Kettlebells aren’t simply a new fad. At the most basic level, they are essentially weight-lifting, or resistance training; and can be used in much the same way as ‘traditional’ lifting.
Where kettlebells come into their own, though, is the nature of the design. Kettlebells are off-centre – that is to say, the main bulk of the weight is always a little further away from the body than is the case with dumbbells, or barbells.
Normal gym-work teaches us to keep control and always know where the weight is; kettlebells take that concept and throw it out of the window. The whole point of kettlebell training is that your body doesn’t always know where the weight is, and as a consequence your muscles have fight to keep stability and control. This constant battle for stability is at the heart of what any kettlebell enthusiast will tell you – they’re fantastic for core development, both appearance AND strength. A training tool that gives you an impressive midsection as a by-product? Now we’re talking…!
So, if KBs are so great, why doesn’t everyone train with them? Well, like anything, it comes down to your individual goals. Want to be a 200lb, 8% body fat bodybuilder? You’re not going to build enough muscle solely with kettlebells to hit that goal. Need to drop from 300lbs to a ‘normal’ weight for your size? Again, kettlebells are unlikely to help; you’re unlikely to have the range of movement and basic fitness levels to make the best of them. So who are kettlebells perfect for? In my opinion as a PT, the list below are the kind of people who will get the most out of kettlebell training:
• Anyone looking to lose body fat
• Women seeking to gain a ‘toned’ appearance who have no interest in traditional weight-training
• Regular gym-goers who wish to build muscle whilst keeping body-fat levels under control
• Almost any person involved in a sport that demands a good level of CV conditioning
• Anyone who has ever used the simple phrase ‘I just want to get fitter’
• Strength trainers who rarely venture into higher rep ranges • Anyone who takes part in endurance activities (including marathons, 10ks, etc)
When you first start training with a kettlebell, as with anything new, take it easy! There’s no rush, no need to fly into the latest highimpact routine that will leave you feeling like a car crash victim for days afterwards. All the key, basic, big moves in kettlebell training start with the ‘swing’. Master this first, getting both the ‘half squat’movement AND the ‘straight back’ spot-on before graduating to more complex moves. Like with any new sport or training method, get the basics right first and you’ll avoid wasting time (and avoid potential injuries) further down the line. I’d recommend you then learn the kettlebell snatch and the clean and press.
After you have these mastered, you’ll have a good appreciation of kettlebell work, and can start getting to grips with some more complicated moves, and begin to incorporate body weight exercises as well to create some of the most demanding circuits you’ll ever do.
If you’re completely new to any kind of structured weight training, I’d suggest starting with a 4kg (females) or a 12kg (males). This is obviously a very broad generalisation, but it’s based on my personal training experience and it goes against the usually recommended 8kg for females, and 16kg for males. I’ve seen regular gym-goers utterly humbled by a 16kg KB; and there’s nothing like annihilating your confidence to put you off trying something that could otherwise be perfect for you. Similarly, women new to training often are simply incapable of pressing an 8kg weight above their heads, and to insist they just try harder is demoralising (not to mention ignorant of the trainer!)
If you’re used to the gym, and are capable of body-weight equivalent lifts (in the squat, bench press, and chin-ups for example) then by all means dive in at the higher end of the starting range; but don’t be surprised if a 16kg KB feels a LOT heavier than the equivalent dumbbell. Just for reference, it is often cited that a 16kg kettlebell, at the bottom of a ‘swing’, actually weighs nearly three times the weight because of the momentum generated, and the force needing to be applied to slow it down. Worth bearing in mind…!
To sum up, kettlebells can introduce a whole new level to your training. If you’re a complete newbie to fitness, they are a genuinely fun and interesting way to get some excellent, quick results. If you’re more seasoned, you’re still very likely to find even the most basic routine a good new challenge, and will be surprised to uncover some weaknesses (and strengths!) that you didn’t know you had.
Friday 30 December 2011
Saturday 5 November 2011
Consistency is King!
I've trained a large number of individuals now, and over forums/email probably given advice to hundreds more. Over this time, I think I've worked out the vital component that has meant some people have succeeded in their goals, and some haven't - consistency.
I have yet to meet anyone who has had success training once a week. Of course, as a personal trainer I do take on and work with some clients once a week, but I stress from the start that they will NOT make progress if they only train when I'm there. They need to put in the work in between our sessions. Make no mistake, I can tell who has put the work in over the week, and who hasn't.
Many people say they've been training 'on and off' for years. Well, sorry to break it to you, but if you train for a couple of months, then have a month off, then start again, then take another break - well, you may as well not bother. Exercise isn't for you. You don't have the focus, willpower or desire to make differences to your body. I appreciate that may sound harsh, but it's true. Just give up and find something else you enjoy, because stop-start training and yo-yo healthy eating is pointless. In fact, it probably does you more harm than good, certainly psychologically, because of the constant re-enforcing of the fact you've failed again.
Within reason, ANY half-decent training plan or dietary approach will get you results, if you stick to it. I've seen people get great results from training plans I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole, but the fact is the person stuck to it, put in 100% effort, and didn't give up after 4 weeks.
This may put some people off before even starting, but to make significant changes to your body, that people around you will notice, will take at least six months of hard and consistent work and effort. Not one month of hard work and then two weeks of nothing because 'work was busy' or 'I had a lot on' or 'there were lots of Xmas parties I had to go to'. If that sounds familiar to you, then you need to recognise how much of your time and effort you are wasting.
Unfortunately, the phrase 'use it or lose it' is 100% applicable to strength and fitness. In particular, you can lose your CV fitness almost as quickly as you gain it. In other words, a hard months worth of effort increasing your ability to run for half an hour can be entirely wiped out by a month of making excuses and doing nothing. You'll end up back at square one. What a waste of effort, eh?
Stop-start training and stop-start attention to nutrition does not work. It's as simple as that. If you want success, be consistent in what you do. It's the only way to make a difference.
I have yet to meet anyone who has had success training once a week. Of course, as a personal trainer I do take on and work with some clients once a week, but I stress from the start that they will NOT make progress if they only train when I'm there. They need to put in the work in between our sessions. Make no mistake, I can tell who has put the work in over the week, and who hasn't.
Many people say they've been training 'on and off' for years. Well, sorry to break it to you, but if you train for a couple of months, then have a month off, then start again, then take another break - well, you may as well not bother. Exercise isn't for you. You don't have the focus, willpower or desire to make differences to your body. I appreciate that may sound harsh, but it's true. Just give up and find something else you enjoy, because stop-start training and yo-yo healthy eating is pointless. In fact, it probably does you more harm than good, certainly psychologically, because of the constant re-enforcing of the fact you've failed again.
Within reason, ANY half-decent training plan or dietary approach will get you results, if you stick to it. I've seen people get great results from training plans I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole, but the fact is the person stuck to it, put in 100% effort, and didn't give up after 4 weeks.
This may put some people off before even starting, but to make significant changes to your body, that people around you will notice, will take at least six months of hard and consistent work and effort. Not one month of hard work and then two weeks of nothing because 'work was busy' or 'I had a lot on' or 'there were lots of Xmas parties I had to go to'. If that sounds familiar to you, then you need to recognise how much of your time and effort you are wasting.
Unfortunately, the phrase 'use it or lose it' is 100% applicable to strength and fitness. In particular, you can lose your CV fitness almost as quickly as you gain it. In other words, a hard months worth of effort increasing your ability to run for half an hour can be entirely wiped out by a month of making excuses and doing nothing. You'll end up back at square one. What a waste of effort, eh?
Stop-start training and stop-start attention to nutrition does not work. It's as simple as that. If you want success, be consistent in what you do. It's the only way to make a difference.
"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." - Vincent T. Lombardi
Thursday 20 October 2011
Carbs are not the enemy!
I've come across a lot of this kind of thinking recently; that to lose any weight, the only approach that will work is low carb. This post will hopefully show you some of why that is a common knee-jerk reaction, and why it's often misguided.
Carbs are necessary to function. They provide the most accessible source of energy for your body - in other words, it doesn't have to make much effort to generate usable energy from most carb sources. Proteins and fats require a little more of your body. Side effects of 'going low carb' (typically meaning having less than 50g of carbs per day) include headaches, bad breath and dizziness. If that doesn't show you how much your body needs carbs for adequate function, then what does?!
There is a process known as 'ketosis', which many low carb diets aim for and extol as being the holy grail of fat loss. Done properly, by a knowledgeable person who is already in control of their eating habits and is insanely disciplined, it can work. Chances are, though, that YOU aren't that person.
So why is low-carb such a popular approach?
Mainly because in the Western world we've got our food balance all out of whack. We've gone way too far in favour of carbs, in most cases, and some people's diets consist of 80% carbs. Put simply, they're too prevalent and too more-ish, and are the key constituent of too many foods that are truly awful for you - most cereals, cakes, chocolates, crisps etc.
You can probably see that not all carbs are created equal. Maybe the distinction should be made between foods that are decent nutritionally (potatoes, vegetables, fruit) and foods that aren't (crisps, cakes, cereals).
Carbs tend to form a huge part of our diets - bread as an accompaniment to meals, pasta and potatoes taking up half a plate with no green veg to be seen. This is the real problem, and why the low(er) carb approach can work - it removes some nutritionally defunct calories from a diet.
Aim to get your carbs from good sources - sweet and normal potatoes, vegetables, some (not an excess of) fruit, pasta and wholegrain bagels. Unless you're heavily into your training, and need the excess energy, try to keep the servings of potatoes and pastas down to fist-size, and not the whole plate!
