Posted on

Saturday, 26th April

When any individual starts training with us, it’s vital we collect the evidence of their current physical condition, their past medical problems, their current mental strength and willingness to change, and their current ability to move forward through a series of tests that we carry out on everyone no matter who they are.

It’s at this stage that EVERYONE goes on their own different path with us, and responds in all sorts of different ways.

I find that everyone will respond at a DIFFERENT rate, sometimes you have a super fast responder to exercise, sometimes you have someone who finds most things a little more difficult but the crucial and key thing I find is you HAVE to spend time with them finding this out.

You need to spend time with them finding out the best way to overcome any obstacles, and spend time with them adjusting their programme all the way making sure they always get a first class measurement at the end of the month.

Show urgency with everyone’s training and nutrition, and I find we always get a positive response in terms of an individual’s effort. The results from these efforts always speak for themselves in terms of the evidence we are able to gather from their workouts and their eating habits.

Much lower body fat, healthy blood pressure ranges, a strong heart, much better waist and hip measurements, healthier stronger bone density, much great movement ability, a much stronger back, much better balance and coordination are all pieces of the hard evidence we constantly collect.

Put all of this together with far greater mental strength, and you will find that anyone is capable of achieving a dramatic and life changing transformation no matter who they are.

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 25th April

Eating fibre-rich foods

1. Opt for breakfast cereals labelled wholegrain or oat-based cereals, for example porridge, bran flakes, Weetabix, muesli (no added sugar) or Shredded Wheat.

2. Swap white bread for wholegrain breads, such as wholemeal, rye and oatmeal.

3. Try adding beans and lentils to one-pot dishes such as Spaghetti Bolognese and Chili Con Carne. You could also try adding beans and lentils to soups, salads, casseroles or stir-fries. Beans and lentils are quite cheap and store for ages which makes them great store- cupboard ingredients. They also bulk out your meal making a Bolognese stretch to two or even three meals. I always add a tin of green lentils to Bolognese and often a tin of haricot or red kidney beans too. This is a great way to reduce your food budget.

4. Eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables every day and include one portion to each meal. I find buying frozen vegetables useful in getting the fruit and veg quota. Frozen are just as nutrient rich as fresh and they keep longer. You can just grab a handful and place the bag back in the freezer without worrying about wastage. This saves an unbelievable amount of money over the course of a year, since most families throw away a lot of spoilt produce. Farm Foods have an excellent range of frozen veg at very reasonable prices, they often have deals on multiple buys.

5. If you make cakes, crumbles and muffins, use wholemeal flour instead of white. Avoiding buying shop bought cakes and muffins and making your own not only saves you money but is better for your waistline, since you know exactly what goes into them and can reduce the sugar content. Also if you have to make your own cakes and muffins every time, you are likely to eat less since you just don’t have the time or inclination to bake every day or even every week for that matter.

Eat to train,

Nicola.

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 21st April

Some words that belong in the 70’s and 80’s but still prevail today are the words “toning”, “shaping” and “lengthening” your muscles to get a “sleek” look with your body.

Your muscles have a genetically pre-determined shape, so these adverts you see trying to sell you some kind of “lengthen your muscles in a sleek way in a ridiculously short period of time” and make your muscles “long and lean just like a dancers” are guilty not only of false advertising, they are SCIENTIFICALLY WRONG!

Each of you will end up with a different shape, the best shape your body can be, your muscles will look better if you use strength training, and your body fat will reduce considerably if you eat a lot better too. This is what gives you “a great look” and will make you look “sleek”.

Getting into a healthy range of body fat will make sure you look your best.

A lot of times I have measured several women in the same excellent range of body fat, but each of them have had a different shape but all looked great and they felt amazing.

By the way, they do look lean, they are NEVER bulky and look athletic and very feminine always.

The propaganda you often get from people promising longer, leaner muscles for your body don’t understand your body at all, and have definitely never studied it. How many times have you heard that pilates and yoga will give you that long, slender look and using WEIGHTS will just make you bulky?

