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Keir Murray PT

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Keir Murray PT

I am a Qualified Level 2 Gym Instructor and Level 3 Personal Trainer.

DM me if you would like to enquire about my inclusive offer and everlasting deal for new clients. 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵! 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘯-𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘺𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮 𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘯𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵.

22/05/2026

Keir Murray PT.
DM me if you're interested in what I offer to help with your health and fitness.

Whom are you trying to fuel?

What's your go-to post-workout refuelling snack?

Is it malt loaf, or something else 😋?

Send me a message to let me know, and I might just swap in something new.

Before a workout, prepare some carbs as a go-to snack so they are ready to eat post-workout.

But wait, isn't it protein I need after a workout? Malt Loaf doesn't contain much protein.

Although it isn't required instantly, yes, you're correct to have your protein after a workout. Now is a good time to include a sugary snack too, particularly simple carbs, since they're important post-workout.

When you exercise, you use a lot of energy moving your body, doing what you're kicking butt at. This energy, before a workout, is stored in muscles but is soon used up.

IMPORTANT! These carbs are no substitute for more nourishing meals that should be prioritised throughout your day, but will quickly start replenishing your energy stores.

05/05/2026

Keir Murray PT.
DM me if you're interested in what I may offer for your health and fitness.

Rest (-pause) assured.

This video and post are not encouraging avoidance of particular intensity techniques in the gym. It's intended to have you not feel overwhelmed, but to make you feel that your training doesn't have to be constantly brutal, because intensity techniques do exist, but don't necessarily have to be used, especially in an early venture.

This can be intimidating if you believe your training must involve intensity techniques immediately; then they must be carried out and repeated in a certain manner at some point. They are tools to use, and they are welcome to be tried.

Take into consideration the exercise I'm doing; it is an isolation movement, meaning there is single-joint action and therefore mainly working one muscle. Compound movements, meaning there is multi-joint action and therefore more total muscle involved for that one lift, and now there is more demand systemically, whether an intensity technique is applied or not.

At the beginning of your lifting journey, the entire set(s) of each exercise in a plan should be designated as a straight set (when single or multiple sets of the same exercise are done with identical weight, reps, and RPE, resting in between with no speciality upon ending).

Each set's reps and the control and form of those reps need to be prioritised, and always will be. Straight sets alone could be manipulated to increase the intensity of a lift by adding weight and/or increasing reps, keeping both reps and weight the same while improving form, and, if willing earlier or later, but not a necessity, by introducing other intensity techniques.

Using a Push workout as an example, perhaps sticking to 3-4 sets of 2-3 compound movements, notably as a beginner, then consider using an intensity technique when typically finalising a workout with smaller muscle groups.

The intensity technique featured in the video is a rest-pause set.
Try this next time for a smaller single muscle group, such as the triceps.

24/04/2026

Keir Murray PT. DM me if you're interested in what may be on offer for your health and fitness.

How low to go in your Overhead Press?

First off, to begin an Overhead Press, before the bar is lifted from the safeties, grasp the bar with each hand directly shoulder-width apart, then move either hand a hand's width apart from the other to have a grip slightly wider than shoulder width.

From here, when already having a soft bend at the knees, slightly crouch to bring yourself that little bit lower than the bar, and upon driving your feet into the floor, coming back to that same standing position, simultaneously lift the bar off the safeties and use that momentum from having crouched to do your first rep.

The bar would be pressed tall above you, held for a second, and then slowly lowered. If going for reps, how low would you go before pressing this time around without the momentum of the knees?

What better way to feel even stronger than lifting weights above you in an exercise like the Overhead Press, lifting that weight safely by following this handy tip.

When lowering the bar, aim for each forearm to reach a position where it is completely vertical to the ground. For me, and potentially others alike, the bar would stop at a point in line with the chin. Any lower than that height of the chin, and you can risk pressing from an internally rotated position, unnecessarily stressing the body's most mobile joint, which is the shoulder.

When you attempt your last repetition, whether successful or not, finish your set by controlling and holding the bar in the same bottom position, then slightly crouch to bring yourself that little bit lower, and re-rack the bar on the safeties.

30/03/2026

Increasing your Range Of Motion (ROM)

A range of motion is the distance from your starting position in an exercise that puts the muscles in a lengthened position before lifting, to the point where you lift the weight while holding a contraction. The weight would be lowered back, completing a rep.

A full ROM would be doing your rep(s) with your targeted muscles in their lengthiest, naturally stretched position, until you reach a maximum contraction after lifting, and then returning to the same starting position the muscles were at.

You may be starting your reps in a given exercise at a position where the targeted muscles aren't at their lengthiest, i.e., you're not currently getting a full range of motion.

Your Preacher Curls, or any exercise for the following matter, can do with fewer reps to make you stronger and, in the future, then increase your rep count.

By increasing the range of motion, you require the muscles used in that lift to apply more force earlier in a set than they would have had you kept your starting point (A) to an end position of a rep (B) shorter. This ensures you do it more intensely, without depriving yourself of true reps, and that "half" or partial reps don't count, all while still building strength.

Now, when you're next at the gym, adjust your starting point (A) in a lift so the muscle is more stretched to begin with, and try to reach the number of reps you'd have wanted to if you hadn't made that change in each rep.

How many do you get? Let this determine your rep range this time around, and the next time you'll do these. For example, you may have been getting around 12-15, but this attempt in a different application is now 7-11. From here, when 3 sets are complete with the same weight at 11, you try to get more reps, or increase the weight and go again between 7 and 11.

