Scott Edmed Interview

Scott Edmed is a physique athlete & nutritional expert. He’s an ambassador for The Protein Bakery, plays Rugby & Cricket, along with training to be a pilot in the RAF.

Today I get to pick his brains!

Scott Edmed Stats

25 years old, 171cm, stage weight of 65kg and from Kent.

PRs – Bench 135kg, Squat 140kg, Deadlift 200kg

For anyone that may not know you, who are you and how did you get into fitness?

I am currently serving as an Officer in the Royal Air Force (RAF) going through my pilot training for the past 4 years. I joined the RAF after going to Cardiff University having been sponsored by them through my last two years of school and the three years of University. I have competed at a high level of sport (County standard), competed in fitness modelling competitions and have participated in many photo shoots.

The bug for working out all started while living with 5 rugby lads at Uni, all working out and training together, and once you start to see progress, there is no turning back, right?!

This passion then transferred into the RAF where fitness and sport is highly regarded and timetabled into your daily routine, which was great as it allowed me to continue my passion. Being a driven and passionate individual after my first set of photo shoots in 2013, I wanted to take it one step further and decided to compete.

How long have you been into fitness modelling?

I had my first lot of photo shoots in 2013 with Simon Howard of SNH and Paul Corkery. The following year I decided to step on stage at Miami Pro and Pure Elite, where I unfortunately didn’t place among a huge amount of competitors, but they were both great experiences and I have learnt a lot.

Fitness isn’t your only ‘career’ so to speak. As you mention, your ‘day job’ is the RAF. How did that come about?

Coming from an RAF family and loving flying I have always wanted to follow my dream of being a pilot since a young age. I first applied to the RAF before 6th form for a scholarship which I was successful for.

Once I had finished my A-levels I decided I wanted to get a degree in Biochemistry and was lucky enough to be selected by the RAF for a University bursary with the caveat I join the service once I graduate.

Selection for the RAF was a tight and strict process over 3 days consisting of interviews, aptitude testing, leadership, fitness and full medical screening.

How do you balance RAF with your fitness business?

So funnily enough you will be interested to know I am not actually a personal trainer and have no clients of any sorts. I created my Twitter and Facebook pages basically as a passion as I enjoy to learn myself, teach and help others to reach their goals.

I enjoy hearing from my followers how I have helped them, and educated them on the topic of training and nutrition. There is nothing more pleasing to hear than them saying I have inspired them.

What motivates you in life and in the gym?

I would say that one of the biggest motivations in my life is everyone else achieving and working towards their goals. If they are doing it, then why can’t I?

I am a driven and passionate individual, which motivates me to always improve myself not just physically but also mentally as I love to learn and progress. Albert Einstein said, ‘Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.’

What is your approach to your nutrition for leaning out or bulking up? How do you determine how many calories you need per day to gain weight or lose fat?

I am working with Richard Lovatt of Physique Elite as my nutritional coach. At the moment  I am currently prep’ing for some shoots with Matt Marsh and a competition on 11 Oct.

My approach to my diet as always has to be enjoyable and sustainable whether I am cutting or gaining. I count macros and adopt a flexible approach where I place no restrictions on myself and get to eat all the foods I enjoy even when cutting. I check in weekly with Richard giving bodily measurements, weight and photos along with how my performance has been in the gym, sleep and stress.

All this info helps him to make adjustments to my daily macronutrients depending on my goals. Having a coach is beneficial as he knows more than most, it takes the pressure of myself to make the decisions, provides an extra pair of eyes to assess my progress, and also stops me from questioning myself when times are tough.

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We all know the keys to keeping healthy and fit is a sound diet, what is a typical day of eating like for you?

As I adopt a flexible approach every day is different which is why I love flexible dieting. I also do not stress over eating every 3-4 hours, as I definitely cannot follow this while flying.

What is more important is making sure that I have hit my macronutrient targets by the end of the day. Consistency is key in fitness and nutrition so making sure I constantly hit my targets is most important.

My meals throughout the day, while flying, normally revolve around the same sources as it is easier to prep these the night before. However, my meals in the evening are always changing depending what I want and fancy.

For example yesterday, breakfast consisted of poached eggs on toast, lunch was a massive chicken salad with vegetables & chicken breast, a pre workout meal of Uncle Ben’s microwave basmati rice and turkey. Dinner was chilli white potato mash, sweet potato, carrot and swede mash, some more chicken and Nando’s sauce.

I then finished the day with some raspberries, blueberries, banana and greek yogurt.

What is important about any diet is adherence. There is no right or wrong diet as everyone is different, but it must be sustainable allowing you to enjoy it and reach your goals. As long as i eat enough protein and hit my macro’s, im happy.

What is the hardest part of sticking to your lifestyle? Do you ever feel like cheating?

The hardest part of my lifestyle is balancing flying with fitness. It can get very hectic sometimes not knowing when you are going to be able to train or when your next flight is, but I love both of them and as I always say would never let my passion for fitness get in the way of my service.

Following a flexible dieting approach I never feel the need to cheat on my diet as I do not label food as ‘good’ or ‘bad,’ ‘clean’ or ‘unclean.’ I place no restrictions on my diet so if I fancy some ice cream I factor it into my daily macronutrients.

Now, do not get me wrong, I still fill 80-90% of my diet with nutrient dense foods, but every so often I do indulge in so called ‘unclean junk’ food. The benefits of doing this allow me to stick to my diet making it sustainable, I have no feelings of guilt, no uncontrolled binges, and I am still able to have a social life going out for meals with family and friends while achieving my goals.

