It’s amazing what a bit of motivation and a lot of hard work at the gym can do.
Disabled footballer Harry Crooke is proof of this.
The 21-year-old, who played for Manchester United Disability Squad for seven years, went through an incredible body transformation after seeing photos of himself looking a bit out of shape on holiday.
The Lancashire lad, who has cerebral palsy, had piled on a few pounds and weighed in at 16 stone aged 19 – the heaviest he’d ever been.
But to save his place in the North West Cerebral Palsy Centre of Excellence Football squad, he decided to make some big changes to his lifestyle, diet and training.
He followed LDN Muscle’s online fitness and diet guide religiously – and it paid off with incredible results which saw him lose five stone.
Now lean, muscular and athletic, he’s in fantastic shape for football.
Harry, who leads a pretty normal life despite having mid to severe cerebral palsy which affects his muscles, said: “There were two main reasons really that I wanted to lose weight.
“The first one was after returning from holiday one summer and looking back at the photos of myself by the pool, I hadn’t realised just how overweight I had become which personally I think was mainly due to overeating and self-indulgence.
“The second was because a month later I attended the annual trials for the North West Cerebral Palsy Centre of Excellence Football squad and my place in the squad was in danger.
“Not to get into the squad would have been a devastating blow and would have had a huge impact on my life.”
Luckily Harry made the squad and began his weight loss plan. He ditched his favourite junk food like crisps and biscuits and joined the gym.
This helped him lose a stone in weight – but it wasn’t until he downloaded the LDN Muscle Guide onto his phone that his transformation stepped up a notch.
He said: “Before I was treating it as a “diet” as opposed to a lifestyle change. It wasn’t until I discovered LDN Muscle that I started to learn more. The knowledge was all there in a handy guide that I could use on my phone and the guide gave me the motivation to change my lifestyle.
“I knew I had to do something in order to continue playing the sport I have loved since I was a kid and I knew that if I stuck with the guide then I would gradually get fitter and fitter.”
Harry struggles with certain exercises in the gym because of his cerebral palsy – particularly with grip strength and fatigue in his hands.
But he simply adapted to movements to suit him and still got a good workout.
“Aside from obviously physical benefits of looking leaner and feeling fitter the biggest transformation was psychological in the way that my confidence grew immensely,” he added.
This is how his diet changed…
Diet Before
Breakfast: Cereals or toast with jam.
Lunch: Sandwiches, crisps, biscuits, energy drinks
Dinner: pasta with cheese and garlic bread, pizzas, cottage pies.
Snacks: Oreos
Diet After
Meal 1 – Scrambled egg whites, steak & broccoli OR Protein porridge with peanut butter
Meal 2 – Chicken breasts, sweet potato, broccoli and beetroot.
Meal 3 – Protein Cookie or Low Fat Cottage Cheese
Meal 4 (Pre-Workout) – Tuna with sweet potato
Meal 5 (Post-Workout) – Whey protein shakes
Meal 6 – Chicken breast or Steak and veg