21/03/2026

Raspberry Cheesecake Proats - Recipe.

Let this easy & quick-to-prepare, over 40g-protein feeding help you meet your daily protein and if you're strapped for time and want no-hassle food on the go. 😋

It can be enjoyed cold or heated, even if left to settle if made earlier.

Particular ingredients and serving amounts:
PRO V-GAIN™ PROTEIN Flavour: Raspberry Cheesecake (30g)
Grower's Harvest Porridge Oats (from Tesco's) (75g)
Tesco Lactose Free Semi Skimmed Dairy Drink (250ml) or water for fewer calories overall.

Prep Time:
6 minutes

Macros:
Fat = 10.445 g
Carbs = 54.42 g
Protein = 42.05 g
kcal = 490.4 kcal

14/03/2026

Before you do your next set of Dumbbell Lateral Raises, let's address these pointers to make the most of it.

From the bottom up: let's space our feet hip-width apart to provide sturdy balance. Imagine a tower with a narrow base; it would find it difficult to keep its footing, so widen your base.

Brace your abs; imagine a strong punch is headed for your stomach. Have someone gently do this, but keep you unaware of when it's coming. You'll feel what it's like to brace your core as you prepare to take such impact.

Before raising each arm out to the side, when adopting the aforementioned stance, relax your shoulders, then lightly draw your shoulder blades together and hold them through your reps.

At the moment, without a need for dumbbells by your side, stand tall, let your arms hang naturally by your sides, and notice that when each arm is relaxed, there's a small bend at the elbow.

This is the position you want both arms in while lifting and lowering the dumbbells. Allow this bend at each elbow before your reps. This will remove the increased stress on the elbows you would have if you had kept your arms completely straight.

When raising your arms out to your sides to do a rep, the elbows will be in line with the muscle fibres of the shoulder's lateral head, the head of the shoulder you want to grow by performing this exercise.

Only bring each arm up until it's parallel to the ground to create a T-shape with your body and arms. Hold here for a second, as if your photo is quickly being taken, and control the dumbbells back to the starting position for another rep.

21/02/2026

Help your bench press.

By using the Smith machine to demonstrate an alternative, yet still an effective option for those who haven't yet benched traditionally, or weren't sure of it when they tried, this allows you to perform the movement similarly with the bar above their mid chest and hands still slightly wider than shoulder width apart whilst pressing, but without the awkwardness or lack of stabilisation that comes with controlling a barbell.

I don't encourage using the Smith machine only for bench pressing. Still, it is a beginner-friendly alternative and a safe way to demonstrate push strength and perform this compound push exercise effectively. Once you're ready to try it, or have done it before, switch between the barbell bench press, but ensure the safeties are set much like those on a Smith machine.

03/02/2026

Lighten Off

When it comes to strength training, what exactly are you training? You guessed it, strength. If your goal were fat loss or muscle building through strength training, you'd gain strength along that journey.

This is because the body is put through demands you require it to handle, when an appropriate weight is handled relative to your strength level, which makes it stronger.

Muscles would increase in size. But when it comes to fat loss, as long as you're intentionally cutting calories below your maintenance intake (the number of calories you'd eat to maintain your current weight), expect fat loss.

Beyond a single rest day, intentional extended rest can enhance your body's overall quality beyond muscle gain and fat loss, and workout.

A week of lighter loading can allow you to return fresher the following week by giving parts of your body, e.g., joints, a break from repetitive stress when you lift at your presumed strongest.

The weight I used when lowered was around 80 per cent of what I'd have used otherwise, had I not decreased. You can decrease it further; give 60 per cent a go.

25/01/2026

You and I Questionnaire.

When you click the link and have access, you'll notice that, in short, what 12 weeks include.

At the start of the form, I want to let you know what is on offer.

Programme and workouts, nutrition, and app & support.

A brief description will show why these questions are being asked.

In particular, three are: weekly activity level, a primary fitness goal, and perhaps barriers.

If you’re interested in being sent the link, you can send me a message.

12/01/2026

Last year, I posted a short video encouraging PT to get whoever's interested to smash their health and fitness goals for that year. This year is no different. Please send a direct message for more details, and we'll get started.

Here's to kicking butt in 2026.

An estimated 1RM can be the weight you could usually lift for 10 reps to reach muscular failure, multiplied by 1.33, then rounded up.

Here I am doing dynamic stretching to warm up in general, better mobilise my joints and get started before attempting a 1RM.

I followed the instructions as shown on the screen earlier, completing three sets of 5 reps, with each set getting closer, until the last set reached my estimated 10rm (75% of my estimated 1rm).

After my last warm-up set, I rested and then loaded what I estimated to be my 1RM.

Unfortunately, this attempt hadn't succeeded because the range of motion (ROM) hadn't reached where I wanted the rep to end.

I aimed to see and feel my entire wrists just below my chin, as long as my head stayed still, and it wasn't getting there.

I reduced the weight of my first attempt by 2.5-5kg, allowing myself around 4 minutes' rest to go again, to find a 1RM.

I was happy with this second attempt and will accept it as a 1RM.

By using a handy website that estimates rep maxes, I'll aim to do sets of reps, preferably kept relatively low (e.g., 2-5), to improve strength, and, over time, progressively overload with slight increases in weight to become stronger.

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