Meet the hunks making diet and exercise fun — with a focus on happiness and positivity
ARE you fed up of celebrity personal trainers focusing on what you are doing wrong?
For a more positive outlook, meet John Chapman and Leon Bustin, better known as The Lean Machines.
This duo ask us to do something different to the tons of other fitness gurus online showing us how they got their six packs or what they think we should eat — these two want us to BE HAPPY.
And this is making John and Leon the next big thing in fitness.
They have released successful books, teamed up with L’Oreal Men, chef Jamie Oliver, ITV’s Good Morning Britain and racked up 400,000 views of their YouTube videos and more than 300,000 online subscribers.
What would you rather have, a six-pack or happiness? Everyone should answer happiness
So what makes these guys the happiest celebrity trainers?
Leon, 29, says: “We’re all about being healthy, and by healthy we don’t just mean physically fit.
“There is more to it than that.
“It’s about being mentally happy, so many people neglect that.
“What would you rather have, a six-pack or happiness?
“Everyone should answer happiness.
“What’s the point of having massive muscles if it doesn’t make you happy?
“We want to make happiness the main goal.
“We are all about exercising to feel good, to reach goals and delicious food you can enjoy learning to cook and eat and, in the end, being happier.”
John, 28, adds: “We could all do with spending more time looking for the good in life and learning from the negatives.
“If you put too much pressure on yourself it can make you unhappy.
“We are saying you need to ask yourself, ‘Why do I want to do it?
“What do I want to achieve?’
“Don’t think about everyone else.
We want to urge people to move away from the comparison culture and instead live by making goals and enjoying the journey to get to them
"We want to urge people to move away from the comparison culture and instead live by making goals and enjoying the journey to get to them.”
John and Leon, from Norwich, have been best friends since they were 14.
After leaving school they went into trade jobs — Leon as a roofer and John as carpenter. John says: “It was all going really well until the recession hit thin on the ground.
“I decided to go travelling, while Leon got personal training qualifications.”
When John came home he joined Leon working at the gym and the pair made big plans.
John says: “A lot of people find it too intimidating to ask questions at the gym, yet we knew we could totally transform their workouts and diets.”
John, whose twin brother Jim Chapman is also a YouTube star, came up with the idea of sharing their knowledge online.
He says: “Our style is to make subjects fun and accessible.
We hope our stupid banter makes other people enjoy what we do
“What’s better than working with your best mate?
“Nothing, and we hope our stupid banter makes other people enjoy what we do.”
Their on-screen chemistry attracted the attention of celeb chef Jamie Oliver.
Leon says: “Jamie is one of our biggest idols and when he wanted to team up it was unreal.”
Their new book contains 30 workouts, advice and 60 Jamie-style, quick, easy and healthy recipes, so where did the boys lean to cook?
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Leon says: “I learnt to cook when I went travelling.
“Before that I was a tragedy in the kitchen. I had a typical tradesman’s diet — beans on toast, cheese on toast — anything on toast, and six cups of tea a day.
“Now I love investing time in cooking, and that’s what we want to share with people in our book.”
John says: “We’re a fitness book that wants you to be happy — this way of thinking has to catch on.
“For us it’s building that message, helping people reach their fitness goals, eat their way healthy and get happier.”
— The Lean Machines’ new book, Eat Well, Move Better and Feel Awesome, is out now.
Fish finger sandwiches
Serves 2
YOU NEED:
For fingers:
50g plain flour
300g cod fillet cut into 6 fingers
2 medium free range eggs, beaten
75g dry white breadcrumbs
½ teaspoon smoked paprika
Olive oil spray
Sea salt and black pepper
For mayo: 2tbsp mayonaise
2 gherkins
1tbsp capers
Small bunch chopped parsley
1 lemon
For sandwich:
4 slices of bread
Rocket
METHOD:
Preheat oven to 180C and line a baking tray with parchment.
Pour flour into sandwich bag and season.
Add fish pieces, seal bag and shake.
Pour beaten eggs into shallow dish and combine breadcrumbs and paprika in a separate dish.
Coat floured fish in egg and breadcrumbs.
Repeat so each piece of fish has a double coating.
Lay fingers on the tray and spray with olive oil.
Bake for 15 mins.
Combine mayo, gherkins, capers, parsley and lemon juice to make tartare sauce.
Spread on two slices of bread and top with fish fingers and rocket.