Getting To Know Team Swench: Scott Sawyers

Scott Sawyers:


Stats:

Age:  23
Height:  5 ft 10
Weight:  13 stone / 83kg
Favourite Colour:  Black, Red
Favourite Food:  Steak, Eggs
Hometown:  Birmingham
Music:  Hip Hop, RnB, House
Hobbies:  MMA, Gym, Nando's :)
Films:   The Godfather, Apocalypto, Dead Presidents
Idols:  Anderson Silva, Arnold Schwarzneggar, Phil Heath




How did you get started bodybuilding?


Around 2 and a half years ago i weighed around 14 stone and was out of shape (none of that weight was muscle either). I wish i had a picture so you could see the difference. I went on my first boys holiday and realised how self-conscious I was as I never took my top off once. I came back and joined the gym straight away.  I used to go every morning by myself before work and eventually started transforming my body. Now im the same weight I was when I was out of shape but with around 10-12% less bodyfat and a lot more muscle. It gave me a massive confidence boost and made me who i am today. I took up MMA training along the way, which I loved and started competing in aswell. This pushed my fitness through the roof! I'm now a fighter at Fearless MMA (Amateur 1-0 and Semi-Pro 2-0). Check out the previous blog post on Fearless MMA for more info.




















What's your diet like?


I put on fat quite easily so i keep my diet as clean as possible in the week and tend not be as strict on the weekend. Thats assuming im not cutting weight for a fight. I keep carbs quite low and just aim for high protein in every meal. I'll try and get the majority of my carbs in before 2pm. I keep my diet basic as i find its easier to prepare meals that way, so it mainly consists of Eggs, Chicken, Steak, Fish, Brown Rice, Veg and sweet potatoes.




Top Three Exercise:


Deadlifts: I've always done deadlifts from day one. Simple and effectitve and will push your strength through the roof and are a great mass builder. My 1 Rep Max at its best was 225kg at 80kg bodyweight, so not too bad.

Incline Dumbbell Press:  Best exercise for the chest in my opinion when done with correct form. Since doing this instead of flat db bench my chest has improved dramatically. It really makes the upper chest pop out.

DB Shoulder Press:  Shoulders used to be my least favourite muscle group to train. However nowadays my shoulders are one of my best bodyparts and thats due to dumbbell presses.







Dreams and Goals?:

Me and Shiro have been friends since his birth as i went to his moms nursery! After training for a while we realised we worked really well as a team and people regularly would stop us in the gym (and still do) to ask us stuff, so we started up Team Swench with the aim to help as many people as possible. My aim is to turn this into a succesful business (Personal Training, Gym Clothing) and i would love to be able to get to the point of opening our own gym one day. Maybe a bit of Fitness Modelling along the way aswell. And with the MMA side of things, i eventually want to fight professionally and take it as far as possible. Keep posted for info on my title fight this december!




Twitter: @Scott_sawyers
Instagram: Scott_swench



Getting To Know Team Swench: Shiro Miller

Shiro Miller:


Stats:

Age:  21
Height:  6 ft 1
Weight:  13 stone / 83kg
Favourite Colour:  Blue, Gold
Favourite Food:  Steak, Jerk Chicken
Hometown:  Birmingham
Music:  Hip Hop, RnB
Hobbies:  Gym, Gym and ermmmm Gym
Films:   The Wood
Idols:  Victor Martinez






How did you get started bodybuilding?

I was real skinny as a teenager, I started messing around with some weights that my dad had in our garden. and actually started buidling a bit of muscle. After a going on holiday to malia in 2010 I came home and joined the gym with scott and the rest was history. We trained hard and I literally blew up within 7 months, and have continued to improve my physique ever since.




Before joining a gym. Probably around 10 stone.



At Around 13 Stone





  







What workout routine has worked best for you?

I've tried all sorts of workouts, rep-ranges etc. but i think ive had the best gains with a normal 5 day split. a typical bodybuilding routine giving each muscle group a seperate day to train. for example this is what we currently do:


Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Legs and Forearms
Wednesday: Shoulders and Traps
Thursday: Arms
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Back
Sunday: Rest

I keep my rep range around 8-12 although some weeks we'll completely switch it up and do 3-6 reps and even single reps on big compound lifts as more of a strength workout.





Bent Over Rows



Incline DB Press




















Whats your diet like?


I pretty much eat as much as possible everyday! I eat around 6 meals a day. Im lucky to have a very efficient metablosim as i hardly put any fat on, yet im still constantly gaining muscle, good genes i guess! I keep my diet high in carbs (Pasta, Rice, Potatoes) and protein (Eggs, Chicken, Tuna, Steak, Pasta). If im having a cheat meal i like a pizza now and again!






