Fitness in the Unknown

Well hello there everyone ! Yes I have been away not writing blogs for quite sometime now but that doesn’t mean the wheels have stopped spinning! I have simply taken a few months off blogging, obtaining more information and skills so I can share them with you. So without further ado I bring to you the unknown …

It is apparent these days that gyms are rife throughout many places across the globe, from expensive leisure ones to run of the mill ones made out of blocks of wood (and I am not even joking. I have come across benches for bench press and they have literally been a piece of wood attached to two other wooden legs with a metal bar and a few rocks on the end of the bar). Very Rocky Balboa like …

Anyway so gyms are everywhere and alongside gyms, many people like to carry out there outdoor activities which can range from bootcamps to their own training in parks or with friends etc. I love that sort of training, I think it’s refreshing being in the open, surrounded by oxygen and not sweat from the over grown human next to you and the ability to run around without tip toeing around the scattered weights across the floor by fellow members who can lift the weights but not put them back ….

Now it’s great when you want to train on that lovely summers day with a friend and you head to your standard park where you know the layout, you know the demographics and you know what equipment you have and can obtain. It’s very much a comfort zone, however, what if you were shifting through various cities and countries without wanting to lose that flare of exercising? What if you haven’t got those same amenities as your local park? What’s it like exercising in foreign lands ?

So that’s what we are going to talk about now – exercising in different environments and how to adapt!

For me, I’m not saying it’s a piece of cake turning up to a small town or local place where they haven’t seen a tourist ever and whipping out a workout plan, but with my experiences and knowledge it does work in my favour. But this isn’t about me, this is about how I can relay that information to you guys so when you are running around in foreign locations you don’t feel conscious and can get the same benefits!

So first of all, you need to figure out your place of stay and what’s around you. Is there a park? Is there a local ground which you can use? Or are there even some random metal frames attached near river banks ? Some countries have many outdoor gyms which are extremely helpful, but that concept isn’t everywhere so don’t do any guess work people ! So once you have gathered that information from either walking around, mapping it or even asking others, you can now formualte the initial plan of how can I workout all my key muscle groups in the time that I have whilst staying at this certain place. Also, remember guys, when you are away it’s not all about exercising, make sure you allocate time to actually see the place and not just the patchy grass where you’ve been smashing out jumping squats! Anyway, once you have decided location of exercising and how to target specific muscle groups it’s time to get started….

First thing to do is identify what equipment there is if any, second I suggest that you invest in a piece of kit such as gymnastic rings which you can purchase from any website such as amazon and they are a key piece of investment! Trust me, throughout my being away I have had all sorts of questions about them and even 8 year old children trying to use them. But it’s great! It brings about a social aspect within local groups and you. So they can be a key piece of kit and are extremely portable. Thirdly, find out when it gets dark for those who like exercising in evenings and when the sunrise is for those who enjoy working out early mornings. For me, I have no preference, I have had stunning workout days during sunrise on a beach and during sunset overlooking the mountains. Fourth, identify how much time you want to allocate to your workouts and accordingly can push yourself to those time frames. I have had literally 20 minutes to work out in a hostel room where I have tried to bang out as many press ups and chin ups as possible, but also other times when I have had a couple of hours I have carried out single leg squats and chin ups whilst planning the next lot of travelling. Kill 2 bird with 1 stone eh!

So those are the standard things to contemplate without going in to too much detail. Now the next thing is probably the most important – C O N F I D E N C E

C – Carry out your plan of action
O – Overcome hurdles
N – Never give up
F – Find a way
I – Inspire yourself
D – Deliver a successful plan
E – Excitement of working out
N – No excuses
C – Commit yourself
E – End on a high !

I’m not gonna lie I literally just made that up myself whilst drinking an amazing coffee from Flores, but you guys get the point. Although, that was made up, all those phrases have actually been part of my fitness journey whilst running around the globe. These phrases have been embedded in me for a long time and they do help me and hopefully will help you guys whilst working out abroad.

I do understand that many people find it a bit alien to exercise abroad and therefore, they don’t as they don’t like the attention of locals. This does mean that people are out of their comfort zone by a few thousand miles but believe me, it doesn’t matter where you are working out and who’s watching because more often than not people look over, smile, wave, wish you good luck whilst you’re hanging in the air and they move on their jolly self along. I absolutely love turning up to places and being creative by finding ways of exercising! There was a place in Laos where I used a towel, wrapped it over stairs and used the towel as a chin up bar. Alongside that, I have pads also which have helped me through and through to work out as well!  It’s great when locals get involved, especially when you welcome them with a grand smile!

So next time when you are thinking of going abroad off the beaten track, keep these few tips in mind and have an open mind. Instead of thinking negative, turn those negatives in to positives and just do it. By exercising in different places, you will train your mind to adapt to varying environments and this will have a big effect for when you get back. Your confidence will grow, your way of training will expand and you’ll be simply a more improved person! I like to travel, and I have for a long time but I never stop exercising, I try and adapt to my environment by following simple rules and if I can do it anyone can do it!