This statement is one of the greatest LIES you will hear about exercise, this statement is always from people who don’t know a thing about exercise science, who have never trained a lot of people and shouldn’t comment on matters they have no real experience on. Pilates and yoga WILL be good for your body, but please don’t try to lie to me that weights are going to make you bulky and be a negative in some way!!!!

If you train your muscle, saying it’s going to become long and lean is like saying all of our workouts are going to make you several inches taller, absolutely impossible, your muscles cannot respond that way.

Men and women are guilty of trying to look like someone they never will. Getting a grip of reality is vital when you start an exercise programme, and choosing the best way to accomplish your goals always involves not only strength training, but our speed and agility work, balance and coordination work too.

This is really the way to look incredible, to perform at your best in training AND daily life, and feel fantastic on the inside and outside! Your muscles and shape are unique to you and you only, so celebrate the way your body looks.

Twitt
Posted on

Saturday, 19th April

Bumped into three individuals yesterday.

One has had two heart attacks by the time he was 35, now had a child and was unable to play with his child for any length of time because he would get out of breath. His partner confirmed this to be true.

The next has a severe bad back, and couldn’t stand for any length of time. She was a good sportswoman in her time, she is now 42. She couldn’t go anywhere anymore because of the embarrassment of not being able to walk far, and always needing to sit down. She had trouble keeping up with her kids and was depressed about her condition.

The third was 32 years of age, been a big drinker with the medals to prove it, and was suffering from very high blood pressure. He wouldn’t talk to anyone about it because he felt embarrassed, because his sporting past was so good, and he didn’t want his employer and his friends to find out about it.

They all asked for help due to their various ultimately unsuccessful ways of trying to solve these problems. All of these people could be classed a relatively young and in the prime of their lives.

They explained that they had been to gyms before, but the recurring theme of being shown around machines once, then they were left to their own devices. Their “programme” consisted of treadmill, bike, and rower IF they could do it.

They felt alone, and soon the feeling of hopelessness flooded their minds again, and led to them quitting their very limited “programme” almost before it started.

The big question has to be asked, all of these examples have been badly let down before and forgotten about in the “system”.

Their progress HAS NOT been followed up, their needs haven’t been considered, and proper care was not taken.

One of the most common questions we get is “do you look after us all of the time, EVEN after the first session?!! All of you who train with us now know we do of course we do. New members still ask us that question and we still have to keep giving the same answer of YES until they find out that we do ALL of the time. Yes we do measure all the time too, with several tests every month no matter what.

This will always make us the complete opposite of any other gym.

I like to answer it another way too, we like to DEVELOP everyone because you don’t really know how everyone will react to exercise, and ALL of you will improve and reach new standards and new highs and physical development, balance, coordination and mental concentration, plus significantly improving any health worries.

All of those three examples at the start can be helped enormously and their lives can be turned around, but a lot of care and attention must go into them first.

Twitt
Posted on

Friday, 18th April

Intro to fat loss

For most people who want to change the shape of their bodies, the first thing that comes into their heads is the word ‘diet’. Often this is then followed by thoughts of following the latest faddy diet which typically involves cutting out carbs, eating only soups or eating just Golden Syrup or something!

Most people will then religiously follow these diets and mostly by around the second week will have lost a few pounds (along with their sanity).

Adopting a healthier body for life requires a change in your heating HABITS. Habits are easy to start yet hard to break.

If you want to change your body and your lifestyle, here is one thing you can do today.

1. Choose fibre rich foods

From today you are only going to buy wholemeal bread, brown rice and wholemeal pasta. Make today the last day you buy white bread.

That’s it. This simple change in your habits will ensure that you reduce your calorie intake. Fibre expands in the gut, thereby making you feel fuller and helping to prevent overeating. It also helps to satisfy your hunger by slowing the rate that foods pass through your digestive system and stablising blood sugar levels. Studies have shown that people who increased their fibre intake for 4 months ate fewer calories and lost an average of 5lb – with no dieting!

So make that change today, without having to feel those awful hunger pangs associated with the traditional diet.

Eat to train,

Nicola

Twitt