Your Top 3 Exercises?



Bent Over Rows (Underhand Grip) - i feel like this exercise has added some nice thickness to my back while also hitting my lats reallywell due to the underhand grip. i like to go heavy as possible whilst keeping good form.

Barbell Curls (EZ Bar) - I like doing these with strict form, getting that good strecth on the bicep at the bottom of the rep and a nice squeeze at the top. Definatly the exercise that has got my biceps growing!

Deadlifts - I've got a love/hate relationship with these. i hate doing them as there such an intense exercise when done properley however i can't deny that they've helped a lot with my back development, mass and thickness. Also its increased my overall strength which obvioulsy helps with all my lifts.

Dreams and Goals?

I aim to be one of the top male Fitness Models and live the lifestyle. Photoshoots, magazine covers etc, to travel the world competing and being featured in magazines would be a dream. And then of course Team Swench becoming a succesful PT business , and eventually opening my own gym. I'd also like to get into normal modelling aswell at some point.



Twitter: @ShiroMiller_
Instagram: _shii





Welcome to Team Fearless MMA....

Post By Scott Sawyers:

As much as i have a passion for bodybuilding, right next to that is MMA. I train and fight out of Team Fearless MMA, Birmingham.

"We believe that exercise is not only about improving your fitness and well-being, but also about being part of a team that drives you to achieve your goals. This is why at Fearless MMA, we offer top of the range exercise facilities delivered by expert coaches and instructors who have excelled in there chosen fields" - www.teamfearlessmma.com



The gym has all the facillities that you need for MMA and fitness training:



. 24ft Pro Fighting Cage
. 2 x 50ft Matted Area

.  Top of the range weight   training facilities

. Muay Thai
. Olympic Freestyle Wrestling

. Submission Wrestling

. Circuit Classes

. Womes only Martial Arts
. Kids Classes and much, much more!





Team Fearless is located in the Jewellary Quarter, one of Birminghams most central and prestigious spots.

The head coaches are brothers Kaish and Kamby Banger:


Kaish Banger


Kaish began training at the age of 16 and has now been practising Muay Thai for over 18 years. he boasts an excellent record of 18 Professional Thai Fights with a record of 13 wins and 5 losses. He has also held the WKN Lightweight Title and has represented Great Britain/Englad numerous time at home and abroad.


Kamby Banger

Kamby has won the british title three times as well as numerous area and English titles (Olympic Wrestling). He also captained the Great Britain Cadet Team to the World Championships where he ranked in the top ten. Kamby was also invited to wrestle with the US Wrestling Camp and has trained with Olympic Champion Kendall Cross

Both have extensive knowledge and their approachble and humble manor makes them top coaches, proven by their own success and the success of fearless students.



Amrit Kumar (Muay Thai Instructor)



James Samuda (Fearless MMA Fighter)



Scott Sawyers (MMA Fighter) Alongside Head Coaches Kaish (Left) and Kamby Banger (Right)



Fearless Wrestlers After Competetion

 

 

 After training at quite a few gyms, Fearless MMA is right at the top of the list. The gym boasts a great family atmosphere with no egos, just hard constructive training, great coaching and teamwork. in this enviorment its impossible not to progress reach your goals! Also with so much upcoming and already established talent coming out of the gym in Thai-Boxing, MMA and Wrestling the only way is up!


Special mention for Fearless Fighter Tom Breese as he will be fighting for the Bamma Welterweight Title this december! Currently holding a 5-0 Professional MMA Record (All 1st round finishes) and a Semi-Pro record of 8-0 hes one of the UK's top prospects.



Bamma 10 - Breese vs Magee

Twitter: @Breese0121

www.teamfearlessmma.com



#TeamSwench - Twitter Q&A

 “@KamdenP: @Team_Swench it’d be good to know what the mass building moves are…. The one move you can’t miss in your session?”

Here’s a rundown of our favourite exercises and ones that we consider essential to building muscle:

                                                                       Deadlifts:

We’ve always done deadlifts since we started lifting. There great for your lower back and hamstrings however and as it’s a compound movement they really work all the muscles in your body. I also believe by doing deadlifts you create a good overall strength foundation and in turn that will obviously help with all your other lifts! we use all different rep ranges when it comes to deadlifts, switching between 8-12 reps as a hypertrophy workout and then sometimes we drop to just 3-5 reps and even singles on more of a strength/powerlifting workout. 