So there you have it people – no excuses when you go away somewhere, you can still do what you love and the best thing is that it’s free! Granted gyms are available some cheap some expensive but this way of exercising is extremely portable, efficient and builds disciple and commitment. Go ahead, train in the unknown and see what benefits you gain out of it !

 

Roll on the lipids

Lipids, guys and girls is another word for fats if you didn’t know already. There are a few different types of fats such as phospholipids, sterols and triglycerides. Structurally they differ between each other and this in turn has different effects in the body.

So when we exercise what macro nutrient do you think gets metabolised? Carbohydrates, fats or proteins? Go on think …

They actually all play a part in metabolism! However, we are actually talking today about fats/lipids being metabolised! There are many people out there who still think that fat is bad for you, it causes this disease and that one and oh yes….makes you fat! Well fortunately that isn’t the truth about fat at all as fat is the second most abundant property in our body after water. Fat is a vital component of cell membranes, it helps with biochemical reactions and also acts as an energy source. It also acts as subcutaneous insulation too which helps us keep body temperature regulated.

During exercise, again lots of us think that only carbohydrates are the source of energy used for energy metabolism. However, there is a hell of a lot more fat stores than carbs. On average in an adult body there is something like 100,000 Kcal of fat stores which is around 50 times fore than carb stores! Guess we are all fat then ! But we know now that it doesn’t work like that – FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT! So now that’s cleared up, back to what I was going on about…if we have that many Kcal of fat then there is no way on this planet that we will not be using that for metabolism! There are different ways of achieving lipolysis. During exercise IMTG (intramuscular triglycerides) which are located within the muscle itself gets utilised. Type 1 fibers have more stores than type 2 which makes sense as these fibers are more fatigue resistant than type 2 bad boys!

Depending on intensity of exercise the body uses different amounts of fats and carbohydrates. During exercise our body can use up to 70% of IMTG to fuel our workouts. These IMTG stores have been proven to be important even during rest after exercise bouts to restore ATP sources and the structural integrity of our system. During rest and low intense exercise in trained and untrained individuals, fat is the most used source of fuel and as intensity increases the body switches to carbohydrate usage. This is why Forest Gump could run for 3 years at a slow pace because he was using his fat stores. If he was sprinting then that would mean carbs would be his main source and we already know now that our body doesn’t store that much of carbs, he would have burned out probably after 6 months! All I am getting at people is that if you want to do exercise at a low intensity then you will be using fat, mainly IMTG to fuel our workouts.

However fat stores are still  used during higher intensity workouts as well! Fat utilisation is a great way of extending workouts and producing ATP for energy. People only think of carbs and high sugar digestion prior to a workout but there have been studies and from personal experience that having a fatty meal a few hours before a workout can actually generate the same amount of energy as opposed to eating high sugary foods before a workout. The body uses short and medium chain fatty acids a lot quicker than long chain fatty acids, so having foods such as coconut and milk can benefit you in your workouts. The good thing with short chain fats are that they don’t need that much time being broken down in the intestines, they get absorbed by albumin and gets down straight to the job no messing about. If you are looking for more examples then look for foods high in butyric and caprilic acid and they’ll do the job! So guys and girls if you want to stuff your gob with good fats prior to a workout then that is fine. You will still perform well at your workouts. Howevverrrrr, remember people these are fats not sugary carbohydrates so that means it will still take the body a bit longer to digest so give it at least an hour or so prior to a workout. An example would be to have a couple of tablespoons of peanut butter and a glass of milk, now you could get away with having that 45 minutes before a workout just for a bit of energy as the body will store that in your muscles and use that essentially as energy for a BIG SESSION!

The rate of lipolysis increases significantly during mild to moderate intensity exercise meaning that the amount of fat used for energy increases exponentially. Usually when carrying out weight training sessions, VO2 max levels won’t really go up past 70% obviously depending on what you are doing  but in general VO2 max is between 55% – 75% which is prime time for fat utilisation. This is why lots of gym goers now have switched to fatty foods to improve their muscle tone, body composition and even strength! There have been times when even carrying out high intensity sessions such as boxing or cross fit, eating a fat meal 2 hours before can seriously benefit your energy levels in sustaining ATP sources for a prolonged period of time! Now guys before you bash me with things like carbs are the main source for high intense workouts, let me just reiterate – carbs are definitely beneficial for high intensity workouts and they will always be like that, that is just the way our body works. But I am offering an alternative especially for those who are looking for reducing body fat and maintaining muscle tone – eating fats especially short and medium chain fatty acids will definitely benefit your workouts!

So there above is a little about fat metabolism and why it can be beneficial for your workouts without going too much in to the sciency part which would bore you all! Have a read of this blog and it might some of you find other alternatives for fuel. Because let’s be honest how many of us are bored of eating the same foods? Probably most of us and this is why it is important to try new things and what better than trying other foods which will still benefit your workouts and metabolism. So get going and get some FAT!

