Skribans Strength, Performance and Nutrition

Skribans Strength, Performance and Nutrition Bringing out the mixture of obsessive fitness lifestyle paired with scientific background in order f

Education: Currently studying MSc in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, Leeds Beckett University starting September 2016 – 2017. Ba(Hons) (Top-Up) Sports Science, Derby University 2015 – 2016. FdSc Sport and Exercise Science, Derby University 2013 – 2015. Certifications: KBT Strength and Conditioning Qualifications (Powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting and Kettlebell training);
Level 3 Diploma in Sports

Massage Therapy;
Milos Sarcev's Hyperaemia training principles;
Level 1 ISAK Technician (anthropometric measurements);
Level 3 Personal Trainer, Group Class Training Certificate;
First Aid Certificate. Focus: Performance Nutrition, Lifestyle Assessments, Bodyweight Management, Body Transformations, Strength & Conditioning for Sports Events, Powerlifting, Bodybuilding/fitness/bikini contest prep. Personal Bio: An aspiring fitness addict that is currently working on his SENr (Sports and Exercise Nutrition register) accreditation in order to be internationally recognised performance nutritionist. Over last 10 years I have worked with every level, shape and size athletes - starting from someone who works daily by the desk and up to Olympic athletes. A highly experienced and self-motivated personal trainer with the ability to critique his own knowledge in order to provide the most current and relevant training methods to his clients. Possessing a hard work ethics and passion to fitness related lifestyle, actively involving in different sports related activities and continuous self-development through theory learning and practical applications. Years of work as a personal trainer and continuous sports related studies have helped me to establish high understanding of physical and psychological issues that are holding fitness enthusiasts from achieving their desired goals, and apply personal knowledge to overcome these barriers in order to achieve the optimal physical and psychological potential of my clients. I might be demanding when it comes to training, but that is what we are here for - to push you over and beyond your own limits. Feel free to approach me for any fitness and health related advice even if we do not work directly together, I will never refuse an advice.

10/06/2026

Mid week check in ✌🏽

This is my “offseason” - a term used by many in bodybuilding circles to justify being lazy and sloppy with their own bod...
10/06/2026

This is my “offseason” - a term used by many in bodybuilding circles to justify being lazy and sloppy with their own body. And it almost feels I have to apologise that my standards offend you.

What you call extreme, I call self-respect.

There is no sacrifice in waking up strong, confident, capable, and proud of the man looking back in the mirror.

Stop that nonsense.

The real sacrifice is mediocrity.

Weak body.
Dull mind.
Low energy.
Broken promises.
Endless excuses.
Quiet resentment toward people who chose better.

That is the cost.

Not training.
Not discipline.
Not high standards.

The pain is knowing you had more in you and still chose comfort.

So do not complain about people who raise the standard.
Study them.
Learn from them.
Then build yourself into someone society cannot ignore.

Because the world does not need more people defending average.

It needs more people leading from the front.

09/06/2026

AI offers tailored plans, but are we sacrificing our own critical thinking? People blindly follow AI advice, risking serious consequences like early death. True progress requires personal judgment, not just following the crowd.

After the embarrassment that was The Enhanced Games, it helped clear one thing - Steroids are not magic. They are an amp...
09/06/2026

After the embarrassment that was The Enhanced Games, it helped clear one thing - Steroids are not magic. They are an amplifier.

People either pretend steroids do nothing, which is nonsense.
Or they act like steroids automatically turn someone into an elite athlete, which is also nonsense.

The truth is more useful:
- Steroids can help build muscle.
- They can increase strength.
- They can support harder training.
- They can improve recovery capacity.

But sport performance is not built from one variable.

A bigger engine does not matter if the tires cannot grip, the driver cannot control it, and the car cannot transfer power to the road.

Athletes work the same way.

You still need skill, timing, coordination, technique, nervous system output, genetics, and years of specific practice.

This is why more muscle does not automatically mean more speed, better movement, or better ex*****on.

A classic testosterone study showed that high-dose testosterone increased fat-free mass, muscle size, and strength in normal men.
PMID: 8637535

But strength is only one layer of performance.

