Posted on

Thursday, 29th November

The run up to christmas is well and truly underway, and the big issue for me this week is how to get the best out of all the individuals i train in the smallest amount of time possible!!!

Most people are time-crunched these days, life is getting faster and faster, and when you throw the run up to christmas, you have a cocktail that can really stop you training, and at least stop your overall progress in its tracks!

I am used to this situation every single year and have been for years.

The solution? You have to think smart, and make every second of your workout count.

On your weights, if you do 3 sets of 8 reps for example on every exercise, that can come down to 1-2 sets. Do the first set normally, and then try the second set at your maximum capability. The normal 8 reps could easily become 12-15 if you really put a big effort in!!!

If you do your bodyweight exercises such as press ups, arm dips etc, and you usually do 3 lots of them, cut that down to just one lot. For example if you do 3 lots of 12 press ups, then try and aim for 20-25 press ups in one go.

If you go for a regular run, and say it usually lasts for 30 minutes on flat surfaces, then aim to cut that run down 12-15 minutes by either running a lot quicker, using lampposts for interval training (sprint for one post, rest the other, sprint the next post etc), or try incorporating steep hills, and turn your workout into a series of 10 sprints for 30 yards, and try 5 sprinting forwards and 5 backwards.

These are all examples of still getting a lot of quality in your workouts, still getting results and never giving up!!! Especially now its nearly december, where usually most good intentions go off the rails pretty quickly!

Time not to give up, and i challenge you to stay the course!!

Twitt
Posted on

Tuesday, 20th November

I continue to get questions on food supplements.

How much creatine should i take? Does it actually work?

Should i be taking vitamin C in vast quantities? Should i be taking it at all?

What about calcium tablets? Do they really strengthen my bones and joints?

I could go on and on with this one, as most people still ask about so called wonder cures?!!!

If you consider this, the european until wants to ban 70% of the supplement industry in europe, at least 70% that is!!

It’s not that they consider all of it dangerous, it’s just that that according to lengthy studies, they have found that most of them have no positive effect whatsoever!!! That statement pretty much sums up my attitude on the supplements already mentioned, if they work for you then fine, but there is little or no scientific evidence to back ANY of their claims.

Then you come to one of the most popular supplements on the markets, the “fatburner”!!!

I seem to have more questions on this than anything else.

The scientific answer is again that they have little or NO effect on your body whatsoever in terms of fat loss. However, the negative impact includes raising your heart rate including putting extra stress on your heart (which is of course very dangerous).

Sports drinks are only beneficial after 60 minutes of CONTINUOUS exercise, which is why i don’t recommend them for most people. For most people, they only end rotting your teeth and putting unwanted body fat on. Drink water, lose body fat and get just as much energy full stop!!

Then you have the other energy drinks, such as the ones full of caffeine. I have been against these for years, and i will mention that right now that one big company in the US, is facing a massive law suit and being accused of causing death by heart attack after consumption. There are several cases in the US right now, so i think that says it all but make up your own judgement!!

You can see that a lot of the supplement industry is based on false claims, pure lies and downright dangerous ingredients.

Fresh natural food and plenty of water will take you a long, long way!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Thursday, 3rd November

Alarming figures today regarding our dietary habits in wales.

It turns out that we consume a lot more sugar and saturated fat than our English counterparts.

This leads of course due to serious health worries such as diabetes, blood pressure, heart disease and certain cancers.

The NHS is a ticking timebomb and unless we change our habits now or at least very soon, the NHS really wont be able to fund the massive increase in money its going to need from the government.

The biggest problem is the lack of genuine solutions.

They try to encourage kids to eat better in schools, yet are cutting budgets in school canteens to impossible levels, meaning the lowest quality of food is going to be served every break time and lunch time in schools.

I have worked previously in two large comprehensives in the area, and was appalled at what they were serving our future generation. I interviewed the canteen manager and she was desperate to be able to serve more nutritious food, but was stopped doing so by the local authority manager for school budgets.

I then met the local authority manager in charge of this, and she flat out denied that there was rubbish being served every day. I tried arguing my point, AND the canteen manager’s point, but she tried unsuccessfully to shout me down. The person concerned in charge hadn’t the first clue about proper nutrition, she was much more concerned with her figures, which was in my book disgraceful and I told her so!!!!