                                                             Incline Dumbbell Press:

Although we mix it up with barbells, dumbbells and machines I would have to say we’ve seen the best results since focusing on incline dumbbell press. Really works the whole chest, but emphasises on the upper part, and really brings out the upper chest nicely (great for those low cut t-shirts!!). Make sure to keep the arching of your back to a minimum as this take the 'incline' out of the exercise.

                                                   Smith Machine Shoulder Press

As we’ve both had shoulder injuries before, we’ve stuck to the smith machine when it comes to shoulder pressing. Now our shoulders have recovered we throw in some dumbbell presses as well. The smith machine just stabilizes the weight more reducing the risk of injury, while still giving your shoulders a good workout. Just remember to work all heads of the shoulder throughout your workout to maintain a balanced shoulder muscle which will reduce to likelyhood of picking up an injury.

                                                                      Squats

If you want that complete physique it’s a must that you train legs and to put it simply, you can’t beat squats when it comes to training legs. There the king of leg exercises and once again as a compound movement it works your whole body, again creating that strong base for you build on! Squats tax all the muscles in the legs – quads, hams, glutes and even calves. They also strengthen the hips and lower back.

                                                         Underhand Lat Pull Downs

We’ve also switched from doing regular lat pull downs and switched the grip to underhand. This does bring your biceps into it a bit more but it activates the lats much better in our opinion and will help in getting those wide lats we all want!

                                                                      Pull Ups

We’ve always started a back day with pull ups. they get the blood pumping through your muscles. Using different grips and hand widths you can hit your whole back, and especially the lats. It’s a great exercise for back width and general strength.

Honourable Mentions:

Bent Over Rows (Back)

 EZ Bar Curls (Biceps)

 Close Grip Bench Press (Triceps)

Arnold Press (Shoulders)

As always this is only our personal choice. They key to bodybuilding is trial and error. Everyones body works in different ways. your body may respond to an exercise much better than someone elses would, so its essential that you try different things and find out what works for you.

Dont forget you can contact us by, E-mail, Twitter, Instagram and on here, so feel free to get in touch with any questions requests etc!

#TeamSwench – Upcoming Competitions

Shiro Miller will be making his debut at the Miami Pro Championships on 7^th April 2013. With it still being months away, the main focus now is to put on some more quality muscle mass and concentrate on lagging areas! Catch him going HAM in gyms around Birmingham!

Scott Sawyers will be competing at the AMMA Fighting Championships on 2^nd December 2012. This is for the AMMA Semi-Pro Welterweight Title, so the biggest test yet. Currently training at top birmingham gym Fearless MMA (www.teamfearlessmma.com) in preparation for this fight, focusing on all aspects of MMA and also dropping weight back down to 77kg!

Keep track with our progress and training by following us on twitter and we will also be keeping you updated with videos via www.youtube.com/teamswenchtv

#TeamSwench – Our Supplementation

In and out of the gym a lot of people tend to ask us if were ‘on anything’ or what supplements we use. Now the reality of it is that we don’t really use a lot of supplements and the ones that we do are literally the basics!

Here’s a rundown of what we use and why:

Whey Protein

At the moment I’m using Bodybuilding Warehouse ‘Premium Mass’ Whey. Whey protein is highly digestible so I’ll have a shake first thing in the morning. After waking your body is in a fasting condition, you haven’t eaten protein for around 8 hours and your body needs a fast digesting protein source. A fast digesting protein like will quickly put your body into a positive nitrogen balance and get your day off to a good muscle building start! And then ill have one straight after a workout to kick start the recovery process after completely destroying the muscles I’ve trained that day. One thing to remember, don’t use whey protein as a meal replacement. I would always suggest getting the majority of your daily protein intake from ‘real food’. I tend to go for protein powders with low carb as I’m quite carb sensitive (Scott Sawyers) and put on fat quite easily and I’m only looking for that essential protein at the times I’ve talked about.

 

Flaxseed Oil

I’ll also mix some flaxseed oil into my protein shakes. Flaxseed is a really good source of protein and essential fatty acids (High in omega 3), as you need fats for protein synthesis it’s a good way to consume those healthy fats without increasing your calorie intake. It’s also good for burning fat! By consuming this healthy fat you allow your body to use it a cellular level and burn off the fat you don’t need. That is assuming your burning enough calories throughout the day.

 

Creatine

Now and again we’ll cycle Creatine, roughly taking around 5 grams a day, for up to 6 weeks. Creatine is actually already produced naturally in your body. Your muscles use creatine to form creatine phosphate which produces an enzyme called ATP and in turn this provides all the energy for the work performed by your muscles. You naturally only produce a small amount of creatine and it gets used very quickly during intense exercise. So basically creatine provides extra energy for your muscles, it also pulls water into your muscle cells which increases the size of your muscles, and has been known to enhance protein synthesis (the process in which your body uses protein to build muscle).