Don't treat carbs as some kind of pariah. Simply cutting carbs out of your diet alone will not make you lose fat. Ultimately, it's a calorie deficit that will do that. Removing the nutritionally-barren carbs (chocolate, crisps, cereals, white breads) from your diet, and replacing them with good fats and proteins, however, will always lead to positive mental and physical results.
Carbs are necessary to function. They provide the most accessible source of energy for your body - in other words, it doesn't have to make much effort to generate usable energy from most carb sources. Proteins and fats require a little more of your body. Side effects of 'going low carb' (typically meaning having less than 50g of carbs per day) include headaches, bad breath and dizziness. If that doesn't show you how much your body needs carbs for adequate function, then what does?!
There is a process known as 'ketosis', which many low carb diets aim for and extol as being the holy grail of fat loss. Done properly, by a knowledgeable person who is already in control of their eating habits and is insanely disciplined, it can work. Chances are, though, that YOU aren't that person.
So why is low-carb such a popular approach?
Mainly because in the Western world we've got our food balance all out of whack. We've gone way too far in favour of carbs, in most cases, and some people's diets consist of 80% carbs. Put simply, they're too prevalent and too more-ish, and are the key constituent of too many foods that are truly awful for you - most cereals, cakes, chocolates, crisps etc.
You can probably see that not all carbs are created equal. Maybe the distinction should be made between foods that are decent nutritionally (potatoes, vegetables, fruit) and foods that aren't (crisps, cakes, cereals).
Carbs tend to form a huge part of our diets - bread as an accompaniment to meals, pasta and potatoes taking up half a plate with no green veg to be seen. This is the real problem, and why the low(er) carb approach can work - it removes some nutritionally defunct calories from a diet.
Aim to get your carbs from good sources - sweet and normal potatoes, vegetables, some (not an excess of) fruit, pasta and wholegrain bagels. Unless you're heavily into your training, and need the excess energy, try to keep the servings of potatoes and pastas down to fist-size, and not the whole plate!
Don't treat carbs as some kind of pariah. Simply cutting carbs out of your diet alone will not make you lose fat. Ultimately, it's a calorie deficit that will do that. Removing the nutritionally-barren carbs (chocolate, crisps, cereals, white breads) from your diet, and replacing them with good fats and proteins, however, will always lead to positive mental and physical results.
Monday 18 July 2011
5 Most Common Muscle-Building Mistakes
To be honest, it's hard to keep this list down to just five things, but these are the main mistakes people make when trying to gain a decent amount of muscle mass. Failing to address one or more of these will seriously affect your performance - and your results.
1. Avoiding the big lifts.
If your gym programme, over the course of a week, doesn't include squats, deadlifts, some form of chin ups, and some form of bench press, then you need to stop and re-evaluate what you're doing. Ideally, your programme should have:
Squats
Deadlifts
Chin ups
Military presses
Bench press and/or dips
Rows
Once you've got all those factored in, great. You can go on to do whatever other exercises you like, but don't skip the big lifts. You simply won't get the same results doing dumbbell flies, leg extensions and curl/shoulder press supersets.
2. Not eating enough.
As trainers, we get VERY used to skinny folk saying 'but I eat like a horse'. No, you don't. Or you wouldn't be skinny. Eat more than you burn off + weight training = muscle gain. At the very least, if you ate more than you needed and never trained, you'd gain fat. If your weight stays the same, you aren't eating enough. End of story. Most people who claim to eat 'loads' turn out to be eating huge portions, but not eating often enough. A 1000 calorie meal might look impressive, but if over the rest of the day you only eat another 1000 calories, you won't gain muscle.
3. Not resting enough.
You don't grow in the gym. You grow when your body has a chance to repair itself...when it's resting. That doesn't mean train once a week and rest the other six days. You need to strike a balance. Generally, for new lifters, training three times a week, having a day (or maybe two) in between each training day works. As you get more advanced, you can train more often, but only if you plan your training intelligently.
If you train every day, don't get enough sleep and constantly push yourself, you'll burn out. The most obvious indicator of burning out is a lack of progress in either your size or strength increases. If you hit a plateau, look at your rest and see what can be improved. An hour earlier to bed? An additional rest day? A weekend off?
4. Relying on supplements.
Really, this needs it's own blog post. Suffice to say, the clue is in the name - supplements. They are designed to supplement an existing good nutrition and training plan, not replace them. I have yet to train anyone who couldn't simply get better results from addressing their nutrition plan, than from spending money on supplements. 'Fat burning' supplements in particular are a huge con. They simply won't have any effect on fat loss until your diet is 100%, and I mean 100%, perfect. My diet isn't that perfect, and neither is yours - so don't waste your money on something that will make 0.1% of difference.
I'll add a caveat to that - probably, for convenience sake, a basic whey shake, multi-vitamin and Omega 3's are worthwhile investments.
5. Changing your routine every five minutes
There's a current trend (things like P90X) to promote 'muscle confusion' as the way to get big and lean. Well, it's generally rubbish. Your body responds to progressive overload. It likes getting used to doing an exercise well, and being able to get stronger at it. That takes time, and can't be achieved by chopping and changing your plan every time someone comes along with a fancy new idea. Pick a plan, stick with it for AT LEAST six weeks before considering changing. If you're wanting to get bigger, get more muscular, then consistency and progression are key. Not jumping on every latest fad.
1. Avoiding the big lifts.
If your gym programme, over the course of a week, doesn't include squats, deadlifts, some form of chin ups, and some form of bench press, then you need to stop and re-evaluate what you're doing. Ideally, your programme should have:
Squats
Deadlifts
Chin ups
Military presses
Bench press and/or dips
Rows
Once you've got all those factored in, great. You can go on to do whatever other exercises you like, but don't skip the big lifts. You simply won't get the same results doing dumbbell flies, leg extensions and curl/shoulder press supersets.
2. Not eating enough.
As trainers, we get VERY used to skinny folk saying 'but I eat like a horse'. No, you don't. Or you wouldn't be skinny. Eat more than you burn off + weight training = muscle gain. At the very least, if you ate more than you needed and never trained, you'd gain fat. If your weight stays the same, you aren't eating enough. End of story. Most people who claim to eat 'loads' turn out to be eating huge portions, but not eating often enough. A 1000 calorie meal might look impressive, but if over the rest of the day you only eat another 1000 calories, you won't gain muscle.
3. Not resting enough.
You don't grow in the gym. You grow when your body has a chance to repair itself...when it's resting. That doesn't mean train once a week and rest the other six days. You need to strike a balance. Generally, for new lifters, training three times a week, having a day (or maybe two) in between each training day works. As you get more advanced, you can train more often, but only if you plan your training intelligently.
If you train every day, don't get enough sleep and constantly push yourself, you'll burn out. The most obvious indicator of burning out is a lack of progress in either your size or strength increases. If you hit a plateau, look at your rest and see what can be improved. An hour earlier to bed? An additional rest day? A weekend off?
4. Relying on supplements.
Really, this needs it's own blog post. Suffice to say, the clue is in the name - supplements. They are designed to supplement an existing good nutrition and training plan, not replace them. I have yet to train anyone who couldn't simply get better results from addressing their nutrition plan, than from spending money on supplements. 'Fat burning' supplements in particular are a huge con. They simply won't have any effect on fat loss until your diet is 100%, and I mean 100%, perfect. My diet isn't that perfect, and neither is yours - so don't waste your money on something that will make 0.1% of difference.
I'll add a caveat to that - probably, for convenience sake, a basic whey shake, multi-vitamin and Omega 3's are worthwhile investments.
5. Changing your routine every five minutes
There's a current trend (things like P90X) to promote 'muscle confusion' as the way to get big and lean. Well, it's generally rubbish. Your body responds to progressive overload. It likes getting used to doing an exercise well, and being able to get stronger at it. That takes time, and can't be achieved by chopping and changing your plan every time someone comes along with a fancy new idea. Pick a plan, stick with it for AT LEAST six weeks before considering changing. If you're wanting to get bigger, get more muscular, then consistency and progression are key. Not jumping on every latest fad.
Thursday 14 July 2011
Gaining muscle...
There’s a lot of conflicting advice out there about gaining muscle and strength. The truth is, it’s about consistent hard work, attention to your diet, and using your training time intelligently. You wouldn’t expect to be able to service your own car without doing a little research and experimenting first, yet so many people walk into a gym blind…and are quickly disheartened by a lack of results.
Your body doesn’t necessarily want to generate extra muscle. After all, it takes a lot of effort for the body to grow and maintain lean tissue. To encourage it to go in the direction you want to go, you need to do three main things:
Muscles increase in size through repairing themselves after intense activity. Firstly, you need to provide that activity in a structured way, and secondly, you need to ensure you have enough incoming energy to ensure that the re-building happens at an optimal level.
How often you train, which exercises you pick, the number of repetitions and sets – all of these things impact on your size increases, and whilst there is no one-size-fits-all training programme, there are certain elements common to any successful trainee.
At Real World Fitness, we can manage both your training and your diet to ensure that none of your valuable gym time is wasted, and that everything you do is geared towards increasing your lean body mass. Incorporating tried and tested conditioning methods as well, our programmes ensure that your weight gain doesn’t come at a price of sacrificing your overall fitness, or body fat, levels.
We will teach you (or assess and if necessary improve your form) all of the major compound movements – the squat, the deadlift, the bench press, bent over rows, chin-ups and dips, military presses and basic Olympic lifts. As you learn and improve your technique, you will notice dramatic improvements in your strength, size and conditioning.
We can work with you at a number of gyms in the Nottingham area, or further afield subject to a small travel cost. Check out the website and contact us to discuss your training.
