keri mckibbin personal training – Page 72 – Keri McKibbin Personal Training

January 31, 2012

Tuesday, 31st January

The very end of the month and some of you i know have had excellent months, some of you have hardly got going for various reasons, but its never too late and theres absolutely no time to waste.

A hidden danger of inactivity and not eating so well is blood pressure problems.

A lady approached me today saying hers was going up to borderline figures, and the doctor had ordered her to do something about it.

I have had great success in the past with individuals with blood pressure issues, and i always try to apply a simple formula that works pretty much every time!

The three things you need to address are the following.

Number one is exercise. If you are not active, you are not keeping your circulation going, you are not bringing the fresh quantities of oxygen in, and your body will not function quite so well without it, this is a fact so you have every incentive to get going!

Number two is salt and salt ridden products. For example, if you cook with salt, you need to stop it right now as this will be a big help. You definitely need to stop adding salt to your food, this is a massive no-no when it comes to eating, this will push your blood pressure right up over time.

Another factor is food already prepared such as ready meals and fast food. These are always loaded with salt that will destroy you over the long term, and contribute to blood pressure problems in a big way. Take this rubbish out of your life, replace it all with fresh natural food and you will be amazed at the difference!

Number three is alcohol. If you are trying to reduce blood pressure, please either eliminate or certainly keep your alcohol to an absolute minimum!!! This will have a tremendous effect on your blood pressure, and get your internal system working far more efficiently.

I know i have been brief but change these three vital things straight away, and your blood pressure problems will significantly improve!!!

January 27, 2012

Friday, 27th january 2012

A great today for running, walking or just about anything outside, even if it is brutally cold!

You should ignore the fact that it’s cold, and simply brace yourself for the first five minutes of sheer cold, then you will soon get used to it! There is nothing like it to blow away some cobwebs!!

If you get used to these temperatures, then ANY weather is going to be okay for you. I used to get my chest wheezing pretty hard at the first sign of cold weather in the winter, i actually now find this good for me as it truly breaks me in for the winter.

If weather was a factor in allowing or stopping us training, then we wouldn’t get much training done in this country at all. If i were you, i would factor in that 9 months of the year is going to be terrible weather, and anything better is a bonus.

This gives you the mindset that you will train in any weather, as long as its not too icy and unsafe, and you will be totally willing NOT to make any more excuses about why you are not in shape.

There is nothing worse than making excuses not to train for bad weather.

My other favourites include not making it to the gym because i didn’t have the car, even though you could easily walk.

Then there’s the one about not having a “training partner” or this ficticious training partner always let you down!!!

So say for one minute anyone believe these excuses, i have given you a million ways on how to train in the house, THERE IS NO EXCUSE NOT TO!!!

If you forgot all of those lame excuses right now, and promise yourself you will NEVER make an excuse again not to train, then your mindset will take you to great heights and great shape in particular!!!

Use this weekend for getting out, whatever the weather because you know you’re going to be proud of yourself when you get back, and you’ve had a hot bath or shower.

The power of actually “DOING” is all powerful and will bring fantastic results out of you not thought previously to be possible!!!

January 26, 2012

Thursday, 26th January

Following on from yesterday, we talked about how to improve quality and intensity of your workouts. We said that cutting down on rest periods was important, as well as much effort you give each exercise of course.

Changing your programme around is always good for your body. So let’s say that you are still doing 6-8 exercises with your weight training, but you have probably designed this so that its mostly fairly moderate exercises each workout, then you need to start changing those more moderate exercises into more challenging calorie-burning exercises/movements that will expend more calories per workout and in particular, reduce body fat at a more rapid rate.

For example, lets say you are doing lat pulldowns for your chosen back exercise, then if you change it to one arm dumbbell rowing, then automatically you are going to have a better, more fat burning workout.

This is because each and every exercise as a “metabolic cost”. What this means is that each exercise has an energy cost and takes a certain amount of calories to perform.

The lat pulldown takes less calories and effort than the one arm dumbbell row. So it shouldn’t take a genius to work out that by switching exercises, you will burn more fat and calories per workout.