 

It’s all in the hips

Like Carl Weathers stated in Happy Gilmore ‘It’s all in the hips’. That statement has a lot of truth in it in terms of movement believe it or not and let me explain in a few words why….

We have evolved over time to have 4 limbs – 2 arms and 2 legs and it’s because of these we are able to carry out movements whatever it is whether you’re doing hand stands, trick or treating or salsa dancing these 4 limbs are carrying out coordinated actions to help us move. Now if we are only supposed to move these 4 limbs then why do we get other structures involved ? Like the lower back say?

Let’s just focus on the lower body for this blog post shall we. If we look at our human anatomy, we know that the legs are connected to the pelvis and that is connected to the lower back. Now where the leg connects to the pelvic bones, the leg can move freely to carry out movement – hip movement. The hip complex is a very stable joint allowing a reasonable amount of movement. Within the hip joint we find cartilage, ligaments and other tissues which allow for the efficient movement and nutrients in order for the hip to function as an effective unit. Reason why the hip is the way it is is because it is very much a weight bearing structure yet still carrying out movements for the body. Without it, we won’t be walking anywhere, unless you’re very good at walking on your hands. Now knowing that movement should only be carried out at the hips, why do people get their lower back involved?

Lots of questions today right? Well one of the reasons for this is because of environmental factors such as chairs, sofas, cars and lots of sitting and being sedentary. Other factors could be simply down to moving with incorrect techniques and also muscular guarding after surgery or injury. There are many more factors but they all state the same – people use their lower back to carry out movements.

If you are one who uses their lower back to carry out movement then your movement patterns will be inefficient and potentially harmful for your body structures. The back is supposed to be a stable structure which channels forces from lower extremities to upper and vice versa. It is not supposed to be used for explosive or phasic movements such as bending and running. This is people in the health and fitness industry stress so much on using the hips and strengthening the muscles around the hip joint to carry out movements and absorb forces rather than subjecting the spine to these stresses. By really concentrating on using the hips as your movement structure, the spine can do its job of stabilising which will allow efficient neuromuscular coordination and contraction to occur throughout the body. Think of it like a coat hanger, if you load too much on then it will simply snap or if you use a weak hanger to hang a very heavy coat on it will bend like an upside down smile! This is similar to the spine – if you carry out incorrect techniques your spine will also bend or if your hip musculature isn’t strong enough your spine again will bend to try and carry out that load, and eventually yes it too will get damaged. Okay it might not snap, I’m just using an analogy! But you might experience other issues which can progress to worse symptoms.

Now understanding all of this, If any of you lovely readers out there reading this, notice the way you are sitting right now, I guarantee most of you have slumped over without even realising! It is normal to do that but it’s about realising it soon enough and correcting your posture! But since you guys have been in that slumped position, imagine all that force going through the spine, ligaments and other structures causing stresses and strains as you aren’t in good posture and technique. It’s because of incorrect techniques, your body structures are unable to distribute these forces evenly across your body and have focussed them in one area…yeah not good!

So if any of you out there want more advice and information on lifting techniques and correct postures, please do contact your local fitness instructor or anybody specialising in biomechanics and allow them to educate you on correct techniques and the muscles to strengthen and other ones to lengthen. If you aren’t ready to ask somebody or you simply don’t want to then by all means look stuff up on youtube and other sources on the internet. The only issue I have with that is that there are videos and tips out there which aren’t technically correct and this might lead you guys to again practise wrong techniques! So if you are wanting to research on the internet, I urge you to look for a variety of sources and see how they correlate. But the best thing to do is contact your local qualified instructor and go through the steps with them.

Movement through the hips is a vital aspect of every day living and sports performance too. This matter should be taken seriously as you do see many people out there lifting with incorrect techniques and loading through their backs. The last thing you guys want is malalignment problems which again can lead to other more serious problems. I do tell a few jokes in my posts (not saying they are funny though) and try to keep it light hearted but sometimes you need to be a bit more serious and stress some opinions to all of you out there. My advice – Educate your body with correct hip movements through practise so that it becomes subconscious and use your back as a stabiliser. Get the correct advice and start practising for a healthier movement pattern.

Time’s a healer

This is a very old saying ‘Time’s a healer’ but it does have some truth in that and whatever you are talking about, time does result in recovery. This very much applies to any of you guys and girls out there who have unfortunately injured yourself from exercising! However, simply resting will not solve the case and this is where this quote might need a bit of tweaking, maybe ‘Qualitative time’s a healer’ or something like that….