Your body doesn’t necessarily want to generate extra muscle. After all, it takes a lot of effort for the body to grow and maintain lean tissue. To encourage it to go in the direction you want to go, you need to do three main things:
- Supply an excess of energy (i.e calories)
- Supply a consistent stimulus to your muscles
- Get adequate rest and recovery
Muscles increase in size through repairing themselves after intense activity. Firstly, you need to provide that activity in a structured way, and secondly, you need to ensure you have enough incoming energy to ensure that the re-building happens at an optimal level.
How often you train, which exercises you pick, the number of repetitions and sets – all of these things impact on your size increases, and whilst there is no one-size-fits-all training programme, there are certain elements common to any successful trainee.
At Real World Fitness, we can manage both your training and your diet to ensure that none of your valuable gym time is wasted, and that everything you do is geared towards increasing your lean body mass. Incorporating tried and tested conditioning methods as well, our programmes ensure that your weight gain doesn’t come at a price of sacrificing your overall fitness, or body fat, levels.
We will teach you (or assess and if necessary improve your form) all of the major compound movements – the squat, the deadlift, the bench press, bent over rows, chin-ups and dips, military presses and basic Olympic lifts. As you learn and improve your technique, you will notice dramatic improvements in your strength, size and conditioning.
We can work with you at a number of gyms in the Nottingham area, or further afield subject to a small travel cost. Check out the website and contact us to discuss your training.
Monday 11 July 2011
Weight Training Basics
When you first decide to start using weights, it's probably tempting to just wander into the gym and have a quick go on every machine, doing loads of reps, and looking a little bit lost as you try to take in the myriad of equipment available to use.
This article is designed to help you cut through all the useless tat in your gym, and get straight onto the stuff that works. At this early stage in your lifting career, get the basics right and you won't waste the months, and years, that most people waste while they try to figure out what experienced people already know - that simple hard work, simply works!
A couple of ground rules:
1) If you're totally new to exercise, it's probably a good idea to visit your doctor and get your blood pressure, cholesterol etc tested. If nothing else, it'll give you some good data to improve upon. Pay particular notice to your blood pressure and heart rate, because these will change for the better with proper training.
2) Try to stick to the things in this article. Don't get swayed by the gym PT trying to tempt you into BodyBlitz or VibroClass. Equally, don't let Big Dave get you following his latest split programme that involves a forearm and neck training day!
The Basic Planes of Movement
Your body has six basic planes of movement. These are:
Quad dominant (anything pushing with your legs)
Hip dominant (anything pulling with your legs and hips)
Horizontal push (e.g the old favourite, bench press)
Horizontal pull (anything pulling an object towards you)
Vertical push (anything pushing above your head)
Vertical pull (e.g pull ups, chin ups)
All of that might sound overly complicated. It isn't - this article is going to show you a specific exercise to do for each of these movements. Your first eight weeks of training will consist of doing just those exercises - remember, we're going to keep things very, very simple. Why? Because simple WORKS!
The Exercises
All of these exercises below assume that you are in an average-to-well equipped gym. I won't make any excuses for saying that a gym that doesn't have a squat rack or a chin up/dipping station can't really call itself a gym. If that's the case with your 'fitness centre', seriously consider moving gyms.
Squat (quad dominant):
This article is designed to help you cut through all the useless tat in your gym, and get straight onto the stuff that works. At this early stage in your lifting career, get the basics right and you won't waste the months, and years, that most people waste while they try to figure out what experienced people already know - that simple hard work, simply works!
A couple of ground rules:
1) If you're totally new to exercise, it's probably a good idea to visit your doctor and get your blood pressure, cholesterol etc tested. If nothing else, it'll give you some good data to improve upon. Pay particular notice to your blood pressure and heart rate, because these will change for the better with proper training.
2) Try to stick to the things in this article. Don't get swayed by the gym PT trying to tempt you into BodyBlitz or VibroClass. Equally, don't let Big Dave get you following his latest split programme that involves a forearm and neck training day!
The Basic Planes of Movement
Your body has six basic planes of movement. These are:
Quad dominant (anything pushing with your legs)
Hip dominant (anything pulling with your legs and hips)
Horizontal push (e.g the old favourite, bench press)
Horizontal pull (anything pulling an object towards you)
Vertical push (anything pushing above your head)
Vertical pull (e.g pull ups, chin ups)
All of that might sound overly complicated. It isn't - this article is going to show you a specific exercise to do for each of these movements. Your first eight weeks of training will consist of doing just those exercises - remember, we're going to keep things very, very simple. Why? Because simple WORKS!
The Exercises
All of these exercises below assume that you are in an average-to-well equipped gym. I won't make any excuses for saying that a gym that doesn't have a squat rack or a chin up/dipping station can't really call itself a gym. If that's the case with your 'fitness centre', seriously consider moving gyms.
Squat (quad dominant):
Straight Leg Deadlift (hip dominant):
Bench Press (horizontal push):
I know most guys reading this will be thinking 'yeah, I've got this one, I don't need to watch a video on it'. Well, yeah, you really do need to. I don't think I've ever seen more than handful of people in gyms benching properly. It's not just a case of throwing the weight up and down. So watch! And yes, I know the guy teaching doesn't look in amazing shape, but this guy has forgotten more about weight training than you or I will ever know. Looks, occasionally, can be deceiving!
Bent over row (horizontal pull):
Military Press (vertical push)
Chin-ups (vertical pull):
A little bit of clarification here. Most people new to training simply can't do chin-up. That's ok - you're not expected to be able to straight away. There are ways of building up to them. One way is to use the lat pulldown machine in the gym. It works broadly the same muscles, but unfortunately, it doesn't recreate any of the stabilising work you need to do in a chin up. I'd much prefer you to jump onto the chin-up station, and try these instead:
Negative chin ups are an awesome way of learning how to do a full chin up. You'll get stronger in the basic movement, and before long you'll have the strength to attempt a full normal chin up. And you'll get that strength far quicker by doing negatives than you will by playing around on the lat pulldown machine.
Of course, if you ARE able to do chin-ups, then go for it!
The Programme
There's just six exercises there. No more, no less. There's no need to do any more than that. In fact, once you get good at each exercise and start to increase the weight you are using, you'll probably find that the workouts become too hard. So next time you look at the programme that the gym have given you to follow, ask yourself what is the point of doing 10-15-20 different exercises?
For the first four weeks, you are just going to do two sets of twelve reps of each exercise. Two sets, of 12 reps in each set, using a weight becomes a real struggle for the last 2 or 3 reps of each set. By 'real struggle', I mean it's hard work to do the exercise properly. You should really need to grit your teeth and grind out the last couple of reps. Don't, however, throw all the good technique from the videos above out of the window. Try to strike a good balance between working hard, and working smart.
Make sure you time your rest between sets. Aim to take no more than 60 seconds rest between sets.
You'll probably need a couple of practice sessions in the gym, learning how to do each exercise. That's fine - take a week to go into the gym and play around. Learn the moves, get comfortable with each exercise without really doing a 'full' workout. That's not a wasted week, believe me. I still do that before starting a new programme. It helps you to understand exactly what you are about to do, and means that you are ready to start working properly on the first training day.
When you start, aim to train three times a week. Monday - Wednesday - Friday works for lots of people. Tuesday - Thursday - Saturday tends to be quieter in the gyms as a result though - so you might find that's a better way to work. Whatever you choose to do, leave at least one day in between training sessions. And yes, in that first week you will ache. It gets better, I promise!
As you get used to the exercises, and they start to feel easier, add weight. Not much, just an extra couple of 1kg plates, or more if you think you can. Try not to use the same weight as the last session. Always aim to improve.
For the next four weeks, jump up to three sets of eight reps. This is going to allow you to use significantly heavier weights, yet still lift for as many reps. It'll boost your strength, and you'll start to see some size improvements/fat loss too. Expect to be able to lift anywhere between 20-30% more weight than you were handling at the end of your first four-week period. Keep your intensity levels as high as before - including timing those rest breaks.
This four week segment will be hard work, done properly. Once you've got this bit done, you'll have eight weeks of solid training under your belt. You'll be significantly stronger, and depending upon how good your nutrition has been, you'll be seeing major changes to your body. At this stage, you'll want to streamline your training a little, and cut down on some of the exercises in order to focus on really working hard. Keep an eye out for a future article that will show you how to break down these exercises further and keep you making progress.
So go on! Get started! Feel free to contact Real World Fitness for any help or advice on starting out. We're quite happy to do one-off sessions for form-checking and programme design, as well as longer term PT arrangements for people who want more targetted help.
Prioritising Health - Rebecca Conlin
I have come from a very stressful job in a secondary school, where my role was looking after a particularly naughty year group and often dealing with less than supportive parents/carers. I was also leading an expedition to Borneo for some students who had to raise over £3500, which I was only given an hour a week to do. I did not receive very much support from colleagues; in fact it verged on bullying.
On top of this I was studying a full time distance learning degree in Psychology which took up most of my spare time. If that’s not enough I was also training most nights and competing for Eastwood Amateur Boxing Club… it doesn’t even end here! My partner was also serving in Afghanistan on the front line. As you can imagine I was very busy, and there is only so long you can go without it catching up with you.
About 10 months ago I had a mini melt-down and had to reconsider my life and put things into perspective. I had to prioritise what was important. Firstly, my health. Without health, you cannot enjoy anything else in life. I’m not just talking about physical health, but all round mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. After a lot of soul-searching I made the decision to quit my job, quit my degree, quit boxing competitively and focus on what really matters and guess what? I’m happier, healthier and fitter than ever.
So my point is: drop the excuses. I don’t care if your job is stressful. I don’t care about your family commitments. I don’t care about any other personal problems that you're using as an excuse NOT to prioritise health and fitness. That might sound harsh but without the latter you have none of the former! I’m not saying quit everything and hope for the best. I'm not saying to ignore your family and friends commitments. I’m saying act now and don’t let the hustle and bustle of everyday life grind you down, eventually putting you in the position that I ended up in.
