1) Who is Mark Coles? (where are you from, what do you do, a bit about yourself (hobbies, etc)
I was born in Newark, Nottinghamshire and I now live in London. I am the owner and founder of M10 Fitness, which is a private personal training gym in Nottingham. I am a physique coach and still actively coach clients. I also own and run the Physique Coach Education programme, and mentor personal trainers all overt the world. I’m a competitive bodybuilder with the UKBFF and love the process of improving my physique.
2) How many years have you been training?
I’ve been training since I was 15 years old, so that’s 25 years!!!
3) What's 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).
From a bodybuilder perspective it was prolapsing a disk in my back over 8 years ago now. It was a set back, but I also learned a great deal from the experience. From a business perspective, I think one thing that I underestimated was the time it takes to become credible. It is essential for coaches in our industry to have a backstory if they want to gain any level of respect from their peers. That backstory requires a massive commitment to learning knowledge, personal improvement, achieving results, and becoming the best you can at your craft. To be the best at what you do takes time, and very few are prepared to put in the ground work.
4) What does your typical workout/diet routine look like?
I hit every muscle group twice each week. Unlike some methods I priorities one major muscle group each day, and then tag on extra body parts at the end. So I might prioritise chest on a Monday, and then tag on some lateral delta and triceps.
From a diet perspective I keep most of meals to protein and fats away from training. I then consume most of my carbs in the pre, intra and post workout phase. Non training days are kept to lower carbs (maximum 100g).
5) What have you learned over the past year regarding training, lifestyle and nutrition?
The biggest thing that I’ve learned from my training is to continually revisit execution. The sport is about muscle development, and to that degree you need to ensure you’re not getting sloppy. If you’re not connecting with the desired muscle group, you need to revisit your execution. From a diet perspective, I’ve learned to be stricter with my calories in the off season. I add food when my performance markers (such as strength) dip or stall. I don’t keep pushing food in just to get heavier.
6) Whats your favourite cheat/Treat meal?
Burger and chips
7) One supplement that you could not live without?
B vitamins. My adrenals are very sensitive, and without adequate B vitamins my performance and recovery drops.
8) If you had to start out from scratch with your physique what would you do differently and why?
I really like this question. I would learn optimal exercise execution for every single exercise, and I wouldn’t try and push load too early on. Too many people lift, but they miss out the learning stage. I really wish I’d learned a lot more about actual training earlier on. There’s exercises, and then there’s doing them right.
9) Who do you look upto in the fitness industry and why?
There are many people who are doing great things in the fitness industry, and I respect the work that each of them are doing. I’ll be honest and say they there isn’t any one person that I look up to.
10) If you had to give one bit of advice to people starting out what would that be?
Start learning, and don’t stop. Learning is the key to growth
11) What new goals are on the horizon? (new goals, aims, etc)
My goal is to continue educating personal trainers all across the country, and work closer to leaving my legacy of change in the fitness industry.
To grow our in house mentorship programme, to teach personal trainers how to become skilled at their craft, and not just knowledgeable.
To continue to see growth in all areas of my businesses, my life, my relationships and my health.
12) Where can people find you? (website, social media accounts)
Instragram - markcolesm10
Website - www.m10life.com
Facebook - Mark Coles Physique Coach
