I couldn’t be happier with my experience. I have the tools and judgment to progress comfortably on my own, maintain (and build on) my improved body composition, and make necessary adjustments without doubting my choices. Thanks, Nsima. You are a dope human being.
LOCATION: Brookville, NY
I came to Nsima in a tricky spot. I had a bit of muscle, but held more body fat that I was comfortable with. I wasn’t well suited to diet at the start because of my relatively young training age, nor was I lean enough to commit to a full on gaining phase. Before discussing with Nsima I was almost sure I wanted to simply cut and then bulk once lean enough. But Nsima suggested a smarter game plan. For a few months we recomped by increasing volume and improving performance. As a byproduct I lost some body fat and was in a better position to start slowly gaining without putting on unnecessary body fat. After more than half a year of gaining steadily, I was comfortable enough with my muscle mass and lifting mechanics to start a diet.
I’ve dieted down in the past, but Nsima’s approach was the most effective cutting structure I’ve used to date. I was able to maintain strength throughout the majority of the diet (bench press definitely got hard but relative to my decreased bodyweight, strength improved). And my deadlift (both conventional and sumo) actually increased for 1.5 years straight from start of coaching to my leanest at the end of the cut.
Probably the most important aspect about a coach is that they LISTEN. I would even say this aspect alone is reason enough to work with Nsima. I felt like every answer to my questions was geared towards me. I never received generic responses. His voice explanations are eloquent, detailed, and extremely informative. Nsima also has a a way of explaining compound lift mechanics in a way that really clicks (in the past I’ve watched far too many lifting tutorials without much benefit). This made my switch from conventional to sumo deadlift seamless and tightened up my former unstable bench press. Besides fantastic information and advice, hearing his voice messages helped me push through tough times like when I had occasional strength stalls or when I was irritable in the deep end of the diet.
Lastly, Nsima put tremendous effort into observing and learning about me, which helped me learn about myself. I was impressed by Nsima’s intelligent design and constant tweaking of training mesocycles. He identified my weaknesses and we dedicated certain phases to them. For example, we switched from back to front squats and bench to close grip bench for multiple training cycles. I would never make this type of change on my own, but damn these uncomfortable cycles paid off because what used to be my weaknesses are no longer weak points (e.g. by emphasizing close grip, now my triceps are a strong point). Nsima also helped me learn that I respond well to moderate lower body volume, but I need higher than normal upper body volume for effective stimulus.