Shawfire Fitness

2025 HIGHLIGHT REEL

2025 was not a great year for my MMA career but a fu***ng amazing year for Shawfire Fitness.

Thanks for all the support from old clients and new!

Over the last year I’ve been busier than I can imagine and worked with all sorts of populations from MMA fighters, pro wrestlers, rugby players, premier league hockey players, 2 ACL reconstructions, a shoulder dislocation, knee OA, a partial knee replacement (disclaimer: I didn’t cause any of these injuries), and many clients who want fat loss and/or muscle growth - thank you to all of you for your trust.

And those who like and share all my content - it honestly goes a long way.

Apologies for lack of BS dispelling over the Christmas period but I needed to take a break from somewhere and that’s the only place I can!

Normal content will resume in the new year.

PS: that is me on the bottom not the top but who else can you meme if not yourself?

In a feed dominated by AJ and Jake Paul memes I had to remind people it’s been a little over a week since we lost someone special to us.

John cena hath gifted us one final meme template. Lay your sketchers down.

For the majority of people going by how your clothes fit, a simple waist measurement or prog photos will suffice.

But stop letting a scale ruin your day for any number of reasons (hydration status for example - outside the fact they just aren’t accurate for body composition to begin with).

And obviously if you can afford a dexa and care that much, then go for it!

Some of you will be wondering if callipers are accurate. Even if their initial measurement is inaccurate, as long as you are using the same tool it will indicate a difference should there be one.

20 KG down

108 kg to 88 kg

Not much else to say about these client results. They look like a completely different person.

The formula is the same -

A flexible plan but unique plan
Minimal effect on social life
Minimum effective dosages to training utilised when life is mental
Easy to follow dietary goals (that isn’t based on pseudo science)

and most importantly…

Someone who actually wants to make a change, regardless of how busy life gets. Adjusting training to fit life doesn’t mean they never go to the gym, it just gives them a way to fit training in and know what to miss when life gets busy. I can give all the advice but it’s the person training who needs to get it done.

Who wants to touch me? I SAID WHO WANTS TO TOUCH ME

Not had the time to post much content this week, so here’s a training/nutrition update.

Martial arts 3-4 times a week
Lift 2-3 times a week
‘Walk’ for 1 hour a day
Eat in a slight deficit (about 3,000 cals for me)
Protein @ 2g/kg (higher than necessary for most)
Have a few steveweisers on a Saturday 😎

Fat loss isn’t a huge concern anymore but I’d still like to drop a bit more, just to walk around at a lower weight, so this is maintainable.

Lifting super heavy all the time isn’t a good idea for a lot of people either.

But what this shows is that getting some sweet slabs of muscle isn’t really that complex.

Daily reminder that glute activation drills at best are a waste of time ( PMID: 28147703) and at worst reduce performance in the task you’re getting ready for (PMID: 26240661).

If you’re alive your glutes are on - and even if they were inhibited you don’t use your glutes much in day to day tasks anyway (PMID: 22573774).

Sorry - the exercise induced hormonal response isn’t something you need to worry about.

This goes for all the ‘train legs to boost upper body gains’ crowd as well.

Want to work with Shawfire?

Click the website link in my bio to book a FREE consultation or drop me a message!

A recent study looked at the optimal amount of sets per session for strength and growth.

This was the maximum amount of sets you could do and still get significant results before receiving diminishing returns if more sets were done.

For muscle growth, this was 11 sets - with sets above this MAYBE giving you more gains but likely having diminishing returns and potentially not being worth while.

For strength, this was only 2 - but similar
To growth, more sets MAY give you more strength but with again, likely diminishing returns.

This isn’t going to be exact, and will vary by individual, but it gives people something to aim for and then individualise around.