Posted on

Thursday, 13th June

The bad rap that carbohydrates have got over the last few years can be seen as totally unjustified.

You had the atkins diet some years ago banning “everything carb” related with the focus very much on protein only.

This fad lasted longer than most people thought, and at one time jacket potatoes were seen very much the enemy, and pasta was like the anti-christ!

Fortunately though, sanity prevailed and the atkins diet crashed and burned for many people, and some people had horrendous experiences from going through it.

Carbs can be a problem in weight gain if you eat too much of them and the wrong type. By the wrong type I mean the simple sugar version. White pasta for example contains a lot more sugar than wholegrain pasta does.

Brown rice will be better for you than white rice.

Wholemeal bread is a million times better for you than white bread and so on.

So the type of carbs you eat is all important in giving you the energy you need without all the simple sugars that will put weight on you.
Then the serving size becomes all important. Most people put weight on with carbs because they eat too much of them, plain and simple! Eat too much of anything and you will have a weight gain problem.

Your carb serving should be the size of your fist, so a plate full of pasta is overdoing it. This is why you should combine your pasta with a protein source, not only to bulk up your meal to keep you fuller for longer. Some vegetables chopped up will also will go very well with your meal, and give you endless benefits.

So please see that carbs are never the enemy, but it’s a matter of picking the right ones and in the right sensible
amount.

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday,4th June

Assuming you started the week off very well yesterday by having a very positive workout, then its surely time you became very serious about supporting that effort with some serious eating.

Apart from all the energy you need, you also need to consider how your “engine” is performing inside your body, after all if this was not happening then you would never even consider top quality workouts, especially in the hotter weather we are experiencing right now.

Are you taking enough fruit in?

Are you taking enough wholegrain carbs in with a slow energy release?

Are you taking regular intakes of protein which repairs all the breaking down of lean muscle that takes place during one of your tougher exercise sessions?

Are you eating regularly and really taking advantage of keeping your energy stores high at all times?

And how about the most important factor in all this talk about tough workouts and warm weather training-WATER!!!

If you are not taking regular sips of water throughout the day, then your body simply will noty cope with the extra hard workouts done in a much warmer temperature. This is the thing that I have to keep on to everyone about during a week like this!

If there is one thing you can do this week, please become much more aware of the need to stay hydrated. If you are already thirsty, then you are already dehydrated according to studies done over the last several years, so remember that thirst is NO GUIDE to hydration levels, and the temperature rise only makes that problem worse!!

So like we talked about yesterday, you should be celebrating all the nice weather AND the opportunity to exercise in it. The big thing to remember however, is to prepare properly and treat your body like a car engine or hopefully much better, and prime yourself ready to perform!

Don’t forget the sunscreen though, another forgotten tactic that should be a whole subject on its own!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 28th May

Setting yourself targets is important in your overall development.

The targets in terms of numbers will change all the time, depending of course on exactly how much you keep on improving.

A good more general target you can set yourself every year is just as important, and sets up your mindset to achieve bigger things.

I try to get individuals to improve each and every year.

This is a big target i set myself and as long as i improve, even in a small way, i will know that i have been successful in that year’s progress.

Let’s it another way that may surpise you, like it did with me the very first time i heard it.

Let’s say an individual can run for 2 miles, and can cycle 5 miles sometimes, and does a little weight training twice a week with the same weights all the time. Let’s say this happens every week, and has done for the last 5 years.

The vital thing to take out of this example is that this fitness programme is the SAME all the time. It never changes one bit, the intensity never changes, an even the weights are always the same.

I have to say right now that the very fact that this individual is exercising, and this is a MASSIVE POSITIVE in health terms, and i encourage these habits very strongly!

However, this is an example of someone who never improves, who goes through the motions too much, and has remained in the same state of fitness for 5 whole years, when if he/she changed his/her programme much more regularly, then the physical improvements would have been drastically more impressive.

You can easily change your programme every 6 weeks, at the latest every 12 weeks, and really benefit from those even subtle changes you could make.

Time to re-evaluate what you are doing, study what could improve, and aim to improve each and every year, no matter how small that improvement would be. This is a simple goal for you every year, and one guaranteed to bring a level of success that you wouldn’t have otherwise.

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 23rd May

Great things happen when you actually “get it”!

Once you REALISE that there are no side-stepping issues, there is no ducking out of the fact that you will need to eat good natural foods, you will need to exercise 3-4 times a week, you will not be able to lose body fat at a good rate if you are not willing to give up drinking alcohol most nights (alcohol needs to come back down to one night a week only).

You have to be prepared to use up your energy stores every day through exercise,creating an calorie or energy deficit so you are actually burning body fat, instead of steadily putting it on.

You need to forget the saying that you can eat “whatever you want” just because you’re training! Its more important than ever to eat well when you train hard because you body needs all the good nutrients even more. Your body needs to recover quickly from the last session, and i take it you actually want to improve in the way you look and feel, rather than go through the motions?!!

You need to commit yourself and develop a mindset that you need to exercise for a lifetime, and not do it a month here, a month there! This will be a sure fire way to swim in mediocrity, and constantly disappoint yourself.

These are the things you need to do if you are serious about the way you want to look and feel, to have outstanding health, and to finally achieve the big goals you promised yourself probably a very long time ago.

Time is precious so do not waste it!

Twitt
Posted on

Monday, 20th May

Monday is always a big measurement day for me, and i know i have quite a few lined up today.

For those who regularly go through it, you will know what i am talking about. For those of you who never chart your progress, here’s why you should immediately adopt the process.

First of all, how do you know how you are improving?

Second, even if you feel better and things you think are improving, how do you know how much?

Thirdly, even if you know all of these things, how do you know which exercises have contributed the most, and which exercises have contributed the least, and perhaps you have been wasting your time on some movements, and you could have spent your time much better on a far more efficient programme for yourself?

Chances are if you are not looking at these key indicators, then you are training at a facility that doesn’t care about your progress, doesn’t have the resources or expertise to monitor your progress, and just concentrates on how many direct debits they can get. Your progress IS REALLY NOT on their agenda.

What happens if your blood pressure is high?

What happens if you have palpatations from exercise?

What happens if you have a bad knee from certain movements, but don’t know any other way?

What happens if your body fat levels are at dangerous levels? What’s the best way to solve the problem and get some momentum in our health and fitness plan?

As i said, measurements are part of my training day, and i know all my clients highly value this way of doing things, because it answers a LOT of questions immediately.

Twitt