Then one large comprehensive school near trostre shopping area we all know, actually HAD A SWEET VAN ALLOWED TO COME INTO SCHOOL EVERY DAY!!!

I wanted to meet the headmaster on this point and he refused, or at least try to put me off 6 weeks until he retired!!! What a coward and an example of a public service official more interested in his gold plated pension!!!

With leadership like this in schools, our future and our kids future, AND THE NHS FUTURE is definitely NOT SAFE!!!!

Unless we get kids educated and their parents educated, then we are not going to get fitter and healthier as a nation, that’s for sure!

These high profile campaigns always lack substance and are always just photo opportunities!!! To be honest, seeing ministers trying to fake joining in exercise turns my stomach, the leadership if you can call it that stinks from right from the top, and if that happens, what hope have we got!

Fortunately, there are some good teachers out there still trying to carry the message in the right way, its about time our so called “leaders”  start walking the talk!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Friday 30th September

Seems a few of you are finding the food information helpful, and thats what im here for, for YOU to be successful and firing on cylinders and i sincerely mean that.

Okay, where were we? Dinner, evening meal or whatever you want to call it!!

If you have followed the advice so far, and eaten every 3-4 hours, then you shouldn’t be absolutely starving by 6-7pm and your hunger should at least be controllable!

The great news is that the patterns you have got used to previously in the day conclude nicely with your evening meal.

I’m talking about keeping your portion sizes moderate, and this means in particular your carb selection. I’m talking about pasta, potatoes, rice, bread etc. If you overeat these foods you WILL struggle with your weight especially if they are the white refined varieties of these foods.

These foods can be fantastic for you in their more natural state, and in the right quantities!!

Whoever said remove them from your diet is usually not qualified in nutrition or anything else. More like a fly by night character who knows nothing about the whole picture when it comes to balanced diets.

Besides, the group i have just mentioned is a good group on  its own, and to remove food groups entirely is complete madness!!!

SO what are we talking about here for a typical evening meal?

A piece of healthy protein such as white meats or fish, baked or cooked with olive oil, no normal cooking oils please!

Then we have the carbs such as brown rice, wholegrain/wholewheat pasta/new or sweet potatoes etc, in a portion size the same as your fist.

Then vegetables have to be in there, and the greater the variety the better so lets make sure we make it happen every evening meal. We all know the benefits of vegetables and theres many we don’t even know about yet!!!

So there we have it, if you finish off with a meal of this quality, you’re going to get and stay lean and healthy. Accept no substitutes and tryly look after your body!!!

Twitt
Posted on

Wednesday 28th September

If you have tried missing breakfast in the mistaken belief that you will lose weight, you will soon be in for a big surprise!!

The theory some people use is that they never feel up for breakfast anyway, so may as well save those calories and use them for mid-morning, or even start eating lunch time. Then they eat sometimes sparingly during the afternoon and then usually get home, and then it all goes off!

The person doing this kind of eating programme is usually so ravenous by evening time as they haven’t eaten all day, they usually go mad at 6-7pm!!!

If you’re making food yourself, you will be so hungry you will grab a cheese sandwich or something while you’re cooking!

Then you will always overeat when it comes to the food you are cooking, this is because your blood sugars are so low and you are desperate to get them up again, but probably too desperate and you want to eat a massive portion. Very rarely will you be satisfied with that first portion!! Your body can only handle a certain amount of food per meal, and any over the top portion will get deposited as body fat every time!!!

So the missing breakfast technique is complete folly, and will never work long term, you may have realised that by now!

There are scientific reasons for eating breakfast anyway!

Eating breakfast counts when you eat food within one hour of getting up.

This boosts your metabolism because you’re sending your body a message that it had better assimilate that food ASAP and this gets the fat burning process going nice and early!

This helps your metabolism (the rate your body burns calories) get into overdrive early on.

There have been a massive amount of studies that show that those people who eat breakfast daily always lose more body fat and are able to MAINTAIN a healthy level of body fat for the rest of their lives.

Your choice but you know common sense works!!!

Twitt