We are not made of steel, us humans cannot fall 15,000 feet from the sky and live to talk about it the next day, this is why we skydive with equipment! Thanks to gravity, we cannot fly, cheers to little thorns and needles that we pierce easily and in relation to exercising any weight whether external or bodyweight, used in the incorrect manner can cause some severe damage to our structures! Whether you are exercising for a general goal or an athlete, you will always experience some sort of injury big or minute, you will definitely go through it. We all know that small injuries, easy interventions are put in place – ice pack, heat, rest, chill time etc etc but what if you break a bone or cause disruptions to articular structures? Now that could be surgery or serious hibernation time right?! These sort of injuries do take lots of time to get better and unfortunately people do not want to give it that qualitative time to help recover from injuries. This is what we are going to blabber about today, well I will you all can just sit there and read….

When we experience a serious injury, we all do the same thing – head to the doctors they assess the situation and depending on what you need will refer you on. Now let’s skip all that nonsense waiting bit and let’s talk about the actual rehabilitation of it all. Now when we get referred on to physiotherapists, personal trainers, bio mechanic experts or anybody involved in rehabilitation they all carry out consultations and then help you on your way to recovery by showing you exercises. This is all great until it comes to the time variable…

A rehabilitation programme can range from anything between 4 weeks to even years! Eh?!! Yeah bet you’re all thinking whhhhaaaatt! But the fact of the matter is that when you experience an injury your body takes a biggggg hit and after all healing has been completed there is permanent scar tissue and this leads to inefficient movements. Rehabilitation programmes are put in place to help improve body mechanics and get rid of as much scar tissue as possible. Now I know that majority of people cut their programmes well short of the mark as they want to get back in the gym and work to their goals, however, by not following these programmes through you are again putting so much load on the body and this could again lead you to further injury! I completely understand that people get frustrated when on these programmes as they just take so dam long to complete and even after they are finished you still need to do those exercises to keep injury at bay.

All you readers out there who follow my blog – I urge you if have undergone a serious injury and have been referred to please follow these programmes out because at the end of the day you will be benefiting your body a hell of a lot more than cutting it short and lifting heavy weights again. Exercising is a lifetime investment not a 3 year fix and if it takes you 2 years to get back on track and start exercising as you were pre injury then so be it. Basically what I am saying in a nice way is – Stop being stubborn, listen to the people who know what they are saying and be patient.

Rehabilitation programmes are fantastic programmes because not only do you do them when you’re injured but carry them on when you’re fit and ready. They serve a purpose in terms of articular alignment and neuromuscular stability. They’re fantastic and sometimes doing them can actually be tougher than lifting cars over your head! I believe in these programmes and they do have their place and the great thing is is that you can tweak these programmes to benefit your goals when fit. Buying pieces of equipment like a resistant band or tubing isn’t that expensive and you don’t need to get the big branded names, just go to your local cheap shop and buy a few cool items. Hopefully the exercises been shown to you on these programmes you can try them in your own time which you will need to do. Yes remember people, seeing a physio once a week or twice a month or whatever isn’t enough, you will need to do the specific exercises everyday! So basically I am saying – Man up and do as you’re told! 😀

But remember quality over quantity – time is a healer yes but it’s the quality of the time you spend that will heal the associated problem. Please do not take your body for granted, it goes through hell and back everyday, helping you walk, stand, sit, eat, laugh, prevent diseases, dance, drive, run etc by resistant some sort of force and counteracting that with an equal and opposite force. So when it does break down in a serious way, don’t force it to get back to squatting ass to the grass! Give it the qualitative time it needs with the appropriate rehabilitation programme and then get back to diving off 10 meter cliffs!

Myth Buster – Carbohydrates are fattening

No the answer is they are not! Is there a point or writing anymore? Since I love to talk why not…

There are 3 types of macronutrients which our body makes use of: Carbohydrates, fats and proteins. Now these nutrients are primarily used for different roles in our body. You’ve heard the gym hunk talking about eating protein for muscle growth, due to the massive avocado craze these days people are talking more about eating healthy fats for fat loss and also people go on about eating bananas and drinking lucozade for energy for workouts. So in general, nowadays we kind of know what proteins, fats and carbs are used for within the body and they all have their importance. So why are carbohydrates fattening then?

Years ago in the Western world we moaned and groaned about fat being the culprit for the obesity epidemic and carbohydrates being our savior.  But now due to research and looking at other diets from across the World, predominantly the East, we now know that eating the right types of fats are extremely beneficial for our body and leads to fat LOSS. Now we have turned our attention to slating carbohydrates as being our enemy and causing us to turn round. Let’s try and sort this out shall we?