And that is all we use believe it or not. The reality of it is that you can make the majority of your gains from maintaining and adjusting a good diet! If you’re consistent in the gym and in a calorie surplus your body has no choice but to gain size! As much as there are supplements that genuiwinly will help you achieve your goal I tend to believe that a lot of them work more as a placebo and actually aren’t doing as much as you’d think! But that’s just my opinion!

I would 100% recommend www.bodybuildingwarehouse.co.uk for all your supplements. They have everything you could need, great offers, fast delivery and also will answer any questions have regarding something your looking to buy.

Shoulders Day @ Pure Gym, Birmingham

So today we went in with a shoulder and traps workout.

after warming up for ten minutes on the stationary bike, we moved onto a muscle based warm up (the same one we previously mentioned in the chest day blog post)

and then we kicked off with our working sets:

Smith Machine Shoulder Press:       1^st Set – 50kg x 10

                                                        2^nd Set – 60 kg x 8

                                                        3^rd Set – 70kg x 6, (Rest Pause) 70kg x4

                                                        4th Set - 50kg Until Failure

Front Raises Superset with Lateral Raises:

So here we used a 18kg Dumbell for lateral raises and 16kg Dumbbells for Front  raises. 

8 reps on each back to back for 4 sets. Really gets the shoulders pumped!

Dumbbell Raises

Rear DB Delt Fly (Bench):         1^st Set – 16kg x 10

                                                 2^nd Set – 20kg x 8

                                                 3^rd Set – (Dropset) 22kg until failure, then 12kg until failure again

Seated Rear Delt Fly (Machine):

Not sure of the weights again here as it was a machine exercise. however we did the 4 sets of 12 reps, increasing the weight on each set.

Dumbbell Shrugs:                      1^st Set – 36kg x 20

                                                 2^nd Set – 36kg x 20

                                                 3^rd Set – 36kg x 20

                                                 4th Set - 36kg until failure

(Pure Gyms dumbbells only go up to 36kg, ideally we like to keep reps below 12 but in this case we just went high on reps due to the lack of weight)

Dumbbell Shrugs

Team Swench Promo Video

Check out our short promo vid for #TeamSwenchTV

It gives a little insight into the background of both of us here at Team Swench

Subscribe to the youtube channel which will keep you updated on everything weve got going on from Training Videos, Competition Diary Vlogs, Supplement Reviews and much more!

#OperationSwench – Gym Visits - G&A Fitness

So today we hit up G&A Fitness Gym (Garretts Green, Birmingham). A Small local bodybuilding gym, the old hardcore style just how we like it! No fancy machinery, TV screens etc, just heavy ass weights!

So today we were working chest, just like the majority of the lifters who train chest on a Monday! Who doesn’t like starting off the weeks training with a heavy chest day!

Were still months away from the Miami Pro Competition so were still trying too add as much quality mass as possible at the moment.

We started off with a warm up routine we normally do which consists off, DB Chest Press, DB Shoulder Press, Lateral and Front Raises and some rotator cuff exercises. All with light dumbbells, just to get some blood pumping through the upper body and to get warmed up. Since we’ve both suffered from previous shoulder injuries we make sure we get those rotator cuff exercises in before we start any upper body workout)

So here’s the workout:

Incline Dumbbell Press:    1^st Set – 35kg x 8

                                          2^nd Set – 37.5 kg x 8

                                          3^rd Set – 40kg x 8

Flat Dumbbell Press:         1^st Set – 40kg x 8

                                           2^nd Set – 42.5kg x 8

                                           3^rd Set - 45kg x 8

Seated Incline Chest Press:    1^st Set – 50kg (25 each side) x 10

                                                2^nd Set – 60kg x 8

                                                3^rd Set – (Dropset) 60kg until failure, then 50kg until failure again

Seated Chest Fly (Machine):

I can’t actually remember the weights we did here, but we did 3 sets increasing the weight on each set. Then a 4^th set in which we did a dropset. So we got our 8 reps with the chosen weight, and then dropped that by half and repped until failure!

We did finish off with some Barbell Bicep Curls, as we felt we ha a bit more energy to burn. Check back on the blog later this week for our actual arm workout which we have a separate day for!

 

Seated Chest Flyes

 

Until then don’t forget you can get at us on pretty much all social network platforms, so feel free to contact us with any questions, queries, advice etc!

Twitter: @Team_Swench @Scott_Sawyers @ShiroMiller_

Youtube: TeamSwenchTV

Instagram: Team_Swench