“I help guys in their mid 20’s to mid 40’s, that love to socialize, get ripped,” Daniel Buckley sums up what he does. And of course, that’s just him being modest. In reality, he has helped many people transform their lives. Tailoring to the busy lives of his clients, Daniel customizes fitness and nutrition plans for each of his clients. Using his services, you definitely can’t use the excuse you don’t have time to lead a healthy fit lifestyle.
“Most of my client’s have demanding schedules (work & social), so I tailor their training and nutrition to focus on their overall shape. You know, wider shoulders, bigger arms, smaller waist, thick legs / butt, type stuff, so they look good in a bathing suit. I do this by providing customized online workout and nutrition programs based on my client’s experience, fitness level and availability to workout equipment,” Daniel explains.
Start
Everyone has a story on how they first got interested in fitness. Daniel is no different. Fitness wasn’t something that has always been a factor in his life. In fact, his journey began once he became fed up with not being as fit as he wanted to be. “I always admired guys with muscles and great physiques and felt inadequate against them as a skinny guy with little to no muscle mass. So, I started reading a lot of information online / magazines, joined a gym and began working out,” Daniel says.
The results obviously speaks for them-self and has led him to the bigger mission of helping others. “My focus in the fitness industry is balance. I am an extremely social person myself which results in a lot of meals out and a lot of travel. My message is that you can live a ‘normal’ life while still having a great physique. There’s no need to sacrifice enjoyment for abs. Both are 100% obtainable,” Daniel shares.
Philosophy
So clearly, Daniel didn’t create his training technique overnight. After taking the first steps to becoming more fit and actually succeeding, he moved on to further educate himself on the matter. “For years I ate a typical bodybuilder diet of chicken / steak, sweet potatoes / brown rice, oatmeal / protein shakes. In addition to that, I also only did a typical bodybuilder split: Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms, Legs. No variation. That said, I was getting great results so I chose to become a personal trainer and decided on ACE as my certification. This education really helped me understand exactly how to train for my goals and allowed me to add a lot of variety into my routine. In addition to that, I received my Level 1 Nutrition Certification with Precision Nutrition in January and feel 100% more confident in my nutrition knowledge. I have done strict diets and flexible dieting via macro counting which both worked. However, my food choices were driven via an app tracking my calories / macros… not a way to live your life. Now, with the education from Precision Nutrition, I make good food choices for my body type / goals without having to track every little thing that I put in my mouth,” Daniel says.
But instead of keeping all this knowledge to himself, he decided to share it with others. “After receiving a great education and working with clients over the last few years, I have nailed down my method. I coach my clients on how to eat for their body-types / goals by teaching them basic habits instead of slapping down a generic meal plan and saying ‘good luck’ like many do. My #1 goal for my clients is after a year or less with me, to be 100% self sufficient having the knowledge / tools to create their goal physique without following any strict methodologies. As for the workouts; it’s custom to the client. I have some clients who want to lose body fat but gain some muscle so I focus on a bodybuilding style workout program and implement a lot of supersets to increased the intensity. For my clients who strictly want to gain muscle, I make their workouts more focused on heavy, compound movements that will stimulate a lot of muscle growth in a short period of time,” Daniel expresses.
Rewards
Hard work has definitely paid off. Not only was Daniel able to reach his body goals, but her has also had the opportunity to make major impact on the lives of others. “The most rewarding part of my journey is the influence I have had on others. If you told me 5 years ago that I would be making this big of a difference on my clients and followers, I would have laughed. At the time I was in a corporate bubble not contributing to anything. Now I get the opportunity to literally change lives. It’s incredible how small adjustments in someone’s fitness / nutrition can make huge changes in their physiques which results in unbelievable transformations with self confidence,” Daniel says.
What’s the biggest obstacle you’ve overcome? How did you do it?
For me, information overload was my biggest obstacle in my fitness journey. If you google ‘how to get a 6-pack’ or ‘how to get a bigger chest’, you will find a million answers. It was extremely overwhelming. I was frustrated after months of working out with little to no results to show for it so I sought out help. I had a co-worker who did women’s bikini competitions… that obviously wasn’t my goal, but she was very familiar with how to put on muscle and lean out. She gave me a very basic, very strict diet to follow that I ate day in and day out for months. In addition to that she guided me on how often I should lift / what I should be focusing on for my physique. Once I started seeing results, I became hooked.
What three pieces of fitness equipment should everyone have?
Dumbbells. Bench. Yoga Mat.
In your opinion, what are the most overrated and underrated exercises?
Overrated: Squats. They are an incredible exercise, but no everyone can / should do them based on their mobility / flexibility, etc. You can build big legs without this exercise, although I do love them for my workouts. Underrated: Lunges. I think lunges can build legs just as well, if not better, than squats. They can be done in so many different ways to focus on every muscle group in your leg. Definitely my favorite.
