Axar.az presents the interview with the best trainer of Azerbaijan Jeyhun Valiyev.

– Introduce yourself please.

– I am Jeyhun Valiyev. Fitness instructor.

– How is being a fitness instructor in Azerbaijan? Is it hard?

– It is not hard for me. I have started as an amateur like everyone. After that I started to attend powerlifting contests. I am three-time powerlifting world champion. Starting from this period, I began my career as a fitness instructor. But it is my hobby. I love doing it, that’s why it is my hobby.

– At which age did you start doing sports?

– I have started doing sports at my 17 and attended my first contest when I was 21. My career as a fitness instructor started at the age of 23.

– Which one is easier – working with men or women?

– Working with men is easier than working with women. It is easy to explain moves to men, they will do it from first or second attempt. But it takes women 3 - 4 weeks to understand and do the moves right. And women are more sensitive, so it takes time for them.

– Do you think it is better to have one general gym or there should be two separate gyms for men and women?

– Only Azerbaijan have separated gyms for men and women. In the rest of the world, even in Arabia which is a Muslim country, has only a few numbers of gyms for women, the majority of them are common. It is about mentalities and stereotypes of our nation, no one wants to send their mothers, sisters or wives to the common gym. But actually, it is not a good thing. It was worse 10 years ago. But it is better now, people understand that we don’t have a lot of woman fitness instructors so they should go and work with men to get the result.

– Which age is best to start going to the gym?

– 16 is the best. Our bones are not completely developed till 16, so we can’t overload them.

– There’s a rumor that human gets fat after quitting training. Is it right?

– It is a myth. If we train and gain 2000 calories and give 2000 calories our body will remain in shape. But tomorrow we will leave the training gain 2000 calories and won’t give it anywhere, it will be stocked as a fat under our skin. So even after training if we will get and give the same amount of calories, nothing will change in our bodies. It has nothing to do with training.

– What about the influence of smoking and drinking alcohol on training?

– They have very bad effects indeed. Both of them are poisoning the blood. When people come to gym we are telling at least give up on alcohol. Because if this man smokes for 10 years and did not give up till now, my word won’t change anything. Every gram of alcohol gives 7 calories – 50 ml of alcohol gives 350 calories. So body can’t use this energy in daily life and it becomes fat under our skin.

– Is that possible to drink and train simultaneously?

– Yes, it is possible. But we will get the effect in 7 months which we could get in 3 months. Anyway, it is possible, there should be the difference between the ones who drink and train and those who drink and do nothing. Just it will take time.

– Six packs are considered the best sign of fitness during beach period. Should men and women do the same moves to get six packs or V – cut?

– All moves are almost same. Actually, all of them are same but there are some moves which are done by holding weights can’t be performed by women, but mechanisms are all same.

– Is that true skinny people can get six pack easier and faster than fat people?

– Both of them are getting six pack in the same amount of time. But skinny people don’t have fat layer, so theirs emerge faster and become more visible. But muscles of fat people are hidden under fat, so they should get rid of fat to make their six packs more obvious.

– Some people are trying to avoid cardio trainings and skip leg days. What is the effect of this laziness on training and body shape?

– It is not same with women, Ladies love leg trainings. 60% of our muscles are taken by leg and back muscles. so it is important to attend leg day. Our ladies thought that their bodies also will look like men’s body because they are doing same moves with men. Men have testosterone hormone which helps them to grow muscles. This hormone’s amount is very few in women. And testosterone level increases during Leg days and back days. Thanks to social media and fitness models pictures women don’t hesitate to train anymore.

– Some people don’t have time to go to the gym and they are trying to work out by the help of trainings videos on Youtube. Is that possible to get body shaped with these moves or it is necessary to go to the gym?

­– If it is all about getting six packs or losing weight then you can do it at home by running, doing moves and etc.. But if we will talk about good body shape, then the gym is important. Because the weight of the moves should be increased, if the body will work with same weight every day there won’t be any effect.

­– What’s your opinion about supplements, proteins, gainers and etc. and hormonal substances?

– People were confusing steroids with proteins and other supplements. Thanks to social media they know the difference of steroids. Foreign sportsmen can not advertise dopings or steroids they use because it is illegal. They are starring ads of proteins or supplements, so people think that if I will take this protein I will have such body. There was such rumor that all proteins or supplements were steroids. Now people now that they are different things. Supplements are completely harmless and it was approved by international organizations. They aren’t chemicals, just food additives. It is important to take them. But steroids are harmful and trainers are trying to avoid their students from steroids.

– Do steroids affect sexual life?

– Yes, they do. They are hormonal substances, that’s why it has an effect on health. Normal men produce 8 mg of testosterone every day and it is 56 per week. But when you take it as a steroid it is 500 mg. It causes the overdose of your hormones and after some time production of steroid stops in our body which leads to misbalance.

– You have been in different countries. Which country has best conditions for training?

– Azerbaijan has best conditions, trainers, and equipment. I can confidently say that Azerbaijan has best gyms among Eastern, European and CIS countries.

­– Do you have students who you are preparing for contests?

– Yes, I do. I have one student who held 1st place in the world championship. Now I have some of them and there is one with whom I especially work.

– What should be avoided during our daily diet?

– Actually, people better have healthy eating than diet. If they will avoid sugar and fat, there won’t be any need for a diet. Salt does not affect training process.

­– What about feeding? What time should we eat?

– We should eat frequently with small portions during the day. Main meal should be eaten 2 hours before training and carbohydrate rich things, for example, banana should be eaten half an hour before training. Food which has 40 gr of carbohydrate and protein after training is important, because we should fill the energy gap that was created by training. Also, we have “cheat day” once in a week. We can eat whatever we want in this day.

– What time should we train and how long should it be?

– If you want to lose weight best time for training is until 1 o’clock. But if you want to shape your body, best time period is between 16:00 and 18:00. Training close to 23:00 is tiring because body prepares itself for sleep not training. And the duration of training should be 45 minutes, maximum 1 hour. If we will train for 2 hours it is overload for muscles and can cause tiredness.