Antonio is a 34 year old Personal Trainer who has weight trained on and off for the past eighteen years.  He is involved in medium to high intensity workouts to increase strength and muscle mass. 
 

Fitness Goals:

a) Increased strength
b) Increased definition
c) Greater endurance
 

Other Physical Activities or Sporting Disciplines: 

 Rugby, martial arts and working as a Personal Trainer, does aerobic classes several times weekly. 
 

Nutrition: 

Antonio writes, "I have three main meals a day with small snacks in between. My breakfast usually consists of muesli or porridge and often some fruit too. I like to eat lots of vegetables with my lunch and dinner. I get my protein mostly from fish or chicken and only occasionally eat red meat. I try to eat as naturally as possible and keep away from processed foods. I have organic when possible and wholegrain rice, bread, etc. I keep myself hydrated by having a bottle of water handy and sipping it throughout the day.  I rarely have sweets as I don't actually like them much.
 

Supplementation:

Protein, carbohydrates and recently glucosamine.
 

Hobbies and Special Interests:  

Antonio writes, "I have always enjoyed physical activity for as long as I can remember.  I represented my schools in athletics and rugby.  Unlike most of my friends however, I didn't stop when I finished school.  At the age of 15 I developed an interest in martial arts and have trained in kung-fu and kick-boxing.

Over the years I have continued with my martial arts but have also included  weight training and played rugby for a local team.  About a year ago I decided to start making a living out of what I enjoy doing and gave up my career in IT and became a Personal Trainer."
 

Reason for Participating in the Study:

 Antonio writes, "I have always been an advocate of working 'naturally' and believe that the body can stay fit, strong and healthy if given the right conditions.  obviously one of the most important parts of this is nutrition.  I have heard of the many potential benefits of taking EFA supplementation and this is a great opportunity to do it in controlled conditions.  Hopefully the result will be good and will show how we can all benefit from supplementing with EFA's." 
 

Weightlifting: 

Antonio notes that since he started training for strength he has done split routines 3-4 times per week. He usually works his upper and lower body on separate days. He also includes his main cardio workouts in his upper body sessions. He usually does 4-5 exercises, 4 sets of 8 reps each for larger muscle groups and 2-3 exercises 4 sets of 8 reps for smaller muscle groups.
 

Exercise

Bicep curl

Tricep pull down

Chest Press

Pec Deck

Incline Chest Press

Seated Rowing

Lat Pull Down

Reverse Fly

Squat

Leg Extension

Straight Leg Deadlift

Seated Calf Raise

Health and Fitness Background by Antonio Licchelli:

My interest in sport and fitness began when I was at school.  I don’t know why, but I went to trials for the school rugby team which was about to be formed.  I found that I was just about the fastest guy on the pitch and played well enough to secure a place in the squad.  From there I went on to try my hand at athletics and represented my school at 100m, long jump and relay.  I was a regular member in my respective school’s rugby and athletics teams throughout my school career.  I started my martial arts training in Kung Fu when I was about 15 and it wasn’t until I was about 17 that I started weight training.  I found that although I wasn’t making significant gains in size, my strength gains came very fast.

Since then I have also trained in cycling and played for a local rugby team for three seasons. Unfortunately I decided to give it up after a series of knee injuries. Martial arts were safer!

For the last ten years or so my interest has stayed mainly with martial arts, (including kick-boxing) and weight training. In the past my weight training was mostly for endurance but more recently my training has been geared more towards strength.  I must say the gains are coming a little slower now than when I was 17 but at least I’m heading in the right direction!

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