If you want to put your health and fitness first then please contact Real World Fitness and together we will put a plan together that addresses your personal commitments and advise you on how you CAN do it. Sometimes failure just isn’t an option.
On top of this I was studying a full time distance learning degree in Psychology which took up most of my spare time. If that’s not enough I was also training most nights and competing for Eastwood Amateur Boxing Club… it doesn’t even end here! My partner was also serving in Afghanistan on the front line. As you can imagine I was very busy, and there is only so long you can go without it catching up with you.
About 10 months ago I had a mini melt-down and had to reconsider my life and put things into perspective. I had to prioritise what was important. Firstly, my health. Without health, you cannot enjoy anything else in life. I’m not just talking about physical health, but all round mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing. After a lot of soul-searching I made the decision to quit my job, quit my degree, quit boxing competitively and focus on what really matters and guess what? I’m happier, healthier and fitter than ever.
So my point is: drop the excuses. I don’t care if your job is stressful. I don’t care about your family commitments. I don’t care about any other personal problems that you're using as an excuse NOT to prioritise health and fitness. That might sound harsh but without the latter you have none of the former! I’m not saying quit everything and hope for the best. I'm not saying to ignore your family and friends commitments. I’m saying act now and don’t let the hustle and bustle of everyday life grind you down, eventually putting you in the position that I ended up in.
If you want to put your health and fitness first then please contact Real World Fitness and together we will put a plan together that addresses your personal commitments and advise you on how you CAN do it. Sometimes failure just isn’t an option.
Tuesday 5 July 2011
The Importance of Goal Setting - Rebecca Conlin
Something that I have struggled with the last few months is my diet. I train like an athlete, never missing a session, enjoy feeling like I’ve worked hard and as sad as it sounds I love the feeling you get the day after a hard workout of sore aching muscles. However, I hold myself back with my lack of diet discipline, especially for chocolate flabjack (and yes, I mis-spelt that on purpose!). After tweaking my diet continuously for the last few months to find something I can maintain I came to the conclusion that it wasn’t the diet that was the problem… it was me!
The problem is that I have got into ‘okay’ shape and I’m not unhappy enough with my appearance to alter my diet. Although a better diet would fuel my workouts and allow me to train better and harder, I don’t want it enough to change my diet! At this point to move forward I need a goal that I want enough to make these changes.
Not having a goal is like trying to buy a train ticket and not knowing your destination. You have to know where you’re going before you set off. Having a goal allows you to plan the most efficient and direct route to your goal destination. It allows you to plan out different stages of your journey in achievable chunks; in fact you can have short, medium and long term goals running at the same time. So how do you plan goals? I use the SMART acronym:
Specific
The problem is that I have got into ‘okay’ shape and I’m not unhappy enough with my appearance to alter my diet. Although a better diet would fuel my workouts and allow me to train better and harder, I don’t want it enough to change my diet! At this point to move forward I need a goal that I want enough to make these changes.
Not having a goal is like trying to buy a train ticket and not knowing your destination. You have to know where you’re going before you set off. Having a goal allows you to plan the most efficient and direct route to your goal destination. It allows you to plan out different stages of your journey in achievable chunks; in fact you can have short, medium and long term goals running at the same time. So how do you plan goals? I use the SMART acronym:
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Bound
I have now set a SMART goal: to compete in a figure show a year from now. To help me get there I have also set short and medium term goals mostly to improve my diet and nutrition which will fuel my body for the hard workouts I have planned. Guess what? For the last week my diet has been immaculate because I now have a goal in place that I want enough to change my eating habits.
The power of a decent goal should never be underestimated! If you would like to contact Real World Fitness about your own goals and goal setting please do not hesitate to get in contact. We pride ourselves in not only providing quality training, but also creating a the supportive network that is essential to enable people to reach their diet and fitness goals.
I have now set a SMART goal: to compete in a figure show a year from now. To help me get there I have also set short and medium term goals mostly to improve my diet and nutrition which will fuel my body for the hard workouts I have planned. Guess what? For the last week my diet has been immaculate because I now have a goal in place that I want enough to change my eating habits.
The power of a decent goal should never be underestimated! If you would like to contact Real World Fitness about your own goals and goal setting please do not hesitate to get in contact. We pride ourselves in not only providing quality training, but also creating a the supportive network that is essential to enable people to reach their diet and fitness goals.
Thursday 30 June 2011
Me, Myself and I - Rebecca Conlin, PT @ RWF
When I took my first steps towards health and fitness I expected all kinds of encouragement from family, friends and relationships. After all, most of my family are overweight (as was I) and we were all constantly on and off fad diets.
To begin with I had all sorts of support, but then I started to actually lose weight, tone up and enjoy my new lifestyle and it became obvious that I was changing my lifestyle permanently. The family dynamics were upset as I started to eat completely different meals to them. I trained instead of watching the T.V on DVD and take away nights. As for my 'friends', well, they became judgemental and made hurtful comments claiming that I looked ill, pasty and that I looked better with more weight on me. My then boyfriend became so insecure of my weight loss and new found confidence, that we eventually split. Collegues were the worst and instead of being happy for me, I was confronted with a hostile enviroment and negative snide comments shunning my hard work and disipline. I'm sure that any women reading this that have lost a significant amount of weight can relate similar comments.
Three house moves, one job, a new boyfriend and many friends later I have surrounded myself with people who have the same ethos as myself. Health and fitness being priority to us all. Instead of nights out in town drinking myself into what can only be described as a coma after bingeing on cheesy chips and kebabs, I do something better. I have often caught myself on Friday and Saturday nights emailing my collegue with articles, ideas and plans for PT clients, bootcamp classes and many other ideas we plan to launch in the future. That may sound dull to some, but I love it. I look forward to training both myself and others. My BIG nights out now often include participating or running a bootcamp. To relax I read and write articles about nutrition, exercise and general health. If I want to de-stress, me and my collegue sprint up hills to let off steam... ;-) (It really works)!
In retrospect, the hostility I recieved in my first years of making health and fitness my priority was a combination of resentment and jealousy. Some people don't like to see you do well in life because it highlights insecurities in their own. When people tell me that I look ill, I've lost too much weight and that they preferred me bigger what their really saying is, I wish I had your disipline, I wish I could lose some weight and I wish I was fitter. You're always going to get people in your life that try and turn positives into negatives and I am convinced that it is fear that you're going to suceed and leave them behind.
To conclude: if you are experiencing the same negative experience as I did, read between the lines. What people say and what they mean are two different things. All you need is security within yourself, you have to be happy with how you look and feel. Try not to take hurtful off-hand comments to heart because its just negative people making themselves feel better about their own insecurities. Definitely dont let others ruin your new lifestyle and experiences. Surround yourself with positive people :-)
Three house moves, one job, a new boyfriend and many friends later I have surrounded myself with people who have the same ethos as myself. Health and fitness being priority to us all. Instead of nights out in town drinking myself into what can only be described as a coma after bingeing on cheesy chips and kebabs, I do something better. I have often caught myself on Friday and Saturday nights emailing my collegue with articles, ideas and plans for PT clients, bootcamp classes and many other ideas we plan to launch in the future. That may sound dull to some, but I love it. I look forward to training both myself and others. My BIG nights out now often include participating or running a bootcamp. To relax I read and write articles about nutrition, exercise and general health. If I want to de-stress, me and my collegue sprint up hills to let off steam... ;-) (It really works)!
In retrospect, the hostility I recieved in my first years of making health and fitness my priority was a combination of resentment and jealousy. Some people don't like to see you do well in life because it highlights insecurities in their own. When people tell me that I look ill, I've lost too much weight and that they preferred me bigger what their really saying is, I wish I had your disipline, I wish I could lose some weight and I wish I was fitter. You're always going to get people in your life that try and turn positives into negatives and I am convinced that it is fear that you're going to suceed and leave them behind.
To conclude: if you are experiencing the same negative experience as I did, read between the lines. What people say and what they mean are two different things. All you need is security within yourself, you have to be happy with how you look and feel. Try not to take hurtful off-hand comments to heart because its just negative people making themselves feel better about their own insecurities. Definitely dont let others ruin your new lifestyle and experiences. Surround yourself with positive people :-)
Additional note from Derran:
I can identify with a lot of what Rebecca says. Whilst I've never been overweight, I used to be very skinny and unfit in my late teens/early twenties. When I first started training, I always got comments about 'living in the gym' or 'being obsessed with food'. Trouble is, these comments often came from people who would spend 10+ hours a week watching TV, and often would pass judgement on my food whilst digging into a Gregg's pasty. I doubt I've ever spent more than 5 hours in a week training, so the next time someone tells you you're gym obsessed, ask them to add up how many hours of soaps and reality TV they watch each week. It tends to shut people up!
It's a great point that these negative comments tend to come from people who aren't happy with themselves. I have never had stupid comments from other people that train, that understand what it is to work hard in the gym and to follow a reasonably decent diet, and to do that consistently for years.
The most ridiculous comments - including the steroid ones - tend to come from people who would prefer to dismiss my hard work and put it down to chemical assistance, or my superior genetics, or the fact that I'm a PT and 'it's easy for me'. Let's dismiss those straight away - I haven't and would never touch steroids. It's not a moral objection, it's just that I have no interest in using things I know very little about. My genetics - well, I was about ten stone wet through at University, so I was never a big guy in the making. The fact I'm a PT? OK, I have more knowledge than most, but books don't lift the weights for you. In fact, I probably have LESS time to train than most 9-5 people - I often work 12-14hr days, and weekends don't really exist.
So, to echo Rebecca, try and ignore the daft comments and see them for what they are. Excuse making by people that can't or won't make the effort themselves, and want to transfer that angst onto you. Ignore - work harder - get stronger!