Now before we carry on I must stress that anything eaten or drank in excess will lead to extra calories and therefore you will gain more mass. A simple equation: Calories in should be less than calories burnt to shred fat.  People don’t realise that there are different types of carbohydrates: 1 being your simple sugars, 2^nd your complex carbohydrates or starches and 3^rd are your fibers. Your body uses these 3 in different ways again depending on the need. They all have their importance in their own way. When we workout, our body wants sugar to convert to energy as sugar is our primary source of fuel for exercise – so naturally you would want to opt for a banana or mixed berries, or honey or even a couple of squares or dark chocolate. Only reason is that they are sugar dense and your body will use it immediately for energy conversion for activity. Now our complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, yams and other grains are actually used for energy too but at a lower intensity level. They are also used for topping up our glycogen levels in the liver and muscles for future exercise. Now this is an important one especially for those who carry out a lot of exercise. Keeping glycogen levels stocked up is vital for future exercise bouts as your body will be able to utilize these stores. A good example is an early morning spin session or run, some people consume a potato the night before or a bowl of oats or even brown rice just because they might not have time to eat in the morning but at least their liver and muscles have stocked up on glycogen to use as glucose for when they workout. Also some people physically cannot eat in the mornings as they don’t feel hungry! I mean you can’t force someone to eat can you! Last of all, we have our fiber which is used primarily in the gastrointestinal tract or mostly in the intestines to keep your digestive tract strong and healthy and to break down any waste. This fiber also helps the body absorb vitamins such as K to be used in the body. This fiber helps get rid of excess cholesterol out of your body and helps waste bind to water to be excreted properly. Yeah not the best topic if you’re eating whilst reading this…

So you can see the importance of the different types of carbohydrates and how efficiently the body uses them.  So why are carbohydrates fattening then?

Nowhere in there is there evidence that carbohydrates are fattening, but like I said before, it’s the balance which has gone off on a tangent. People have succumbed to quantity as opposed to quality and this is the reason why we are gaining more weight. Remember one thing, whatever calories are left over after reactions have taken place will simply bind to a fatty acid molecule and become a triglyceride which will then with a little help from enzymes be transferred to our fat cells and chill there until our calorie balance has been restored! These days it’s so easy to over load on foods simply due to our busy lifestyles, we eat more fast foods, packet based foods and snacks and even eat on the run, never to sit down and actually appreciate the flavours.  It’s all about ‘go go go sonic’ these days and the faster you eat the more you will tend to eat too. Don’t get me wrong, I do it too, I am always running around, training people, studying, advertising, annoying others etc etc so I even sometimes don’t sit down and eat slowwwwlllyyyyy. However, what I do eat are the healthier options rather than the quick foods you see being advertised. Also, my work entails a lot of movement so it is a lot easier for me to burn off the calories as opposed to Joe Bloggs sitting at his desk playing pacman.

So again, being on a carbohydrate diet is not bad at all. Everyone out there just think what you are eating, vegetables are carbs, fruits are carbs and grains are carbs and they all come in different forms of carbohydrates. I know for a fact that South Koreans eat purple potatoes as a way for fat loss simply because of the high fiber and antioxidant content in them. Also lots of South East Asian people eat white rice with proteins and fats…eh white rice???  But look at how much they eat of it and again look at their whole diet as a whole too with their activity levels. Carbohydrates are not our enemy; it’s rather the fact that we have alienated ourselves from eating carbs due to our lifestyle and choices!  Carbohydrates are our primary fuel source then comes fats and then proteins, so if it is this order then why would carbs be fattening? It’s what we do with the carbs is the important aspect, are we eating potatoes or toast with honey and then having a siesta? Or are we blasting out a bootcamp or gym session after?

Our amazing planet has given us delicious ingredients to play around with and make the most amazing foods we can think off. But blaming carbohydrates being fattening is a very naive and gullible way of thinking.

It’s us who needs reevaluating and it’s our choices which ultimately decide our end goal.

Myth Busters – Can you have too much water?

You may have heard somewhere that you must drink plenty of water throughout the day and that it is really good for you bla bla bla. Hang on, before we move on don’t think that I am bashing water, I actually love the element! So just as we are clear on that let’s move on….

Water is actually a vital component of our body as we store a large % of water within our body. The Earth as well is mostly water too so it clearly must be a very important factor for sustaining life. Life without water will not occur, the beautiful fruits, vegetables, mountains, hills, animals and we will all eventually die leaving the planet as a barren inhospitable planet. Our atmosphere will be affected too; changing our surroundings, clouding everything with articulates and could potentially set off chemical reactions which aren’t too nice! Anyway enough of high school physics, let’s get back to fitness!

Now you may think ‘is this blog about the lack of water or too much?’ But wait there I am getting there. I needed to explain a little bit about the lack of it, now to the other extreme…too much! Now we have seen national disasters caused by natural causes such as flooding, tsunamis and extreme thunder storms which all are composed of water! This causes drastic effects to human nature and the same applies within our bodies too. Just like flooding can breach people’s houses without knocking on their doors, too much water within our system can also cause drastic effects! Too much water can be very detrimental to health and can dilute important minerals such as sodium. Yes you may think sodium is bad for us but it’s really not, it’s just too much of it is bad. However, if you drink too much water you will actually dilute sodium causing a sudden drop in blood pressure causing symptoms such as dizziness, depression, low blood pressure, headaches, fatigue, abdominal cramps, muscular weakness, vomiting etc etc! This is called hyponatremia and if gets too severe can lead to organ failure, seizures and even death! Now this is all from an overdose of water. Not only that but too much of water can also flood in to organs and cause serious conditions such as kidney problems, liver disease, congestive heart failure and other ridiculous diseases!