Obviously these ‘unclean’ foods become less and less as I diet getting closer and closer to a shoot or comp, as calories lower.

This hopefully makes you realise that there’s much, much more to a diet than ‘good’ vs. ‘bad’ foods. You needn’t cut out any food when trying to lose fat, it’s simply about eating healthy, unprocessed foods and controlling your calorie and macronutrient intake, but not freaking out if you do include sugar, high-fat and processed foods, provided they fit in with your plan as a whole.

Look at your diet as a whole rather than any meal in isolation.

What are your thoughts on the ever popular IIFYM approach to diet?

I use IIFYM to allow myself the flexibility to enjoy foods that may not be the most nutrient dense from time to time, instead of an excuse to cram a whole box of Pop Tarts down the hatch every day.

What workout routine has given you the best results?

I would have to say the one I track and look to to progressively overload the muscle. This principal refers to continually increasing the demands on the muscular system in order to continually make gains in muscle size, strength and endurance.

In order to get bigger and stronger you must continually look to increase volume, decrease rest periods, increase frequency, etc and  make your muscles work harder than they are used to.

How do know how you are progressing if you do not track your workouts?

What is your current workout split?

I am currently working a upper, lower, upper lower body split. Working out 4x per week. Each workout concentrates on heavy compound lifts with added assistant work with high reps towards the end of the workout.

Tell me about a time  when you were making the best gains of your lifting career.

I would have to say now, working with Greg Nuckols as my training coach, a world record powerlifter and leading S&C coach from the USA.

Having a coach has helped me massively, as I have an individualised periodised program that incorporates the appropriate lifts, rep ranges, assistant work and deload weeks to keep me progressing each and every week.

You cannot under estimate the importance of a good coach or personal trainer.

Who is your biggest inspiration both in the gym and in life?

For me I have always been inspired by many different individuals and teams.

When I was a teenager growing up, my biggest inspiration and role model was Jonny Wilkinson. I could not get enough of how hard he trained and how dedicated he was to being the best rugby player in the world.

However, as I’ve grown up and seen and learnt new things the biggest inspiration to me now is my Mum. Seeing the hard work she puts in not only for me but for friends as well has inspired me.

No matter how much work she has on she will always try her best to help others out with a smile on her face.

I am also inspired by anyone that is working hard towards their goals, through any adversity. This is why I choose to surround myself with these type of people and my Twitter/Facebook feed is full of them.

Do you think goal setting is important? What was the biggest goal you have set for yourself and achieved? What goals are you working on currently?

Without a doubt goal setting is so important, both long term and short team. Why? Because setting goals is a fundamental component to long term success. The basic reason for this is that you can’t get where you are trying to go until you clearly define what you want.

My biggest goal would probably have to be non gym related and would be 2 of the most proudest moments in my life, graduating from University in 2010, with a BSc in Biochem, and from Royal Air Force Officer Training in June 2011.

What kind of supplements do you use? Do you cycle your supplements?

I do not heavily rely on supplements. However there are a few that I use constantly which are; multi vitamin, omega-3, Vit D3 and whey protein. I use the first 3 to make sure I am getting adequate micronutrients in my diet especially D3 as we hardly get to see the sun. (Check out the benefits at – http://examine.com/supplements/Vitamin+D/)

I use whey only to make sure I hit my daily protein targets if I am struggling last thing at night. For example mixed with yogurt, fruit, or to make protein pancakes etc.

2 new supplements I have been using recently are Genetic Supplements, Load Up and Sustain.

Load Up contains creatine, beta alanine and citrulline malate which have been documented in research to increase intra-muscular performance and buffer lactic acid, increasing physical capacity in successive bursts of short-term, high intensity and extended periods of exercise.

Sustain is an advanced physical performance aid drink mix designed to meet athletes needs during workouts, training & competition. With 20g total amino acids, 12g of Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs), 5g of citrulline malate, which is associated with sports performance and cardiovascular health, and 3g beta-alanine, which acts as a potent acid buffer in the body.

I’ve started using these as I’ve entered and I’m currently preparing for The IFC – International Fitness Championships on the 11 October. Part of the competition involves short intense bursts of high intensity exercise which are minute long rounds lifting body weight for as many reps as possible.

What supplements would you recommend to a beginner?

Obviously I would always like to assess their diet first and foremost to get an understanding of what they might need to supplement with, because you should be looking to get all your macro and micronutrients from your diet first.

Supplements are used to supplement the diet! Most likely though most individuals can benefit from supplementing with a multi vitamin, omega-3 and Vit D3.

What projects have you got coming up for the rest of 2014?

Having just had shoots with Matt Marsh and competed at the Fitness Championship on the weekend I am now looking to set goals and build a solid foundation for 2015 with Rich and Greg guiding me. I definitely need to build more size, so adding muscle while staying as lean as possible, getting stronger, is my first goal going into the New Year.

I have a few ideas of competitions but these are still rough at the moment. I am always looking at obtaining nutrition qualifications and putting my knowledge to good use.

Do you have any final words for our readers?

I would just like to thank Adam for getting in touch and conducting the interview. I always enjoy talking all things nutrition and training as I want to help and inspire others as well as learning more for myself.

Please take a look at my Facebook and twitter page which can be found below, and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to ask.

https://www.facebook.com/ScottEdmed.PhysiqueAthlete

https://twitter.com/ScottyEders