Wednesday 29 June 2011
Bodyweight Training Basics
Not everyone wants - or indeed needs - to get into a gym to achieve their goals. You already possess a home gym - your body. Using the most basic bits of home furniture as an aid, just look at some examples of what you can do:
Lower body - squats, lunges, burpees, calf raises, tuck jumps, mountain climbers
Upper body - press-ups (of which there are tens of different variations), tricep dips, bicep curls, one arm rows
Core - v-sit ups, crunches, leg raises, bicycle crunches, planks...abdominal work has endless possibilities.
Throw in just £50 worth of additional equipment (like a kettlebell and a chin-up bar) and you can add literally hundreds of additional exercises into your home workout repertoire.
How does it all fit together?
When planning your home workout, think about what you want to achieve. If you want to get 'fitter', then we need to do a lot of circuit style work, high reps, and keep you moving quickly between exercises. We need to get you out of breath, and keep you there.
Improving 'Fitness'
Squats x 20 reps
Lunges x 10 reps on each leg
Mountain climbers x 50 reps
Rest 60 seconds, and repeat. Try to complete 3 times. Then:
Press-ups x 20 (from the knee if necessary)
Dips (using a chair) x 10
Crunches x 20
Plank position for as many seconds as possible
Rest 60 seconds, and repeat...again, 3 times.
That should get you out of breath, and if you're new to exercise, be a very challenging workout. If you find it too easy, add another 10 reps onto every exercises, and cut down the rest time. If it is still too easy, add more circuits. Do it 4, 5 or 6 times - the beauty of training at home is that you can keep going as long as you want. Aim to train every other day at first, and don't be afraid of some aches - that's the feeling of your body waking up!
Keep an eye out for the next blog in this series, where we'll take a look at how to incorporate some very cheap additional equipment into your home workouts. It'll not only make your training even more effective, but it'll add some variety to keep you on your toes.
Lower body - squats, lunges, burpees, calf raises, tuck jumps, mountain climbers
Upper body - press-ups (of which there are tens of different variations), tricep dips, bicep curls, one arm rows
Core - v-sit ups, crunches, leg raises, bicycle crunches, planks...abdominal work has endless possibilities.
Throw in just £50 worth of additional equipment (like a kettlebell and a chin-up bar) and you can add literally hundreds of additional exercises into your home workout repertoire.
How does it all fit together?
When planning your home workout, think about what you want to achieve. If you want to get 'fitter', then we need to do a lot of circuit style work, high reps, and keep you moving quickly between exercises. We need to get you out of breath, and keep you there.
Improving 'Fitness'
Squats x 20 reps
Lunges x 10 reps on each leg
Mountain climbers x 50 reps
Rest 60 seconds, and repeat. Try to complete 3 times. Then:
Press-ups x 20 (from the knee if necessary)
Dips (using a chair) x 10
Crunches x 20
Plank position for as many seconds as possible
Rest 60 seconds, and repeat...again, 3 times.
That should get you out of breath, and if you're new to exercise, be a very challenging workout. If you find it too easy, add another 10 reps onto every exercises, and cut down the rest time. If it is still too easy, add more circuits. Do it 4, 5 or 6 times - the beauty of training at home is that you can keep going as long as you want. Aim to train every other day at first, and don't be afraid of some aches - that's the feeling of your body waking up!
Keep an eye out for the next blog in this series, where we'll take a look at how to incorporate some very cheap additional equipment into your home workouts. It'll not only make your training even more effective, but it'll add some variety to keep you on your toes.
Saturday 25 June 2011
RWF group exercise classes - 'Boot Camps'
It was brought to my attention recently that the term 'Boot Camp' has put off a few people from having a go at attending these sessions that we run. So, I thought I'd put a blog together to explain what the sessions are like, and to try and dispel a few misconceptions.
First of all, let me tell what ISN'T going to happen:
1. No-one will make you feel weak, or inadequate, if you can't do everything.
Every person at these classes (the trainers included!) has been where you are now - perhaps nervous, unsure about exercise, out of shape, out of practice etc. Everyone starts somewhere. RWF have a zero tolerance policy towards any kind of belittling behaviour. The atmosphere we encourage is a supportive one (with an element of informal competition between those people that like competing)
2. No-one is going to stand and shout at you, Sergeant Major-style.
Shouting at someone and pushing them simply makes people feel that they aren't good enough, and embarrasses everyone involved. If you want/need to be shouted at, then these sessions aren't for you. There are plenty of bootcamps run by over-zealous Army wannabees who will charge you to be shouted at for an hour. We won't. You'll be pushed, and encouraged, but it's constructive - not to satisfy your trainer's ego.
3. You won't be made to continue if you can't keep up.
You'll work at your pace. Sure, we'll encourage you to keep up. We'll let you know if we think you could do better, but we'll never push you beyond your capabilities. Saying that, you'll probably find you are capable of a lot more than you think you are.
4. You won't be doing Army-style training
We aren't going to make you run for 30 minutes. We won't make you crawl in the mud under cargo nets, or make you wear Army camouflage for an 'authentic' experience. You won't have to climb up and over 10ft high obstacles.
So, what will you learn to do?
You'll get good at being able to manipulate your own bodyweight to use as a training tool. You'll learn, and get good at, basic bodyweight moves. These are fundamental things that many adults lose - the ability to squat, to press up their own bodyweight, to jump, to sprint, to lunge. We make no apologies for not having a Bosu-ball to balance on for an hour, or for not having a Vibroplate to hone you into shape. We concentrate on the tough things that actually make a difference.
You'll learn how to add resistance. Using gymnastic rings, kettlebells, TRX, medicine balls, power bags - basically, anything that makes a standard exercise more difficult. But, you'll do it when you're ready, and when you're capable. All we ask is that you try. There's no shame in not being able to do something, but there is in not even attempting it.
Ultimately, you'll learn that even if you currently think you're fit, or even if you know you aren't, that your current capabilities are nowhere near your potential. Frankly, you'll be amazed at what you can do within a couple of months.
So, don't be afraid to come along and have a go. It's a good, supportive atmosphere. You will work hard, but it'll be within your own limits, not the limits of the person next to you. All we ask is that you push yourself to improve, week on week.
For more details on timings and prices, go to the website here
First of all, let me tell what ISN'T going to happen:
1. No-one will make you feel weak, or inadequate, if you can't do everything.
Every person at these classes (the trainers included!) has been where you are now - perhaps nervous, unsure about exercise, out of shape, out of practice etc. Everyone starts somewhere. RWF have a zero tolerance policy towards any kind of belittling behaviour. The atmosphere we encourage is a supportive one (with an element of informal competition between those people that like competing)
2. No-one is going to stand and shout at you, Sergeant Major-style.
Shouting at someone and pushing them simply makes people feel that they aren't good enough, and embarrasses everyone involved. If you want/need to be shouted at, then these sessions aren't for you. There are plenty of bootcamps run by over-zealous Army wannabees who will charge you to be shouted at for an hour. We won't. You'll be pushed, and encouraged, but it's constructive - not to satisfy your trainer's ego.
3. You won't be made to continue if you can't keep up.
You'll work at your pace. Sure, we'll encourage you to keep up. We'll let you know if we think you could do better, but we'll never push you beyond your capabilities. Saying that, you'll probably find you are capable of a lot more than you think you are.
4. You won't be doing Army-style training
We aren't going to make you run for 30 minutes. We won't make you crawl in the mud under cargo nets, or make you wear Army camouflage for an 'authentic' experience. You won't have to climb up and over 10ft high obstacles.
So, what will you learn to do?
You'll get good at being able to manipulate your own bodyweight to use as a training tool. You'll learn, and get good at, basic bodyweight moves. These are fundamental things that many adults lose - the ability to squat, to press up their own bodyweight, to jump, to sprint, to lunge. We make no apologies for not having a Bosu-ball to balance on for an hour, or for not having a Vibroplate to hone you into shape. We concentrate on the tough things that actually make a difference.
You'll learn how to add resistance. Using gymnastic rings, kettlebells, TRX, medicine balls, power bags - basically, anything that makes a standard exercise more difficult. But, you'll do it when you're ready, and when you're capable. All we ask is that you try. There's no shame in not being able to do something, but there is in not even attempting it.
Ultimately, you'll learn that even if you currently think you're fit, or even if you know you aren't, that your current capabilities are nowhere near your potential. Frankly, you'll be amazed at what you can do within a couple of months.
So, don't be afraid to come along and have a go. It's a good, supportive atmosphere. You will work hard, but it'll be within your own limits, not the limits of the person next to you. All we ask is that you push yourself to improve, week on week.
For more details on timings and prices, go to the website here
Tuesday 21 June 2011
Weight loss fundamentals...
Losing weight is the easiest thing in the world. There, I’ve said it. Now, before you dismiss me as someone who doesn’t have a clue about how hard it is to lose weight, hear me out…
Everyone knows, deep down, what foods they should and shouldn’t be eating. Everyone knows that eating five or six portions of vegetables and fruit each day, and eating things like chicken and fish regularly, is important. But how many people actually do it?
Everyone also knows, deep down, that chocolate, crisps, sugary cereals, fizzy drinks etc are bad for you…but again, how many people successfully cut them out when trying to lose weight?
Even if you are one of the few people that gets the above stuff right, are you sure you aren’t sabotaging your efforts by eating things you think are good for you, but aren’t? Are you avoiding foods you really should be eating, because you are still listening to out-dated science and old wive’s tales? Chances are that if you are having ‘healthy’ cereals for breakfast, and ‘healthy’ low-fat yoghurts, and ‘healthy’ ready meals, whilst avoiding eating eggs (they’re high in fat, surely?), never cooking in olive oil and ignoring anything that looks remotely like a carb, you are doing yourself no favours.