Now on another note, if any of you are on medications then remember they all have side effects and some can be a false perception of thirst so please be aware of this and also you guys out there with diabetes can cause increased thirst perceptions so please be aware of this and consult your doctors! Anybody on medication, have existing issues such as diabetes or kidney problems, an urge to drink excessively before and after exercise then please DO NOT take this lightly and consult your doctor! There are plenty of treatments and help out there for over hydration and it is best that you start sooner than later!

Now for you guys who do not suffer from any diseases or on any medication or anything like that and are generally healthy, please do take caution and not to drink lots and lots of water! You have to remember too that there is a lot of water stored in foods that you chomp on through the day. I mean let’s be honest a cucumber isn’t just all green is it, I mean you can literally see a swimming pool in the middle of one! I wonder why apples are so juicy! Yes granted they do have other properties like malate and citrate but they store a hell of a lot of water too. So if you guys are eating an apple, 2 oranges, half a cucumber, a bowl of soup, 2 glasses of fruit and vegetable smoothie a day then your water levels in your body should be quite reasonable. So don’t buy in to this ‘you need to stick your head in 4 gallons of water a day’. It’s more of a guideline to follow stating that you need to keep reasonably hydrated so you don’t suffer.

Now what are good ways of knowing you are relatively hydrated you ask? Well I shall tell you! A good indicator is actually looking at the colour of your urine as blunt as it sounds. I don’t mean you have to stare at it and check with a magnifying glass as to what shade of colour it is! Just check, it should normally be a pale straw coloured yellow. If it’s white then you’re over hydrated or it if’s a darker yellow then you may need to drink a glass or 2. However, if it’s red or brown then you need to definitely go to the doctors as that’s more of a kidney or liver problem! So remember guys and girls – if your pee is a light yellow that’s good! Now another indicator is how you are actually feeling throughout the day; are you feeling healthy, lively, fresh and energetic and can focus on what you are doing? Or do you feel lethargic, hungry, tired or irritable? Remember hunger doesn’t mean that you need food but it can also mean that you are dehydrated so keep that in mind and think when did you last have a big meal and when did you last have a big glass of water?

If you are still finding it hard to monitor your water levels, then try and keep a diary with you at all times recording the amount of water you are consuming and times that you are too. By keeping a log you have proof as to how much you are consuming and from here you can make the tweaks here and there. Alternatively, if any of you are still finding it difficult then speak to somebody in this industry, I don’t mean a hydroelectric engineer I mean somebody like a dietician who specialises in peak performance and they can help you. There are many tests that are available out there to monitor and regulate your hydration levels and to keep your body in correct levels.

 

So remember everybody out there, drinking water is definitely good for you but too much of it as bad as not enough of it. If anybody out there is experiencing any of the above symptoms or other symptoms related to over hydration then please do control your hydration levels or if you need more support then please do contact your health practitioner for advice and support. This is a serious matter and to stay fit and active don’t OVERDOSE … on water I mean!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New year!

It’s that time of year again where everyone is winding down their fitness regime and enjoying indulging without feeling guilty! This is the time to really appreciate all the hard work you have put in whilst munching on cake, sweets and anything else whilst washing it down with the finest beer!

However, I know that in some people’s conscience even when doing well all year round, they feel guilty when indulging at this time of year. But don’t worry! I am literally sitting down, writing this whilst drinking a straffe hendrik beer from Bruges! It won’t harm you at all and that’s me saying it, a person who literally eats healthy and delicious meals all year round and trains twice a day on most weeks! So give up this conscience and enjoy it while it lasts because you still have the whole year ahead to train!

‘But drinking and eating junk means that you’re losing muscle’ Yeah if I had a pound for every time I heard that I’d be on the forbes list! You do not some how miraculously lose all of your muscle and look like humpty dumpty after eating and drinking for a few days! Fortunately the body doesn’t work like that and if that was the case then every time you had a cheat meal you would be going backwards and never achieve a better body. Sorry guys and girls – doesn’t happen like that. It’s all about having a balance, that 80/20 rule where 20% you can eat and drink what you want and this time of year is the best to embrace that (except for birthdays) and maybe a cheeky holiday every now and then….

Thanks to muscle being a very metabolic tissue, the more you have the more calories they need to eat and therefore your body composition even with junk foods won’t change that much! Now I’m not saying that you need not to exercise throughout this time – yeah why not you can work out too but do it because you want to not need to! Also even if you do exercise, don’t neglect the beers and foods which you have been looking forward to all year. The exercise part for me this time of year is important yes but that’s because I simply want to do it and I enjoy it to keep active but that doesn’t mean I am not going to have a beer …. or 5! Once this time of year is over then you head back to your routine and be disciplined again, at least psychologically you have fed your need and you won’t crave it through the year then.