A review of anabolic-androgenic steroids in athletes reported increases in strength and bodyweight, but overall athletic performance is harder to pin down.
PMID: 15248788

That matters because lifting more weight and winning a race are not the same thing.

A sprinting review highlighted that sprint performance depends on reaction time, technique, neural factors, force production, EMG activity, and muscle structure.
PMID: 1615256

PEDs can make a great athlete better because the foundation is already there.

But they do not turn an average athlete into a world-record holder overnight.

The real question is not:
“Do steroids work?”

They clearly can.

The better question is:
“What part of performance are they actually improving?”

Because muscle matters.
But the whole system decides the outcome.

Save this if you want the honest PED conversation.
Send it to someone who thinks steroids do all the work and that they are doomed if they don't use any.

Stop trying to become your favourite fitness influencer.Most of them do not even look like their own photos.One pump. On...
08/06/2026

Stop trying to become your favourite fitness influencer.

Most of them do not even look like their own photos.

One pump. One angle. One filter. One perfect light. One chosen shot out of 100.

The photo on the left and the photo on the right are less than 24 hours apart.

Same person.
Same body.
Completely different look.

That is not reality. That is a snapshot.

And the biggest mistake people make is assuming that looking impressive automatically means someone knows how to help you.

That’s like assuming an F1 driver automatically knows how to teach you to drive.

Performance and coaching are not the same skill.

When you trust the wrong person, the cost is enormous.

You waste years following plans that never fit your life.
You jump from diet to diet.
You buy supplements you do not need.
You get injured chasing training methods designed for someone else.
You lose confidence because you think the problem is you.

Meanwhile, the real problem is that you’ve been following someone whose expertise begins and ends with looking good in a photo.

Take the time to research who you trust.

The payoff is massive:
You get better results with less guesswork.
You stop wasting money.
You avoid years of frustration.
You learn principles instead of hacks.
You become capable of making good decisions on your own.
You gain confidence because you understand why things work.

And eventually, you stop needing motivation because you have clarity.

Followers are not credibility.
Likes are not expertise.
A physique is not proof of knowledge.
Choose your mentors carefully.

The quality of your advice often determines the quality of your future.

Your food log might look precise.That does not mean it is accurate.This is where people get tracking wrong.They weigh th...
08/06/2026

Your food log might look precise.
That does not mean it is accurate.

This is where people get tracking wrong.

They weigh the food.
They scan the barcode.
They hit the calorie target.
Then they assume the number on the screen is the truth.

But your results are only as good as the database behind the app.

A study on Canadian endurance athletes compared food logs entered into MyFitnessPal, Cronometer, and the Canadian Nutrient File, which is the official Canadian reference database. DOI: 10.1111/jhn.70148.

The issue was not just “people are bad at tracking.”

Even when trained people entered the same foods, MyFitnessPal produced different results depending on which database entry they selected.

Same food. Different entry. Different calories.

The average difference between loggers using MyFitnessPal was around 226 kcal per day.

That is not a small error if you are trying to lose fat, fuel performance, or understand why progress has stalled.

Even verified MyFitnessPal entries were not perfect. Compared with the official database, MyFitnessPal still showed around 94 kcal average daily error and struggled with calories, carbs, protein, sugar, and fibre in this sample.

Cronometer performed much better, showing good reliability and validity for energy and macros, with only minor issues in some nutrients.

The lesson is simple:
Food tracking is useful.
But it is not a precision instrument.

Use it to guide decisions, not to worship numbers.

Track smarter:
Check entries against the real food label.
Use curated databases when accuracy matters.
Create custom foods for meals you eat often.
Look at weekly trends, not one “perfect” day.
Trust your results more than the app screen.

The app is a tool.
Your brain still has to lead.

If you are serious about improving your nutrition, stop "tracking" random garbage you buy and start building systems that actually work.

Save this post if you track your food, and send it to someone who treats their calorie app like gospel.

A reflection on the last stretch in the Quit Zone that helped me create the tunnel vision needed to do this thing most c...
07/06/2026

A reflection on the last stretch in the Quit Zone that helped me create the tunnel vision needed to do this thing most call “bodybuilding”.