Ultimately, losing weight – and let’s be honest, it’s FAT we want to lose, not necessarily ‘weight’ – is about creating a deficit. You want to burn off more calories than you consume. If you don’t know how many calories your body needs each day, how can you know how many calories you should be eating each day? There’s your starting point. Once you know how many calories you need, you can adjust your intake to make sure you are eating about 500 calories a day under that level. There’s nothing mysterious about it – if you eat at least 3,500 calories a week less than your body needs, you WILL lose weight.
Whilst it may seem a bit confusing sometimes, you need to bear in mind that the diet industry is absolutely massive. It’s said to be worth more than one billion pounds a year in the UK alone. Diet plans, slimming clubs etc, don’t really want you to lose weight and keep it off. If you lose weight, you stop attending, you stop buying branded shakes and books, and the money stops rolling in. Don’t think for a moment that the diet industry is there to help you. It is in their interests to make diet and nutrition as complicated as possible. It doesn’t have to be that way.
That leaves exercise. Diet will take you so far – in fact, it’s probably more important to address your diet than it is to get yourself exercising. Saying that, diet alone won’t improve your fitness, stamina or body composition. To look healthy and sleek, some form of training is needed. Ideally, this is two or three times a week doing something structured that allows you to easily measure your progress. Whether you do this alone or with a PT is up to you, but you will be far happier with your new body if you exercise as well as ‘diet’.
Everyone knows, deep down, what foods they should and shouldn’t be eating. Everyone knows that eating five or six portions of vegetables and fruit each day, and eating things like chicken and fish regularly, is important. But how many people actually do it?
Everyone also knows, deep down, that chocolate, crisps, sugary cereals, fizzy drinks etc are bad for you…but again, how many people successfully cut them out when trying to lose weight?
Even if you are one of the few people that gets the above stuff right, are you sure you aren’t sabotaging your efforts by eating things you think are good for you, but aren’t? Are you avoiding foods you really should be eating, because you are still listening to out-dated science and old wive’s tales? Chances are that if you are having ‘healthy’ cereals for breakfast, and ‘healthy’ low-fat yoghurts, and ‘healthy’ ready meals, whilst avoiding eating eggs (they’re high in fat, surely?), never cooking in olive oil and ignoring anything that looks remotely like a carb, you are doing yourself no favours.
Ultimately, losing weight – and let’s be honest, it’s FAT we want to lose, not necessarily ‘weight’ – is about creating a deficit. You want to burn off more calories than you consume. If you don’t know how many calories your body needs each day, how can you know how many calories you should be eating each day? There’s your starting point. Once you know how many calories you need, you can adjust your intake to make sure you are eating about 500 calories a day under that level. There’s nothing mysterious about it – if you eat at least 3,500 calories a week less than your body needs, you WILL lose weight.
Whilst it may seem a bit confusing sometimes, you need to bear in mind that the diet industry is absolutely massive. It’s said to be worth more than one billion pounds a year in the UK alone. Diet plans, slimming clubs etc, don’t really want you to lose weight and keep it off. If you lose weight, you stop attending, you stop buying branded shakes and books, and the money stops rolling in. Don’t think for a moment that the diet industry is there to help you. It is in their interests to make diet and nutrition as complicated as possible. It doesn’t have to be that way.
That leaves exercise. Diet will take you so far – in fact, it’s probably more important to address your diet than it is to get yourself exercising. Saying that, diet alone won’t improve your fitness, stamina or body composition. To look healthy and sleek, some form of training is needed. Ideally, this is two or three times a week doing something structured that allows you to easily measure your progress. Whether you do this alone or with a PT is up to you, but you will be far happier with your new body if you exercise as well as ‘diet’.
At Real World Fitness, I work with a significant number of overweight clients. I know what the barriers are, and I know how hard it is to start changing the way you look. I don’t expect clients to overhaul their entire lifestyle in a week, and become superfit overnight. Each client has their own life to lead, and every approach will be slightly different, but you can be certain that whatever your target, you’ll get a level of help and support that is way above and beyond what you’d expect from a PT.
On average, clients who address their diet as instructed, and who train with me at least twice a week, tend to lose between 8-10lbs in the first 4-5 weeks (based on averaging out the weight loss of 20 different individuals). I have longer term clients who have lost as much as 5st in nine months. You can do it too – it just takes hard work and a bit of guidance. The actual science of losing weight is easy!
Sports Performance and Injury Prevention
It seems obvious, but your sporting performance is linked directly to your general conditioning, your diet and your ability to perform functions that are key to your sport.So why do so many amateur AND professional sports people fail to address any or all of these in their training? A lot of team sports - football and rugby in particular - are very high risk in terms of causing injuries. Now, if you can do something to minimise that risk and extend your playing career, or remove niggles that prevent you performing at your best, that's going to make you enjoy your sport that much more.
I've trained a lot of rugby and football players who felt they needed to improve their conditioning and strength to ensure they could last a match, or to push through into a first team. Kettlebell work in particular translates well into rugby - there's a lot of single arm and single leg work, which matches up well with a lot of the in-game movements your body will make.
I've trained cricketers who need to improve their bowling speed, and their batting average. Most people don't realise how much the back and core is involved in sport, and once this strength and flexibility is improved, it's no surprise that the performance at the sport also improves.
Whatever your sport, supplementary training is essential to get the most out of it. Even if your sport if just a hobby, additional training will help you get more out it - after all, professional sportspeople don't simply practice their sport, they also train around it to improve.
Injury Prevention and Rehab
Most sporting injuries are simply accidents - things that can't be avoided. However, it IS possible to insure yourself against minor, and sometimes major, injuries by strengthening areas that are more likely to be damaged.
For example, strengthening hamstrings and calf muscles helps to stabilise the knee joint, and means the knee is less likely to suffer ACL strains, or even tears. Even if you do injure the knee, having strong supporting musculature means the rehab and recovery period will be very much shorter.
The vast majority of injuries in team ball sports, are to the knees and ankles. Yet many people simply do not do any leg training at all, and assume that simply playing the sport is enough - it really isn't. Directly working on areas that are exposed to the most risk, minimises that risk of injury. It sounds simple, but is so often ignored.
Similarly, I get many, many clients who come to me with 'bad backs'. People generally assume that they have some kind of defect, that their back is a problem area and needs to be protected. Most of the time, it's quite the reverse - their back and abdominal area is simply weak, and the spine is being forced to do all the work that the muscles should be doing. It's no coincidence that the VAST majority of back problems simply disappear after a few weeks of training the lower back, and the core. If you've suffered with back pain for years, but never done any training, try it - you could be pain free in weeks.
I have direct experience of rehabbing knees, shoulders, backs and ankles - so whatever your injury, the chances are I can help you get over it in a safe and progressive manner.
If you would like more information on training to improve your sport performance, or working to prevent or rehab injuries, feel free to contact us.
The typical personal training client...
...doesn't exist :)
As myths and misconceptions go, the idea that all personal training clients are bored housewives with nothing better to do with their time and money is up there with Special K being good for you, and endless treadmill running being the best way to lose fat. In short, it's a load of rubbish.
I hear it a lot though, from friends, family and random people I meet. I even hear it from clients who DON'T fit that mould, and think that they are the exception. The truth is, my client base is massively varied. I had no idea when I started out how varied it would be. The problem I have is: if I've heard this misconception being carelessly thrown around so often, how many other people hear it too? Does it put people off personal training?
I have had clients from the age of 17 right up to 72. The youngest client I currently have is 20, the oldest 64, and every age in between. If I had to state a typical age range, I'd say something like 25 - 45.
My client's careers range from unemployed, to student, to housewife/husband, secretaries, managers, directors, self-employed people in a whole range of industries and semi-pro sports-people. I've trained gym instructors, and owners of huge companies. I've trained people that work part time, and people that work 70+ hours a week.
So, to be honest, I don't look for any particular 'type' of client. I have a few pre-requisites though:
1. Be prepared to work hard (within YOUR capabilities)
2. Show up on time and with the attitude to get cracking. Hangovers get zero sympathy.
3. Do at least 75% of what I tell you to do in between sessions
4. Be upfront and honest about your nutrition and you activity levels
Don't be put off getting a PT because you think it's something rich people do, or something for people other than you. Personal training isn't about status or stereotypes, it's about making you the best version of yourself that you can be, and getting you to your goals quicker than you trying to figure it all out on your own. But, please, do be prepared to work hard!
As myths and misconceptions go, the idea that all personal training clients are bored housewives with nothing better to do with their time and money is up there with Special K being good for you, and endless treadmill running being the best way to lose fat. In short, it's a load of rubbish.
I hear it a lot though, from friends, family and random people I meet. I even hear it from clients who DON'T fit that mould, and think that they are the exception. The truth is, my client base is massively varied. I had no idea when I started out how varied it would be. The problem I have is: if I've heard this misconception being carelessly thrown around so often, how many other people hear it too? Does it put people off personal training?
I have had clients from the age of 17 right up to 72. The youngest client I currently have is 20, the oldest 64, and every age in between. If I had to state a typical age range, I'd say something like 25 - 45.
My client's careers range from unemployed, to student, to housewife/husband, secretaries, managers, directors, self-employed people in a whole range of industries and semi-pro sports-people. I've trained gym instructors, and owners of huge companies. I've trained people that work part time, and people that work 70+ hours a week.