If you walked the dog at a moderate pace, then swapping that for running at a moderate pace would significantly help you burn more calories and fat per workout.

This step up in intensity is only possible when you have got used to the lighter more moderate exercises and are comfortable with these. Your conditioning levels are very important and these improvements should only be made gradually.

You can increase the workout intensity on any workout plan you have.

Instead of doing steady long runs, try some hill sprints instead.

Don’t get carried away with the fact that you need to increase the time duration all the time in your workout, this is not really true and all we want is results after all isn’t it?!!!!

If you train for 45 minutes at a time for example, then this is around the maximum time you need to be training. If you find this easy, then as we have talked about the last couple of days, you badly need to increase the intensity and effort going into those 45 minutes.

Don’t get carried away with time and I know a lot of very fit individuals I train can get amazing workouts in just 20-25 minutes. Anyone who has trained with me can testify to that!!!

Train hard but make sure you train smart!

January 25, 2012

Wednesday, 25th January

Simplicity is beautiful and brutally efficient when it comes to organising your training schedule.

I have had several instances over the last couple of weeks of putting people on the best path when it comes to maximising their training results.

For example, there are people out there who do well on their initial programme, which is fairly basic but effective, they have good results but wonder how they can improve from there.

The natural reaction for some is just to add on more exercises on top of their programme, instead of making the more sensible and results giving tactic of simply upping the intensity of the programme they are normally on.

For example, if you are doing 6-8 exercises for weights with around 45 seconds in between each set, plus some punch bag to finish, you will get results.

A lot of people then mistakenly think that to improve, they must put another 3-4 exercies on for the sake of it, or just put 20 minutes of treadmill on top.

The answer they need to look at is to increase the intensity of the current exercises and simply work harder at them. For example, if you do a bench press with 100 pounds, then moving up to 105 pounds (if you are capable), will automatically add intensity.

If you take too much rest in between each exercise (say 3-5 minutes), then try to get that down considerably, eventually getting down to just 45 seconds, this will create huge intensity!

If you are doing three one minute rounds on the bag to finish off, then you need to start working harder over these 3 minutes or work up to 90 seconds a round, and ultimately get to 3 minutes a round. I know this is slightly longer but 3 minutes a round must always be your goal on this exercise eventually, especially if you’re looking to get into top shape.

Adding more exercises on for the sake of getting a longer workout will see you lose intensity in your workout, lose focus, spend more time in the gym and eventually lose motivation.

Time to get the intensity back on, ramp up your focus and bring in great results every time!

January 24, 2012

Tuesday, 25th January

Good workouts always come from a good night’s sleep, and you can never underestimate their importance.

If you struggle with sleep, then you are going to have to address that before you start getting the very best out of yourself.

Some people are early birds when it comes to sleep, others can’t go to be before 11 or even midnight. As long as either get a good night’s sleep, then it doesn’t really matter when they go to bed, although going to bed earlier gives you more options when it comes to getting up earlier.

Missing sleep can always increases hormones in your body to increase body fat. Your body very much goes into defensive mode when it comes to lack of rest because it has to protect it’s immune system and not get broken down too much.

If you think of all these SAS survivial programmes, the one thing they say that breaks you down more than anything is lack of sleep, and the people who torture you will often use the method of keeping you awake to make you give in, and to even make you delirious!

Sleeping in the day for even small 10-15 minute periods can be of enormous help when it comes to making up somewhat for lost hours at night for whatever reason!

“Power naps” as most people know them can bring you added power during your evening workouts too. Athletes at all levels, and all sports use this tactic of bringing added freshness into their days and performances, and schedule them in as part of their day.

When you feel rested and fresh, you are usually capable of a lot more and you are sending messages to your body that you expect big performances out of it.

Don’t forget ever that you only improve when you rest and sleep, and not when you train. You break down your muscles and body during training, but when you recover, you heal, your immune system builds again and its only then that your body hits new heights of development.

The perfect formula of training smart, eating well and good rest can never change if you want optimum levels of health and performance.