Day 7 was my day one - I was invited into the Quit Zone late and never completed the full programme. I want to start there, because the easy version of this post leaves that out.

What I am proud of:
- I won a bodybuilding show I was challenged to prep for in 15 days, training through a grade 2 hamstring tear and a foot injury bad enough to bleed.
- I held my training standard every day I was in.
- I cut my screen habits hard, cleared work I had been avoiding for months, and quietly helped multiple people increase success in their business.

What I am sitting with:
- I missed the first week.
- I failed the step standard on multiple days once I couldn’t walk anymore - the injury was real, but the target was still missed.
- The website I keep saying I will relaunch has not happened, and if I am honest, it became a distraction dressed up as productive work. Do better on own commitments or shut the F up - no one cares what you “will do” if you are never doing it.

And the hardest one - I still do not attach a high number to my own value. That belief, carried since a Soviet childhood where money meant greed, resurfaces when I am tired. I am naming it as selfish now, because it limits how resourceful I can be and how much I can give to others.

The wins are real.
So are the gaps.
Both get to be true.

New standards are set - what once was my ceiling, now is the baseline. The reps that count are the ones you do in the Quit Zone.

Which most of you never reach. And it shows. In your health. In your relationships. In your wealth.

Do better by being brutally honest with yourself first. Or keep making excuses why you are not where you want to be.

07/06/2026

Post show thoughts ✌🏼

As a Master of Science in Sport Nutrition, rarely anything gets more on my nerves than people who "use AI to help with f...
07/06/2026

As a Master of Science in Sport Nutrition, rarely anything gets more on my nerves than people who "use AI to help with fitness goals."

It is as useless as asking "the biggest guy in the gym" how to gain muscle. All he can teach you is how to get fat. Or worse - how to become a clueless drug addict 🫠

You are not tracking accurately just because AI gave you a number.
That is the trap.

The food photo looks good.
The estimate looks confident.
The macros look clean.

But confidence is not accuracy.

A recent validation study tested ChatGPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Gemini 1.5 Pro on standardized food photos.

The models had to estimate food weight, calories, and macros from images.
Then their answers were compared against foods that were actually weighed and analyzed.
Even the best model missed calories by around 36% on average.

Study reference: PMID: 41081011.

That is not a small mistake.
If you are trying to lose fat, gain muscle, or prep for a show, that kind of error can change everything!

A “20% deficit” can become maintenance.
A “clean bulk” can become unnecessary fat gain.
A “tracked meal” can become a guess with better branding.

The problem is simple:
AI can see food.
It cannot weigh it.

It does not know how much oil was used.
It cannot see the sauce mixed underneath.
It cannot judge food density from one flat image.
It cannot reliably know the real portion size.

And the bigger the meal, the worse the mistake can become.

That matters because high-calorie foods are usually the ones people underestimate most:
Rice.
Oils.
Nut butters.
Sauces.
Restaurant meals.
Large “clean” bodybuilding meals.

AI will improve fast.
But right now, use it as a tool, not the source of truth.

Better approach:
• Use AI for rough guidance
• Weigh food when precision matters (!!!)
• Repeat meals when possible
• Track calorie-dense foods first
• Build visual accuracy over time

Do not outsource your results to a guess.
Consistency still beats confusion.

Save this before you trust your next food photo.

Your Class 2 champion 🏆Too fat for an overall win and that’s a simple reality - have to work harder for that. Which I k...
06/06/2026

Your Class 2 champion 🏆

Too fat for an overall win and that’s a simple reality - have to work harder for that. Which I knew before even enter this.

Even my class win was down to overall muscle balance and posing rather than conditioning. Latter of which is much easier to fix though.

The reality is - you lose every chance you never take.
Hence why I will not be the one who regrets not showing up - the reps in the Quit Zone are the ones that show who you really are. And did these gentlemen push me to my limits (one of them who wasn’t even born when I already was lifting weights).

My choice is to be an example of what is possible rather than warning of what regret looks like.

Can’t wait to get in the gym tomorrow though - I have not trained since Wednesday and I have withdrawal symptoms already 👀

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