So, to be honest, I don't look for any particular 'type' of client. I have a few pre-requisites though:
1. Be prepared to work hard (within YOUR capabilities)
2. Show up on time and with the attitude to get cracking. Hangovers get zero sympathy.
3. Do at least 75% of what I tell you to do in between sessions
4. Be upfront and honest about your nutrition and you activity levels
Don't be put off getting a PT because you think it's something rich people do, or something for people other than you. Personal training isn't about status or stereotypes, it's about making you the best version of yourself that you can be, and getting you to your goals quicker than you trying to figure it all out on your own. But, please, do be prepared to work hard!
The Gym Divide - Rebecca Conlin, PT @ RWF
I have used many gyms throughout my life, training with men and women. I have trained for sport, for fat loss, for strength and for fun. It has been apparent to me that in every gym I have used there has always been a male/female divide. Typically males and females have different goals, as in my experience women strive to be as slim as possible and men as big and ripped as possible. Chasing the ideal, cartoon like physique!
So as I wander through the cardio area of my gym, crossing the divide into the weight room, I always get a few glares from both males and females alike. Then I start my chin-ups, dips, rows, bench press etc. I use heavy weights and I work to failure. Often I get approving nods, especially from the man with bigger biceps than my thigh! Sometimes though, I don’t get the right support from my male counterparts, who feel that they are qualified to advise me on what (as a female) I should be doing, simply because they are male.
The type I’m talking about can be divided into 2 groups; the skinny little boys who come into the gym complaining that our dumbbells ONLY go up to 30kg… if you were using 30kg right (full range of motion helps!) you would, at a minimum, have bigger arms than Bambi’s legs! The second group are the old school weight lifters who feel the need to carry my empty barbell to my next station when they have just seen me deadlift 1.5 times my body weight! Full of good intentioned advice, very helpful but unable to change their own out-dated training methods into newer more efficient methods.
Now let’s discuss the 'female' area of the gym, the cardio room. I hear the whispers and I see the stares as you train for hours upon hours on the treadmill… *yawn*. I know you think that I’m going to ruin my body and become the female incredible hulk! NEWS FLASH! It’s impossible! Firstly, as women, we do not naturally produce enough of the hormone responsible for muscle growth, testosterone. Secondly, skinny is no longer beautiful! Strong and sleek is the new skinny, and to achieve that athletic, long lean defined look you have to lift weights.
So what can we learn from each other?
I use to train with a pretty serious weight lifter. We will call him Bob. Bob use to lift weights daily, had put on a serious amount of lean muscle in a relatively small amount of time and even considered competing as a figure athlete. On Sunday nights I played football with Bob for a male football team and as much as Bob ‘looked’ in incredible shape, I ran rings round him. Through his bulk he lacked cardiovascular fitness, speed and agility. Bob lacked overall fitness and after considering going into the armed forces had to consciously spend time like any beginner building his cardiovascular fitness up. Bob did, however, teach me the importance of excellent weight lifting technique, the importance of core strength and the key to permanently increasing my metabolism enabling me to efficiently lose body fat. Lifting weights is the key to sculpting your body and achieving your ideal physique.
For advice on how to achieve overall fitness whilst also sculpting your body into its ideal shape, don't hesitate to contact the personal trainers at Real World Fitness.
Sunday 19 June 2011
5 Reasons to be wary of online advice...
We all do it these days - we have a problem, we often turn to the internet. Most of the time, someone else has had the same problem. Not only that, but they've written about it, and written about the solution to it. Most of the time, that's great. Loads of problems have basic solutions that are maybe just a step beyond common sense.
But what happens on the more complicated stuff? How about that rumbling you hear under the car bonnet? A quick Google brings up hundreds of solutions, with each person being certain that their answer is the answer.
Fitness, training and nutrition advice online is no different. There are a wealth of amazing sources of information out there, from people who really know what they're talking about. They've been there, done it, often countless times. But, unfortunately, you also have a lot of armchair experts. They've read every book, seen every study, argued every point - but never actually set food in a gym. Never trained anyone. Never been responsible for making someone stick to a nutrition plan. Often, they've barely ever trained themselves.
Here's a few warning signs to look out for if you're buying advice on the internet:
1. Websites, or forum posts, full of typos and spelling mistakes. Seriously, it's not that hard to spellcheck. If someone is that casual with the presentation of information they want you to follow, it's likely they don't know enough or care enough to get the information right either.
2. Advice offered with no bio/photos of the person offering it. This is an industry dominated by vanity and aesthetics. If the person offering advice isn't willing to show themselves, or at least detail their achievements, it's likely they don't practice what they preach (and yes, RWF bios and photos are on the main website).
3. People who are far too insistent that their way is the ONLY way. It's rubbish - almost every fitness, strength, fat loss or sports goal has more than one method that can be used to get success. If someone is adamant that their way is the only way, they're probably either (a) ignorant of the variety of training and nutrition methods available or (b) trying to sell you something. Or maybe both :)
4. I touched on it earlier. The internet has allowed everyone to become an unaccountable expert. I can recall a number of situations where the self-appointed 'guru' on a forum has turned out to be a 17yr old with no training experience, or an overweight guy who has rarely trained in their life. If the information seems to be written too rigidly, or in text-book speak, it's probably because it's copied and pasted from somewhere else.
5. People who claim that a certain method 'worked for them, so it'll work for you'. Not necessarily true. Granted, we aren't all as unique as we'd like to think we are, but to imagine that the routine that Big Dave in the gym uses is somehow the exact same routine that you, with no experience of training, should do is absurd. Realise that what YOU need to do, may not be what experienced people currently do. People giving advice often forget where they started, and are too quick to get new trainees to move away from the basics. If you're being encouraged to do something complicated, back away. Training, especially at first, is not complicated.
There are probably a million and one other things to look out for. These five are the ones that routinely come up over and over again, and do a lot of damage to new trainers.
Advice is great, but it's up to you to weed out the helpful bits and discard the rest. Remember the 'Wear Sunscreen' song from a few years back?
"Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth"
But what happens on the more complicated stuff? How about that rumbling you hear under the car bonnet? A quick Google brings up hundreds of solutions, with each person being certain that their answer is the answer.
Fitness, training and nutrition advice online is no different. There are a wealth of amazing sources of information out there, from people who really know what they're talking about. They've been there, done it, often countless times. But, unfortunately, you also have a lot of armchair experts. They've read every book, seen every study, argued every point - but never actually set food in a gym. Never trained anyone. Never been responsible for making someone stick to a nutrition plan. Often, they've barely ever trained themselves.
Here's a few warning signs to look out for if you're buying advice on the internet:
1. Websites, or forum posts, full of typos and spelling mistakes. Seriously, it's not that hard to spellcheck. If someone is that casual with the presentation of information they want you to follow, it's likely they don't know enough or care enough to get the information right either.
2. Advice offered with no bio/photos of the person offering it. This is an industry dominated by vanity and aesthetics. If the person offering advice isn't willing to show themselves, or at least detail their achievements, it's likely they don't practice what they preach (and yes, RWF bios and photos are on the main website).
3. People who are far too insistent that their way is the ONLY way. It's rubbish - almost every fitness, strength, fat loss or sports goal has more than one method that can be used to get success. If someone is adamant that their way is the only way, they're probably either (a) ignorant of the variety of training and nutrition methods available or (b) trying to sell you something. Or maybe both :)
4. I touched on it earlier. The internet has allowed everyone to become an unaccountable expert. I can recall a number of situations where the self-appointed 'guru' on a forum has turned out to be a 17yr old with no training experience, or an overweight guy who has rarely trained in their life. If the information seems to be written too rigidly, or in text-book speak, it's probably because it's copied and pasted from somewhere else.
5. People who claim that a certain method 'worked for them, so it'll work for you'. Not necessarily true. Granted, we aren't all as unique as we'd like to think we are, but to imagine that the routine that Big Dave in the gym uses is somehow the exact same routine that you, with no experience of training, should do is absurd. Realise that what YOU need to do, may not be what experienced people currently do. People giving advice often forget where they started, and are too quick to get new trainees to move away from the basics. If you're being encouraged to do something complicated, back away. Training, especially at first, is not complicated.
There are probably a million and one other things to look out for. These five are the ones that routinely come up over and over again, and do a lot of damage to new trainers.
Advice is great, but it's up to you to weed out the helpful bits and discard the rest. Remember the 'Wear Sunscreen' song from a few years back?
"Be careful whose advice you buy, but be patient with those who supply it. Advice is a form of nostalgia. Dispensing it is a way of fishing the past from the disposal, wiping it off, painting over the ugly parts and recycling it for more than it's worth"
Saturday 18 June 2011
Fitness for Fat Loss - Rebecca Conlin, PT @ RWF
A subject I am very passionate about! You don’t have to spend long arduous hours on the bike or treadmill! It has been proven in recent research that a combination of high intensity interval training (HITT) and a specific weight training programme yields the greatest results for losing body fat and weight. By working at a higher intensity for shorter periods you will not only burn more calories you'll also benefit from the ‘afterburn effect’, a boost to your metabolism meaning you burn calories at a faster rate for the rest of the day, even after you've finished your work out.
Why stop there? An effective weight training programme aiming to gain lean muscle will permanently increase your resting metabolism. More muscle means you burn more calories whilst doing…NOTHING!
For all the ladies worried about bulking up, STOP! It is almost physically impossible for you to bulk up because women don’t produce enough of the hormone responsible for muscle growth, testosterone. Putting muscle on for ladies will only achieve that long, lean and athletic look most women strive for.
Finally, diet and nutrition are of vital importance and half the battle. Fad diets aside, now is the time to change to a permanent, new healthier lifestyle that is sustainable over long periods. Real World Fitness personal trainers are experts in diet and nutrition and would be happy to advise you on the perfect nutrition specific to your body’s needs.
Failure is only a fact when you give up. Everyone gets knocked down, the question is: Will you get back up?
