Category: Uncategorized

Jean brings a good comment up after yesterdays post, regarding the dangers of running on sand?

I have done many, many years of training on sand pretty much everywhere, and enjoyed it immensely.

There are downsides too though, and let me explain.

I tend to love training on hard sand, the surface is much better, is firm and likely to keep your footing much more sure.

The looser softer sand can be a different kettle of fish.

It can make your footing less sure as stated, this is simply because the sand is often loose, and you have to work hard just to get a good footing.

Soft sand can sometimes put more stress on your knees, and especially your knees and ankles. Your body has to do a lot of work just to stay still seemingly, and everything seems much harder!

This is not to say that soft sand training is not any good, in fact it can be very beneficial for leg strength, leg toning, lung power enhancement and overall fat burning. As said, i have used this method extensively. Once you have a problem though with knee or ankles, it may be prudent to avoid that type of training, especially if you have longer term problems.

I always like to play the safety first game though. Always assess your options first, what’s going to work best in terms of not only results but never threaten any injury too!!

It’s never pleasant to do a workout and worry about the pain afterwards!!!

The hard sand like grass will never give you any issues. Loose sand by its nature will take much more getting used to and create an unstable surface at times. You never get any guarantees in life but taking out any unnecessary risks may be just the smartest thing you will ever do!!

Keeping yourself hydrated is easily the most important area you need to keep covered.

You can do without food maybe for 50 days, and this is if you are on hunger strike!

You can do without water for…………5 days and you will be close to death!!!!

It’s the middle of january and the priority for you maybe just to keep warm, have warm drinks and cold water may not be a priority for you. This is a big mistake for you.

To enable you to perform well and close to your potential, sipping water throughout the day can and will be a big help to you. During exercise, it is even more important and cools down to your body’s temperature, which is vital during the time you exercise.

Avoid the sugary energy drinks too, they are not needed UNLESS you do 60 minutes of continuous exercise or more. So for most people, all they do is put excess sugar in your system, and rot your teeth!!!

Since your body is slighly over 70% water, then it makes perfect sense for you to take your hydration levels very seriously.

A sign if you’re dehydrated is if you’re thirsty, the problem is that you are already a fair bit dehydrated so this will significantly hinder your performance and the way you feel! Don’t rely on your thirst to tell you when you need water, sipping at regular intervals throughout the day will help you overcome this stage.

Water is the number on way to make your skin healthier too. You will have a glow about you and there will be no need for so called “wonder” moisturisers!!

The bottom line is that water is your number one important friend for your day, don’t leave home without it!!!

Balance is everything when it comes to eating.

A good diet is no substitute for exercise.

It makes no sense to eat well while pursuing a sedentary lifestyle. Exercise increases metabolism and burns more calories. When you are fit, your body utilises nutrients much more effectively.

Make sure you don’t skip meals either.

Your body quickly adapts when you don’t eat enough, and quickly lowers its metabolism, the rate your body burns calories. By eating too little, you set yourself up for future weight gains.

Don’t be obsessed with weight.

It’s the rato of lean body mass (bones, internal organs and muscle) to fat that counts.

If you are tracking your weight however, just weigh yourself once a week ONLY, on the same day at the same time. Your weight will vary from day to day largely on the basis of how much water is in your system.

Do not consumer more than 600 calories per meal if you are trying to lose weight.

This is the maximum number of calories that most people can metabolise without storing fat. Eat smaller meals and supplement with healthy snacks.

If you use all of these tips when it comes to managing your body, you will always stay in the range you want to be in.

Commit yourself to being sustainable when it comes to being in shape, don’t fall for fads and always stay positive even when everything around you seems gloomy!!!

Aim to stay healthy internally, that way your outside will look after itself.

Getting an individual to put their health first is much harder than it seems, and i find that especially true in women.

Let’s face it, there’s usually a million things to do for most people before they feel the need to get into a workout programme, that’s a sad situation for most because unless you put a workout programme and a healthy diet at the top of your list of priorities, you won’t have the energy to keep going and actually do those million things!!

The reason why women in particular find it hard to do is because socially there has been general thinking in ways things happen in life. Without seeming sexist here, spouses, children, errands etc seem to want a women’s time before anyone else. This usually leads to time slipping away in the day, and this way the workout never ends up getting done.

As i said earlier though, unless you prioritise your workouts, then you won’t be able to solve everyone else’s problems because you are likely to run out of steam well before all the issues on your daily/weekly list are solved.

When i explain this to the individual concerned, and how important they actually are to others AND to themselves, its only at that moment do they realise that they have to give themselves “persmission” to get on a good health and fitness programme!!!

A good sensible exercise plan will always give an individual far more than the effort it takes to train in the first place. The first step is committing one self to stating, that’s all it takes and you’re off to a new beginning in your life that will bring endless benefits!!

Keeping your workouts short and intense at last seems to be gathering more support these days.

When you begin a run or anything else very aerobic, your body uses energy from your fat supplies and from the food you eat.

After around 45 minutes of exercise, then it switches to energy taken from your muscles, and soon it will break down your muscle tissue to keep you going which is not the best thing to happen to you. All of that hard work lifting in the gym could be wasted to a degree by overdoing your training efforts!

It doesn’t take a genius to work out then that workouts 45 minutes or shorter in duration tend too give you the very best results.

All of the benefits of a long run can be achieved from a more intense, faster and shorter run.

One of my favourite ways to do this is interval workouts. You have heard me talk about this a lot, and let me explain again.

Start off for the first 5 minutes with a slow run for a warm up, then the next one minute you run at 80% of your capacity, then the next two mins would be 40% of your capacity, then one minute at 80% again, then back to 40% for 2 mins again and try to get this up to 15 mins, when you are capable of doing this, you will be in good shape.

When you get to the 15 mins mark, always make sure you do a 5 mins slow run to make sure you heart rate cools down properly, meaning you will be getting a great 20 minute very efficient workout in!

This way of training is far more effective than steady running, and will get your heart and lung health in outstanding health with regular practice!!!

Your body will be in better shape and your metabolism will be firing along a lot quicker!!