But whatever you guys want to do this time of year, please enjoy yourselves and make the most of it as time doesn’t wait around! Whatever it is all of you are doing, enjoy it, take up any opportunity which comes your way, take all the free drinks people offer, eat as much as you can, if there’s mistletoe .. crack on !

This time of year is to enjoy everything and enjoy with everyone around you too! I also want to thank everybody who took the time out to read my blog. I am very passionate about this industry and try to share as much as I can on here without making it too boring (I hope)! I also want to thank everyone who has been on my facebook page, twitter and instagram pages and have liked and shared my comments/videos etc. It means a lot that you guys are supporting me and I do sincerely hope you can support me and one another in the following year too! This blog is for anybody and everybody from all walks of life so please feel free to join in and read a few articles if you have spare time. Also please feel free to leave any comments and suggestions and I will do my best to take every comment and suggestion on board and act on it!

Anyway enough of me now – go enjoy your new years with friends and family and hope you all had a great Christmas!

Once again …

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 

😀

Myth Buster – Rest is key .. but for how long?

As humans we all need to rest! No we don’t get our power from solar energy although that does contribute but at the end of the day, we need sleep that thing we do at night where we lie there and not be active. It is amazingly boring but surprisingly good for you! Now I hate sleep, I think it’s a waste of time and if it were up to me I’d be up all night writing these strange (but hopefully informative) blogs! However, even I know that rest is key….

Rest is extremely important for muscle and tissue recovery especially after a heavy workout or if you are going through a phase of injury. Rest is very much a part of an exercise programme and for you to benefit and get the maximum gains from your goals then you need to do this resting business! Rest is also a key factor in brain activity and cognitive function and helps rejuvenate your mind and body. We need to be rested to function optimally…but for how long?

Ever heard of too much is also too bad?? Resting too much can also have reversible affects on your mind and body. If you take too much time out of exercising then your body goes through a catabolic phase where it will start breaking muscle down for energy and as muscle is a very much active tissue it needs a stimulus to keep it interested in looking good. It’s like trying to get a lady friend – you need to get out and do stuff rather than sitting at home gaming on minecraft! It’s the same with muscles, they need that excitatory stimulus which is activity to keep them going and building. Now if your rest periods are way too long then you will not be subjecting them to anything fun and they will eventually deteriorate. Not only that, your joints and tissues will suffer too as calcium will not bind as easily to bones as before causing weaker bones. Now for the most of us fitness freaks we hate rest and won’t want to do it for that long anyway but I know that lots of people get caught up in things and they rest for too long and this then eventually causes them to rest for longer and longer and then they slowly cannot be bothered to exercise. This very much implies to people who are suffering from an injury! When you succumb to an injury you have to rest but people take this ‘resting’ phase for granted and take advantage of it. Sooner than later they have rested far too long and they have in fact not improved on their injury and caused more issues! See told you this resting business is a pain!

Now remember that rest is essential but it’s about how much somebody needs. You need to be disciplined and need to listen to your body. If you’ve done a massive leg session and cannot feel your backside for 2 days after then naturally you’re not going to be doing weighted lunges and so you rest! However, you can still work on some other body part and then go back to lower body once you’ve recovered. The same applies to an injured area; yea sure at first you need to have bed rest depending on the severity but after some time if you feel that you can start moving your limbs then please do it! This doesn’t mean that you go to a cross fit session and have a work out but to do at least something at a low intensity to maintain and condition your joints and tissues. Lots of athletes over compensate meaning that they rest for the allocated time they need and then rest a bit more just to allow 100% recovery of muscles prior to their next session. This works out just fine for both your psychology and physiology as you are prepared for your work out. But don’t take advantage of this by resting far too long as this will just lead to time wastage and disorganisation of a training programme!

Rest is a vital component for all of us but we cannot take advantage of it! We need to be disciplined, need to listen to our bodies and stay organised to keep us on track. Without these co factors, our ability to calibrate rest times will be a tough challenge and this will consequently lead to diminishing health. So if you are sitting (resting) whilst reading this, I want you to think about how much rest you have actually had and think if it’s enough or too much and then .. do something about it!

Myth Buster – Crunches for core

Maybe it’s the wrong time of year to talk about this kind of stuff but I’m going to run my mouth now for a good few minutes.

Now lots of you out there must think that doing crunches all the time is the best way of improving your core. I mean obviously, if your stomach is hurting after a million crunches then naturally you must think ‘yay I’m getting those abs of steel!’

I can tell you now that if you didn’t do all those crunches everyday you can still achieve a strong core! Your core is your foundation and doesn’t matter what shape you’re pulling whether sober or not your core will be working to stabilise body movements! This just means that your core is working in a multi directional way rather than constantly in a ‘bending’ manner as you would do in a crunch situation. Always carrying out flexion based exercises such as crunches can actually cause more damage than good as you are putting a lot of stress on to your spinal ligaments and eventually they will lose their elasticity and become a lot less efficient in their work. Basically what I’m saying is that if you annoy your tissues they’re going on strike – bye bye spine!

