closer to my competition my carbs on a rest day were down below 60 grams. I am currently on a gradual 'reverse diet' from my competition on 1st April and the links below detail my current rest day and training day nutrition. The link below shows my current (at time of writing) training day and rest day nutrition.
5) What have you learned over the past year regarding training, lifestyle and nutrition?
This is simple. Find something that works and repeat it day after day after day. Consistency.
Stick with a plan - do not jump from one plan to another trying to find the 'magic bullet' 'ripped in 6 weeks' nonsense. Train hard - sounds obvious - but most people are not really training anywhere near hard enough to get the results they claim they want.
Nutrition is THE key to getting the physique/body you want.
6) Whats your favourite cheat/Treat meal?
Easy. A huge bag of Tescos pic n mix!.
7) one supplement that you could not live without?
A decent pre workout.
8) If you had to start out from scratch with your physique what would you do differently and why?
Nothing really, I know what works for me. Except maybe a little more relaxed during my 'bulking' phase as I know my body does benefit from a weekly 're-feed' meal.
9) Who do you look up to in the fitness industry and why?
Being honest here, nobody in particular. There are some incredible physiques littering the likes of Instagram but not everyone has the same ethics as you or I, and so aspiring to something that may not be achievable without changing your morals is not healthy or achievable. I am being honest when I say my genuine aim is to be simply the best I can be.
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
Record EVERYTHING you do in the gym. It is all about progression, and if you don't record what you do then you have no way of knowing if progression is occuring (oh and leave your phone in your locker - mobile phones RUIN training sessions!).
11) What new goals are on the horizon? (new goals, aims, etc)
Two things here. I want to help others over the age of 30 achieve their fitness and physique goals. Why this age group? Because I get all of your 'pain points' that make training and eating right hard work - family, children, work, time constraints. But you DO have time - if you say you don't then you don't really want it enough, you are not ready to commit just yet. I also have the Pure Elite World Championships at the end of October - my first show as a pro physique athlete, so I need to step it up a level (or two!).
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
Email - matt@mattkloiberfitness.com
Facebook - facebook.com/mattkloiberfitness
Instagram - @mattkloiber3
Website - www.mattkloiberfitness.com (site still under construction