What's hiding in your kitchen? - by Derran Langston, Owner and PT @ RWF
I think I've probably lost track of the amount of times a client has told me they eat a certain food, and I've told them it's full of sugar/trans-fats/additives and they've replied with 'really? I didn't know!'.
It's a bit of a sad indictment of society that we simply believe what the packaging WANTS us to believe, and what the adverts WANT us to believe, rather than taking five seconds to double check the claims.
Low fat? Less than 5% fat? Lower fat than the standard brand? All are simple tricks to make you think a food is good for you. 99 times out of 100, low-fat foods are awful. They've taken out the fat (and fat doesn't make you fat, but we'll get on to that some other time) and replaced it with sugar. Why? Because fat tastes good. Remove it, and you've got to replace it with something else. Most of the time, sugar. Check the nutrition labels on low fat foods. You're looking for the 'carbohydrates, of which sugars' bit. Bear in mind a teaspoon of sugar weighs about 5g, and that low-fat yoghurt or bowl of Special K suddenly looks a bit ropey doesn't it? In a 50g serving of Special K, you've got nearly two heaped teaspoons of sugar. Branflakes (the healthy option, right?) are even worse.
The answer is simple. Don't believe what you are told. Read the labels for yourself. Anything ending in '-ose' is a sugar. Smart manufacturers will bank on people not knowing that, and instead of sugar will write 'dextrose', or 'glucose', or 'fructose'. It's all still sugar.
Have a rummage through your cupboards now. That innocent looking Dolmio pasta sauce, the Muller Lites, the SunPat peanut butter. How about your WeightWatchers low fat cereal bars? None of them will have sugar in, surely?
You'll be surprised what is hiding in your kitchen, cleverly disguised as something 'healthy'. Take a stand, take responsibility, and change your buying habits. People are often amazed at the huge changes they can make just by being more aware of what they are eating.
It's a bit of a sad indictment of society that we simply believe what the packaging WANTS us to believe, and what the adverts WANT us to believe, rather than taking five seconds to double check the claims.
Low fat? Less than 5% fat? Lower fat than the standard brand? All are simple tricks to make you think a food is good for you. 99 times out of 100, low-fat foods are awful. They've taken out the fat (and fat doesn't make you fat, but we'll get on to that some other time) and replaced it with sugar. Why? Because fat tastes good. Remove it, and you've got to replace it with something else. Most of the time, sugar. Check the nutrition labels on low fat foods. You're looking for the 'carbohydrates, of which sugars' bit. Bear in mind a teaspoon of sugar weighs about 5g, and that low-fat yoghurt or bowl of Special K suddenly looks a bit ropey doesn't it? In a 50g serving of Special K, you've got nearly two heaped teaspoons of sugar. Branflakes (the healthy option, right?) are even worse.
The answer is simple. Don't believe what you are told. Read the labels for yourself. Anything ending in '-ose' is a sugar. Smart manufacturers will bank on people not knowing that, and instead of sugar will write 'dextrose', or 'glucose', or 'fructose'. It's all still sugar.
Have a rummage through your cupboards now. That innocent looking Dolmio pasta sauce, the Muller Lites, the SunPat peanut butter. How about your WeightWatchers low fat cereal bars? None of them will have sugar in, surely?
You'll be surprised what is hiding in your kitchen, cleverly disguised as something 'healthy'. Take a stand, take responsibility, and change your buying habits. People are often amazed at the huge changes they can make just by being more aware of what they are eating.
Friday 17 June 2011
Do you self-sabotage? by Derran Langston, PT and Owner @ RWF
Ok - this post isn't going to win any awards for revolutionary thinking. You're not suddenly going to have a light-bulb moment when you realise this is the one thing nobody ever told you. The problem is, as with many things in life, that you already know it. You just don't actually do anything about it.
There's a business model based around learning which details four stages of 'competence'. One of the four stages is 'unconscious competence'. Basically speaking, you're so damn good at something, you don't even have to think about it. You just do it, and do it well. The flip side to that is 'conscious competence'. You're still damn good at it, but you have to try. It doesn't come naturally.
Either one of those stages is a great place to be. Naturally talented or gifted athletes have the former; the rest of us that achieve anything halfway decent have the latter.
So where do the vast majority of people slot in to this model? I warn you, it's not pleasant reading and I suspect many people reading this will wince as they recognise themselves...
We've got to the unconscious incompetence level. This sums up a lot of people - you're well-intentioned, maybe you've gone out and bought all the new gym kit, joined a spanking new health club and signed up to a 10k for a couple of months time. But you're just not getting anywhere, because you don't have the first clue how to train properly. You're doing stuff, but not the right stuff. You're being incompetent, but you don't realise it. That's ok though - you are one of the curable people. There's hope for you - you just need guidance from a decent PT (such as us at www.realworldfitness.co.uk perhaps?).
The people that are really going to struggle are the last bunch. Please tell me you've already recognised yourself in one of the last three categories. Because if not, this is going to sting a little...you're consciously incompetent. Yep - you're doing all the wrong stuff., and you KNOW you're doing it. But guess what? You don't care enough to do anything about it. Ever heard the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. If this is you, if you've been plodding away at the same things to reach your goals...and never quite getting there...then I suspect you already know what you're doing wrong. You're deliberately being incompetent.
If anything in that last paragraph strikes a chord with you, change today, not tomorrow. Be any of the other three types of people, because all of them will eventually get results, and get to where they want to be. Stay consciously incompetent, however, and you'll always be chasing a goal that gets further away from you...
There's a business model based around learning which details four stages of 'competence'. One of the four stages is 'unconscious competence'. Basically speaking, you're so damn good at something, you don't even have to think about it. You just do it, and do it well. The flip side to that is 'conscious competence'. You're still damn good at it, but you have to try. It doesn't come naturally.
Either one of those stages is a great place to be. Naturally talented or gifted athletes have the former; the rest of us that achieve anything halfway decent have the latter.
So where do the vast majority of people slot in to this model? I warn you, it's not pleasant reading and I suspect many people reading this will wince as they recognise themselves...
We've got to the unconscious incompetence level. This sums up a lot of people - you're well-intentioned, maybe you've gone out and bought all the new gym kit, joined a spanking new health club and signed up to a 10k for a couple of months time. But you're just not getting anywhere, because you don't have the first clue how to train properly. You're doing stuff, but not the right stuff. You're being incompetent, but you don't realise it. That's ok though - you are one of the curable people. There's hope for you - you just need guidance from a decent PT (such as us at www.realworldfitness.co.uk perhaps?).
The people that are really going to struggle are the last bunch. Please tell me you've already recognised yourself in one of the last three categories. Because if not, this is going to sting a little...you're consciously incompetent. Yep - you're doing all the wrong stuff., and you KNOW you're doing it. But guess what? You don't care enough to do anything about it. Ever heard the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results. If this is you, if you've been plodding away at the same things to reach your goals...and never quite getting there...then I suspect you already know what you're doing wrong. You're deliberately being incompetent.
If anything in that last paragraph strikes a chord with you, change today, not tomorrow. Be any of the other three types of people, because all of them will eventually get results, and get to where they want to be. Stay consciously incompetent, however, and you'll always be chasing a goal that gets further away from you...
The Yo-Yo Dieter - by Rebecca Conlin, PT @ RWF
Looking at what I have achieved now it’s hard to believe that only a few years ago I was overweight, unfit and extremely shy. In fact growing up in a family who put health and fitness last I was uneducated on what being healthy meant.
It was a visit to the doctors aged 13 which led to me being in the career I love today. Walking into the surgery with a knee injury, the doctor examined me and then to my horror weighed me…13 stone! I weighed the same in stone as the years I had been alive. The diagnosis was childhood obesity; my growing bones were being put under too much stress making my knee joints painful.
Firstly, I want to put an end to the excuses. You are not overweight because you have the fat gene. You are not overweight because you have big bones. You are overweight because you eat too much and/or you don’t move enough. I know this because if anyone should be using these excuses, it is me. All my family are overweight, I myself was overweight, I was ‘big boned’ and it was ‘genetic’… it made me feel a little better, but I was lying to myself.
Immediately disgusted that I weighed so much I cut out all junk, did not eat after 6pm and if my weight loss wasn’t going as planned I wouldn’t eat at all. This is where my yoyo dieting and disordered eating began. I lost and I gained, I went up and I went down, I had good days and I had bad days. The amount of diets I have tried and ultimately failed, I would need more fingers and toes to count on. The heaviest I have weighed is 15 stone.
So why do people yoyo? How many times have you heard, or said, 'I did lose weight but I put it all on again'? First of all the word ‘diet’ has a certain stigma to it. The word ‘diet’ automatically makes people defensive. Diets typically give you a set of strict rules to what you are or are not allowed to eat, and if you deviate from the plan you have jeopardised it all. What happens when you follow the diet word for word, you step on the scales and… nothing, zero weight loss, despite all your efforts? Reducing the amount of food you have eat so much so that you can’t possibly reduce it anymore?
What if I told you to lose weight you needed to eat more?
Almost 15 years later I am a stable size 10 weighing 10 and a half stone. I eat more often, I have a constant supply of energy AND I’m happy and confident.
Why?
1. Eating smaller meals more often is believed to keep your metabolism running at the optimum level. After 3 hours your body detects that you haven’t eaten for a while and responds by slowing the metabolism to make your energy last longer. Eating every 3 hours can help prevent this.
2. The main bulk of my diet comes from unprocessed foods, lean meat and fish, fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, herbs and spices, nuts and most importantly lots of water. Keeping your diet as close to nature as possible, the way we were built to eat.
3. My diet fuels my workouts making me perform at my best in every session. In addition to diet, combining high intensity interval training with a specific weight training programme will allow you to sculpt your body into your ideal physique.
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