The Diet and Routine That Got Big Brother's Mitch Giles Beefed-up Before The Show - Men's Health Magazine Australia

The Diet and Routine That Got Big Brother’s Mitch Giles Beefed-up Before The Show

"I got in contact with my PT and told her I need to be the strongest version of myself."
Channel 7

If you watch Channel 7’s Big Brother, you’ll know the name Mitch Giles. The sculpted, tattoo-covered intruder, who joined the cast in episode 12, was a force to be reckoned with, absolutely smashing a number of the house challenges with ease. Giles, who was eventually evicted last week after being identified as a major threat by the other housemates, is a self-proclaimed fitness buff (and you can tell). So, of course, we wanted to find out more.

“I first became interested in health and fitness when I left school,” he explains. “The guys at my workplace really helped with my confidence, but I was still scared going to the gym. So my brother and his friend would take me to the gym to train with them and when I started seeing results it just felt incredible. The gym became an addiction, I made some incredible friends there and just felt at home. It’s the greatest stress reliever and once those results start coming through you’re hooked!”

Mitch, who is the father to a two-year-old son, regularly frequented the gym before he applied for the show, but in the lead-up he knew how important it was to diversify his training in order to smash the show’s intense challenges.

“On the lead up to Big Brother, I got in contact with my PT (Emma Sanford) and told her I need to be the strongest version of myself. She wrote me up a training schedule and because I am terrible at keeping track of my diet, I was put onto the Shredded Chef. I was able to shed an extra 10 kgs in the lead up to going into the house. It’s incredible what a good food plan and training schedule can do to oneself and I can’t thank them enough for helping.”

In addition to his strength sessions, Giles added in some cardio and hones in his diet.

“…I tried adding cardio before work or getting in some HIIT training dude to COVID when I was in isolation. The only thing I changed in the lead up was my diet to cut right down I put myself in a crazy calorie deficit so it was extremely hard finding the energy and strength most days but thanks to my main gym bro Hayden he really kept my training and eating in check.”

Yet it wasn’t always this way. Giles, who grew up as a ‘chubby’ kid, struggled with his body image and was targeted by bullies. “I loved sports and learning but children can be horrible sometimes and it did affect me mentally quite badly. I pretty much hated how I looked and who I was and it destroyed my confidence. I didn’t want to go to school, I quit playing sports and I just didn’t really want to go anywhere or do anything.”

The experience led him to the world of fitness, boosting his confidence and changing his outlook on life. “I went from no confidence, never wanting to go anywhere or doing anything, to being one of the most confident men you will meet. I’m always out there doing things, being bubbly and positive and laughing the loudest in the room. It feels so good to be able to love what I’m looking at in the mirror and remember where I came from.”

“I remember times back then and how it made me feel and try to be the nicest person to everyone I meet and help where I can. I’ve used the times when I was bullied to push and become how I look today.”

Here, he breaks down his pre-Big Brother routine.

Training

“My build up to Big Brother, I was on a strength program from my trainer Emma Sanford, we do a 6×6,4×8,4×8 schedule.”

Day one

Our first day is a beefy leg session based on squats, starting with front bar squats mixed with hammy curls, then into back squats mixed with RDL’s and then onto some squats with leg extensions then can’t forget to smash calves at the end of it.

Day two

Next day into a chest and back day starting with incline bench mixed with weighted pull ups, then onto flat bench with weighted chin ups, then topped off with paused incline dumbbell press with some pull downs.

Day three

Day 3, I do a good stretch and abs session for recovery.

Day four

Then into another leg day starting strong with deficit deadlifts with hammy curls, then onto trap bar deadlifts with some good mornings, finishing with some weighted lunges and hip thrusts.

Day five

Day 5 is a shoulder and back day starting with some BB overhead press with dumbbell rows, then standing V press with bb Pendley rows, lastly some Arnold presses with T bar rows.

Day six

Then the last day is a stretch and recovery, then on the 7th day I try get in a steady state cardio, I try get in some extra cardio before work when I’m on day shift.

Diet

“When I was coming into Big Brother, I was asked to bring my absolute best. Luckily due to COVID I was stuck in Darwin at times and at the hotel we stayed at, the head chef was Pete, who owns The Shredded Chef. I went to him and asked him to write me up a good program which would make me shred down as much as possible with the limited time I had.”

“I don’t normally stick to diets which require to write down exactly what I eat and track my calories and all that other stuff, so he wrote me a program of what to eat how much to eat and when to eat it which made me cut down fat with retaining as much muscle as I could which this magical program is listed below.”

Breakfast

8:00am

100g Steak
6 boiled eggs 1 yoke, rest whites
broccolini
21 almonds

Snack

10:00am

Rule 1 shake
Banana
21 almonds

Lunch

12:00pm

200 g chicken
200g greens

Snack

2:00pm

21 almonds

Rice cakes peanut butter

Snack

4:00pm

150g rice or 150g sweet potato
200g chicken breast
21 almonds
Beetroot

Post gym

3-4 slices pineapple
Shake

Dinner

7:00pm

Chicken or fish 300g
250g greens
150g sweet potato

Before bed

Peanut butter 2 tablespoons
Shake

“The key was consistency and being so strict on it which my friends helped with and that thought of a cheat meal at the end of two weeks was unlike no other. I can’t thank Emma Sanford my coach and Pete from The Shredded Chef enough for helping me get my body to what it was on Big Brother.”

By Nikolina Ilic

Nikolina is the former Digital Editor at Men's Health Australia, responsible for all things social media and .com. A lover of boxing, she has written for Women's Health, esquire, GQ and Vogue magazine.

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