Like I said before your core is a multi directional system and it only makes sense that if you challenge it in different ways you will benefit a lot more. By carrying out big compound moves such as squats and press ups you will be stabilising and improving core strength and endurance. You’d be surprised that how much your foundation is functioning when carrying out press ups! Not only that, but by doing compound exercises you are working many other joint systems in tandem which all relate back to core stability. Lots of fitness experts strongly believe that your core stability ranges not only from your abs but to your upper and lower extremities. These peripherally active stabilisers all help your foundation and in turn your central foundation helps peripheral stabilisers. To put all this in 1 sentence – Your joints help each other to stabilise and carry out optimum functional movement. That would have been much easier to type!

So if you guys and girls are wondering now what kind of exercises you can do for improving the core then here are some:

1.Boxing or a form of martial arts
2. Compound exercises such as deadlifts, squats, chin ups, press ups,
3. Power based exercises such as clean and press, snatches, Kettle bell swings
4. Dynamic bodyweight movements such as hand walks, bear crawls, spider walks, burpees
5. Single leg exercises such as single leg deadlift, single leg shoulder press, and single leg jump squat

Now there is no excuse to try some of those exercises listed above out. Who knows you might enjoy some of these and progress on to more challenging exercises. Now don’t these exercises sound more interesting than doing lots of crunches again and again and again! Keep the workouts different and vary the exercises to keep tricking your body and you will find it a lot more beneficial.

All this talk about core and exercises is fun and interesting especially when you actually try them out but remember if you do suffer from chronic back pain with or without leg pain then you should adhere to an appropriate programme given by a trainer qualified in this area. Yeah don’t be going on and swinging kettle bells left right and centre if you do have back pain. Don’t worry you’ll get there after an appropriate programme. Like I said before having a strong core can be brought about with a variety of exercises but the most important part is to achieve this without any excess pain or discomfort!

Peanut butter – Friend or foe?

Who here loves peanut butter on toast? I do! I’m sure there are plenty of people out there who slaps peanut butter on toast and chucks it in their gob. It is amazing! But waittttttt! It’s fattening right?

There are a lot of people out there who are completely against peanut butter and thinks that eating it will turn you in to Augustus Gloop. WRONGGG!

Peanut butter is fattening correct, but consuming it in balanced quantities will improve your health in the long run. Yes you may think that eating fat turns you fat but that is a complete and utter misconception! If I told you to go munch on salmon or avocado or coconut or even beef then you will by all means go to your nearest supermarket, buy some of these and have a meal out of it. What you don’t realise is that you are consuming a lot of fat here. Quality over anything my friends out there! It is the quality of the fat that you need to think about. Peanut butter is made of peanuts ….. obviously. But peanuts contain excellent amounts of monounsaturated fats, protein, energy and iron. It also contains a few vitamins and minerals such as vitamin E, folate, magnesium and vitamin K. Yes granted it is high on calories but it is a fat and fat in the body keeps your appetite at bay a lot more than carbohydrates so therefore you will stay fuller for longer resulting in not consuming too many calories in the long run! Now let’s just track back to that fat – monounsaturated. Peanuts contain plenty of mono and polyunsaturated fats. These types are excellent for your heart and cardiovascular system. They are protective fats and reduce your chances of high cholesterol, diabetes, strokes and obesity, diseases which all stem from what you are chucking in to your body. Now these fats do miraculous things within your adipose tissues (fat cells). You would think that eating fat means storing fat but no no no, they actually encourage our enzymes to release fats from these cells to be used as energy. It’s like reverse psychology eh! These fats are then used for protection, energy usage and in general maintenance of your body and mind. See so peanut butter isn’t sounding so bad after all is it?

Another factor and advantage of peanut butter is that it isn’t that expensive to buy. I know that healthy foods are extremely expensive and personally over priced, however, a jar of peanut butter isn’t extortionate. I mean you buy a couple of pieces of salmon and you’ll be selling yourself on the street to pay for it! However, peanut butter is financially more beneficial and it comes with the same quality of fats as salmon!

Peanut butter is an excellent source of energy, you will literally run like the flash after a couple of spoons of this! Due to the release of long lasting fats, your body can metabolise this whilst preserving the protein. Peanut butter is widely used as an energy food as it is very effective! It keeps you fuller for longer, energised and you know that it will keep protein levels topped up!

So when people bad mouth this food, please before judging, just look at the content of nutrition and see what it has to bring to the table. This fat business of fat is bad for you is absolutely wrong and a massive misconception! Remember my good readers, every cell in your entire body needs fats to stay healthy! As long as you aren’t consuming a litre of peanut butter in the day then this can be very effective for your health and gym performance. A couple of tablespoons in the day with a banana or on toast will go a long way and I can vouch for that as that is something I do. In fact I have it with my boiled eggs most mornings 😀